Thoughts on Architecutre

Ely Cathedral - Cambridgeshire

2009-10-25T06:51:00.001-07:00

Ely Cathedral - Cambridgeshire, originally uploaded by nick.garrod.

This is an amazing photo.

slot

2009-10-04T17:01:00.001-07:00

slot, originally uploaded by Super Bjorn.

Wish i could go back to finland.

The “Front and back” Apartment / h2o architectes

2009-06-11T07:09:00.001-07:00

The “Front and back” Apartment / h2o architectes

Posted using ShareThis

Vila Isabella / Brasil Arquitetura

2009-06-10T06:48:00.001-07:00

Vila Isabella / Brasil Arquitetura

Posted using ShareThis

Willoughby 7917 / Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects

2009-06-10T06:10:00.001-07:00

Willoughby 7917 / Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects

Posted using ShareThis

Winning Entries of FormShift Vancouver Announced

2009-05-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

FROM BUSTLER:

The winners of the first ever FormShift Vancouver have been selected. In the Vancouver Primary category, honors go to a submission from Calgary-based Sturgess Architecture. The Vancouver Secondary choice is Romses Architects (Scott Romses) – Vancouver. In the third and final category – Vancouver Wildcard – the nod goes to Go Design Collaborative (Jennifer Uegama and Pauline Thimm) of Vancouver. As first place finishers, the three contestants receive $6,000, $4,000 and $2,000 respectively.

Vancouver Primary Winner: Sturgess Architecture, Calgary: "Future buildings must produce rather than consume. All buildings located on primary sites should offer the city more than just density. In order to develop buildings that are ecologically friendly and sustainable, we must RE-THINK the traditional building components. THINK of the building as a variety of productive SURFACES."

Vancouver Secondary Winner: Romses Architects (Scott Romses), Vancouver: "Harvest Green challenges the status quo of how energy and food is produced and delivered in our city, neighbourhoods, and individual single-family homes. Mobile nomadic prefab laneway homes ('ModPods') are proposed to provide adaptable affordable housing for the city that will also offer sustainable energy and urban farming infrastructure for the immediate home as well as the city at large."

Vancouver Wildcard Winner: Go Design Collaborative, Vancouver: "At Vancouver's waterfront 'gateways', transportation, services, industry and homes collide. To protect industrial and agricultural land from condo development, DENcity : INTENcity proposes an energy-efficient large-span, "stacked" structure that permits endless reconfiguration and occupation. It would stand in Marpole as a beacon of Vancouver's commitment to bold innovation."

Final selections were made by a jury comprised of Canadian Architect editor Ian Chodikoff, world-renowned artist Stan Douglas, leading Vancouver architect Walter Francl, planning expert Nancy Knight, and City of Vancouver Director of Planning Brent Toderian.

"Overall the submissions were excellent," says Toderian. "The true value, I think, isn't just in the winners, but really in the totality of submissions. We received examples of good practice, best practice, and innovative new practice, all of which are useful at this key moment of opportunity for change."

In choosing the best of each category, jury members were also impressed with the attention given to community and social factors. Says Knight of the Vancouver Primary winner: "It is a thoughtful, refined, smart project, with beautiful porosity softening the density, and creative thinking about roofs, walls, floors and passageways. It also makes a great push of green building as a solution that includes social aspects such as usable space within and relationship with the adjacent neighborhood."

In addition to the three first-place finishers, the jury identified eight submissions worthy of honorable mention:

Vancouver Primary: Garon Sebastien & Chris Foyd – Vancouver; Romses Architects – Vancouver
Vancouver Secondary: Acme Architecture – Santa Barbara, California; CMO (Miller / Miller / Cavens) – Vancouver
Vancouver Wildcard: GBL Architects Inc. – Vancouver; Public Architecture + Communication – Vancouver; Idette de Boer & Magali Bailey – Vancouver; Wang Yiming – Burnaby

Vancouver Primary Honorable Mention: Garon Sebastien and Chris Foyd, Vancouver

The unique competition, co-hosted by the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver, challenged architects, designers and others with creative flair to submit innovative, built form ideas that will guide Vancouver's future growth. Competitors were encouraged to draw inspiration from several key initiatives developed by the city, including the Climate Change Action Plan, the EcoDensity Charter, and the Greenest City Action Team.

Vancouver Primary Honorable Mention: Romses Architects, Vancouver

Says Dorothy Barkley, executive director of the AIBC: "The value of a competition such as this is the opportunity it provides for new and emerging architects and firms, students and intern architects with fresh approaches and innovative ideas, to gain expression and recognition. It raises the profile of the profession, expands understanding and appreciation of the contribution that architects and architecture make to the shaping and texture of our communities."

Vancouver Secondary Honorable Mention: Acme Architecture, Santa Barbara, CA

The contest attracted 73 entrants and 84 submissions, including some from as far away as San Francisco, New York, Paris and Rotterdam. Identifying the best of the bunch was no easy task. "Considering that the competition welcomed entries from architects and non-designers alike, the overall quality of the submissions was very impressive,:" says Chodikoff. "While some lacked a methodological rigour, the intent was certainly there."

Vancouver Secondary Honorable Mention: CMO (Miller/Miller/Cavens), Vancouver

Jurors were impressed with the integration of wide-ranging ideas for sustainable development, including many that incorporated components of renewable energy on a community level, Vancouver's back lane conditions, urban agriculture, land parcellization and tenure, and various designs for green roof technologies. Many submissions also strongly addressed affordability and livability in the design. The winning submissions thoughtfully put forth multiple innovations and approaches.

Vancouver Wildcard Honorable Mention: GBL Architects Inc., Vancouver

Adds Chodikoff: "Vancouver has a unique opportunity of becoming a city that engenders environmental stewardship on a community level that might include neighbourhood food markets, waste-water harvesting and local energy production. These are themes that were reflected in the majority of the submissions."

Vancouver Wildcard Honorable Mention: Public Architecture and Communication, Vancouver

"Having a dialogue between the city and the architectural profession in B.C. is essential for the success of Vancouver," summarizes Chodikoff. "I applaud the efforts of both the City of Vancouver and the Architectural Institute of British Columbia , and I congratulate every participant who took the time to submit an entry in this competition."

Vancouver Wildcard Honorable Mention: Idette de Boer & Magali Bailey, Vancouver

The best and most innovative submissions will be featured as part of a series of public exhibitions and community dialogues, and used a a starting point for decisions about Vancouver's future growth.

"These design ideas can influence everything the city is doing, from review of policies to specific ideas like our laneway housing work," offers Toderian. "That is the power of this moment and why the competition was well-timed. Our need for boldness around climate change, and the challenges our new economy present, make this is the perfect time for new ideas to be explored.

Vancouver Wildcard Honorable Mention: Wang Yiming, Burnaby

In addition to the AIBC and the City of Vancouver, the competition received generous sponsorship support from Parklane Homes, Wall Financial Corporation, Grosvenor, PCI Group, thetyee.ca, and mcfarlane /green/biggar Architecture+ Design.

View article...

Khyber Ridge / Studio NminusOne

2009-04-23T06:09:00.001-07:00

Khyber Ridge / Studio NminusOne

Posted using ShareThis

The Dairy House / Skene Catling de la Peña

2009-03-23T18:45:00.001-07:00

From ArchDaily:

Architect: Skene Catling de la Peña
Location: Hadspen Estate, Somerset, England
Landscape: Niall Hobhouse
Lighting: Claire Spellman
General Contractor: Paul Longpré Furniture, Charles Clark
Client: Niall Hobhouse
Engineer: Anthony Ward Partnership
Project Year: US $668,000
Constructed Area: 253 sqm
Photographs: James Morris

The conversion of a former Dairy to a five-bedroom house with a small pool. The project sits in an 850 acre Estate in Somerset. Pragmatically the space was to be re-planned; lean-to sheds removed and an extension added to create a total of four to five bedrooms, three bathrooms, more generous circulation space with rooms of better proportions. The brief changed during the design; what was originally to be a letting property became a retreat for the Client; a place to escape the main Estate. It was to be discreet with the intervention to appear as a natural extension of the existing structure. The design set out to appear 'un-designed'.

The design was to combine privacy and seclusion with openness to the wider landscape. The inspiration was both literal, in the stacked timber in the yard opposite, and literary, in the 18th century 'La Petite Maison - An Architectural Seduction', architectural treatise and erotic novella by Jean-Francois de Bastide.

The extension houses two bathrooms; everything behind the retaining wall can be flooded with water. Layered oak and laminated float glass produce an eerie, filtered light. The dematerialising effect of refraction and reflection create an aquatic underworld. The way the light moves around the house over the course of the day draws the user through it. In the morning low light floods the east with the glass acting as a prism that projects watery green lozenges over floors and walls. By midday, the sun is overhead, streaming through the roof light slot and penetrating the two-way mirror bridge giving views from the ground floor through the building. At night this is reversed, and the flames in the fireplace are visible through the floor of the landing.

The aim was to use as many local materials as possible. Estate timber is planked and dried in the storage barns in the farmyard opposite the site, and the method of drying - where raw planks are separated by spacers to allow air circulation - became the generator of the logic and aesthetic of the extension. The glass was layered in the same manner. The pieces increase in depth towards the base to reinforce a sense of weight and rustication.

Rather than demolishing and rebuilding, the sense of 'retreat' was to be reinforced through 'camouflage'; the form and massing of the extension echoes and compliments the existing structure. The house was to appear unchanged from the outside, and to reveal itself on entering - against expectations. The entrance sequence was to discourage casual callers. The most private spaces became the most generous and luxurious; this was to be a building that privileges solitude.

The Construction Process:

The gable end walls were conceived of as rigid beams which span between the large steels fixed to the existing building and the bank opposite. The construction alternates interlocking layers of oak and laminated glass blocks. The extension was constructed by a local cabinet maker - Paul Longpré - used to millimetre tolerances and very fine finishes. The timber was cut and finished in his workshop two miles from the site, and the glass blocks laminated by a specialist glass worker nearby.

The oak retains the waney edge on the outside; the inside is finely sanded. Similarly, the blocks of laminated glass are left rough on the exterior, and are polished on the interior. The glass draws light through the walls to create the effect of lightweight construction internally, while the exterior appears as much heavier, rougher and rustic. The structure was built up of the prefabricated pieces on site. The glass blocks sit on rubber gaskets which in turn sit directly on the timber. A foam seal sits on the surface of the blocks to form a weatherproof movement joint, clear silicon forms a final weather seal. Pilkington donated the glass for the extension as this technique has not been used before.

Glass has been utilized in many different forms to reinforce the conceptual 'serial unraveling' of the house. Sensually, the laminated glass blocks form a watery barrier as structure and skin, sending refracted light around the bathing spaces allowing a sense of enclosure from, and connection to, the landscape outside. Instrument Glass, who produce lenses for scientific and military use, provided four 'windows' of low iron glass blocks for selected views out. Two-way mirror emulates the water in the bathing pool as a strip through the building, allowing views through two floors depending on relative light levels/the time of the day. Used at the entrance, it reflects the landscape at the approach to the house dematerializing the staircase and base of the building and making it appear transparent. It also forms a screen for the strip of light bulbs marking the main door. A pair of antique telescopes set into the two way mirrored wall construction, allow scrutiny of visitors to the house. Self-cleaning glass forms the screen to the pool, and the roof-light glazing.

View article...

The Therme Vals / Peter Zumthor

2009-02-15T07:53:00.001-08:00

From Archdaily but I love this building so much.

Built over the only thermal springs in the Graubunden Canton in Switzerland, The Therme Vals is a hotel and spa in one which combines a complete sensory experience designed by Peter Zumthor.

Peter Zumthor designed the spa/baths which opened in 1996 to pre date the existing hotel complex. The idea was to create a form of cave or quarry like structure. Working with the natural surroundings the bath rooms lay below a grass roof structure half buried into the hillside. The Therme Vals is built from layer upon layer of locally quarried Valser Quarzite slabs. This stone became the driving inspiration for the design, and is used with great dignity and respect.

"Mountain, stone, water – building in the stone, building with the stone, into the mountain, building out of the mountain, being inside the mountain – how can the implications and the sensuality of the association of these words be interpreted, architecturally?" Peter Zumthor

This space was designed for visitors to luxuriate and rediscover the ancient benefits of bathing. The combinations of light and shade, open and enclosed spaces and linear elements make for a highly sensuous and restorative experience. The underlying informal layout of the internal space is a carefully modelled path of circulation which leads bathers to certain predetermined points but lets them explore other areas for themselves. The perspective is always controlled. It either ensures or denies a view.

"The meander, as we call it, is a designed negative space between the blocks, a space that connects everything as it flows throughout the entire building, creating a peacefully pulsating rhythm. Moving around this space means making discoveries. You are walking as if in the woods. Everyone there is looking for a path of their own." Peter Zumthor

The fascination for the mystic qualities of a world of stone within the mountain, for darkness and light, for light reflections on the water or in the steam saturated air, pleasure in the unique acoustics of the bubbling water in a world of stone, a feeling of warm stones and naked skin, the ritual of bathing – these notions guided the architect. Their intention to work with these elements, to implement them consciously and to lend them to a special form was there from the outset. The stone rooms were designed not to compete with the body, but to flatter the human form (young or old) and give it space…room in which to be.

Architects: Peter Zumthor, with Marc Loeliger, Thomas Durisch and Rainer Weitschies
Location: Graubunden Canton, Switzerland
Project completed: 1996

View article...

“Pavilion of Infinity” Winning Concept for Hong Kong’s Shanghai 2010 Pavilion

2009-01-19T17:29:00.001-08:00

From Bustler:

The concept design "Pavilion of Infinity", by Chan Wai Ching and Sze Ki Shan Ida, has been named winner in the competition for The Hong Kong Pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

"The Shanghai Expo will provide an opportunity for us to showcase Hong Kong's city charms, quality city life and to promote Hong Kong's creative industries," said Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government intends to build its pavilion with distinct characteristics to highlight the theme, "Hong Kong — A City with Unlimited Potential." It will be an integral part of the China Pavilion at the expo.

The winning entry , "Pavilion of Infinity," has three levels. According to the designers' idea, the middle level is mostly open, transparent space. This level will provide the pavilion with an appearance that symbolizes the infinite imagination and creativity of Hong Kong and its people.

The Pavilion of Infinity's concept will be the blueprint for the detailed design and development of the Hong Kong Pavilion.

Second prize winner of the competition was "Matrix Hong Kong" by Wong Hak Kong Claude, Yu Siu Fung Frank, Fong Ching To Solomon, Wang Ho, Chan King Tai Alexander, Liu Kwok On, Chan Yau Shing Victor, Chu Wing Hin Raymond, and Ting Man Kit Ricky.

Images: Hong Kong Institute of Architects

View article...

2009 AIA Honor Awards for Excellence in Architecture, Interiors, and Urban Design

2009-01-19T17:16:00.000-08:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) have selected the 2009 recipients of the AIA Institute Honor Awards, the profession's highest recognition of works that exemplify excellence in architecture, interior architecture and urban design. Selected from over 700 total submissions, 25 recipients located throughout the world will be honored in April at the AIA 2009 National Convention and Design Exposition in San Francisco.

2009 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture:

The 2009 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture recognize nine unique projects. The types of projects range from cathedrals to trend-setting residential projects. These projects have a tremendous impact on the social and physical fabric of the communities they serve. Many were designed with budget constraints and a number of projects were a reuse of existing buildings or an integration of old with new. Jury members include: Jury Chair David Lake, FAIA, Lake | Flato Architects; Carlton Brown, Full Spectrum of New York; Michael B. Lehrer, FAIA, Lehrer Architects; James J. Malanaphy, III, AIA, The 160 Group, Ltd; Paul Mankins, FAIA, Substance Architecture Interiors Design; Anna McCorvey, AIAS Director, Northeast Quad; Anne Schopf, FAIA, Mahlum Architects; Suman Sorg, FAIA, Sorg and Associates, P.C.; and Denise Thompson, Assoc. AIA, Francis Cauffman.

Basilica of the Assumption, Baltimore
John G. Waite Associates, Architects PLLC

Basilica of the Assumption

Restoration of the Basilica of the Assumption (also known as the Baltimore Cathedral), a major architectural landmark and masterpiece of the Federal style, removes a century and a half of obscuring alterations to bring back Benjamin Henry Latrobe's concept of luminosity and spatial configuration. The now fully functioning cathedral again serves the people of Baltimore while reclaiming one of America's most brilliant architectural designs, by its first professional architect; one that greatly influenced the development of the country's architecture.

Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, California
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Cathedral of Christ the Light, Photo: SOM, Cesar Rubio

The Cathedral of Christ the Light resonates as a place of worship and conveys an inclusive statement of welcome and openness as the community's symbolic soul. The glass, wood, and concrete structure ennobles and inspires through the use of light, material, and form.

Charles Hostler Student Center, Beirut, Lebanon
VJAA
The Hostler Center integrates social gathering spaces for students and faculty with sports facilities, a theater, and underground parking. Challenging the idea of a single large-scale building and similarly scaled open plaza, the project instead proposes multiple building volumes interconnected into a continuous field of habitable space by its gardens and green roofs.

The Gary Comer Youth Center, Chicago
John Ronan Architects
This 74,000-square-foot youth center, located in one of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods, demonstrates a commitment to social progress in providing a constructive environment for area youths to spend their after-school hours. The center provides support for the programs of a 300-member drill team/performance group for children of ages 8 to 18 and provides space for various youth educational and recreational programs for disadvantaged children to better their chances of success in life.

Horno³: Museo del Acero, Monterey, Mexico
Grimshaw Architects
Horno3: Museo Del Acero comprises a full restoration of a once-derelict 1960s blast furnace. The abandoned furnace structure and cast hall are the centerpiece of the museum, housing an interactive exhibit that brings the old furnace to life, allowing visitors the unique experience of touring inside this piece of industrial history.

The Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life, New Orleans
VJAA

The Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life, Photo: Paul Crosby

The challenge was to transform a rigidly compartmentalized and environmentally inefficient building into a dynamic, sustainable new university center. Only the existing concrete structure was retained, saving roughly $8 million in construction cost. The project was successfully completed for $189/SF, 14 months after Hurricane Katrina. Many of the sustainable design strategies used (canopies, shutters, balconies, and fans) were adapted from climate-responsive architecture traditional to New Orleans.

The New York Times Building, New York City
Renzo Piano Building Workshop and FXFowle Architects

The New York Times Building, Photo: Carmen

The New York Times Building incorporates many transcendental themes in good architecture—volume, views, light, respect for context, relationship to the street—with a design that is open and inviting, providing its occupants with a sense of the city around them.

Plaza Apartments, San Francisco
Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects
Located on a prominent corner in an improving San Francisco redevelopment area, this new, mixed-use project provides permanent housing for the chronically homeless as a pilot project of Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Dept. of Public Health's "Housing First" program, which is a cornerstone of the city's 10-year plan to end homelessness. The sustainably designed 9-story building provides 106 highly efficient studio apartments with on-site mental and physical health services for the residents.

Salt Point House, Salt Point, New York
Thomas Phifer and Partners
Constructed of elegantly efficient and economical materials, this 2,200-square-foot house in New York's Hudson Valley is sited on a meadow with views to a small private lake. The house is carefully sited to take advantage of the prevailing summer breezes. Strategically placed operable windows and ventilating skylights allow the breeze to flow through the home.

2009 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture:

The 2009 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture recognize 10 projects. The jury was drawn to projects that skillfully used natural light and provided unique architectural approaches to common design problems. Jury members include: Jury Chair Mark P. Sexton, FAIA, Krueck & Sexton Architects; Joan Blumenfeld, FAIA, Perkins + Will; Elisabeth Knibbe, AIA, Quinn Evans Architects; Arvind Manocha, Los Angeles Philharmonic Association; and Kevin Sneed, AIA, OTJ Architects,

Barclays Global Investors Headquarters, San Francisco
STUDIOS Architecture

Barclays Global Investors Headquarters, Photo: STUDIOS Architecture

Barclays Global Investors' new headquarters office embraces innovation within a professional environment through thoughtful, sophisticated design and provides the infrastructure necessary to meet the firm's significant technological demands. The design encourages collaboration and interaction, interspersing break areas within work areas, and offers a variety of meeting spaces.

Chronicle Books , San Francisco
Mark Cavagnero Associates
Chronicle Books, a popular San Francisco-based publishing company, needed a new home. Chronicle Books' new home now reflects their strong communal values, fosters innovation, and responds to their unique relationship to books. In support of the office's workflow, new circulation between floors provides intuitive access and visual connections. The varied spaces create an open, charged social atmosphere while preserving personal space for quiet and concentration.

The Heckscher Foundation for Children, New York City
Christoff:Finio architecture
Commissioned by the Heckscher Foundation for Children, this project transforms a stoic neo-Georgian townhouse built in 1902 in New York City into a modern interior for the foundation's administration, providing offices, a boardroom, and small conference spaces. By incising a shaft of daylight from the ground floor to rooftop, the organization of the building's activity is centered on a single gesture of light and space.

Jigsaw, Washington, D.C.
David Jameson Architect

Jigsaw, Photo: Nic Lehoux

Recycling a single-story suburban house located on a busy corner site, Jigsaw introverts itself in a continuous spatial flow around an open air courtyard carved from the home's remains. A matrix of spaces is linked by movement through them as stories merge and spaces relate to each other as they rise and fall in a series of interlocked puzzle-like volumes.

R.C. Hedreen, Seattle
NBBJ
R.C. Hedreen Company's new office goes beyond practice to a transformative experience that creates a new kind of environment for conducting business. The project called for a complete remodel of the second floor in Seattle's 1927 Art-Deco Olympic Tower building and transitioned the company from a small, traditional office space to a large, open environment offering functionality and sophistication.

School of American Ballet, New York City
Diller Scofidio + Renfro

School of American Ballet, Photo: Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The expansion project for the School of American Ballet is located in the facilities of the official training academy for the New York City Ballet. The 8,200-square-foot project includes the addition of two new dance studios within the space of two existing ones. Like nesting dolls, each of the new studios is housed in the volume of the existing.

Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, New York City
Lyn Rice Architects
The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center establishes a new 32,800sf campus nexus for Parsons The New School for Design by uniting and comprehensively re-organizing the street-level spaces of the school's four discrete buildings around a new campus quad. The center performs as an expansive urban threshold that draws together the school's creative programs and its vibrant Greenwich Village context.

Tishman Speyer Corporate Headquarters, New York City
Lehman Smith McLeish
The Corporate Headquarters for Tishman Speyer Properties is located in the historic Rockefeller Center. The project relocated Tishman's corporate office and consolidated business units in this flagship space, which is one of the firm's signature properties. Modifications to the 1931 building created dramatic spaces that highlight the firm's forward-thinking mission, mirrored most prominently by their Modern art collection.

Town House, Washington, D.C.
Robert M. Gurney, FAIA
Built like its neighbors, over a century ago and part of a continuous network of buildings in a historical district, this town house has been completely renovated. Floor openings with bridges, skylights, and a three story galvanized steel wall animate the spaces and integrate the floors vertically. Exposed brick walls, painted white are juxtaposed to blue epoxy floors. Glass and steel elements compose the spaces and unify a diverse but consistent palette of materials, resulting in a Modern spatial quality within a traditional town house typology.

World Headquarters for IFAW—Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts
designLAB architects
The World Headquarters for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) established a precedent for a new work environment that is also a model for sustainable, low-impact development for the surrounding region. The desired building was to be transparent and open to reflect their honesty and communication. It was to be contemporary to reflect their global advocacy, yet inspired by the local vernacular. The result is a remarkable synergy of inhabitation that is reflected in the project at all scales.

2009 Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design:

Six projects were selected to receive the 2009 Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design. The projects range from singular buildings with an impact on the urban context, to zoning codes and master plan projects, to designs for entirely new cities. The 2009 Institute Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design Jury included: Jury Chair Jonathan J. Marvel, AIA, Rogers Marvel Architects PLLC; Samuel Assefa, Assoc. AIA, City of Chicago, Department of Planning and Development; Tim Love, AIA, Utile Inc. / Architecture + Planning; Ivenue Love-Stanley, FAIA, Stanley Love-Stanley PC; and Stephanie Reich, AIA, City of Glendale, Planning Division.

Foshan Donghuali Master Plan, Guangdong, China
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Foshan Donghuali Master Plan, Image: SOM, Christopher Grubbs

With unremitting high-rise development threatening Foshan's Old Town, city officials sought ways to conserve the ancient area while simultaneously creating a sustainable, modern central district able to meet the inevitable need for growth of a burgeoning city of 3.5 million. The plan is built at a density able to support a new, transit-oriented, mixed-use downtown while at the same time defraying the costs of preserving and restoring the vibrancy of the city's historic Old Town and Temple. The Foshan Plan aims at providing a new model for historic conservation and revitalization that can apply throughout China.

Orange County Great Park, Irvine, California
TEN Arquitectos

Orange County Great Park, Image: TEN Arquitectos

Orange County California's Great Park will bring over 1,400 acres of urban parkland to the city of Irvine and the surrounding region. Planned on the former site of El Toro Air Force base, this large tract of undeveloped land will include a man-made canyon that runs through the park and will support a diverse range of active and passive programs. A great lawn, sports park, botanical gardens, and several arts and cultural facilities, including a large outdoor amphitheater will be programmed into the park.

Between Neighborhood Watershed & Home, Fayetteville, Arkansas
University of Arkansas Community Design Center
This 43-unit Habitat for Humanity residential project is a pilot LEED-Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) to be built for $60/sq ft plus infrastructure costs. The objective is to design a demonstration project that combines affordability with best environmental practices as designated by the U.S. Green Building Council. Porchscapes is a Low Impact Development (LID) project funded under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Section 319 Program for Nonpoint Source Pollution. LID is an ecological stormwater management approach that sustains a site's predevelopment hydrologic regime with treatment landscapes distributed throughout the project.

Southworks Lakeside Chicago Development, Chicago
Sasaki Associates, Inc. and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP
Located in Chicago's historic Southside neighborhood, the former South Works steel mill site is the largest vacant site for redevelopment in the city. At more than 600 acres and with 1.5 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, the site offers a milestone opportunity to create an innovative and sustainable new community that will be compact, pedestrian-oriented, and closely tied to transit, which will connect people to the lakefront for the first time in over a century.

The Central Park of the New Radiant City, Guangming New Town, China
Lee + Mundwiler Architects
The Central Park of the New Radiant City covers 2.37 km2 in Shenzhen, China. The city was selected as Communist China's first foray into capitalism because of its proximity to Hong Kong. Shenzhen flourished during the 1980-90s rapid industrialization, which destroyed much of the natural environment and significantly increased pollution levels. Many migrant workers flocked to Shenzhen to work in the booming industries.

Treasure Island Master Plan, San Francisco
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Treasure Island Master Plan, Image: SOM

Bold moves set the framework for the redevelopment of Treasure Island. A complex and thoroughly articulated urban design and architectural plan establishes relationships among buildings, public open space, transportation, views, and natural forces, creating a compact, transit-oriented community with a commitment to sustainability unparalleled in the San Francisco Bay Area.

View article...

Winners of Wallpaper* Design Awards 2009 Revealed

2009-01-19T17:08:00.001-08:00

Via Wallpaper*:

The results are finally here: the best of the best and the very highly commended of the rest, as chosen by our esteemed panel of judges - Kanye West, Jean Nouvel, Ines de la Fressange, Marc Newson, Sir Ken Adam and Stefano Pilati. Browse the winners and runners-up below. And check out the current issue (W* 119) for the full portfolio of portraits of our judges as well as extended text on the winning entries.

For videos interviews with the judges and behind the scenes footage of our shoot however, you will have to wait till January 26th, when our film chanel, Wallpaper* Video, goes live.

Judges' awards: the winners

Best new domestic appliance: joint winners (to see the runners up, click on the winners below)

'Ciussai' heater by G Di Tullio and S Ragaini

Hob and oven by Marc Newson for Smeg

Furniture designer of the year (to see the runners up, click on the winner below)

Patrick Norguet

Best new restaurant (to see the runners up, click on the winner below)

Banq, Boston, by Office dA

Best new or renovated hotel (to see the runners up, click on the winner below)

The Dolder Grand, Zurich, by Foster + Partners and United Designers

Best new private house (to see the runners up, click on the winner below)

Final Wooden House, Japan, by Sou Fujimoto

Best new public building (to see the runners up, click on the winner below)

BMW Welt, Germany, by Coop Himmelb(l)au

Best city (to see the runners up, click on the winner below)

Paris

Best men's fashion collection (to see the runners up, click on the winner below)

Junya Watanabe A/W 2008

Best women's fashion collection (to see the runners up, click on the winner below)

Yves Saint Laurent A/W 2008

Best new grooming product (to see the runners up, click on the winner below)

Le 2 de Guerlain Mascara by Guerlain

Most life-enhancing product (to see the runners up, click on the winner below)

'Bloomframe' by Hofman Dujardin Architects

Images and text via Wallpaper*.

View article...

Beautiful Lake Huron Floating House by MOS

2009-01-18T20:35:00.001-08:00

This beautiful, 1-bedroom lake cabin, designed by MOS, rests on a platform of steel pontoons that allows the house to ride with the fluctuations of the lake. The house itself is a handsome structure with simple and clean lines, but it is the location and surroundings that really make it such a desirable home. SpaceInvading

Huxtable Reviewed

2009-01-03T10:49:00.001-08:00

Justin Davidson reviews the recently published Collected Reflections on a Century of Change. This career-spanning collection of articles and essays he writes, demonstrates that Huxtables work remains the gold standard of criticism and not just the architectural variety because she brings to the job a rare combination of aesthetic certitude and roving curiosity. NYT

Passivhaus jumps the shark?

2009-01-03T10:41:00.003-08:00

Elisabeth Rosenthal covers all the usual points; extreme energy efficiency, affordability (at least within Germancy) and some of the factors preventing it's wide-spread adoption in the USA. NYT

Hotel room of the future or flying saucer?

2009-01-03T10:41:00.001-08:00

At the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organisation, they have developed a "hotel room of the future".The experimental room has been assembled in a giant laboratory. The idea is to show hotels how new technology can help guests relax. BBC News

Weatherization better than you think..

2009-01-01T08:41:00.001-08:00

About 140,000 houses will be weatherized with public help this year, a total that President-elect Barack Obama has promised to raise to one million, which would reduce energy consumption and cut energy costs for households and taxpayers, who often absorb those costs for the poor. Weatherizing a million homes annually would also create about 78,000 jobs for a year, according to the federal Energy Departments weatherization project director, Gil Sperlin. NYT

Historic Basque Factory Gets a Makeover

2008-12-31T17:01:00.001-08:00

The design team, formed by Jon Montero and Naiara Montero from Barcelona, has recently won the international competition for the renovation of the Tabakalera, a former tobacco factory, now historic cultural center, in Donostia-San Sebastian. Bustler

Before the Levees Break: A Plan to Save the Netherlands

2008-12-29T17:37:00.001-08:00

Ever since the 1953 flood, the Dutch have relied on a simple but effective equation for modeling flooding risk, risk = (probability of failure) x (projected cost of damage). Now concerned about the effects of rising sea levels the newly formed Deltacommittee has released a plan to protect highly vunerable areas of the Netherlands over the next two centuries Wired

Nation's First 'Underwater Wind Turbine' Installed in Old Man River

2008-12-29T17:36:00.001-08:00

The nation's first commercial hydrokinetic turbine, which harnesses the power from moving water without the construction of a dam, has splashed into the waters of the Mississippi River near Hastings, Minnesota. Wired

European Universities Pick Competition Winners

2008-12-25T20:11:00.003-08:00

In Austria, Zaha Hadid Architects have been selected as the architects of the Library and Learning Center at the University of Economics & Business, Vienna. In the UK, Glenn Howells Architects have been appointed to develop the campus master plan and the refurbishment of associated buildings at Newman University College, Birmingham.

A letter to the NYT

2008-12-25T20:11:00.001-08:00

Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr replying to the NYT about this article just previously posted also at Archinect... well done Cameron!

Two new 4,300-year-old tombs discovered near Cairo

2008-12-23T19:15:00.001-08:00

Egyptian archaeologists have found the tombs of two court officials, in charge of music and pyramid building, in a 4,000 year old cemetery from the reign of Pharaoh Unas. Slideshow

Double Decker Modernism

2008-12-23T16:09:00.001-08:00

The joint submission by Foster + Partners and Aston Martin has won first prize, alongside Capoco Design, in Transport for Londons competition to design a new bus for the capital. Bustler

Archinect Op-Ed: Global Systems vs. Local Platforms

2008-12-23T16:07:00.001-08:00

From Archinect:

by John Robb We are in the midst of radical social and economic change brought on by the emergence of a global system that is completely and utterly uncontrollable -- it is too big, too fast, and too complex to control. Unfortunately, the lack of a global control system means that we face a long series of increasingly severe shocks (due to the systems tight coupling, each new shock will sweep the world in months), wrecking long standing and established structures with ease. The first shocks, a bubble in energy and a financial crisis, have already done significant damage. More are on the way as the global system moves ever farther from normal patterns of operation. So, how does this impact the future of architecture and design? In general, this means that designers will need to focus less on macro or global level needs and much, much more on the needs of the local. Why? The solutions to macro level instability will be found in the development of local communitys that build systems and organizations that enable them to both withstand systemic shocks and prosper based on internal dynamics. This is nearly inevitable since architecture and design flow to sources of growth, and we will only see prolonged growth at the local and not the macro level. The first change will require architecture and design that transforms previously unproductive spaces most residences and communities are black holes of productivity into spaces that can produce value, from food to energy. A home, whether it is an apartment building or suburban residence, in 2025 will gain its value from its ability to efficiently produce necessities, and even income (as measured by the value of the output in local trade), for the owner. Community design will in turn focus on the creation of platforms that support and catalyze increases in production for the community as a whole. NOTE: For those that are unfamiliar with the concept of a platform, it finds its roots in the technology industry. Essentially, it is a system that simplifies a set of processes required for a given activity and bundles them into an easily accessible package. For example, the Internet is a platform. Platforms radically accelerate development and often foster the creation of diverse ecosystems of participants that rapidly innovate to fill the available opportunity/space. Within resilient communities, we will see the establishment of platforms that make it easier to grow/sell food, produce/share/sell energy, trade, share ideas/methods (social software), produce products (fab labs), collect/share/sell water and much more. For example, to accelerate the ability to share/sell energy within a community, smart grid technology and microgrids provide an excellent avenue of approach. More specifically, if my domestic wood-fired, combined heat power (CHP) system produces excess electricity, I could either sell it into the community's microgrid or store it locally depending on the pricing information I get from smart grid data flows. Another example would be platforms that support local agriculture. Platforms in this category such as vegitecture support localized agriculture and food production and include; centrally located open space for farmers markets, small fenced garden plots that can be rented, local cold storage, groves of nut trees, community composting systems, green roofs/walls and much more. If this sounds like a return to the 19th Century way of life you would be wrong. IF done correctly, the intensity of production and the productivity of participants will be orders of magnitude higher than during that earlier period. Further, IF done correctly it promises a rapid, broad and sustainable increase in standards of living for all participants. So, get ready and get innovating, for if we can crack the design of the models necessary to accomplish this, it will propagate virally across the entire world.

John Robb is a former USAF pilot in special operations and software/IT entrepreneur. His book Brave New War , and website Global Guerillas are both excellent resources for anyone interested in exploring the future security challenges and opportunities for enhancing modern society's adaptability and resilience in todays rapidly changing globally, networked environment. Currently he is exploring the topic of resilient communities and how communities can shield and/or insulate themselves from such rapidly changing conditions by developing local capacity. In the Op-Ed above he discusses a few ways in which architects and other design professionals can contribute to the development of such capacity.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Losing Lousiana

2008-12-23T16:06:00.003-08:00

Because of subsidence and global warming, Louisiana is slowly disappearing

Can Cities Save the Planet?

2008-12-23T16:06:00.001-08:00

Scientists are skeptical. Planners are hopeful. The Dutch are pragmatic. Witold Rybczynski for Slate

Paul Goldberger: Architectures Ten Best of 2008

2008-12-23T16:03:00.001-08:00

The Architecture Critic for The New Yorker weighs in on his picks for the best of '08. Read

Student sabotage's of BLM drilling rights sale

2008-12-23T16:02:00.001-08:00

Amy goodman interviews Tim DeChristopher , who bought drilling rights to 22,000 acres around Arches National Parkin protest to the Bush Admin's rush to squander our national resources. His bidding costs oil and gas companies $$$$ for the other 150,000 acres. He was arrested and the bidding ended in chaos.

Homeless? Get a Porsche!

2008-12-22T12:51:00.001-08:00

If this economy gets worse, we may soon start seeing more Porsches on the roads. Porsche-shaped tents, that is. Michael Rakowitzs P(L)OT project is a car-shaped tent that restores parking spaces to pedestrians as street-side camping. CCA-Actions | Via SC

Unity Temple wins $200,000 federal grant to aid repairs

2008-12-21T09:05:00.001-08:00

The historic Frank Lloyd Wright buildingtroubled by crumbling ceilings, leaky walls and the prospect of a repair bill of more than $1 million (has) just won a $200,000 federal grant.

Flickr The Commons

2008-12-19T12:40:00.001-08:00

The key goals of The Commons on Flickr are to firstly show hidden treasures in the world's public photography archives, and secondly to show how your input and knowledge can help make these collections even richer. Fantastic, copyright free imagery. Here is a result for Architecture >

For I. M. Pei, History Is Still Happening

2008-12-19T12:27:00.001-08:00

Nicolai Ouroussoff follows up his previous article on I. M. Pei's latest project with thoughts on the architect's career: I CANT seem to get the Museum of Islamic Art out of my mind. Theres nothing revolutionary about the building. But its clean, chiseled forms have a tranquillity that distinguishes it in an age that often seems trapped somewhere between gimmickry and a cloying nostalgia. NYT | Slideshow

Designs to Beat the Downturn Blues

2008-12-19T12:25:00.001-08:00

We might have had a bleak end to 2008, but it was actually a good year for splendid buildings and inspiring architectural exhibitions. BD asks 18 major players in the business to pick out their highlights from the past year. BD

Kalita Humphries Theater

2008-12-17T20:02:00.001-08:00

Kalita Humphries Theater, originally uploaded by Super Bjorn.

I hit 30,000 views today. Congrats everyone so here is a Frank Lloyd Wright building for you. A great theater and old home for the Dallas Theater Center before the head over to the new Wyly Theater.

Working out of the Box: Annalisa Dominoni

2008-12-16T18:38:00.001-08:00

From Archinect:

Working out of the Box is a series of features presenting architects who have applied their architecture backgrounds to alternative career paths. Are you an architect working out of the box? Do you know of someone that has changed careers and has an interesting story to share? If you would like to suggest an (ex-)architect, please send us a message.

This week we present Annalisa Dominoni, an Italian architect who has applied her architectural education and experience to design architecture, products, and clothing for space travel and extreme environments. Archinect: Where did you study architecture? Annalisa Dominoni: At the Facoltࠤi Architettura of Politecnico di Milano. At what point in your life did you decide to pursue architecture? When I chose an artistic secondary school, my idea was to continue studies at the Academia of Art, but during those years I developed a strong interest towards architecture, which became stronger when I took my diploma. I've always had the ability to visualize space and volumes in relation to the users and his perception. I liked to think in 3D and work with study models at different scales to understand dimensions and proportions. When did you decide to stop pursuing architecture? Why? After my degree in Architecture, I opened an Architecture and Design bureau. At the same time, I wrote for various architecture and design journals such as Domus and Abitare, maintaining a connection with the university (I was assistant in the design courses). After three years, when I decided to start my academic career, I chose the theme for my PhD Industrial Design for Space trying to understand if an architect, a designer, could have a role in this field - generally characterized by engineers, biologists, physics etc, - and what that role would be.

Dome C Concordia Base - Scientific Research on High Antarctic Plateau

Habitability Design Expertise - Dome C Concordia Base, Antarctica

Fortunately, at that moment, there were two competitions for the technological utilization of the International Space Station. I presented two proposals which were both accepted. The first proposal was the design of a new integrated clothing system to be used during the IVA (Intra-Vehicular Activities), and the second one was the design of a new light fitness system to be used by the crew as a countermeasure in microgravity. During this time I was the editor and director of Techne Magazine, an important scientific and technology journal which was going very well. With success from the industries and the public, I had the space programs to develop, the PhD and no more time to devote to architecture I had to make a choice Describe your current profession. Professor at the Facoltࠤel Design of Politecnico di Milano teaching strategic design and innovation systems. Director of the SPIN-DESIGN LAB project research laboratory, characterized by a wide multidisciplinary transversality, where academic and industrial skills are combined. Research areas of SPIN-DESIGN include space and extreme environment, prosthetic objects, innovation and techno-textile_DESIGN. My projects aim at increasing comfort and adaptability in extreme and little-known environments, and human conditions encompassing the design of high tech and innovative industrial products.

International Space Station ISS

Director of TECHDESIGN research centre, a collaboration between the Politecnico di Milano and TexClubTec. TECHDESIGN research centre aims to study and find applications to market innovative fabrics and materials, defining future scenarios and designing new product families. Member of AIAA/DECT/ASASC (AIAA, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, DECT, Design Engineering Technical Committee, ASASC, Aerospace Architecture Subcommittee) in which I am involved in different branches such as Education and Research/Design. Ive developed research projects with research bodies as ENEA, and Space agencies such as ASI, Italian Space Agency, ESA, European Space Agency and NASA, with the co-operation of major industries such as Thales Alenia Space and Laben, and the other companies such as ABB, Aerosekur, Benetton Group, Domino, Electrolux Zanussi, Sealed Air, TechnoGym, Prada, Usag etc.

Columbus Module at the International Space Station ISS

Experiment in Space My Space design projects have been tested on board the International Space Station, ISS, by the astronaut Roberto Vittori. Principal Investigator of VEST Experiment, an integrated clothing support system to be used in microgravity condition, launched from Baikonur Space base in Kazakistan, MARCO POLO Mission, ASI, April 2002. Principal Investigator of GOAL (Garments for Orbital Activities in weightLessness), ENEIDE Mission, ESA, April 2005, obtaining the ENEIDE MISSION AWARD from ESA.

GOAL, Garments for Orbital Activities in weightLessness, ENEIDE Mission

Ive developed many feasibility studies on habitability in extreme environments as BASE CONCORDIA in Antarctica, a feasibility study to design alternative solutions for interiors and equipment, ENEA, 2002, and in Space conditions as MEEMM, a feasibility study to increase usability of experimental equipment on Columbus Laboratory of the International Space Station, ESA, 2003.

Intra-Vehicular Activities IVA

Publications The results of my research projects have been presented in international conferences and published in proceedings and scientific journals. In 2002, I published the book Industrial Design for Space that contains the reflections and the projects for living in Space and that defines the role of design in Space project activities. From 1999 to 2001, I was editor and director of the technological innovation journal Techne World Wide Magazine. What skills did you gain from architecture school, or working in the architecture industry, that have contributed to your success in your current career? As a space architect, I design Lunar and Mars bases and equipment which requires specific skills and competence similar to traditional architecture disciplines. Also, technology and innovation have been very important in my career to define a new field of application in different areas, from intelligent fabrics (think about textile materials for inflatable habitation modules in Space but also tensile structure used in different context on Earth) to nanotechnologies (for example the sensor systems integrated into materials to monitoring building structures and equipment, or the surface nanostructured treatments to improve the performances of the materials) taking in mind the importance of the users need in relation with the design of the artificial world, the third skin (the architecture).

Mars base design for Facility for Integrated Planetary Exploration Simulation (FIPES)

Do you have an interest in returning to architecture? As you can see, there are so many skills and activities in common between my current work and architecture that allow me to maintain my interests in a design continuum made of objects and tools at different scales. As says a famous title from Triennales exhibition in Milan From spoon to the city. At the same manner, I could say From Space to the Earth.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

View article...

Future Wyly Theater

2008-12-16T17:51:00.001-08:00

Future Wyly Theater, originally uploaded by Super Bjorn.

The Future Wyly Theater in Dallas, TX.

The Audacity of Hope for Better Public Works

2008-12-15T19:20:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday, President-elect Obama announced plans for a "public works construction program" that will be "the largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s." Is he talking about architecture? I'm not getting my hopes up. Robert Campbell for the Boston Globe

Plectic Architecture?

2008-12-14T16:18:00.001-08:00

Plectic Architecture -Towards a Theory of the Post-Digital in Architecture. Professor Neil Spiller-Director-AVATAR Bartlett School of Architecture, via Beyond the Beyond

ShowCase: The Mondri and Elano Hotel

2008-12-14T15:13:00.001-08:00

From Archinect:

ShowCase is an on-going feature series on Archinect, presenting exciting new work from designers representing all creative fields and all geographies. We are always accepting nominations for upcoming ShowCase features - if you would like to suggest a project, please send us a message.

How do we make a hotel of genuine experiences in Las Vegas, the City of Pastiche? How do we extract the identity of the Mondrian and the Delano Hotels without producing copycat versions? How do we maximize the benefits of a large-scale complex without losing the identity and individual logistics of its parts? How do we address a mass audience while retaining the exclusivity required by a long tradition of ground breaking hotels? And finally, how do we create the Small and Intimate when the program is huge and imposing?

↑ Click image to enlarge
Outside image (Click on this and all of the images to get a detailed view)

↑ Click image to enlarge
Outside image

↑ Click image to enlarge
Rain forest lobby

↑ Click image to enlarge
Pool deck

We studied the Mondrian and Delano Hotels with the aim to extract core elements of their identities. Rather than falling for their success, we tried to encircle where they could fail in the event of a Las Vegas relocation.

↑ Click image to enlarge
Model photo

↑ Click image to enlarge
Facade detail

↑ Click image to enlarge
Model photo

What makes these two hotels different and what connects them? We have reproduced the essence of the hotel experience and thereby attempted to introduce a genuine experience of Las Vegas to Las Vegas.

JDS/Julien de Smedt Architects Julien De Smedt is the founder and director of JDS Architects based in Copenhagen, with offices in Brussels and Oslo. A designer and architect whose work is known in Europe and abroad, Julien's commitment to the exploration of new architectural models and programs has helped to re-energize the discussion of architecture in Denmark with projects such as the VM Housing Complex, Maritime Youth House and Stavanger Concert Hall. Born in Brussels to French art enthusiast Jacques L鯢old and Belgian artist Claude De Smedt, Julien attended schools in Brussels, Paris, and Los Angeles before receiving his diploma from the Bartlett School of Architecture. Before founding JDS Architects, Julien worked with OMA, Rotterdam and co-founded in well known architecture firm PLOT in Copenhagen. Among other awards and recognitions, Julien received the Henning Larsen Prize in 2003 and an Eckersberg medal in 2005. In 2004 the Stavanger Concert Hall was appointed Worlds Best Concert Hall at the Venice Biennale, and the Maritime Youth House won the AR+D award in London and was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe award. In 2007 Julien also won a large international competition for the new Holmenkollen Skijump in Oslo, Norway. Julien has been a guest professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas and invited to teach at the University of Kentucky in 2009. Among other places, Julien has also lectured at the Sendai Mediatheque in Japan, the Architectural Association of Ireland, the Tate Modern in London, the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona, the Pavillon de l'arsenal in Paris, the McGill University in Montreal, Yale University in New Haven, and both SciArc and USC in Los Angeles. Julien's work has been exhibited in numerous locations around the world, such as Copenhagen, Toronto, Paris, New York City, and Sao Paulo. The first monograph of JDS Architects, entitled PIXL TO XL, was published by Damdi in December 2007 and is currently available.

Yale unveils new School of Management building by Foster

2008-12-14T15:11:00.001-08:00

Foster + Partners presented their designs on Monday to the Yale community for the new School of Management building. Sir Norman Foster graduated from Yale in 1962. Images and info at Yale.edu, Via

Working out of the Box: Corcoran Sunshine

2008-12-09T19:12:00.001-08:00

From Archinect:

Archinect: Where did you study architecture? Elisa Orlanski Ours: As lame as it sounds, dont we as designers make an effort to study architecture everyday? On the job site, in studios, and especially in spaces we occupy. But back to the question, I studied architecture at Barnard College (1994-1998) and received my M. Arch. from Columbia (1998-2001) / ETH in Zurich (2000). While my direct academic focus was urban design, I honed my interest in architecture through explorations in computer science, finance, physics and teaching. Nadia Meratla: I completed undergraduate and graduate studies in architecture at McGill University (M. Arch. 2001), a very enriching experience. I also taught design studio at McGill upon graduation which afforded me the opportunity to straddle theory and practice. Will Tims: I studied architecture at the University of Virginia (1993-1997) and earned my M. Arch. at Yale (2000-2003). Both were a great fit for me Virginia for its focus on the fundamentals of modern design and for the rigor it demanded, and Yale for forcing me to think beyond what I already knew, or thought I knew. The program at Yale encourages such a dynamic and eclectic range of thought everything is on the table, and the spirit of the collaborative studio lives on very strongly there. Elisa: The three of us are very involved in giving back to our own academic communities. We feel that it is important to offer guidance to recent grads by helping them network and learn how to market themselves.

↑ Click image to enlarge
166 Perry, Asymptote Architecture / Perry Street Development Corp. / Archpartners (Click on this and all of the images to get a detailed view)

At what point in your life did you decide to pursue architecture? Nadia: I grew up in transition between the US, UK and Canada and had the good fortune to travel extensively and be inspired by great design and horrified by bad design. Architecture mediated well the classic art-science duel. Will: I was drawing house plans since 6th grade and my parents encouraged me by pointing out interesting buildings and details on our family road trips across the country. During the summer before my senior year in high school, I spent four weeks at an Introduction to Architecture program at UVa and really loved it and the school. Jeffersons campus alone could inspire one to study architecture. After this experience, I committed to pursuing this path in college. Elisa: My earliest memories involve building Lego houses for my dolls and Lego cities for my brothers cars. My father fostered this interest in buildings by exposing me to the multiple scales of architecture and dynamic systems through travel, meteorology and cooking. Growing up in both the quiet enclave of Princeton and the stimulation of Buenos Aires raised intriguing questions on urbanism that I find myself answering today. It is interesting to see the cycle repeat itself in my nephew now when I see him navigate through the Lego Factory on the computer.

↑ Click image to enlarge
166 Perry, Asymptote Architecture / Perry Street Development Corp. / Archpartners

When did you decide to stop pursuing architecture? Why? Will: First off, I dont think Ive stopped, I just think that I pursue it from a different angle now. A couple of years out of Yale I became frustrated with the slowness of the profession in terms of success and advancement. I had also spent my time either working in small firms or for myself, on smaller high-end residential projects, and was longing for something that was larger, more complex and urban in its influence. I took a year and did the Masters of Science in Real Estate Development program at Columbia. Right around graduation, in October 2006, I came to work in Predevelopment for Corcoran Sunshine. Nadia: Likewise, I consider myself still pursuing architecture however from a real estate perspective. In traditional practice I was greatly intrigued by feasibility analyses that informed development and also the delightful complexities of program, conflicting priorities and the multitude of objectives that were influenced and essentially governed by an intricate balance of both design and real estate. The conceptual stage, massaging of program and critical evaluation of a developments potential from a design perspective has always had a particular allure. Ultimately, marketing and programmatic innovation are not distinct but rather inherent to architecture. Elisa: Stopped? Come on, were just getting started. Throughout Columbia, I tried to always alternate between practice and theory in my apprenticeships and combine the two in my studios and seminars. When I graduated from my seven years there and worked for firms like Wendy Joseph and Peter Eisenman, I might as well have been voted least likely to depart from parametric designs and urban theory. With that, I became a Project Manager for RDRice Construction, a boutique New York City construction company, for almost four years building residences designed by 1100 Architects, Steven Harris, Jacques Grange and BKSK. There I learned the craft of detailing from the installers themselves, demands of New York-centric clientele, and that every line on a drawing has an impact to the schedule and budget. After building six highly detailed residences, from a 16,000SF modernist townhouse gut renovation to installing a priceless Giacometti mantle, it was time to leave and finally try to combine the art of building with my urban theories. That is when I came to Corcoran Sunshine.

↑ Click image to enlarge
The Dillon, Smith-Miller + Hawkinson / SDS Procida / dbox

Describe your current profession. Elisa: PreDEVELOPMENT describes the phase of a development property beginning with site acquisition through the initiation of construction. That is the short and idealized answer; however the best way to describe the duration of our involvement is from feasibility studies to punchlists or in other terms from the cradle to the grave. CS is the only marketing and sales organization with a full service product planning studio led by trained architects/planners. With our diverse backgrounds, my esteemed colleagues (including Matt Goodwin, Leeana Khalique and Sarah Hardy) and I redefined the scope of the marketing consultant by providing a design / construction / urbanism perspective. Our strategic services are informed by sales feedback and market intelligence that shape the end product and ensure that the offering meets the buyers expectations. While not the designers of the buildings, we are instead the multi-scale design programmers for master plans down to bathroom fixtures, and often punch-list watchdogs. Positioned as a boutique studio with the resources of a corporation, Corcoran Sunshines multiple departments collaborate to customize our approach and recommendations for every site with the benefit of deep market knowledge. Predevelopment consults to assist developers, designers, financers, value representatives, contractors and ancillary consultants through the development process for new construction, conversions, condominiums, rentals, hotel-branded properties, master plans, resort destinations and the unfortunate latest product type, bank workouts.

↑ Click image to enlarge
40 Mercer, Atelier Jean Nouvel / SLCE Architects / Hines Interests / HotesAB / Whitehall Capital / Pandiscio Co. / Studio AMD

Will: Similar to the shifting forces of the real estate market and the economy at large, we are able to tailor the scope of our services to the needs of our developers in a very fluid way. While Corcoran Sunshine is primarily a marketing and sales company, we are increasingly able to provide the sort of strategic and product-specific consulting on a variety of projects regardless of their phase and whether or not we sell the real estate. This targeted approach, whether meant to add-value, speed absorption, reposition an offering, or facilitate a sale through a quick re-design, provides developers and their design teams with the sort of facile expertise so necessary in todays challenging environment. Nadia: Predevelopment expertise substantiated by market research assists both developers and design consultants in order to strategically position a development as a premium competitive product. Predevelopment frequently serves as a referral matchmaker between the design and development communities. Our expertise is actively cultivated by innovative design research, attendance of international design shows, internal seminars, design publications, and a critical review of developments on the market and in the pipeline. Elisa: CS has been at the dynamic forefront of high-design developments, collaborating with renowned architects and designers such as Alan Wanzenberg, Annabelle Selldorf, Asymptote, Bernard Tschumi, Cesar Pelli, David Chipperfield, Frank Gehry, Gwathmey Siegel, Herzog de Meuron, Incorporated Architecture & Design, Jacques Grange, Jean Nouvel, John Pawson, Legorreta + Legorreta, Piero Lissoni, Philip Johnson, Philippe Starck, Polshek Partnership, Richard Meier, Rockwell Group, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, Shigeru Ban, Steven Learner, Tsao & McKown, UN Studio and Zaha Hadid, among many others. Any trends or emerging designers Archinect readers would like to recommend are welcome. Pease email pd@corcoransunshine.com.

↑ Click image to enlarge
Soho Mews, Gwathmey Siegel and Associates / United American Land / Archpartners

What skills did you gain from architecture school, or working in the architecture industry, that have contributed to your success in your current career? Will: Architecture school taught me to think critically, to push myself to try new things and take a chance, even if it was uncomfortable. It is an amazing course of study that involves so many varied disciplines and lines of thought, from art and engineering to psychology and science I dont think there is another path that includes so many interesting and related fields. Much time working for Steven Harris Architects, Ryall Porter Architects, and then for myself was spent trying to find solutions to residential design problemsNew Yorkers want it all and there is rarely enough room! This experience enabled me to understand the wants and needs of a primarily luxury clientele, and to thus provide recommendations that result in elegant yet functional living spaces in exceptionally designed buildings that feature unparalleled lifestyle offerings.

↑ Click image to enlarge
One Jackson Square, Kohn Pedersen Fox / SLCE Architects / Hines Interests/RFR Holdings / Eric Schuldenfrei & Hayes Davidson

Nadia: Architecture school nurtured inspired collaboration and an innovative and experimental creativity. It further nourished a persuasion toward minimalism. Upon graduation, working at Saia Barbarese Topouzanov in Montreal, I was afforded the exposure to exquisite design principles and a unique collaborative spirit and creative milieu. At Gluckman Mayner Architects in New York I was inspired by a culture of design finesse and rigorous standards. Here my curiosity for real estate was stimulated by strategic feasibility analyses for New York development bids, residential acquisitions and working on Olive 8, a luxury residential hotel complex in Seattle. My pursuit of architectural journalism has also afforded me an exploration of innovations and opportunity to expose younger firms. Elisa: I always knew I wouldnt fit into the traditional role of an architect, designer, developer, builder, teacher or planner. In a way, I had to create a career that didnt exist to combine my design/marketing accomplishments at architecture studios, my management/ negotiating skills from construction, my passion for dynamic modeling and curiosity in parametric designs. The biggest challenge and greatest success of my role in starting this department at Corcoran Sunshine has been to strategically collaborate with brilliant teams to innovate truly exceptional architecture.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

"Norman Foster must keep hands off Mecca"

2008-12-09T11:29:00.003-08:00

Sami Angawi, an expert Saudi architect, said he was surprised and upset to learn of confidential plans, leaked last week, in which the holiest Islamic city would be redesigned by outsiders. Times

Orange blob to hide pump house

2008-12-09T11:29:00.001-08:00

The winner in an architectural contest to remake a sewage pump house in downtown Miami is a proposal to cap it with a web of rubber tentacles reminiscent of a writhing sea creature.story @ Miami Herald | projects @ flickr

Obama's Weekly Address: Upgrading and Adding Buildings

2008-12-09T11:28:00.001-08:00

Obama is increasingly talking about upgrading and adding to the Government's building stock. One can only hope that as this plan is developed they include innovative designers from all fields in this ambitious plan. Then again, maybe we can demand it.

New York Magazine's The Year in Architecture

2008-12-08T20:08:00.001-08:00

The annual year end list madness begins. Interestingly, this list includes proposed but unbuilt designs, restorations, bike racks and civic infrastructure. The Top Ten Designs

Rebuilding America

2008-12-05T15:04:00.001-08:00

Barack Obama has promised massive public spending and millions of new jobs on projects building and rebuilding roads and bridges, transit and energy systems the world that undergirds our economy and daily lives. But exactly what kind of infrastructure? Patching up the old 20th-century? Or rolling out the 21st? Brown? Or green? On Point (listen)

MVRDV Wins with Green Hills in South Korea

2008-12-04T19:07:00.001-08:00

The Daewoo Consortium and the municipality of Gwanggyo announced the MVRDV concept design for a dense city centre winner of the developers competition for the future new town of Gwanggyo, located 35km south of the Korean capital Seoul. The plan consists of a series of overgrown hill shaped buildings with high programmatic diversity, aiming for high urban density and encouragement of further developments around this so-called Power Centre, one of the envisioned two centres of the future new town. Bustler

Bringing Brutal Back

2008-12-04T19:06:00.001-08:00

Can restoring Paul Rudolph's signature building rescue the architect's reputation as well? Slate

Working out of the Box: Audra DiSimone

2008-12-02T19:42:00.001-08:00

From Archinect:

Archinect: Where did you study architecture? Audra DiSimone: Academically, I started at the University of Washington with Frank Ching as my first professor. That was a very classical architectural education rooted in fundamental tenets, with a modernist bent. I went to the other end of the dial in graduate school, beginning at SCI-Arcs program in Vico Morcote, Switzerland. Amazing. Lebbeus Woods was there at the time, and we explored some left-field material; an important counterpoint to the basics, but equally rigorous. The experience broadened my mind and way of thinking about not only the built landscape; but how to see, question, postulate. It was a good segue to Columbia University (Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation), where I obtained my Master of Architecture. Tschumi was Dean at the time; the faculty was incredible; the caliber of students was unrivaled. I felt utterly fortunate. Its impossible to summarize the richness of that education. My biggest take-away has been the ability to think critically. Thats broad; but I mean it in a very profound and very valid sense. I apply it daily. Architecture is a life-long educational pursuit. It doesnt begin and end in academia.

↑ Click image to enlarge
LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | PARIS
Design Direction for pilot renovation of relaunched hotel brand (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts). (Click on this and all of the images to get a detailed view)

↑ Click image to enlarge
LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | PARIS
Design Direction for pilot renovation of relaunched hotel brand (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts).

At what point in your life did you decide to pursue architecture? Well, thats tough to say. My Father was an Architect, practicing out of our home. My Mother was a painter and loomed textiles. I grew up in a modernist house, full of the same modernist furniture that inhabits my home today. At age 3, Noguchi and Mies were part of my vocabulary. It was a pretty unobstructed path into pursuing architecture as a career; I was interning in the profession before I could touch it academically.

↑ Click image to enlarge
LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | COLLATERAL
Design Direction for pilot renovation of relaunched hotel brand (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts).

↑ Click image to enlarge
LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | BATH AMENITIES
Design Direction for amenity packaging and its presentation (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, in partnership with Cinq Mondes).

↑ Click image to enlarge
LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | GLASSWARE
Design Direction for signature coffee crockery and shotglasses (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, in partnership with Cinq Mondes).

When did you decide to stop pursuing architecture? Why? Because at some point, I realized that I had never stopped to question it. I felt unsatiated, unconvinced that the hyper-focused minutia that I concerned myself with daily mattered to anyone but me. Its an incredibly venerable and rewarding profession; I needed to explore other avenues where I could apply my creative mind, while not feeling weighted by the production of architecture. Theres a little Richard Florida speak in this: were no longer a society of production; weve shifted to intellectual output.

↑ Click image to enlarge
LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | LONDON
Design Direction for pilot renovation of relaunched hotel brand (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts).

Describe your current profession. Presently, I'm Director of Design with Starwood Hotels and Resorts for Le Meridien brand. Le Meridien was acquired by Starwood in late 2005; in the past few years, I've been involved with the repositioning and re-launch of the brand. As a Design Director, I guide development of brand initiatives (everything from concepts to product) and oversee implementation of the initiatives in our hotels. The repositioning process began as an intense R&D exercise, looking at anything and everything in the evolving hospitality arena. Development and refinement of our distilled positioning has been an ongoing exercise in experience engineering -- constantly driving a visual language to build the brand.

↑ Click image to enlarge
29TH STREET PENTHOUSE
Design Development, Construction Documents & Construction Administration for a private penthouse residence in New York, New York (with Rogers Marvel Architects).

What skills did you gain from architecture school, or working in the architecture industry, that have contributed to your success in your current career? Again, its that critical thinking piece. Develop a brand thats a colossal challenge; particularly given the current hospitality climate. The bar is high. Differentiation is key, and that involves everything that the guest (or client) sees, touches, experiences. Its the visual environment, its the sound landscape, its the olfactory impression. Its also the positioning in the market, the target population, the communication scheme. We think about and play with all of it. Most lay people think of Architects and our education in the technical sense. Thats one aspect of a highly-complex, very nimble occupation. Were thinkers, creators, developers, visionaries, engineers, builders, ideators, strategists, educators

↑ Click image to enlarge
PRATT INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
Design Development, Construction Documents & Construction Administration for a School of Architecture in Brooklyn, New York (with Rogers Marvel Architects, Steven Holl Architects).

Do you have an interest in returning to architecture? Im not practicing in the conventional sense; but I deal with aspects of the profession every day. When I started down the path of what I do now; I didnt miss drawing waterproofing details. There is joy in practicing architecture in that way. For now, I enjoy my alternate choice, and thats pretty important for any of us.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Yale Modernism Redux

2008-12-02T19:36:00.001-08:00

Major works of post-WWII modernism at Yale have recently undergone or are undergoing major renovation efforts, making a visit to New Haven a unique opportunity to experience these masterpieces in their ideal states of existence. But can this impressive effort to resurrect at Yale inspire similar appreciation for other valuable but aging works of modernism in cities elsewhere? Check out this blog for the article and photos.

An Opaque and Lengthy Road to Landmark Status

2008-11-29T14:10:00.001-08:00

A six-month examination of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission's operations by The New York Times reveals an overtaxed agency that has taken years to act on some proposed designations, even as soaring development pressures put historic buildings at risk. Its decision-making is often opaque, and its record-keeping on landmark-designation requests is so spotty that staff members are uncertain how many it rejects in a given year. NYT | Interactive Map

Razing a neighborhood to save a city?

2008-11-26T20:22:00.001-08:00

Local and federal officials on Tuesday announced plans for a 70-acre medical campus in the heart of New Orleans to replace two hospitals damaged during Hurricane Katrina, a $2 billion investment that supporters say will create thousands of jobs and begin to rebuild the citys shattered health care system. However, the National Trust for Historic Preservation estimates there are some 165 historic structures that will go down if the hospitals are built. Additionally, an earlier report by RMJM Hillier concluded it would be more quicker and more cost effective to renovate the old exisiting Charity Hospital. link and Report press release

Chicago Architects Win Union Station 2020 Competition

2008-11-26T20:21:00.003-08:00

These are quite neat.

On Aug 1st, the Chicago Architectural Club and the Chicago Humanities Festival launched UNION STATION 2020, an international design ideas competition for the conversion of Chicagos Union Station into a high-speed rail hub, regional market, and meeting place. The three winners and seven honorable mentions of this competition have now been announced. Bustler

An American Socialite in Venice?

2008-11-26T20:21:00.001-08:00

Eric Holm has an amusing post about his attempt to have a conversation about the Biennale with a visiting tourist. Metropolis POV

Architects Against Museum of Tolerance

2008-11-26T15:49:00.005-08:00

Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine issues a protest in Guardian against the Museum."We call on the Jerusalem municipality, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre and the Israeli authorities not to allow this architectural time-bomb to proceed." Among the signaturesare; Charles Jencks, Richard MacCormack, Neave Brown, Abe Hayeem, Haifa Hammami, Hans Haenlein, Cezary Bednarski, Kate Mackintosh, Suad Amiry,Shmuel Groag, Beatriz Maturana, Walter Hain, Ian Martin.

European Trio for International Justice

2008-11-26T15:49:00.003-08:00

A jury has selected three winners for the international architectural competition for the new International Criminal Court building in The Hague. Results on Bustler.

The happy architect

2008-11-26T15:49:00.001-08:00

Irena Bauman is on a mission to make cities more loveable. Martin Wainwright hears why she is challenging the profession to stop, look around and stand up to developers. Read and Watch video

Campanile

2008-11-25T18:58:00.001-08:00

Campanile, originally uploaded by Super Bjorn.

One of my favorite photographs I have taken.

ShowCase: The Waiting Room

2008-11-25T18:52:00.001-08:00

From Archinect:

Enel Contemporanea, the art sponsorship program of Italian utility company Enel, recently opened its third installation created by the American artist Jeffrey Inaba, in Collaboration with Luca Peralta Studio, Rome, Italy, at Rome's Policlinico Umberto I, the most important hospital in the Italian capital and one of the largest in Europe. A multi-functional medical structure which was at the cutting edge when founded at the end of the 19th century, today it is often the subject of debate and controversy.

↑ Click image to enlarge

This is being countered by a gradual but significant process of renovation. The artistic project is focused particularly on the waiting and transit areas, used every day by large numbers of people. Within the delicate and complex social context that a hospital represents, the artist offers different kinds of space where patients, passers-by, visitors and doctors can enjoy moments of relaxation.

↑ Click image to enlarge

Colors, lights, geometric shapes and various environmentally friendly elements give the hospital a new, dynamic energy. Through art, waiting becomes potential energy, transmitting positivity and bringing an element of comfort to an architectural space normally seen as a temporary and highly emotional environment.

↑ Click image to enlarge

The solar PV system generates more than the energy needed for the electricity to run the lights and the monitors and DVD player inside the sphere. The project uses a sustainable system but it is also intentionally accessible in form and image (Alice in Wonderland mushroom meets solar ray chomping PacMan).

↑ Click image to enlarge

Jeffrey Inaba Jeffrey Inaba is founder of the architecture and cultural consulting studio INABA based in Los Angeles, which operates across architecture, art and urban design with a special focus on research and social issues. He is also Director of C-Lab, the architecture and communication research group of Columbia University and the Features Editor of Volume Magazine. From 1997 to 2003, together with Rem Koolhaas, he co-directed the Project on the City at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He recently exhibited work at the New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin) and will participate next month in the show, BIG, INABA, MAD, MASS: Four Urban Proposals for Ansan, at the Gyeonngido Museum of Modern Art in South Korea. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

View article...

Public Spirit: Philip Johnson's Lost Town

2008-11-25T18:23:00.001-08:00

from Archinect:

In 1955, Canadian uranium magnate Joseph Hirshorn commissioned Philip Johnson to design a plan for an entire town in Ontario, Canada. The project was never realized. Public Spirit, an animated tour of this Utopian town, debuted at the prestigious Directions exhibit in the Hirishhorn Museum on November 7th, 2008.

↑ Click above image to view high resolution video

Joseph Hirshhorn is best known as the man whose collection fills the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. But few people know about Hirshhorn's ambitious 1955 plan to build a Hirshhorn Museum in the wilderness of Canada as the centerpiece of a Utopian "town of culture"

The town of Hirshhorn, Ontario was designed by Philip Johnson according to a progressive modernist program. Special attention was paid to aesthetics; Hirshhorn requested "the most beautiful small town in the world." Public Spirit communicates the excitement and optimism of the town project with an emotionally uplifting mix of animation and music. Public Spirit is a wall sized animation, part of a larger installation piece with research about the town of Hirshhorn, and a scale model of the office tower. This project was commissioned by the Hirshhorn Museum. All design and animation was done by Sticky Pictures.

Archinect: Describe your collaboration with Terence Gower on Public Spirit.

Sticky Pictures: Terence is a video artist and architectural afficianado. He discovered the plans for the Hirshhorn by Philip Johnson and needed a creative and production team to partner with in order to realize his goal of creating this Utopian town to exhibit at the Hirshhorn Museum in DC. Our role was to find a visual direction for the project including an editorial flow, town layout, environmental elements and all production aspects.

What resources did you have to recreate the town of Hirshhorn? Alexandra Kiss was contracted separately by Terence to do the bulk of the modeling for the buildings. Many photographic references were supplied by Terence. Many of the textural elements were created from original photographic elements taken by us specifically for this project. Some of these textures were very period specific such as "aggregated concrete" and more challenging to find samples of. Other than that it was up to the team here at Sticky Pictures to realize Hirshhorn.

What were some of the most challenging parts of this project? The biggest challenge of this project turned out to be the environmental aspects. Man made objects such as buildings are relatively simple compared to nature. There's probably more complexity in one tree than the entire town. When you start building an entire forest....well you get the idea. Architectural rendering often use 2-D cut outs of trees to solve this problem. However because of the elaborate 360 camera movements in some of the shots we needed to use 3-D trees in order for them to not look like cut-outs. Other than that the duration of the finished piece and the need to render in HD meant that rendering was a huge time-factor in the project. Artistically, coming up with a color palette that was both subdued, and period specific was also challenging.

What tools (hardware/software) did you use? Maya, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator

Directions-Terence Gower, Public Spirit is on display from November 5, 2008 to March 22, 2009 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Sticky Pictures is a Brooklyn based design and animation house specializing in 3D and 2D digital animation. With experience in live action, illustration, and cell animation, as well, out full skill set is ready to accommodate the various needs of our client. We are about making the smart choices that best illustrate a brand's indentity. Our goal, to create a kick-ass visual experience that viewers want to see again and again. Michael Darmanin the founder and creative director started Sticky Pictures after working in the motion graphic industry for over 10 years, here in NYC and in Australia his native country. Now he has been freed to paint the town. On a more personal note we are a company with a green edge. We believe green is not a fad, but rather a commitment to our world. Our work practices are green from recycling, to the eco-frendily furniture we built, to how we commute to work. For us, green means integrity in all actions.

View article...

A Berkeley Museum Wrapped in Honeycomb

2008-11-25T18:22:00.001-08:00

I have no idea whether, in this dismal economic climate, the University of California will find the money to build its new art museum here. But if it fails, it will be a blow to those of us who champion provocative architecture in the United States. Nicolai Ouroussoff, NYT

An end to global poverty starts with property rights

2008-11-25T16:21:00.001-08:00

The key to securing global prosperity in our increasingly interconnected global marketplace is addressing the housing crisis that no one talks about. While experts debate how best to solve the international financial crisis, providing the worlds poor with secure tenure to their home or land is a crucial global economic and social problem for which solutions already exist. Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Imposing Simplicity

2008-11-24T20:06:00.001-08:00

There is nothing timid about the ambitions of the new Museum of Islamic Art that opens [in Qatar] next week. Rising on its own island just off the citys newly developed waterfront corniche, it is the centerpiece of an enormous effort to transform Qatar into an arts destination. Designed by I. M. Pei, 91, who has described it as his last major cultural building, it recalls a time when architectural expression was both more earnest and more optimistic, and the rift between modernity and tradition had yet to reach full pitch. NYT | Slideshow

Obama and Biden: 2 would-be architects?

2008-11-20T18:28:00.001-08:00

Apparently they both wanted to be architects... Chicago Tribune

Wal-Marts that become Schools and Churches

2008-11-20T18:24:00.001-08:00

Hundreds of new big-box buildings are built each yearand hundreds are vacated. What happens to big-box buildings when a retailer abandons them? Slate

Search the LIFE photo archive on Google Images!

2008-11-20T18:23:00.001-08:00

Google has partnered with LIFE Magazine to make publicly available the entire archive of historic photography. In high resolution no less! Check it out

The Aesthetic Responsibility

2008-11-18T18:10:00.001-08:00

Writer, curator and philosopher Boris Groys gives a keynote lecture on how design today functions as a leading medium of self-revelation and self-positioning in public space. Arguing that design has acquired a new ethical dimension, he contended that where there was once religion, there is now design. listen @ frieze

Uncontained Living: Streamlining Residential Construction with DeMaria Designs

2008-11-18T16:35:00.001-08:00

From Archinect:

by Martina Dolejsova At 40ft long x 8ft wide x 9.5ft tall, the shipping container is a transcontinental, intermodial traveler carrying potato chips, childrens toys, designer bags, or a functional residential space. Architect Peter DeMaria, from DeMaria Design Associates, based outside of Los Angeles, has dedicated the past five years on taking the messengers of consumerism and converting them into role models for an environmental and economical housing solution. Containers have a large number of structural characteristics that lend itself well to the production of buildings. In addition to that, theyre plentiful.

↑ Click image to enlarge
Redondo Beach House by DeMaria Design Associates(Click on this and all of the images to get a detailed view)

↑ Click image to enlarge
Redondo Beach House by DeMaria Design Associates

Yet, it was not an easy task to use shipping containers for a residential home. The Redondo Beach House, his first realized container home, a two story hybrid of eight containers and wood framing with a container pool, required considerable thought into the engineering by the building authorities. We had testing done, we did all of these things that no one else really has, and it was accepted (by the city). And now weve got it to the point where what we design complies completely with the Uniform Building Code . A feat, DeMaria states as unprecedented and gives him the stepping point he needs to introduce this building method to more cities.

↑ Click image to enlarge
LA Community Center under construction

The Redondo Beach House, awarded by the AIA in 2007 for Design Excellence/Special Innovation, used the raw, bulky, industrial mass and transformed it into a slender rigid frame. Each container was positioned and stacked so that the ends could take advantage of becoming full height windows, maximizing the natural light into the linear structures. Negative spaces allowed for 20ft high ceilings in the main living. As equally thoughtful and innovative, an airplane hanger door opens up onto an adjacent courtyard, extending the outdoors into the interior, and serves as an awning for the conjoining spaces.

↑ Click image to enlarge
Container Placing

Every container is made to fit comfortably with other units. This has leant a hand in the rapid motion of building. Conceivably, everything could have gone up in less than an hour. You could drive to the store and get groceries and find on your way home, what was just a foundation, is now a two story building, says DeMaria, relating his experience in forming the structure for the Redondo Beach House. In reality, it took six hours to build because a truck was stuck in traffic, causing a minor delay.

↑ Click image to enlarge
Mixed Use Container Project

Clearing the structural hurdles opened up the next step to a market that DeMaria feels is underserved. People want good design, DeMaria says, reflecting on what has made companies like IKEA popular with their kit of parts and assured quality. Using the industrial influences of Ford and McDonalds and applying it to the housing market, he has created what he calls a predictable process for building a home.

↑ Click image to enlarge
McLoghlin Residence in Venice Beach, CA

Walking into one of the standardized 20 or 40ft steel units, you mysteriously forget while looking out of the floor to ceiling windows cut into the side, that not long ago this was stacked near a port. The teak wood flooring, now sanded and stained handled the rough loading and unloading of boxes and crates. In these rooms, a rich and warm space has been created by using what the cargo container offers: structure, walls, ceiling and floors. There is every component you need for a home. DeMaria, like other architects within the last decade, has acknowledged this, and is working, always pushing the boundaries.

↑ Click image to enlarge
McLoghlin Residence in Venice Beach, CA

This has given the best solution to the lot we have and the cost. states client and mother Oona McLoghlin, who is finishing their container home in Venice Beach, CA, adding, I think they are fantastic.

↑ Click image to enlarge
McLoghlin Residence in Venice Beach, CA

Solving the various connection and structural problems, DeMaria now tries to think beyond the container, seeing it as a building block for new spaces. Launching soon, Logical Homes, a container prefab line , is a made to order residence changing the way we think about home.

↑ Click image to enlarge
McLoghlin Residence in Venice Beach, CA

--- Shipping containers were standardized mid 20th century with the shipping giant Sea-Land, when trade showed significant increases from industrialism and a more efficient method was needed for delivering and exchanging goods. The containers are designed to fit on top of each other, stacking like Legos. They are durable to salt water, water-resistant when sealed, and reusable. Today, there is a surplus of containers that are found sitting in yards along the coast. In the last twenty years, architects have begun to challenge and experiment with the function of these relatively abundant, simple and economical boxes for shopping spaces, offices and museums, temporary structures, and permanent residences.

Martina Dolejsova Martina is an architect and writer currently living in Los Angeles.

Behnisch Wins Baltimore Law School Design Competition

2008-11-18T16:34:00.001-08:00

The University of Baltimore has named Behnisch Architekten of Stuttgart, Germany, in partnership with Baltimores Ayers/Saint/Gross, Inc., as the winner of the international competition to design the new John and Frances Angelos Law Center at UB. Bustler

Working out of the Box: WSDIA | WeShouldDoItAll

2008-11-17T20:16:00.001-08:00

from archinect:

Archinect: Where did you study architecture?

Jonathan Jackson: I studied architecture at Kent State University in Ohio. I am grateful for attending Kent. It was a very technical school but there was select few students who wanted to really push their individual boundaries there, but also the school's as well. I graduated in 2003 with the idea to work as an architect in Italy (wanted to work for Studio Archea, where I did my first internship), London (wanted to work for Adjaye Assoc.) or New York (numerous studios).

↑ Click image to enlarge
New Practices New York 2008 Exhibition, photos by Floto+Warner (Click on this and all of the images to get a detailed view)

↑ Click image to enlarge
New Practices New York 2008 Exhibition, photos by Floto+Warner

At what point in your life did you decide to pursue architecture? I knew at the very early age of 12 that I wanted to be an architect. By my 3rd year in architecture, my outlook changed and I wanted to be a more general term...a designer.

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

Video for New Practices New York 2008 Exhibition

When did you decide to stop pursuing architecture? Why? I haven't stopped pursuing architecture, I am just taking another route. A slower route. Discovering other types of design/concepts that we can later interject into architecture. My love for architecture has never weakened. It is the ultimate form of design in my opinion. My cause for my delay...is the goal to be well balanced, to develop other skills.

↑ Click image to enlarge
Website for photography agency, Marilyn Cadenbach

Describe your current profession. WSDIA is simply our constant goal. Our studio is interested in creating graphics, products, furniture, interiors and eventually architecture. It's a studio ran by 3 people, myself, my partner in crime & cousin, Jared Seavers, and my home-girl, Sarah Nelson. The beef of our work has been graphic design and exhibitions. We are slowly drifting into wayfinding/signage. We hope more and larger exhibitions and signage will lead to interiors into small scale architecture.

↑ Click image to enlarge
Lecture poster for Kent State Univ.'s architecture program using actual 3D letters. Shot by Mastromatteo+Steen

What skills did you gain from architecture school, or working in the architecture industry, that have contributed to your success in your current career? Architecture school is the highest test for anyone who wants to be a designer/creator. It's an incredible test of your love for this profession, and you don't love it...architecture school will definitely weed you out. The most appreciated skill I gained from Kent's program was being able to communicate my ideas about concepts and ideas through heavy critique. This tool is vital for our studio in expressing our designs to our clients. Being able to critique your own and other's work, and being able to take criticism, is something I am proud of.

↑ Click image to enlarge
The Park at the Center of the World: Five Visions for Governors Island Exhibition, photos by Floto+Warner

↑ Click image to enlarge
Official Website for The Park at the Center of the World: Five Visions for Governors Island Exhibition

Do you have an interest in returning to architecture? Definitely! But in a very slow migrative way. Thank you Archinect!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Architecture for Homeless

2008-11-17T20:09:00.001-08:00

Students at Vancouver's Emily Carr University were given the task of designing 64 square-foot living spaces for homeless citizens that would have a price point of $1,500 each. Great idea, in theory, but proving to be a failure in reality. CTV

100% Futures at Tokyo Designers Week

2008-11-17T20:08:00.001-08:00

From Archinect:

By Terri Peters Based on last years numbers, more than 100,000 people were projected to attend the three-day 100% Design Tokyo event, a big part of Tokyo Designers Week 2008, which concluded last week. Its the largest, curated, trade show exhibition one could ever imaginehundreds of international exhibitors both established and emerging showed furniture, interiors, products and concepts to an audience of design professionals, students and visitors. Countless thousands of cups of (green) tea were consumed, Subway sandwiches got the prime snack selling position inside the venue and millions of digital photos were snapped as visitors scurried through the massive show in the enormous, temporary, white tent pavilions at Meiji Jingo Gaien park. The fourth annual 100% Design Tokyo, inspired by the success of Londons 100% Design, included a dozen show within shows on the site: 100% Light, 100% from Zero, 100% Prototype among others.

The main entry, 100% Design Tokyo.

100% Design, outside the main show near the Container Ground exhibition 'village'.

100% Design, inside the show at 100% Professional.

And 100% Tokyo is just a part of the 23rd annual Tokyo Designers Weekanother massive and well-curated show held during this time is Design Tide Tokyo and Design Tide Mart, at Tokyo Midtown. Design Tide featured innovative design from around the world: furniture and lighting from DMY Berlin, digitally manufactured vases and sculptures from Japanese designers Central Line studio and striking linear lighting installations by Tomas Alonso and sculptures by Chris Kirby. With so many designers in town for the Design Week, Tokyos galleries, bars, cafes and exhibition spaces were positively heaving with pop-up exhibitions, product launches, parties, art openings and fashion shows around the city.

Design Tide Opening Party, image courtesy Design Tide.

Tokyo based Canadian designer Chris Kirby exhibited his new Negative Series lights at Design Tide, an independent design event that happened alongside Tokyo Designers Week. Image courtesy Design Tide.

One small but significant part of 100% Design was 100% Futures, a show of student works that has historically been an important part of Tokyo Design Week. This is the first year that the student work has been included at the main venue of 100% Design and the students made sure 100% Futures rose to the challenge of participating along side grown up work. While end of year or graduate design student shows are nothing new, 100% Futures turned the concept on its head in scale and scope. More than 50 schools in Japan exhibiting the best student work and selective curating focused their energy on creating a coherent exhibition. Students of industrial design, interior design, architecture, graphic design, and spatial design were focused around the concepts of eat, move, comfort, protect and touch.

100% Futures, Students from University of Tsukaba installed an all white soothing environment focused on 'healing' with new furniture designs.

Despite a few lost-in-translation conversations and texts, (the exhibition was entirely in Japanese) highlights seemed to be in innovative furniture and lighting design. Interior architecture students from ICS College of Arts showed diverse works with the theme of creating an ideal living environment. Prototype furniture included a laser cut chair with slots for tidying up clothing and a heavy carved wooden stool sloped and sculpted to be extra comfortable. The installation by students of interior architectural design at university of Tsukuba drew crowds with its mystifying glowing white table and hanging sculptures. Interior design students at Mukogawa Womens University showed various designs for tactile furniture, wall coverings and interior products with the theme touch. Another interesting project was Inochi no ki a recycled lamp made from found kitchenware, including forks and wine glasses.

100% Futures Students from Mukogawa Women's College investigated the idea of 'touch' with tactile new furniture and interiors designs.

100% Futures Students from ICS College of Arts presented prototype furniture and interiors projects.

A unique aspect of 100% Futures show was that half the exhibition was of themed student work and half was structured around a semester long collaboration project with industrial sponsors, some of the biggest companies in Japan: Toto, Able, Nissan, Morimoto, Fujitsu and Fuji.

100% Futures, Led by professional designer and tutor Hiroshi Yoneya, students from six different universities worked in collaboration with Nissan to produce new works on the theme of 'motion'. "We are embodying the pivotal dimension 'movement' in an abstract world". The teams worked together between May and October designing and researching this installation.

100% Futures, Let by Tomoyuki Tanaka, the collaboration between students from seven different Japanease design schools and Fuji Electric Systems was concerned with the creation of eco friendly ways of living using ne w solar batteries. "We thought forms for new technology and designed three products: 'eco-cart', 'community tree' and 'neo-mushi' by three ways of thinking: extension, alternative and innovative."

A crash course in networking, professionalism, communication and business, the Futures students were exposed not only to the daunting challenge of preparing an installation to be potentially viewed by about 100,000 paying visitors who are expecting professional quality work, but also critical skills in confidence and communication. Skills like this are almost entirely untaught in architecture schoolits truly valuable experience for the students to stand next to their work and greet professional and lay visitors and explaining their approach to their work.

Zoe Garred's Snap Bowl shown at Design Boom Mart is made from four flat pieces of aircraft plywood (very strong, thin and flexible wood). Two pieces bend and snap together to make a bowl and two pieces slot together to make a base. The bowl can be taken apart and stored flat again when not in use. Image courtesy Zoe Garred.

Visitors came to see Frank Gehry's Tokyo Bench outside the World Company Building in Tokyo, an extension site of Design Tide Tokyo. Image courtesy Design Tide.

At Claska Hotel, Keep on Truckin' is an exhibition of recycled truck tarp Freitag bags celebrating 15 years of this durable Swiss-made product.

Of course it wasnt all networking and no playmany of the best parties as part of Tokyo Designers Week were freejust very, very, crowded. Surely the best networking happened here, as design lovers mingled at after parties and launches around the city, from the Cibone party at Aoyama Bell Commons where guests included Moois giant horse sculpture, to the Mother of All Design Party at Marunouchi house where guests huddled around designer Nosigners stunning broken eggshell sculptures, to late night DJ sessions at Claska Hotel with its rooftop campsite drawing crowds for moon watching.

Japanese designers Tomohiro Kato and Satoshi Hasegawa exhibited their Popet dolls at 'The Mother of All Design' party at Marunouchi House. The dolls are conceptually designed rubbish bags that turn into a cute pet. "Popet is a pet that feeds on trash. If you do not separate rubbish according to the type or throw away what you do not have to, he or she will go down with a stomach ache."

'Rebirth' is an new light by Japanese designer Nosigner made of real eggshells carefully assembled. His work was on show at the launch party 'The Mother of all Design' held at Marunouchi House.

Terri Peters is an architect and design journalist who has just relocated from London to Copenhagen, Denmark.

View article...

green+wired=AWESOME

2008-11-16T07:23:00.001-08:00

Shifting Paradigms Part 1

2008-11-15T14:48:00.001-08:00

From Archinect:

Steven Song is a young architect in NYC who has written an article named "Shifting Paradigms: Renovating the Decorated Shed." It explores theories discussed in Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown's latest book, Architecture as Signs and Systems: For a Mannerist Time, which revisits the dual quality of Architecture as signage and shelter in the post-industrial information age.

Learning from recent developments in communication technology and personal electronic gadgets, and considering increases in urban/suburban population density, the article suggests that these changes prompt a redefinition of context, signage, shelter and their relationships to one another, if architecture is to respond to new life styles and necessities of today.

Signage, Shelter and Context in Architecture

Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, arguably among the most influential architects of the late 20th century, have explored and emphasized the importance of learning from the vernacular landscape to better understand the social, cultural and technological context of the present. In their 1972 book Learning from Las Vegas, Venturi and Scott Brown acknowledged the duality of architecture -- its role as both shelter in its interiority and signage in its communicative, decorative, informative, and symbolic aspects. Based on their studies of the automobile-oriented Las Vegas strip, they coined this combination the Decorated Shed.ⁱ (Figure 1) Their celebratory learning-from the vernacular, especially the 1960s Pop culture, has led to a general perception of them as post-modern. This paper re-evaluates Venturi and Scott Browns theories and investigates their significance and potential in a contemporary context through a reading of a recent expression of their ideas in their latest collaborative book Architecture as Signs and Systems: for a Mannerist Time.ⁱⁱ

Figure 1 - 1970s Las Vegas Strip and the Decorated Shed sketch from Learning from Las Vegas

The book revisits the architectural duality of signage and shelter, introduces the concept of superimposed activity patterns as a design tool for deriving physical form from social conditions, advocates a reassessment of our ideas of context in architecture, and discusses the relationship between form and functional flexibility, ultimately advocating rule-bending mannerist architecture for todays post-industrial Information Age. (Figure 2) These ideas are relevant to contemporary society, in which rapid developments of communication and sensory technologies blur boundaries of civic, public, and private spaces, negating the dogmatism of one rigid value system, one established aesthetic measure, or one function in a static space. Unlike Neo-Modernisms superficial staged-functionalist architecture, or Deconstructivisms nervous expressionist style, which avoids historically and culturally pertinent architectural dialogues, Venturi and Scott Brown suggest methods of understanding contemporary society both as a whole and as individual patterns, while celebrating architecture as an integral part of its complexity. Through a study of current social and technological paradigms and their effects on society, this paper proposes that shifts in these conditions necessitate yet again a redefinition of context, shelter, and signage, to cover the breadth, flexibility, and interactivity called for as their trinal relationship continues to expand in architecture today.

Figure 2 - Architecture as Signs and Systems and its authors

Context: Shifting Social, Technological, and Spatial Paradigms

Venturi and Scott Brown consider architectures spatial and systemic aspects partly through a discussion of context. According to Scott Brown, context in architecture takes many forms -- not only the physical, but also the social and cultural patterns of the space-time. Context both affects architecture and is affected by it.ⁱⁱⁱ

In any culture, the social paradigm that defines its values and the technological infrastructure that supports its activities are inseparable.^iv As Manuel Castells writes, "technology is society and society cannot be understood or represented without its technological tools"^v. Time magazines selection of YouTube.com, a virtual space and non-tangible product, as the best invention of 2006 is symptomatic of the shift from the established social paradigm of the old Industrial Age to that of the new Information Age^vi (Figure 3) The development of communication technology and personal sensory gadgets such as the internet, cellular phones, the iPod and the Sony PSP, has provided society with the ability to instantly and conveniently shift the spatial perception of its users. (Figure 4) Even in a public or civic space, a cellular phone user can have highly personal and private conversations with another user who remains anonymous to the public. Conversely, a user connected to the internet can fulfill conventionally public functions, such as shopping in on-line malls, having open discussions in on-line forums, or facilitating meetings through video conferences, all within the most private space of a bedroom. One can even engage now in Massive Multiplayer On-line Role-Playing Games (MMORPG), such as Second Life, a 3D On-Line virtual world, which is built and owned by its 7,256,167 global users (as of June 20, 2007),^vii whom the program appropriately refers to as residents. (Figure 5)

There are two kinds of activities here - non-spatially based activities, dependant on information and communication technology; and spatially based physical activities. In 1964, Melvin Webber described the nonplace urban realm of the city of the future, in which motor-based personal mobility would make physical places immaterial and people could choose the nicest places, wherever it was, to fulfill their activities.^viii Webber felt then that the development of communication and transportation technology would allow many activities that now depend on spatial propinquity to be conducted through non-spatial means and that this would encourage a distension of human settlements. However in 1996 he observed that urban centers still prospered and many activities continued to be spatially based, because of the credibility and convenience of information received face-to-face and the added attractiveness of chance encounters.^ix But developments in communication and transportation technology have undoubtedly improved the speed and ease of connection across extensive space, and therefore increased levels of interaction and transaction between distant places.

Today, our personal communication gadgets and our ability to instantly shift non-spatially based functions in virtual space have given rise to debate on how this alters the traditional relationship between civic, public, and private spaces. We ask how designers should react when the boundaries of spatial definitions are blurred, and wonder whether architects should endeavor to strengthen the traditional distinctions, maintaining a clear hierarchy of spaces to provide security, comfort, and convenience to occupants who have varied requirements for both privacy and public life. But neglected in the questioning is the fact that the new non-spatial activities do themselves take place in spaces -- in work places that have some unusual and demanding characteristics. These are financial trading floors, information technology-based companies such as Google, or on-line universities whose public classrooms are dispersed to individual users private spaces. In them, the efficiency and quality of activities depend on connectivity of communication and adaptability of space. In designing them, we should critique rigid spatial hierarchy and the conventional allocation of functions, and explore better networked and more flexible spatial layouts. Such places, which benefit from synchronicity and real-time interaction across distances, are described by Castells as the space of flows.^x

As the global network increases coverage and diversifies application, more spaces whose programs benefit from flexible spatial infrastructure will inevitably be created. Kevin Lynch, in his 1958 article "Environmental Adaptability," described a well-distributed communication system as a way of creating spatial flexibility, arguing that, "if internal connection is good, then resources can quickly be mobilized and shifted to meet emergencies."^xi Lynch meant spatial connectivity such as corridors, but the idea can be extended to information and communication connectivity of the virtual realm, such as emails and video conferences. For the Information Age, non-spatial connectivity must be reliable and convenient, and work space must be flexible and generic to accommodate different programs and corresponding levels of privacy as non-spatially based activities change continuously within the same space. This notion of flexibility, a historically important theme in the discourse of architecture and planning, is especially relevant in contemporary society where social, cultural, and economical paradigms shift quickly and constantly, encouraging timely adaptation of the physical environment.

Figure 3 - YouTube.com as the Time Magazine 2006 Invention of the Year

Figure 4 - An iPod commercial and its users in China

Figure 5 - A captured scene from the Second Life

Additionally, the rapid densification of population in urban areas all over the world today -- whether induced by post-urban sprawl, re-settlement back into mature cities such as New York and Pittsburgh, or the gold-rush to newly developing cities such as Shanghai and Mumbai -- has caused the value of urban real-estate to rise, thereby creating an economic necessity to reevaluate the importance of flexibility in architecture, and to explore spatial arrangements that can accommodate more functions than conventional layouts in the same allotted space. In 2001, the National Assessment Synthesis Team announced that the US urban population is now at 79% of the total, a considerable increase from the 40% in 1900.^xii (Figure 6 and 7) And the worlds urban population surpassed its rural population for the first time on May 23rd, 2007.^xiii This shift is accelerating in speed everywhere but it is faster and grander in scope in developing countries -- in the last 40 years, Koreas urban population has increased from 20% to 80% of the countrys total.^xiv

Figure 6 - US Rural and Urban Population Chart from Climate Change Impacts on the United States: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, published in 2001

Figure 7 - US suburban population chart from The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000, published in 2000

Figure 8 - US population and growth trends from Climate Change Impacts on the United States: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, published in 2001

Redefining Function

In the chapter entitled "Architecture as Patterns and Systems" in Architecture as Signs and Systems, Scott Brown, who uses her background as both an urban planner and architect to enrich her practice and theories, treats social paradigms, such as the development of communication technology and increasing land value per population movement, as patterns to be superimposed upon one another to collectively inform urban research, urban and campus planning, as well as building design. Learning from diverse places - South Africa, England, and the US - Scott Brown states that as society becomes more multi-cultured and complex in its definitions of value and function, methods of superimposing information become a prime means of gaining a clear understanding of both the overall social fabric and its individual patterns. Yet Scott Brown warns that users of these superimposed systems may face conflicts between the rules of respective layers, and may find it inefficient, if not impossible, to follow all the rules of every system simultaneously. She emphasizes that architects and planners should not be hasty in determining their priorities and suggests taking a mannerist approach -- bending individual rules to derive functional optima for the whole. Venturi and Scott Brown define mannerism as an educated and productive breaking of rules by people who know the rules well. They recommend that the breaking be for functional reasons and limited in scope, because most rules have a purpose and "if all is exception, exception is not interesting anymore".^xv

Learning from the current shifts in social patterns and rapid turn-over rates in building programs over time, Scott Brown advises architects to design buildings that can house a wide range of activities or functions beyond those called for by their first users. In proposing a spatial layout that achieves this, Scott Brown uses the analogy of a glove vs. a mitten.^xvi A glove fits the fingers of the original user well, but the mitten can be used by various users because of its extra wiggle room. Instead of designing a building custom-fitted to one original function, she suggests providing an architectural equivalent of the wiggle room in buildings to anticipate future space requirements, identifying generic, high-ceiling, open-plan industrial loft buildings or Italian Palazzos as examples of flexible space. (Figure 9)

Figure 9 - Glove vs. Mitten Sketch and examples of the spatial types with wiggle room from Architecture as Signs and Systems

Functional Flexibility in Architecture

The notion of functional flexibility has been a recurring theme in architecture. In 1958, Kevin Lynch listed several means to achieve spatial flexibility. These included zoning and concentration of structure at a few widely separated points, leaving wide spans where future changes will not affect the fabric of the whole; use of modular or lattice structures whose peripheral growth does not affect the structure at the center; use of low-intensity buffer zone between spaces to allow their programs to expand and contract without running over other uses; avoidance of narrow adaptation of forms to specialized functions; over-supply of space to provide generous room for future expansion of programs; use of temporary structures; and a well-networked communication system, so that program and interaction changes can be analyzed and accommodated efficiently.^xvii Architects have conceptually addressed the subject of flexibility in many ways. Some examples are Gerrit Rietvelds Schroder House, Mies van der Rohes Universal space, Louis Kahns The Served and the Servant Spaces, Carnegie Mellon Universitys Intelligent Workplace, and Peter Eisenmans Blurred Zone.

Inside the living room of De Stijl architect Gerrit Rietvelds 1924 Schroder House is a changeable open zone, which can be subdivided by sliding or revolving partitions. The concept of movable partitions, inspired by the sliding Shoji screens and doors of traditional Japanese architecture, is an idea employed by both early-modern and contemporary architects to achieve flexibility. This method became particularly popular in the Industrial Age as advancements in engineering technology minimized the need for structural elements in building interiors and allowed for larger open spaces. (Figure 10)

Figure 10 - Schroder House in Utrecht, Netherlands, by Gerrit Rietveld, and Yoshijima House in Takayama, Japan

In the 1940s, Mies van der Rohe investigated flexibility through his concept of Universal Space, a generalized interior space, with evenly distributed artificial and natural lighting and minimal structural elements, as illustrated in his design of the Illinois Institute of Technology. (Figure 11) He also suggested reorganization of the space via movable partitions, to accommodate the different programs of the institute. (Sketch 1)

Figure 11 - Illinois Institute of Technology in Illinois, Chicago, by Mies van der Rohe

Sketch 1 - Diagrammatic illustrations of the Universal Space

Louis Kahns Served and the Servant Spaces in the 1960s built on Mies Universal Space but acknowledged the secondary back-of-house function as an integrated but independent part of the whole. In his design of the Richards Medical Research Laboratories Building, Kahn located the circulation and utility shafts (Servant Space), to vertical and subtly connected entities at the periphery of the laboratories (Served Space), thereby providing flexibility to the spatial layout in a minimally interrupted plan. (Figure 12 and Sketch 2) Venturi and Scott Brown expand Kahns ideas by including extensions of the public space into building interiors.^xviii Drawing from Giambattista Nollis mapping of urban civic, public, and private spaces and David Cranes multi-layered definition of the "Four Faces of Movement,"^xix Scott Brown analyzes urban public space as a complex continuum that passes indoors and out. The street that moves into and through the building provides linkage of exterior to interior as well as space for access, activities, and flows of communication. No longer merely a Servant, it adds a civic element to Servant and Served Spaces, thereby modifying the roles of both, while bringing the conventionally background civic street to the foreground of architecture.

Figure 12 - Richards Medical Research Laboratories Building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Louis Kahn

Sketch 2 - Diagrammatic illustrations of The Served and the Servant Spaces in Richards Medical Research Laboratories Building

On the roof of the Margaret Morrison building at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is a faculty office space called the Intelligent Workplace, which was completed in 1997 through the collaboration of a group of professors in the fields of advanced building systems and sustainable architecture. In addition to technological adaptability and environmental sustainability, the space aims to achieve organizational flexibility by providing its users with movable partitions and furniture units, enabling them to reconfigure the space and thereby accommodate future variance in programs. (Figure 13)

Figure 13 - Intelligent Workplace in Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

Such examples of flexible architecture rely primarily on movable partitions or furniture in simplistic open spaces. Yet their alleged flexibility is often dubious. Not only are partitions rarely moved except at the beginning and end of occupancies, but the vagueness of the functions they define makes us question the very desirability of this type of space. Spatial flexibility is often relegated to merely an occasional rearrangement of furniture in an undefined area. Although the minimization of structural and mechanical elements in the examples above creates open, uninterrupted spaces that initially promise flexibility, some movable elements are, in reality, either inconvenient to move (in the Intelligent Workplace, the wheeled bookshelves were too heavy to roll with books in place, while the movable walls and desks needed all the electrical, mechanical connections unplugged and rerouted to be moved) and others, perhaps because they lack specific programs, merely define simplistic divisions in an open space much as did the living room of the Shroder House. The degree of flexibility provided is therefore too expensive for its limited and occasional use.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Peter Eisenman experimented with another form of flexible architecture. Adapting Jacques Derridas notion of an arbitrary text, Eisenman formulated a Blurred Zone through randomly dislocating the conventional architectural texts of function, site, program, and tectonics, ultimately creating a space that is not finalized but rather in the state of constant change, and hence metaphysically flexible.^xx (Figure 14 and Sketch 3) However, in reality, the introduction of an arbitrary text and the resulting sculpturally abstract and intentionally chaotic architectural elements merely produces a frozen image of a space/program overlap, rather than initiating true functional flexibility. Frank O. Gehrys design of the Stata Center in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while exuding the feeling of flexibility via its intersecting forms, in reality is a static allocation of programs in a rigid space. (Figure 15) However, the range of space types in the plan may, if the circulation serves them well, allow for flexibility through variety. This is like the Furness Building at the University of Pennsylvania which, one hundred years after being built, allowed for the introduction of computer library systems through its diversity of spaces.

Figure 14 - The 3D model design for City of Culture of Galicia in Spain, by Peter Eisenman, expected to be completed in 2011, and another Deconstructivist architecture, the Danish Jewish Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Daniel Libeskind, built in 2004

Sketch 3 - Diagrammatic illustrations of the Deconstructivist Blurred Zone

Figure 15 - An image and a floor plan of the Stata Center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Boston, Massachusetts, by Frank O. Gehry, completed in 2004

Continue to Part 2 »

[i] Venturi, Robert, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour, Learning from Las Vegas (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1972; revised edition 1977), p. 87.
[ii] Venturi, Robert and Denise Scott Brown, Architecture as Signs and Systems: For a Mannerist Time (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004).
[iii] Scott Brown, Denise, "Context in Context," Architecture as Signs and Systems: For a Mannerist Time, pp. 175-181.
[iv] Stalder, Felix, The Network Paradigm: Social formations in the Age of Information, (1998).
[v] Castells, Manuel, The Rise of the Network Society, the Information Age: Economy, society and Culture, Vol. I (Cambridge, MA: Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1996), p. 5.
[vi] Grossman, Lev, "The Peoples Network," Time (November, 2006), pp. 61-65.
[vii] Linden Lab, What is Second Life?, (2003).
[viii] Webber, Melvin M. et al., "Urban Place and Nonplace Urban realm," Explorations into Urban Structure, (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1964), pp. 108-132.
[ix] Webber, Melvin M., "Tenacious Cities," Conference Research Notes: spatial technologies, geographical information and the city, Baltimore (September, 1996)
[x] Castells, Manuel, The Informational City (Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1989).
[xi] Lynch, Kevin, "Environmental Adaptability," Journal of the American Institute of Planners 24, no. 1 (1958), pp. 16-24.
[xii] The Nation Assessment Synthesis Team, US Global Change Research Program, Climate Change Impacts on the United States: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, (2001).
[xiii] Dr. Wimberley, Ron, Mayday 23: World Population Becomes More Urban Than Rural, (2007).
[xiv] Kwon, Tai-Hwan , Population Change and Development in Korea, (2001)
[xv] Scott Brown, Denise, "Mannerism Because You Cant Follow All the Rules of All the Systems All the Time," Architecture as Signs and Systems: For a Mannerist Time, p. 212.
[xvi] Scott Brown, Denise, "The Redefinition of Functionalism," Architecture as Signs and Systems: For a Mannerist Time, pp. 153-154.
[xvii] Lynch, Kevin, "Environmental Adaptability," Journal of the American Institute of Planners 24, no. 1 (1958), pp. 16-24.
[xviii] Scott Brown, Denise, "The Redefinition of Functionalism," Architecture as Signs and Systems: For a Mannerist Time, pp. 158-161. and Harteveld, Maurice and Denise Scott Brown, "On Public Interior Space," AA Files 56 (November 2007), pp. 64-73.
[xix] Crane saw the street as providing access, pressure for city buildings, space for living and opportunities for communication. See Scott Brown, Denise, "Urban Design at Fifty, and a Look Ahead," Harvard Design Magazine (Spring Summer, 2006,) pp. 33-44.
[xx] Eisenman, Peter, "Blurred Zones", Written into the Void: Selected Writings, 1990-2004 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), pp. 111-112.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.