Book Series of the Moment

Many book series that try to boil down complex ideas, facts, and knowledge into slim volumes end up calling the reader a beginner, a dummy, or worse, an idiot. Well, the fine folks at Routledge call their audience for these books just what they are: architects; as well as what they're apparently not: thinkers. To remedy this the Thinkers for Architects Series "offers quick, clear and accurate introductions to key thinkers who have written about architecture and whose work can yield insights for designers."

At first blush the series sounds 15 or 30 years late, as the time of basing architectural designs and their rationale on philosophy, critical theory and other esoteric texts pretty much ended when Peter Eisenman put down Derrida and picked up a laptop. Certainly form has reinvigorated much of architectural practice, but in a way that architecture can be seen as a hollow shell of its former self. Ideas in architecture need to go beyond the merely formal and computer-aided, and perhaps these books propose some sort of answer, or at least antidote.



Current titles include Deleuze & Guattari for Architects by Andrew Ballantyne, Heidegger for Architects by Adam Sharr, and Irigaray for Architects by Peg Rawes.

Routledge also is home to the SuperCrit series, "based on live studio debates between protagonists and critics, revisits some of the most influential architectural projects of the recent past and examines their impact on the way we think and design today."


The inclusion of Venturi and Scott Brown's Learning from Las Vegas is an obvious choice, but I was pleasantly surprised to see SuperCrit #1 devoted to Cedric Price's Potteries Thinkbelt, a before-its-time, speculative urban design project that is usually overshadowed by his equally innovative Fun Palace. It makes me curious to see what #3 will feature.

What Is Green Architecture?

From a press release that landed in my inbox:

WHAT IS GREEN ARCHITECTURE?

A Talk by Jürgen Mayer H.
Lecture + Dialog
02/07/08
7:00pm
Goethe-Institut New York
1014 Fifth Avenue@83rd Street
New York, NY 10028
English
Free admission. No reservations required.
212-439-8700

This lecture and dialog is the first of four planned in the What Is Green Architecture? series, curated by MoMA's Andres Lepik, who also moderates the events. The following three conversations are Matthias Schuler on April 1, Christoph Ingenhoven on May 19, and Matthias Sauerbruch on June 16.

Furthermore, "Inspiration for What Is Green Architecture? stems partly from the forward-thinking desire of the Goethe-Institut New York to transform its landmark Beaux-Arts townhouse on Fifth Avenue into a showcase of sustainable design and interior architecture." These and other programs will influence the "greening" of their home over the next couple years. Sounds like a thoughtful and unique way of designing responsibly and educating the public at the same time.

Today's archidose #174

, originally uploaded by m_granados.

CaixaForum Madrid in Madrid, Spain by Herzog & de Meuron (2008), with a "vertical garden" by Patrick Blanc.

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Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Suburban Intervention in Los Angeles, California by Oyler Wu Collaborative.

The updated book feature is The Rise of the Network Society, by Manuel Castells, and Multi-National City: Architectural Itineraries, by Reinhold Martin and Kadambari Baxi.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

icon eye
The new page for Icon Magazine, now with daily news during the week and an RSS feed. (updated in sidebar under architectural links::publications)

twobo arquitectura
The blog of Barcelona-based two.bo arquitectura. (in Spanish; added to sidebar under blogs::offices)

J-Architectes
A new blog by a young architect in Tours, France. (in French; added to sidebar under blogs::architecture)

Crevice House

While reading a book devoted to Tadao Ando's houses and housing, I was pleasantly surprised to see an unfamiliar project. In addition to being fresh (to me), it's also in Manhattan. Ando followers are probably familiar with his unbuilt design for a penthouse from about ten years ago, as well as his interior design for Morimoto's home under the High Line, but if this project -- affectionately called the Crevice House, due to its small lot, tall neighbors, and zoning restrictions -- is built it will be Ando's first building in New York City.


[Click image for larger view]

Unfortunately the book does not provide more text or images than the spread above, though I'll be sure to keep my eyes and ears open for more in the future.

Hi, I'm Lise. Buy this phone.

Flipping through a lifestyle magazine in a waiting room last week, I couldn't help but stop my speedy flip through the rag on an ad for Blackberry featuring Asymptote's Lise Anne Couture. While easily more photogenic than co-principal Hani Rashid, nevertheless I was quite shocked to see an architect hawking expensive mobile electronics. I was also surprised that a more well-known architect didn't get the job. But when one pictures the most famous woman architect, Zaha Hadid, it's easy to see the shallow, surface-oriented minds of the advertisers easily making that decision, particularly with the fact that advertising isn't limited to the page these days, but also includes the requisite sound + video.

Storefront Books

On January 23, "to reinforce the gallery’s ongoing commitment to generate dialogue and collaboration across geographic, ideological and disciplinary boundaries," the Storefront for Art and Architecture opened a "curated micro-bookshop."

The store is comprised of three sections: books selected by key figures in the Storefront's past and present, an artists' book series published by Centre for Contemporary Art Kitakyushu in Japan, and books and other material related to exhibitions held at the space.



The store is added to my NYC Bookstores post, accessible via the sidebar under "series".

(via Dwell Blog)

Baraka

In a post at Blog Like You Give a Damn on Kowloon Walled City -- one of the most amazing self-generating entities I've witnessed via photographs and video -- commenter fred shares a reference to Baraka, a 1992 film by Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson with scenes of the walled city.


[Kowloon Walled City | image source]

The generous stills on this web site include a few images of the physical conglomeration that made up the walled city, illustrating its proximity to the now-demolished-just-like-the-walled-city Kai Tak Airport.


[Kowloon Walled City | image source]

Kowloon Walled City was demolished in 1993 for a number of reasons, so only images such as these are what survive for those, like me, fascinated by the place but never to visit it.


[Kowloon Walled City | image source]

Glancing at some of the other stills on the film's web site, Baraka clearly resembles another non-narrative film devoted to presenting imagery of the world's populations and their respective environments: Koyaanisqatsi.


[Brazil slums | image source]

The first film of Godfrey Reggio's Qatsi trilogy, released ten years before Baraka, looks at "the collision of two different worlds -- urban life and technology versus the environment," according to the filmmakers. Baraka, likewise, "show some of the best, and worse, parts of nature and human life."


[Sao Paulo, Brazil | image source]

Having seen the earlier film and not (yet) the latter, it sounds like the big difference between the two films that share much in common, including the use of time-lapse photography and a minimalist soundtrack, is their outlook: the former pessimistic but the latter a bit more positive.


[Varanasi, India | image source]

One way this assumption can be deduced is the derivative of each title...


[Bhaktapur, Nepal | image source]

Koyaanisqatsi: Hopi Indian term meaning "life out of balance."


[Auschwitz, Poland | image source]

Baraka: Sufi words meaning blessing, essence of life.


[Ta Prohm Temple, Cambodia | image source]

Regardless of Baraka's relatively positive tone, images of the "bad" accompany those of the "good," like a corridor of a concentration camp in Aushwitz shot the same as a ruined temple in Angkor, Cambodia.


[Mecca | image source]

All images above from Baraka.

Today's archidose #173

BCN, originally uploaded by Sergio S. Pereira.

The Forum Building in Barcelona, Spain by Herzog & de Meuron (2004).

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Half Dose #43: Tile for Yu-un

With all the hoopla last week around Olafur Eliasson's "four man-made waterfalls, 90 to 120 feet high, [that] will punctuate New York’s waterfront for three months starting in mid-July," it seemed like an appropriate time to look at the Icelandic artists other environmental installations.


[photograph by Robert McLeod | image source]

One project -- rather far removed from both the East River in geography and scale -- that stands out is this courtyard "lining" for a house/gallery by Tadao Ando in Tokyo.


[image source]

With an obvious penchant for collecting art, client Takeo Obayashi named the place Yu-un, a combination of the Japanese characters for wonder and hermitage. It is a name that Ando says has quite a deep meaning, as can be expected.


[photograph by Robert McLeod | image source]

Ando's signature spare, concrete-and-glass spaces are punctuated in the middle of the N-shaped plan by Eliasson's 6,800+ platinum-glazed ceramic tiles, their surfaces changing in color and intensity depending upon the conditions of light.


[image source]

Where one usually finds in Ando's houses a center of calm and retreat, the courtyard here is a dynamic space activated by the reflection of natural and artificial light off the multi-faceted surfaces. Additionally, the views across the courtyard keep the ceramic tiles an almost constant presence in the multi-faceted life of the businessman-cum-art collector.


[photograph by Robert McLeod | image source]

Links:

:: Olafur Eliasson
:: Architectural Digest
:: New York City Waterfalls

Today's archidose #172

more circles, originally uploaded by andrewpaulcarr.

The underbelly of the Palestra office building in London by SMC Alsop (2006).

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:: Tag your photos archidose

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Red Location Museum in Port Elizabeth, South Africa by Noero Wolff Architects.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

Eames Stamps
Only 41 cents for a lounge chair with ottoman!

Jim Denevan
Some interesting "freehand drawings in sand."

Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison
Moody imagery from the duo now exhibiting "The Architect's Brother" in Tallahassee, Florida. (via Roy Christopher)

Today's archidose #171

, originally uploaded by kwikzilver.

De Citadel in Almere, Netherlands by Christian de Portzamparc.

To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

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Lots O' Links

'Tis the season for an overflowing inbox with links to share:

An Atlas of Radical Cartography :: "A collection of 10 maps and 10 essays about social issues from globalization to garbage; surveillance to extraordinary rendition; statelessness to visibility; deportation to migration."

2007-8 Franzen Lecture on Architecture and the Environment :: "An annual invited lecture by an international figure whose work has significant implications for understanding and reconceiving the relationship between architecture and the environment, will be delivered by Shigeru Ban," in Cooper Union's Great Hall on Tuesday, January 22 at 7pm.

useful + agreeable house :: Now's your chance to purchase a pre-designed house by "world-renowned architect", Neil M. Denari. Yes, you too can live in an "ergonomic world."

Willa's Wonderland :: LOOM Studio's urban intervention for the Atlanta Beltline, described in comic book form with 11-year-old Willa. Part of re/constructing atlanta exhibition.

White House Redux :: An international ideas competition that asks, "What if the White House, the ultimate architectural symbol of political power, were to be designed today?"

weeHouse :: A prefab house that's small in size and price, by Alchemy Architects.

NYSCA Grants :: Deadline is March 1 for grants that include an architecture, planning & design program.

Architecture | Patent Room :: Architectural drawings and building designs found in patents from the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s, with new building designs added regularly.(via MUG)

Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum :: Zaha wins another competition and makes more headlines. (Thanks to Nate for the head's up!)

Hugh Ferris Drawings :: Drawings from the Avery Collection generously shared by kosmograd.

Today's archidose #170

L1020303, originally uploaded by atelier_db.

The Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) in Barcelona, Spain by Manuel Brullet and Albert de Pineda.

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Half Dose #42: East River State Park

The outcome of 2005's Williamsburg Waterfront Design Competition -- for the water's edge between N7th and N9th Streets in the East River State Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn -- resulted in a masterplan collaboration of three of the winners: Gareth Mahon; 3SAP's Alison Duncan, Petra Mager, and Stephanie Saulmon; and Fabrica 718's Julie Torres Moskovitz and Sarah Ludington.


[site location and existing shoreline]

Recently the collaborative team presented their unified design to the community and the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation in an effort to establish design guidelines for the upcoming park improvements. So far the park's (temporary) implementation has been a rather uninspired mix of grass, concrete, and saplings that doesn't appear to reflect the eclectic nature of nearby Williamsburg residents, the unique site overlooking Midtown Manhattan, or any sustainable principles that are rightly popular today. This design hopes to point things in the right direction.


[renderings looking west]

According to Fabrica 718, the design is organized around three objectives: waterfront access and stabilization; community, art, and educational features; and sustainable technologies. Below is a site plan oriented to the above images (north is to the right).


[site plan | north >>]

One notices the access from the street, from the anticipated extensions of the East River State Park to the north and the south, and from the water. Without the extensions a reality or even envisioned, the park's emphasis is on the movement from the street to the water, as the design features have a strong E-W directionality.


[renderings at north edge (top) and south edge (bottom)]

A write-up in the current issue of Topos credits the design's flexibility ("recognizing the diversity of local residents") and sustainable components, like the eco-pier with wind and solar power generation, in effect showing how the design -- implemented in its current state or merely as an idea generator for design guidelines -- can successfully address its context, the nearby population, and environmental concerns.


[renderings of the eco-pier]

(Thanks to Gareth Mahon for sharing images of the project!)

Today's archidose #169

UVU | 7 days of shooting | week 21 | Fill the Frame Friday, originally uploaded by base_gee.

Utrecht University Library (UBU) in Utrecht, Netherlands by Weil Arets (2004).

To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

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Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Thomas L. Wells Public School in Toronto, Ontario by Baird Sampson Neuert Architects.

The updated book feature is The Evolution of 20th Century Architecture: A Synoptic Account, by Kenneth Frampton.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

CoolBoom
A blog by Sylvia, who was born to love design, covering architecture and interior design. (added to sidebar under blogs::architecture)

David Report
A blog that "covers the intersection of design, culture and business life with a creative and humanistic approach." (added to sidebar under blogs::design+technology)

Architextures
A blog "finding the beauty in our built environment." (added to sidebar under blogs::architecture)

Half Dose #41: Hungerburgbahn

While I try not to feature projects by the likes of Zaha Hadid, who have every completed project published in print and online, this funicular station in Innsbruck, Austria by the Pritzker Prize winner caught my eye enough that I decided to feature it.


[photo source]

Actually comprised of four stations, the just over 1 mile (1.8km) long Nordpark Cable Railway (Hungerbergbahn) connects the center of Innsbruck, Alpenzoo (the world's highest zoo) and, naturally, a mountaintop ski resort.


[photo source]

What unites the stations and a bridge crossing also designed by Hadid (all with colleague Patrik Schumacher) is the fluid canopy designs finished in milky white glass.


[photo by david levene | source]

While the technical achievement of cladding these shapes in glass should obviously be commended, one must ask if the large, dark joints are appropriate, or at least what they are doing. Certainly these joints give the canopies a scale, a direction of sorts, and an indication of the tactile, of the manufacturing process, but something doesn't sit right with this albeit minor detail. Perhaps it's the portions where the joints don't align, as if a patchwork of pieces make up the cladding.


[photo by david levene | source]

Perhaps it's the contrast. Given that the decision was made to express a contrast between surface and joint, I can't help but wonder why and to what effect. To me, what the design, joints and all, becomes is a diagram executed at full scale for a town in the Alps. The grid, a necessary theoretical instrument even with advanced computer modeling, follows the surface of the canopies, as if we see the desktop view of the design in the 3d modeling software. In this case, the leap between computer model and built reality lacks the intermediate decision-making that makes the latter more than an enlargement of the former.


[photo source]

Links:

:: Zaha Hadid
:: Times Online
:: Guardian Unlimited
:: World Architecture News
:: dezeen
:: Funimag
:: Retrofutur
:: architectural videos*