A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Austrian Cultural Institute in New York, NY by Raimund Abraham, 2001 On the eve of the completion of Raimund Abraham's winning design (226 entries) for the Austrian Cultural Institute New York (ACI; now Austrian Cultural Forum) on 52nd Street in Manhattan we present his design and the second, third and fourth place finalists from the 1992 open competition. Architect's and jury's comments are included for each design. Raimund Abraham: The lateral compression of the site defines the latency of its vertical thrust. Three elementary towers: The Vertebra / Stair Tower, The Core / Structural Tower, The Mask / Glass Tower. Signifying the counterforces of gravity: The Vertebra - Ascension, The Core - Support, The Mask - Suspension. The entire tower rests on the cavity of its public spaces. Jury: The jury found this scheme to ...

Canal City Hakata in Fukuoka, Japan by The Jerde Partnership Located adjacent to Fukuoka's entertainment district, and between the commercial business district and retail core, The Jerde Partnership 's Canal City Hakata is the largest private development in the history of Japan ($1.4 billion for 234,460 m² (2.5-million sq. ft.)). Aside from these facts Canal City is fascinating for its approach to design at an urban scale and the relationship between commerce and the city. The basic design, commercial and other tenants overlooking the main canal artery, breaks down the scale of the development, creating unique districts within the whole, expressing commerce as a social generator. Jon Jerde started the Jerde Partnership as a firm that emphasizes ideas over style and places over objects. This commendab...

Inami Woodcarving Museum in Inami, Japan by Peter Salter The following text and images are taken from 4+1 PETER SALTER: Building Projects , published by Black Dog Publishing, revisiting a previous feature on this site, the Inami Woodcarving Museum by Peter Salter. The Museum primarily accommodates fretted transom screens and religious sculptural pieces. At times there are temporary exhibitions of wood sculpture, associated with the annual International Sculpture Exhibition held in Inami. The permanent exhibits are devotional objects that were originally placed within a domestic context. In the Museum these artifacts are relocated in a similar relationship to the viewer and their surroundings through a series of small-scale enclosures within the larger building fabric. The Museum attempts to identify the objects with their surro...

Bayer Headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany by Murphy/Jahn Architects, 2001 In October of 2000 the Chicago Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) presented a symposium on the current state of Chicago architecture, "Where in the World is Chicago?". A panel of critics (local critics Blair Kamin and Lee Bey, Boston's Robert Campbell, and New York's Herbert Muschamp) presented their interpretations on the state of architectural production both by local architects and foreign architects building in the city. Four local architects ( Carol Ross Barney , Jack Hartray , Joseph Valerio , and Helmut Jahn) joined the critics to debate them and respond to audience questions. Unlike the other architects the majority of Helmut J...