Half Dose #17: Sudwestmetall

On Monday, October 3 Matthias Schuler of Transsolar will be speaking at the University of Illinois Chicago's School of Architecture. Transsolar see themselves as climate engineers, "a cross-disciplinary service that extends, as a total concept, from the architectural through the structural aspect to technical equipment for buildings."



One of their completed projects is an office building for Sudwestmetall in Heilbronn, Germany. Designed by Dominik Dreiner, with structures by Werner Sobek, the low and long building is characterized by parallel glass walls surrounded by a woven mesh stainless steel wrapper.



The siting and the reflective/transparent surfaces signal the importance of the surroundings in the building design, as much or even more than technical concerns.



Links:

:: Dominik Dreiner
:: Transsolar
:: Werner Sobek
:: Photograph at You Are Here

Freedom Mall

Yesterday, New York Governor George Pataki evicted the proposed International Freedom Center museum from the World Trade Center site, basically killing the plan for what would have been a shared Drawing Center/Freedom Center entity overlooking the memorial footprints. But it appears the Snohetta-designed building might become an extension of the underground memorial museum, adding approximately 40,000 s.f. to it's already 110,000 s.f. But that number is small beans compared to the 300,000 s.f. of additional retail spacee proposed just one day after the eviction, to be located along the popular Church Street thoroughfare overlooking the site. This number extends the 200,000 s.f. of retail space included in the PATH terminal.


Proposed Freedom Center

What irks me is the whole basis for the eviction:

After critics expressed concern this summer that there would be anti-American exhibitions and programs in the cultural building, Governor Pataki demanded an "absolute guarantee" that neither institution would do anything "to denigrate America."

The Drawing Center did not respond, but the Freedom Center caved, though it sounds like the Governor had already made up his mind. So, what was to be a "Freedom" center apparently could not be a forum for "free speech". Instead, people will have 300,000 more options for where to spend their "freedom dollars".

3 Days Left ...

... 2 register for Architecture for Humanity Chicago's new STAND competition. Click image for more information.

New Sites of Note

Some new sites of note:

pointingit
A new blog that integrates 0lll architecture photographs with Google Earth, as well as providing links to other architecture web sites and photo galleries. Fun stuff. (Added to the sidebar under architecture blogs)

Tropolism
A new blog by New York-based architect and writer Chad Smith that takes the city as the crowning achievement of civilization, even if it's a glorious mess. (Added to the sidebar under architecture blogs)

Haecceity
A "a portal and voice for critical and radical architecture theory in our time." (Added to the history/theory section of the sidebar; via Architecture Radio News)

LibraryThing
Finally, a way to catalog your books online, without any software. My LibraryThing is added to the sidebar under My Links. (found over at no. 2 self)

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Center of Gravity Foundation Hall in Jemez Springs, New Mexico by Predock Frane Architects.

The updated book feature is Massive Change, by Bruce Mau and the Institute without Boundaries.

No links today. I'm sick and will resume posts when I'm feeling better.

Omotesando Update

A couple months after my Japan trip a year ago this month, I posted about Omotesando, a busy, tree-lined street in Tokyo that's home to Prada, Collezione, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Tod's, and many others. It's that city's version of Chicago's Michigan Avenue, a point of reference for me or anybody who's visited the Windy City but not Tokyo. In that post I mentioned the Jingumae 4-chome Project, designed by Tadao Ando for mega-developer Mori. When I was there, the site had been cleared and fencing with marketing images rung the perimeter.



A Japanese site, Architectural Photography, presents some in-progress images of the project. The unrelenting facade, dictated somewhat by the program and the long and narrow nature of the site, appears to actually work well with the trees marching up and down the street, the two making an allee for pedestrians.



(via dezain)

Book of the Moment

The pictures speak for themselves.



(via Things)

What's in a Name?

This weeks big news in Chicago: In a press release from Federated Department Stores, the new owner of Marshall Field's:

Marshall Field's Nameplate Conversion

All Marshall Field's stores will convert to the Macy's nameplate in fall 2006. This includes 62 locations in Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Indiana, Ohio and South Dakota that will continue to be operated by the Minneapolis-based division that will become known as Macy's North.

"From a shopping standpoint, customers will have the best of both worlds in major markets like Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit. They will continue to benefit from regional buying that remains attuned to local preferences and lifestyles, plus enjoy the distinctive merchandise and shopping experience that's part of the Macy's brand," [Terry J.] Lundgren [Federated's chairman, president and chief executive officer] said.

"We have great respect for the legacy and traditions of Marshall Field's, and we carefully researched customer preferences and studied alternatives before making this decision to incorporate Marshall Field's into the nationwide Macy's brand," Lundgren said. "While the store's name will change, much of what customers love will stay the same, including Marshall Field's traditions and its outstanding record of community and charitable giving. As part of this name change process, we will do everything we can to honor the Marshall Field's heritage, particularly in its Chicago birthplace."

What this dryly-worded excerpt is saying is basically "no more Marshall Field's." Sure, they probably won't tear down the flagship store on State Street in Chicago nor stop the same store's popular tradition of elaborate holiday storefronts, but something will change, something less tangible. What was a unique and special part of Chicago, and a point of pride for locals, will become, as Lynn Becker puts it, "a Macy's outlet." Becker also explains the recent history of Field's and its multiple buyouts, as well as pointing out that the cluster of buildings that make up the State Street store aren't landmarked, so an expedited landmarking of the structures would ensure that gems like the atrium are preserved through the name-change.


Image grabbed from Looper

I've always felt that Field's was something that helped define Chicago, and growing up here I think the two are a great fit. One isn't the same without the other. So if the long shot petition to save Field's doesn't help save the name - and I'm guessing it won't - I won't hesitate to take out my Marshall Field's credit card and cut it up.

Update 01.31.06: Looks like the Marshall Field's name may stick around, at least at the State Street flagship store. Read about it here and here.

Coniglio Gigante!

Located on a hill (el. 1600m) above the Village of Artesina, Piemonte, Italy is "Hase", an installation by gelatin that will be in place until 2025. As explained by the artists:


"The things one finds wandering in a landscape: familiar things and utterly unknown, like a flower one has never seen before, or, as Columbus discovered, an inexplicable continent; and then, behind a hill, as if knitted by giant grandmothers, lies this vast rabbit, to make you feel as small as a daisy."


"The toilet-paper-pink creature lies on its back: a rabbit-mountain like Gulliver in Lilliput. Happy you feel as you climb up along its ears, almost falling into its cavernous mouth, to the belly-summit and look out over the pink woolen landscape of the rabbitís body, a country dropped from the sky; ears and limbs sneaking into the distance; from its side flowing heart, liver and intestines."


"Happily in love you step down the decaying corpse, through the wound, now small like a maggot, over woolen kidney and bowel. Happy you leave like the larva that gets its wings from an innocent carcass at the roadside. Such is the happiness which made this rabbit."


"I love the rabbit the rabbit loves me."

(via Archinect)

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Architectural Documentation Center in Madrid, Spain by Aparicio+Fernandez-Elorza.

The updated book feature is Small Houses, by Loft Publications.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

Roland Halbe
Web page of the freelance architectural photographer, also added to sidebar. (Thanks, Damian)

[pushpullbar]²
Architecture + design forum.

terra non firma
Despite being raised from birth as a native new yorker to hate LA, Marissa doesn't. She likes it. a lot. (Also added to sidebar)

In the Field: DOUBLEBOOK
Two books (Belltown Paradise and Making Their Own Plans) on improving cities via inclusive, neighborhood-led design.

Design Salary Survey
"The 2005 edition of the [Coroflot Designer] Salary Survey is now open and collecting data. Use this information as you see fit -- to see if you should get a raise, or to figure out what to pay someone who is working for you. Add your information to help the rest of the world, after which you can view the results that others have entered. We will publish the results to the public after October 1, 2005."

Half Dose #16: Platypusary

A couple months ago I featured the Chameleon by Cassandra Complex on my weekly page, a project that's also featured in this month's Architectural Record Interiors 2005. Another unique project by the Australian firm is the Platypusary at Healesville Sanctuary, located about 40 miles (65 km) east of Melbourne. The text and images below (click for larger views) are courtesy the architect.



Emily Kngwarreye, when badgered to name her works, posited only "ewelye", "the lot", "the whole bang lot." It is an exclamation that describes an irrevocable connectedness of all things. It is an idea that has been given a great deal of thought here, particularly in light of what might be "ewelye" in our current cultural condition. The BHP Billiton Platypusary does not attempt a faux naturalism, rather it accepts the irony of its materiality and folds it into a form that metaphorically describes its evolution from another part of everything: us.

Somehow, from somewhere it jumped up. Truly inspired by the magnificence of its little inhabitants; the Platypusses, Barak and Binnari, and nested in Healesville Sanctuary -- this new architecture wants to connect the sky with the land, the breeze through the brocade of gold leaves, the light to its skin, the human to the platypus, and it attempts to do so through material and form.



It appears to have its own nascent formula or code from which all of the components stem. Two bright gold steel conjoined ovuloids arch over the new habitat providing enclosure and predator protection. They are in a way, a tripartite exoskeleton, which supports an internal radial, scalar skin of gold leafy panels. The radial panels overlap to follow the secret formula and, like a tree start solid and dissipate to the thin outer edges. The sun passes through these to cast intricate shadows and generate high definition reflections into each and every marble that is the Platypusary ground plane. Water, cascading and shifting through the pools, in turn, provides eternally different refractions cast upon the gold panels, reiterating the constant connection and reflection.



The viewer is encapsulated within the ovuloid, under the exoskeleton, ensuring they too become part of the sparkle motion -– so that in some strange way, they are a part of this "ewelye", while the architecture rebukes the age old endeavor of simulating, or ascending toward the heavens through a non transcendental exploration of the here and now.

Links:

:: Text and images contributed by Cassandra Complex
:: Healesville Sanctuary
:: Review at The Age
:: Chameleon on my weekly page and at Architectural Record
:: The Art Wall on my weekly page, a project that features a mural by Aboriginal artist Emily Kngwarreye (with a link to her work).

Plagiarism Roundup

Architects copying architects seems to be a big issue lately, sparked by a lawsuit against SOM and David Childs over the design of Freedom Tower.

Here's some articles/web pages that address the topic:

:: When Architects Plagiarize, It's not always bad by Witold Rybczynski
:: Brother from Another Mother by Clay Risen
:: Hi, Gorgeous. Haven't I Seen You Somewhere? by Fred A. Bernstein (this article is now in the New York Times' pay-per-view archive, though I'll update the link if and when Mr. Bernstein puts it on his own site)
:: Gutterland Police Blotter

And some blog posts that deal mainly with Shine v. SOM and Bernstein's article above:

:: The Anxiety of Influence at Veritas et Venustas
:: Twisting in the Wind at The Party Copyright Blog
:: The Collective Wellspring of Activity at OnTheCommons.org
:: Discussion at Archinect
:: Imitation of Art at Babble/On Project (with images from Bernstein article)
:: The Endless Saga of 9/11 at Proceed at your own risk

So why all the discussion? What's the big deal? It seems to break down into these points:

:: The value of (striving for) originality and novelty in contemporary architecture,
:: The lack of a dominant aesthetic in the same,
:: The (mostly unacknowledged) importance of precedents and previous built works to architects, and
:: The difficulty in applying copyright law to architectural design.

For a good background on copyright law, particularly the 1990 Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act, check out the Patry Copyright page linked above. William Patry (who worked on a report that lead to the Act) explains the logic behind the decision to move ahead with Shine v. SOM, illuminating some rather flimsy tactics by SOM to squash the lawsuit.

One South Lantern

This last weekend was "Fall preview" for some major papers. Extending this TV- and movie-theme to architecture, Nicholai Ouroussof weighs in with his picks while our own Blair Kamin flexes his powers of prognostication.

One of the Tribune architecture critic's picks is One South Dearborn, a 40-story office building designed by Rick Keating and Jim DeStefano that sits next to Inland Steel that's set to open in November. Kamin mentions the "distinctive top: A large, windowlike opening, carved into the upper portion of the building's glass wall...[that] glows like a lantern at night."



More construction photos can be found at Emporis.

urban | rural | wild

The inaugral issue of AREA | Chicago features a piece on the exhbition "Urban, Rural, Wild" that is now on display at the I Space Gallery in River North (until October 22). The exhibition presents "work by eight artists addressing the complex historical and contemporary relationship between metropolitan Chicago and downstate Illinois."

Immediately, one thinks of the glaring "blue-red" distinctions between Chicago and pretty much the rest of the state, a top-weighted population that made Illinois a blue state in a sea of red in the last presidential election. But the interdependence of city and country -- in terms of resources, manufacturing, service, education, etc. -- also can't be ignored. Having yet to see the exhibition in person, and judging by a William Cronon quote emblazoned on the exhibition web site (worth visiting just to see the stitched aerial -- portion visible below -- that illustrates the sprawling mess that is (sub)urban Chicago), it boils down to perception, the way we view nature and how that ultimately informs the way we treat it.



The exhibition is organized by Sarah Kanouse and Nick Brown and includes these artists:

:: Thomas Comerford
:: Brian Dortmund
:: Jim Duigan
:: Free Walking
:: Nance Klehm
:: Laurie Palmer
:: Michael Piazza
:: Daniel Tucker
:: Frances Whitehead

When I saw the above advertisement (stretched five stories high near where it will rise, according to the Guttersniper) for Manhattan's Urban Glass House, a 12-story residential project featuring the posthumous architectural design of Philip Johnson (with Alan Ritchie) and interiors by Annabelle Selldorf that's getting plenty of attention this week, the week of its groundbreaking, I couldn't help but wonder, "What if Philip froze some sperm? And then Ms. Selldorf gave birth to the next generation of 'Super-Duper-Starchitect', one that could handle exteriors and interiors? What would this future offspring look like?"

. . .



Update 09.15: Some better/more time-consuming morphing at the Gutter.

Half Dose #15: Dirty Magic

"Dirty-Magic" is a site-specific installation that is framed by a literary analogy. It is a place where Dirty Realism mingles with Magic Realism and where the banalities of the contemporary city are infiltrated by unsuspected perceptual potential. It is a work that is disarmingly simple, perceptually complex and discretely perplexing. It was built in the summer of 2005 as part of the show "Paysages éphémères".



Its modest site is a safety curb occupying a slice of the property of an Esso gas station found at a busy street corner on avenue Mont-Royal in Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal district. It incorporates two telephone booths and an ill placed pine tree. The appearance of this peculiar assembly is entirely forgettable and therefore fundamentally "invisible", residing somewhere between the space of pathos and the unwittingly amusing.

The space of the tree and the telephone booths are enveloped in a blanket of laminated glass sandwiching a pvb interlayer of golden coloration and metallic honeycomb pattern. A deferential neighbour, the glass measures the same height as the telephone booths (2.4m). An entrance on the perpendicular rue Boyer allows pedestrians to explore the space created by this strange accumulation.



Our perceivable understanding of the installation is ever-changing depending on conditions of evening and daylight. Sometimes during the day, the glass appears golden, opaque and highly reflective – the honeycomb pattern clearly visible. At these times pedestrians are treated to the spectacle of their own mirror images, while the vehicular parade along avenue Mont-Royal casts sudden flashes of colour and light onto the reflective glass. At mid-day, when the sun is highest, the glass takes on a more transparent and subdued yellow green hue. In the evening, the work is lit by the ambient light of the gas station, street lamps, the telephone booths as well as the nearby restaurants and shops. As most of this light is cast from outside the installation, the glass is transformed into highly reflective and luminous gold. It is further transformed by coloured staccato reflections emanating from the passing vehicles.



The desired paradox of Dirty Magic is that ultimately it’s act of framing the "invisible" will, upon its de-installation, make the public’s memory of the work a frame for focused attention on the "invisible".

Links:

:: Text and images contributed by Hal Ingberg | Architecte
:: Paysages éphémères = Ephemeral Landscapes
:: Odace évenements, client
:: Europaconcorsi feature
:: Coloured Reflections

Something Goofy This Way Comes

In a online search for a corrugated metal texture map, I came across this image below.



Taken in New Zealand during Dominic & Maria's Round-the-world Trip, it makes me think there's something in the water down under.

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Espacio Torner in Cuenca, Spain by Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos.

The updated book feature is "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!", by Richard P. Feynman.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

AREA | Chicago
"A biannual publication project initiated by the Stockyard Institute in spring 2005 [whose] focus is on documenting the intersections of arts, education, and activist concerns and practice in the city of Chicago."

Strange Bungalow
Graduate student Yamani's "musings about art/architecture and all the social issues that go along with creative work in the public realm."

A couple new UpStarts at Archinect: Studio Sputnik and 51N4E

Site features/modifications

Some things you may have noticed, or not:

:: Word verifications for comments - due to increased spam.
:: "My links" in the sidebar - located under the current book cover, this area features images I've posted to Archinect (which I'll try to add to somewhat regularly), some of my published and unpublished writings, my bloglines feeds (in case you're curious what's being fed to me), and a couple Gvisit logs for my daily and weekly page. I'll add things to this section as they arise.

Well, that's about it. Carry on.

Book Series of the Moment

I just discovered Continuum's Thirty-Three and a Third Series "of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the past 40 years." Sounds like a GREAT idea. Not only does it have my favorite album of all time, but a whole slew of other favorites:

:: Clash's London Calling
:: DJ Shadow's Endtroducing
:: Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland
:: Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures
:: Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV
:: R.E.M.'s Murmur
:: Radiohead's OK Computer
:: Ramones' Ramones
:: Replacements' Let It Be
:: Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street
:: Smiths' Meat is Murder
:: Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico
:: Neil Young's Harvest

Homes Endangered

As part of Christopher Hawthorne's story in the LA Times on the architecture of New Orleans and the possibility of rebuilding, the following helpful graphic is provided, among many other images. For those unfamiliar with New Orleans, like me, it's a valuable illustration mainly of the various housing types -- the buildings most affected by Katrina -- in different parts of the city. Click for the original PDF file, a more legible and printable document that also illustrates the effects of water on a house's construction.

Update: Check out this amazing image gallery of somebody (Alvaro?) who stayed in New Orleans during the storm and took nearly 200 before and after photos. (via Metroblogging)

Benz Blob Pics

Europaconcorsi has a slew of construction pics of UN Studio's Mercedes Benz Museum, rising in Stuttgart, Germany. Check it out.

Half Dose #14: homecouture

A lot of marketing today strives to create a clear image for a company across a variety of scales and media, what is known as Branding. This extends from a company's logo to its merchandise, its advertising (print, TV, radio, billboards), even its architecture. For Raab Karcher's flagship store in Frankfurt Berlin, Germany, homecouture -- a tile and bathroom fittings showroom -- Franken Architekten's solution is a mix of clarity and distortion that nevertheless helps the client "brand" themselves.


Interior

The interior is clean lines, smooth surfaces, and off-white colors that help the colors of the store's logo and products jump.


Plan with Lounge and Consultation areas highlighted

The angles of the plan follow the irregular corner condition of the site. The architects took advantage of the corner by wrapping the storefront facade along the whole perimeter.


View inside

The architects approached the design by thinking of the store as having two facades: the exterior storefront and the interior wall. But instead of using typical clear glass for the former, the architects created what they call a Liquid Wall, where views into the space and the interior wall are distorted.

Links:

:: Franken Architekten
:: Raab Karcher
:: homecouture
:: Europaconcorsi feature with additional -- and much larger -- images

Flight 93 Memorial

The competition winner for the latest, and last major memorial remembering the events of September 11 was announced yesterday, almost four years since flight 93 crashed into a reclaimed strip mine in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. "Crescent of Embrace" by Paul Murdoch Architects with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects is the winner of the Flight 93 National Memorial, which received more than 1,000 entries in the first round and was narrowed to five finalists for the last round of judging.

The winning design consists of five major components:


1:: Gateway (Tower of Voices)


2:: Approach/Return


3:: Bowl (Crescent of Embrace)


4:: Sacred Ground

5:: Perimeter/Viewshed, where "existing tree coverage along the Park perimeter is preserved to maintain views to and from the Memorial Expressions and to help decrease disturbance from outside the Park."

Given the rural site and its size, its natural for the landscape to be used for meaning more than architecture. Interventions in the winning design, as well as the other finalists, are minimal, in favor of approaches that create spaces, paths, etc. via landscape elements. Regardless, we still see the impact of Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial, but in this case that's not bad, as the landscape will slowly evolve into something richer than any of the minimalist designs portend. In the case of the winner, the strongest "element" appears to be its namesake, the Crescent of Embrace, though hopefully the idea will not be lost due to the huge size of the space, a similar danger for the WTC Memorial.

Good Grief Update: "Flight 93 memorial decried as Islam symbol" (link via Archinect)

Only in America

Make that "Only in Texas". Dallas-based IntelliCool, "a culmination of companies and individuals sharing over 60 years of expertise in the outdoor pump and cooling equipment industries...committed to being the leading outdoor cooling provider in North America," designs outdoor air conditioners.



These beauties pictured are designed to "cool specific areas including lounging, eating, recreation, poolside, and deck areas...by circulating evaporative cooled air." The design is supposed to be appealing, though it resembles a collision of an old-timey lamppost and some sort of railroad equipment or an over-sized meat grinder. Regardless of their looks, they are utterly wasteful, extravagant and anthropocentric, a fitting addition to the suburban landscape.

(via HGTV, via Things)

Strapping CTA

When I read about the TranStrap (over at Gothamist), I initially thought it was a good idea for dealing with the out-of-reach bars and poles on Chicago's trains. But then I thought some more.

The TranStrap is a portable device made of nylon, neoprene and formed aluminum that hooks onto the aforementioned poles or bars, though really they're more accustomed to the latter. They start at ten bucks and accessories are available for storing and carrying the thing with you. But are they a solution for poor train-car design, or just an accessory for "germophobes"?

After my first inclination to think they'd work in Chicago, I recalled the design of the various train cars and realized they're pretty much worthless here. I ride the Brown and Red Lines, the former using mainly 3200-series cars and the latter using mainly 2600-series cars.

The 3200-series cars have an abundance of poles that are easily within reach, as well as placing seats in groups of one and two to increase standing room. These cars are usually and enjoyable ride. Given the plethora of poles and lack of bars, the TranStrap doesn't really come in handy here.



Then there's the 2600-series cars on the Red Line, probably the busiest line on the system. These cars (seen in the dolled-up holiday picture above - click for larger view) have many problems: 1. Seats are grouped in twos, restricting the area for standing, 2. The center area doesn't have any poles, a la the 3200s, but only raised handles on the seats (and when a train slams to a halt, these don't provide any aid in balance, believe me!), and 3. There aren't any bars, so the TranStrap is again useless.

So, what's my point? To me, the TranStrap seems to be addressing two things: the deficiency of subway car designs and germs. I'm more interested in the first, so I believe the product can't make up for what is some pretty bad train car design. It seems that so many entrepreneurial ideas are responses to other people's problems. I guess my point is that we should fix the original problem rather than embrace little fixes that might not really work at all. But that's costly, un-American, yadda yadda yadda. So maybe TranStrap needs to develop a Chicago line that features magnetic grips for the Red Line's typically abandoned center area. Now, there's an idea!

But wait! Fishing through the great Chicago-L.org site for images of car interiors, I came across this gallery, a test retrofit of 3200-series cars for longitudinal seating to create more room for standing. Closer to NYC cars, you can see these retrofits have poles, bars, and - yes - straps. Looks like it's time for a change.

The Last ... Picture Show

Starting Friday -- and running through October 29 -- at Stephen Daiter Gallery is the exhibition "The Last Great Maxwell Street Picture Show", featuring photographs by numerous artists since the 1930s.

For those unfamiliar with Maxwell Street, it was host to a Sunday market that was the biggest in Chicago. Described as "a carnivallike riot of human interaction," the area was home to Jewish and other immigrants, most recently a nexus for African-Americans. A scene in The Blues Brothers is indicative of the vitality of the area and the importance of the Blues in its history, as John Lee Hooker growls on the crowded street. The relatively recent demolition of the last remaining buildings along Halsted near Maxwell was the unfortunate end of a long battle to Save Maxwell.


Top: Untitled, early 1930s by Kaufmann & Fabry
Bottom: Untitled, 1968 by Jack Jaffe

These and other photographs can be seen on the Gallery web page. The Stephen Daiter Gallery is located at 311 West Superior.

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Ironworkers Local 580 Training Facility in Long Island City, New York by Daniel Goldner Architects.

The updated book feature is The Architecture of Modern Italy: Volume 1, The Challenge of Tradition, 1750-1900, by Terry Kirk.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

Labor Blog Roundup
The Labor Day Edition, at The Bellman.

Katrina Shelter
"A grassroots gathering of people opening their hearts and their homes to those left homeless by katrina".

Katrina 1: Levee City
Part one of BLDGBLOG's 3-part post on Katrina.

Book of the Moment

Although published two years ago, and covering a topic now ten years old, Eric Klinenberg's Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago is timely for the parallels between the local government's handling of the 1995 heat wave that killed almost 800 and the federal government's handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster this last week. The author's recent article at Slate spells it all out.



(via Gapers Block)

Archinect Aid

Check out Archinect's Adopt an Architect/Disaster Relief Information page. It has news and discussions as well as

:: A list of firms offering employment to architects that have been displaced by hurricane Katrina.

:: A list of schools offering placement to students that have been displaced by hurricane Katrina.

:: Links for donations and volunteering

:: Public announcements

Repent Chicago

If this ridiculous article holds any truth, Chicago better watch out 'cause it's destruction is next. Why? Because the Center on Halsted, the "Midwest's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender social service agency", designed by Gensler, is now under construction. Luckily, the building won't be finished until 2007, so we have some time to prepare.



(via Archinect's Katrina roundup)

Katrina in Pictures

Being a visual person, I need imagery as well as words for things to sink in. Katrina's aftermath has provided no shortage of photographs illustrating her impact on New Orleans and surrounding areas. Here's some galleries with images that range from unsettling and shocking to strangely beautiful:

:: New York Times photos
:: New York Times infographics
:: Washington Post

The "New" Downtown

The Chicago Sun-Times is in the midst of its five-part coverage on "The New Downtown", tracing Chicago's downtown from 1967 to the present.



While the "New" in the title stinks a bit of marketing - face it, downtown is an ever-changing and evolving entity that's a mixture of old and new, not just "new" or a place "reborn" - the variety of places and topics covered clearly illustrates the renewed interest in downtown (and here's the important part) for residents, more than tourists. Lots of pretty pictures, too, especially in the Growth Plates (image above) and in the "Then ... and now" comparisons.