A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Gapers Block reports on Bisonarium , an "initiative by [a] coalition of Chicago artists to convert Northerly island (the former Meigs field) into a park with Bisons [sic]." It seems that the site (typos and all) exists more to provoke thinking about the site's future than to seriously propose a bison habitat on the island. But maybe it's not such a bad idea... The future of Northerly Island?

A couple High Line-related tidbits hit my Bloglines box today:  :: Cool Hunting reports that Friends of the High Line is holding a t-shirt design competition, to be worn by supporters at an upcoming City Council meeting. Details at the Cool Hunting link. (via Archinect , where somebody jokingly asked if this competition would be similar to FHL's first, where they pick winners but then solicit professionals to design the real thing.)  :: Curbed points to a post by David Galbraith, who says that the plans to renovate the High Line is a "bad idea": Given the challenges of creating a park where the benefits of it being on a raised deck outweigh the negative aspects of the potentially dank, dreary space beneath, there is another option for the highline, which doesn't result in pretty drawings - Tear it down...And free up another small piece of Manhattan from its curse - shadow. I understand where Mr. Galbraith is coming from, especially given the current design 's ...

This month Apartment Therapy has been searching for the Smallest, Coolest Apartment in a contest voted on by readers. According to their page: We've never accepted that a lack of space or budget are fatal when it comes to creating an inspiring home...we've learned there are always solutions -- the small, genius improvisations -- that can make even the most modest of real estate lovable...nothing inspires us more than the hand-made home, the stylish studio wedged into some urban crevice...the ultimate achievement in this category: the quintessential New York City apartment masterpiece. The only guidelines are that the apartments must be under 500 s.f. and be in NYC's five boroughs. Skimming the thirty apartments in the running and looking at the images and the current state of votes, it's apparent that good photography is as important as good design and furnishings. The styles present are varied, definitely illustrating the occupant's tastes, part of the appeal of t...

Here's a recent smattering of Op-Ed's, Commentaries, and good 'ol architectural Criticism: Rethinking Ground Zero New York Times Editorial: Three and a half years after the attack on Lower Manhattan, too many of the elaborate and even inspiring plans for rebuilding seem frozen on paper...particularly true for the building that the world most connects with the idea of rebirth at the World Trade Center site:...Freedom Tower...a stunning creation forged by the opposing architects Daniel Libeskind and David Childs. Unfortunately, calling Freedom Tower a stunning creation pretty much discredits any other opinion in the editorial. :::::::::::::::: Move the United Nations Downtown by Fred Bernstein: By taking space at ground zero [7 WTC & Freedom Tower], the United Nations would solve its space problem, practically overnight. But more than that, it would capture the public's imagination...The Freedom Tower could, in a way no one predicted, become a true symbol of freedom. ...

Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies by Reyner Banham, published by  University of California Press , 2001. Paperback, 275 pages. ( Amazon ) The four ecologies that Banham refers to in the title of his "light-hearted and affectionate tribute to Los Angles" ( New York Review of Books ) are the beach (what he calls Surfurbia), the foothills, the plains, and the freeways. This last part is definitely an attraction for the author who famously proclaimed, "like...English intellectuals who taught themselves Italian in order to read Dante in the original, I learned to drive in order to read Los Angeles in the original." But Banham doesn't rest on any conviction that the automobile created and...

Solar Umbrella in Venice, California by Pugh + Scarpa Designed by and for Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa of the Santa Monica-based firm Pugh + Scarpa , the Solar Umbrella House takes its name from Paul Rudolph's mid-20th-century Umbrella House in Sarasota, Florida. Rudolph's design featured a large wooden trellis over the house that also extended over an outdoor terrace and swimming pool. Though the trellis beyond the house has since been removed, the house itself - a simple glass and steel box with a double-height living space - helps justify its label as "one of the five most remarkable houses of the 20th century" given by Architectural Digest , while keeping the design from being a one-liner that is completely...

Updating a previous post on Thom Mayne's competition-winning proposal for Alaska's State Capitol, the Juneau Empire reports that the project is on hold. Juneau's Mayor Bruce Botelho cited finances and public disapproval of the designs as reasons for this decision. The article also indicates that the city spent almost a million dollars of state money to fund the competition, money secretly appropriated that Governor Frank Murkowski demanded be given back to the state, which it did. While the future of the project does not look bright, Botelho is quoted at the end of the article as saying, "...at the end of the day, the project needs to happen." Let's just hope it happens in a more open and honest manner and doesn't end in grumblings over old versus new. (via Archinect )

Yo La Tengo played a smokin' show at The Vic last nite, with a healthy sampling of covers and their greatest "hits." For a taste of them live, check out Sunsquashed , a good source of news as well as live mp3's. Yo La Tengo "hatching" at Maxwell's Hoboken. New Year's 2003/04.

Last year Illy and Domus held an international competition to "stimulate ideas capable of identifying new ways of enjoying espresso coffee." From the 740 entries, Break in Movement by Mauricio Bruna Fruns from Santiago, Chile was chosen as the winner. According to Illy's site, "Coffee is served at the beginning of an escalator and the time it takes to reach the top can be used to savor the cup of coffee...at the top of the escalator the cup is thrown in a dispenser which will press it so as to transform it into a ticket for an exhibition or a show, or into a postcard." (via WM$NA )

Yes, the May 2005 issue of Architectural Digest is on the newsstands! Normally this would be of very little, if any, interest to architects, but this is their "Architecture Issue", featuring in-depth coverage of thirteen houses, ranging from the neo-traditional to the neo-avant garde. The rest of the issue is devoted to residential architecture, its history, and its furnishings (the last being the usual domain of the magazine.) Two houses by architects in and around Chicago are featured: Margaret McCurry 's reinterpretation of the Midwestern barn (House of 5 Gables) and a Modern glass box by Thomas Rosznak for him and his family. Coincidentally a recent condo development by Rosznak is situated right across the street from McCurry's office on North Wells Street. Reminiscent of fellow IIT-ers Mies van der Rohe and Ron Krueck, Rosznak's design is based on a grid and a series of cubes of differing sizes. The exterior glass walls linking these cubes is setback to he...

Here's an interesting-looking project by Valerio Dewalt Train , a hotel titled Miglin Staybridge . Click here for a larger image. As described in the News portion of the architect's web page: "Chicago’s LaSalle Street starts at the Board of Trade in the heart of the City’s modern financial district and ends at the Lakefront in Lincoln Park, one of its most historic residential districts. The Miglin Staybridge Suites, a two hundred room extended stay hotel is a marker on the skyline, separating these two very different areas. It is the last landmark of the city’s modernist core, reveling in the messy vitality of the urban core, before the more restrained fabric of Lincoln Park begins to dominate." For reference, the new McDonald's is a block or few south (right on the rendering). Thanks to Karen for the head's up.

Friends of the High Line has launched a new web site devoted to the preliminary designs by Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. This new site features a slide show, text on the project's goals, informative maps on different aspects of the High Line, and a detailed view of the Gansevoort access point. The presentation of this material online is timed to an exhibition opening tomorrow at MoMA. Check out this NYT article for more information on this "urban oasis 30 feet up."

It seems like architecture is taking a more prominent role in advertising these days. Specifically sexy, photogenic architecture by the likes of Frank Gehry, Morphosis, or Rem Koolhaas. And specifically car commercials, where the Walt Disney Concert Hall , the Caltrans HQ , or the Seattle Public Library - by these architects, respectively - sit in the background as this year's model zips by in the foreground. This above print ad for Volkswagen is a good example, especially given that advertisers strive for consistency across different media (TV, print, internet, radio, etc) in their ad campaigns to create an image in the consumer's mind. In terms of print area, the car that's being "sold" takes up less room in the ad than OMA's Public Library in Seattle (in fact, it takes up less area than the pavement or the people's silhouettes, for that matter, showing that these days quantity isn't as important as quality, or more specifically mood ). Basicall...

The Slow Food Guide to Chicago: Restaurants, Markets, Bars edited by Kelly Gibson and Portia Belloc Lowndes, published by Chelsea Green Publishing, 2008. Paperback, 284 pages. ( Amazon ) Slow Food , a movement started in Italy almost twenty years ago, aims "to protect the pleasures of the table from the homogenization of modern fast food and life." The popularity of the movement is evident in this well-crafted book, the second in a series on American cities that began, naturally enough, with New York City. While not all places in the book fit their definition of Slow, those that do are noted with the snail logo. Not surprisingly, the most snails fall under the American category, where local ingredients ...

Cradle to Cradle House in Roanoke, Virginia by Matthew Coates & Tim Meldrum The following text and images are by Matthew Coates and Tim Meldrum, with Brendan Connolly, Ron van der Veen, Kristine Kenney, Julie Petersen, and Richard Franko, the winning professional team in the Cradle to Cradle Home Competition.  ENERGY is neither created nor destroyed. It is collected and returned. This design utilizes passive solar strategies by shielding unwanted summer sun and absorbing heat from low winter sun through its thermal mass. Active solar collection provides the main source of necessary electrical energy. The core extends vertically, clad with a super-conductive photosynthetic plasma cell skin that is able to generate 1200% more electrical voltage per area than contemporary photovoltaics. Building on current ...

On May 17, 2005, The Mies van der Rohe Society is offering to the winning bidder the opportunity to break the first 10-foot window of S.R. Crown Hall. The glass breaking will kick off the façade restoration of this Modernist masterpiece and National Historic Landmark. This event – “Smash Bash” – not only launches the building’s restoration, but also Crown Hall’s 50th anniversary. You are bidding on the chance to be part of architectural history. Yes, it's true . At the time of writing this, the high bid is $510.00 with 4 days 15 hours to go. I wonder if winner gets the choice of how they smash the glass? Update 04.25: The auction closed on April 22 with a winning bid of $2,705.00 by miesenkel. INTBUA has a story on the renovation and auction.

Yes, on April 15, 1955, Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's in Des Plaines, IL. The first day's take was $366.12, an amount the franchise probably takes in every fraction of a second. To commemorate this milestone date, their River North "flagship" opened today. I strolled over at lunch to check it out (though I have to admit that I ate elsewhere). Also, Lynn Becker's review of the building is featured on his site. Titled "Schlock Corridor", the piece gives some insight into the context that this building fits into, with a photo portrait of the area and a solicitation for a " Schlock Corridor Concept ." How many arches do you count? I just don't know what to say about this thing. The glass wall opts to reflect the street and sidewalk. Velvet ropes at a McDonald's? Yes, that's an ambulance at the drive thru, and no, it's not ordering lunch. Update 04.16: Some gratuitous night shots:

Sunday sees the opening of the new and improved Walker Art Center with its Herzog and De Meuron-designed expansion to its existing facilities by Edward Larrabee Barnes. The Swiss duo - known for their simple, yet graphically and texturally rich exteriors - will also see its design for San Francisco's de Young Museum open later this year. They - along with Renzo Piano - seem poised to take over the U.S. market on cultural facilities, specifically art museums. While a building by H&DM would probably not be confused with one by Piano (and vice-versa), what they have in common is a respectful approach to designing spaces for art, a trend in architecture that goes against buildings and spaces that tend to compete or upstage the art within, as in Gehry's Guggenheim Bilbao . Image from The New York Times Tyler Green's review of the expansion states that "While the [ Milwaukee Art Museum by Santiago Calatrava] relied on its building to attract an audience, the new Walk...

Continuing the last post 's theme of BAD - and picking up on Bryan's comment about lack of contextuality - I thought I would post this image of the Hotel InterContinental 's east facade, a mural of whales both over and underwater. Originally, I took the photo to capture a moment in the slow demolition of the building in the foreground, but I turned my camera vertically to fit in this odd wall painting. Someone like me can't help but think this mural is strangely out of place. As I saw it take shape many years ago on my walks to and from work, I wanted to believe it was temporary. But, alas, it's become a beloved part of Streeterville, though beloved mainly by tourists on their ride from Navy Pier back to the Magnificent Mile. This just goes to show that even good, old architecture - in the wrong hands - can spawn something as tasteless as the new McDonald's.

Lots of crappy architecture making headlines these day. Here's a sampling: Blair Kamin pans the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum in Springfield, IL, designed by HOK and set to open this weekend. ( alt. link for Kamin article and more news at the Chicago Tribune) Get your appetites ready. McDonald's new two-story "flagship" in Chicago's River North opens for business Friday. Would you like a clunky building with that? James Howard Kunstler's latest Eyesore of the Month is a lesson not only in bad architecture, but also extremely bad circulation. And Design Observer tackles the latest unfortunate trend in Southern Californian residential design: Tuscan .

Urban Space by Rob Krier, published by  Rizzoli , 1993. Paperback, 175 pages. ( Amazon ) Visiting Stuttgart, Germany, for about a half day ten years ago, I was impressed by the pedestrian nature of the city, probably the most suited to walking of any European city I visited at that time. One could walk across across parts of the city without ever encountering automobile traffic, achieved via bridges and viaducts. The pedestrian malls along the way reinforced this apparent importance on walking. The urban condition of Stuttgart, Rob Krier's hometown, is very important to the architect/planner. One of the four chapters of Urban Space is devoted to the reconstruction of devastated parts of the city center. Althoug...

hhstyle.com Annex in Tokyo, Japan by Tadao Ando In some way's hhstyle.com is Japan's equivalent of America's Design Within Reach : both sell designer furniture and other objects to their respective markets via catalog, internet, and stores. In this last - the physical realm - hhstyle.com outshines DWR. For their first - their flagship - store, hhstyle.com called on the talented Kazuyo Sejima, who designed a simple, yet effective display space for their merchandise. Just down the street from her impressive Dior Store on Omotesando (Tokyo's ultra-chic street also home to Prada, Comme des Garcons, Louis Vuitton, and Tod's; designed by Herzog & De Meuron, Future Systems, Jun Aoki, and Toyo Ito, respectively), thei...