30 in 30: #1

With thirty days until my next semester of classes start, I've decided to take the opportunity to document my exploration of New York City over that month with thirty buildings or places of interest. We start with a church near City College that I've always want to see but haven't done during the past semester when venturing to school or leaving to go home.



The Church of the Crucifixion is located on the corner of 149th Street and Convent Avenue in Hamilton Heights. It was completed in 1967 and was designed by Costas Machlouzarides, "the architect of the audacious," according to the New York Times, who was born in Cyprus in 1928, graduated from Columbia University in 1953, and does very little architecture these days.



With its floating roof and curving exterior walls, the church is a strange melding of Le Corbusier's Ronchamp (the AIA Guide to NYC calls it "a hallucinogenic version of ... Ronchamp) and an American grain elevator. The first thing that struck me was its relatively small size; I was expecting something much bigger given the late-Modernist formal vocabulary. What seems like a building that would occupy a full block and be visible from all sides actually sits on a small corner lot, addressing its context mainly via the piercing cross and adjacent narrow window. Nevertheless it's a strong presence in an area becoming more and more popular for its stock of brownstones, some more recognizable than others.

Directions:
Take A, B, C or D (if going uptown use a car near the front; downtown near the back) to West 145th Street station. Exit on St. Nicholas Avenue, between 147th and 148th Street, walk to 149th Street and then one block to Convent Avenue.

Today's archidose #53

ando's space #1 by F.j.
A Tadao Ando project in Tokyo.

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The Year in Photos

Back in July I started a new feature on this page, called Today's archidose, where I periodically post an image from Flickr's archidose pool or tagged archidose. Here's a slide show of that pool, which includes images posted here over the past six months, as well as others not so lucky. Move your mouse over the bottom of the slide show to see thumbnail images and skip around; move your mouse over the top to adjust slideshow speed, move back and forth, and to pause the show; and click the images for more information. Enjoy!



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The Art of Living in 2:33

Here's a "A video exploration of a Soho loft designed by Azin Valy & Suzan Wines of I-Beam Design in New York City."



(Thanks to Glenn for the head's up!)

Call for Entries: PA29

Pamphlet Architecture has extended its call for entries for its 29th issue until January 16, 2007.

To promote and foster the development and circulation of architectural ideas, Pamphlet Architecture is again offering an opportunity for architects, designers, theorists, urbanists, and landscape architects to publish their designs, manifestos, ideas, theories, ruminations, hopes, and insights for the future of the designed and built world. With far-ranging topics including the alphabet, algorithms, machines, and music, each Pamphlet is unique to the individual or group that authors it. This call for ideas seeks projects that possess the rigor and excitement found throughout the rich history of Pamphlet Architecture.

More information here.

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden by Ake Larsson.

The udpated book feature is Above Paris: The Aerial Photography of Roger Henrard by Jean-Louis Cohen.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

Redesigning Christmas
Pentagram redesigns Christmas for public radio's Studio 360. [slide show and audio]

Kosmograd
"Postcards from the edge of the 1000-mile city." (added to sidebar under blogs::architecture)

Jetson Green
A well-done blog "trying to flaunt the business case for green building." (added to sidebar under blogs::architecture)

Frank's Home

"Frank's Home" is a new play by Richard Nelson, directed by Robert Falls and starring Peter "Robocop" Weller. After a preview run at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, the play moves to New York and Playwrights Horizons next month, from January 13 - February 18.

"Frank's Home" is described as,

"a lyrical, heartbreaking story about one of our greatest, if less than perfect, visionaries – a man who created a new architectural vocabulary but couldn't create a home for himself and his family."

Photo of Peter Weller by Brian Warling

Special Discount Offer

Order by January 30th and receive $40 tickets (reg. $65) for performances thru Jan 21. $50 thru Feb 18.

Mention code FHBL to receive discount:

:: Online
:: Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily)
:: Visit the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 W 42nd Street (Noon-8pm daily)

A Daily 2006 in Review

This year's been a big one for me, getting married, moving to New York, and going back to school. And judging from all the posts in my archives from this year, it's been a big year for architecture in general. Below I give you a brief recap of the year in daily doses. Posts will be light for the next week or two as I relax and celebrate the holiday season. Happy Holidays!

The state of Chicago architecture:

:: Preservation and One South Dearborn
:: Low-rise residential
:: Wrigley Field bleachers
:: Navy (crap)Pier and not so crappy
:: Bucket Boys
:: Studio Gang's Aqua once, twice, thrice
:: Crate & Barrel's urban referent
:: 3 blocks, 5 buildings
:: HUB 116
:: Soldier Field loses landmark status
:: Turrell's Chicago Skyspace opens
:: Glass is the new painted concrete
:: Dirk Denison's Culver House
:: Zoka Zola reworks Chicago's zoning
:: VDT's north-side retail complex
:: Mies on a beam
:: McDonalds buys a bike station
:: Bike 2015 Plan
:: Fun with developer taglines
:: The Rockwell Brown Line station reopens
:: Smith leaves SOM

Architecture in NYC:

:: New York gets new bus stops
:: The connection between Rockwell and Ando
:: The handrail memorial
:: Gehry and Tschumi before & during
:: Astoria pool
:: Mocking up 40 Bond Street
:: WTC towers unveiled
:: Upper West Side photos
:: StoryCorps booth
:: New Museum progress
:: Hollywood in Astoria

Beyond Chicago and New York:

:: Steven Holl's Nelson-Atkins Bloch addition, not once but twice
:: VDT's Kresge Foundation
:: Chavez Ravine
:: Paolo Soleri in New Orleans
:: OMA in KY
:: Hotel Puerta America's corridors and rooms
:: Golconde
:: Porous Drape
:: Congotronics
:: Dubai Strike
:: Cretto, revisited
:: Novy Dvur Monastery
:: Tikopia, part I and part II
:: Urban Plough
:: Wind and Earth
:: Richard Meier's Ara Pacis
:: Chicago Square (in Hamburg, Germany)
:: Wind and earth
:: Ferrous Park
:: Slaughterhouse architecture
:: Herzog & de Meuron's Tate expansion
:: The state of starchitecture
:: House of Terror
:: My trip to Ecuador in one-two-three-four parts
:: Leviathan Thot

The year in half doses:

:: Mercat de Santa Caterina by EMBT


:: S(ch)austall by FNP Architekten


:: Mother's by Clive Wilkinson


:: Metropol Parasol by J. Mayer H.


House in Brejos de Azeitao by Aires Mateus


Belmont/Thurman Lofts by Holst Architecture


Big Box Housing by David Woodhouse Architects


Glass Sea by Alec French Architects


House of Sweden by Gert Wingardh


Laminata House by Kruunenberg Van der Erve Architecten


Urban Cactus by UCX Architects / Ben Huygen and Jasper Jaegers


Z-House by Eve Harlou

Architecture and media:

:: Single. Handsome. Charismatic. Architect?
:: Auctioning Daniel Libeskind's boots
:: Allianz in Legos
:: Design E-squared
:: Modern-day Leonardos
:: Graham Foundation videos
:: UGLY Rant
:: Blueprint Magazines
:: Mini Cooper and Arcosanti
:: Architecture videos
:: A couple films: La Jetee and Fitzcarraldo
:: MIT Gallery
:: Thermal Baths music video
:: Crains Chicago on quirky bosses
:: What are architects paid?
:: Holiday gift books

Your favorites (with # of comments, as of today):

:: Gettin' Hitched (27)
:: Dubai Strike (16)
:: Nelson-Atkins Bloch (15)
:: This Just In (14)
:: Aqua Redux (13)
:: 4 Weeks Notice (13)
:: Architectural Connections (11)
:: No Small Plans (10)
:: Chang-Lin Tien Center (10)
:: Single. Handsome. Charismatic. Architect? (9)
:: Urban Referent (9)
:: Skyspace Opens (9)
:: un film de ... (9)
:: S-U-C-C-E-E-S! (9)
:: Rockwell Reopens (9)
:: Handrail Memorial (8)
:: Today's archidose #19 (8)
:: Chavez Ravine (7)
:: Metropol Parasol (7)
:: Design E-squared (7)
:: Weekly Aerials (7)
:: House of Sweden (7)
:: File Under: Luminous (7)
:: Coroflot Salary Results (7)
:: Leviathan Thot (7)

Lasly, in passing:

:: Harry Seidler
:: Jane Jacobs
:: Ferd Scheeler

Today's archidose #52

Campus de Vigo (Lagoas-Marcosende) by esmuz.
University Campus in Vigo, Spain by Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT).

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Hollywood in Astoria

As I type this, a movie is being shot a block from my apartment. It's obvious from the typical signs: trucks line the whole length of one side of the street; cones block access to thru traffic; cops stand around doing nothing; lights illuminate the night. This last one is what intrigues me the most about the presence of Hollywood in Astoria, Queens.



The street I live on runs under Hell Gate Bridge, the lengthy railroad corridor that runs through Astoria and roughly parallels the Triborough Bridge about three blocks to the south. For whatever reason, the filmmakers have lit up the underside of the bridge, a concrete barrel vault that's an impressive presence (something I'm guessing they were drawn to) even without the lights. The strong uplights might be required because of film's relatively low light sensitivity (compared to the human eye), but to me it points to Hollywood's tendency to exaggerate.



What intrigues me the most, though, is how Hollywood actually presents a place. Watching a movie that's shot on location, a certain level of authenticity comes across, making the story more believable to us. But is it an accurate representation of the place? Is it really authentic? If the film down the street from my apartment is any indication, the answer is no. While the exaggerated lighting doesn't necessarily lie, the overhaul of an adjacent building (unfortunately I didn't get a good photo of it) obviously does.



What the filmmakers have done to the adjacent building is change it from a home for a Greek organization (Astoria is VERY Greek and littered with Greek restaurants, stores, businesses, etc.) to a home for what appeared to be an Indian organization of some sort. Numerous extras and actors milled about in what I'm guessing was traditional dress. I have no idea how all this fits into the film's narrative, but what the filmmakers are ultimately doing is using the location for its formal attributes, and then going not one (the lighting) but two steps further by modifying that formality to fit the story. In other words, they're treating a real place like a studio or stage set and using it as a canvas for manipulation.



Nevertheless I was extremely pleased to see the lights under the Hell Gate Bridge and couldn't resist taking these photos.

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Meditation House in Mexico City, Mexico by Pascal Arquitectos.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

Invent-a-Micronation Contest
The results of BLDGBLOG's contest are in. Much more on micronations in Geoff's interview with author Simon Sellars.

11 Spring Street
A multi-artist temporary exhibition in Manhattan's Soho District over the weekend. I didn't make it (final reviews) but Gothamist has thorough coverage here and here. I found Waldo!

Vanguard 2006
Expanded online coverage of the magazine's annual pick of the vanguard litter.

Today's archidose #51

Moss History Channel by ken mccown.
Eric Owen Moss' winning design for the History Channel's challenge for Los Angeles in 2106. The network also held competitions in New York and Chicago.

According to the History Channel, "The winning City of the Future designs from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles will continue on to the national online competition where you, the viewer, will decide who will be named the national grand prize winner! Starting January 2, design-legend and chief juror Daniel Libeskind will lead the consumer vote."

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Leviathan Thot

This is too wild not to pass along, Kultureflash's Artworker of the Week (#63), Ernesto Neto.



Leviathan Thot, 2006 is an installation at the Pantheon in Paris, as part of the Festival d'Automne.



The Brazilian artist's installation is a "tulle and polystyrene creature suspended under the dome of the Pantheon."

Book of the Moment

At a bookstore today I was pleased to see that New York 2000: Architecture and Urbanism from the Bicentennial to the Millennium, the fifth and last in Robert A.M. Stern's architectural history of New York, is done and in stores. The 1300-page tome was preceded by the years 1880, 1900, 1930, and 1960. All together the five volumes total over 5,000 pages, quite an undertaking.

Today's archidose #50

PARKING_3 by Roelof van Wyk.
Johannesburg, South Africa.

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Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

La Moneda Cultural Center in Santiago, Chile by Undurraga & Deves Arquitectos.

The updated book feature is Recombinant Urbanism: Conceptual Modeling in Architecture, Urban Design, and City Theory by David Grahame Shane.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

cultural blah blah.com
"Architecture, design, music and photography." (added to sidebar under blogs::culture)

Architectural Photography from Russia
Just like it says, photographs of Russian architecture.

Specifier Magazine
The Australian architecture magazine with a strong online presence. (added to sidebar under links::online journals)

Today's archidose #49

DSC_1395.JPG by olotini

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Ole Feeds It

This link just landed in my inbox and I'm forwarding it along to you, my dear readers. It's an interview with Ole Scheeren -- partner-in-charge at OMA and lead architect for the design and construction of CCTV -- at FeedMeCoolShit.com.



Thanks Johnny for the head's up!

Today's archidose #48

a whale in salzburg by fatuousplatitudes
The Kunsthaus Graz in Graz, Austria by Peter Cook and Colin Fournier.

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Ecuador Cuatro

Here's the last batch of photos from my recent class trip to Ecuador. This post focuses on our project's site, the oil town of Lago Agrio in northeastern Ecuador.

Previously:
:: Yasuni National Park
:: Quito to Amazon bus ride
:: Quito


The town is less than forty years old, dating from the discovery of oil in the Amazon region. In that time the area has gone from virgin rainforest (a la Yasuni National Park) to what you see here. Originally called Nueva Loja after the high number of migrants from the country's Loja Province that moved to the town for work, it is now called Lago Agrio after the town of Sour Lake, Texas, home of Texaco, the company responsible for laying the infrastructure for what is now Ecuador's most valuable resource.


In many sections of Lago Agrio, such as above, the context is virtually non-existent, both out of site and covered over. The town looks and feels like a frontier town, a modern day, South American version of America's Old West.


Here's some stalls built into some ground that juts from the earth in the middle of town. This image illustrates how the urban fabric of the city is cut from the rolling rainforest topography.


This is a somewhat typical residence on the edge of town.


As in other parts of Ecuador dogs roam free.


For obvious reasons Lago Agrio has been a controversial place, for Texaco's handling of its practices down there (well below US standards), for the country's exploitation of the Amazon basin for oil, and the unbridled and irresponsible urbanism across the rainforest landscape.


Here the town meets the Aguarico River, which flows into the Amazon. Regardless of its positive attributes, most of the town is miles from the river because it's centered about where oil was found. Visible above is a small nightlife area (called the tourist section by our local guides) that abuts the river.


Expansion towards and across the river was planned at one time, but as you can see here with this unfinished section of bridge it was stalled by economical, political, and other factors.


The town itself is a hodge-podge of concrete-frame and wood and tin roof buildings, thrown up in a haphazard and informal manner. Here buildings fail to responsible address a stream that runs through most of town. This stream is unfortunately used for dumping all sorts of waste.


The town has made strides towards providing public infrastructure, including sewer lines, electrification, and places like this public park.


We presented our (in-progress) sustainable plan for Lago Agrio's (post-oil) future to the municipal government. They were surprisingly receptive.


Yes, there's an airport in the rainforest and it has one flight a day. Thirty minutes after take-off we were in Quito and the last days of our trip.