A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Megan McMillan has handed off to me a music meme . Should be a nice change of pace from the WTC bashing. So, here it goes. Total volume of music files on my computer: At work: ~4 GB At home: ~8 GB Last CD I bought: Bought 3 at the store last weekend: In The Mud by Split Lip Rayfield Faith (Deluxe Edition) by The Cure A Brilliant Mistake by Tsunami Song playing right now: "Penny Reel-O" by Eric "Monty" Morris A catchy ol' ska number from This Is Reggae Music: The Golden Era 1960-197 5 box set. and "Monkey Man" by Toots & The Maytals from the same collection, among many other places. Five songs I listen to a lot these days: "Pink Love" by Blonde Redhead One of the most indescribably beautiful songs I've heard in recent memory. " Carnage Visors " by The Cure The 28-minute reason I bought the Faith reissue. A soundtrack to an animated film that's mesmerizing even without the images. " 13 " by Split Lip Rayfie...

As you probably know already, the latest revision to Freedom Tower was released today by Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, Larry Silverstein, and David Childs, basically everybody but the original designer. And even though Libeskind is now almost completely out of the picture (the only remnant of his winning masterplan for Freedom Tower is its 1,776' height), they did let Danny pose next to the slightly-reworked, highly-derivative design . Photos from Yahoo! News This latest design is in response to NYPD/FD's safety concerns, particularly in regard to car and truck bombs. Given that, and that nobody's going to want to move their office into Freedom Tower if and when it's done, the architects placed the tapered glass tower on an impenetrable, windowless base 200' tall. Yep, two hundred feet tall. According to the LMDC's unintentionally-humorous web page, the 1,776-foot tall tower :: Will Emit Light from Spire as a New Beacon of Freedom :: Will Evoke ...

Details for the Chicago Architectural Club's 2005 Chicago Prize have been posted on CAC's web page and featured in a Chicago Sun-Times article . The competition "challenges entrants to salvage a part of Chicago's urban fabric, the industrial water tank, through creative reuse and preservation." Mayor Daley feels that "These water tanks are part of the visual history of Chicago's skyline", so they should be preserved. Since the competition is a collaboration between the City of Chicago Department of Environment alongside Cultural Affairs, Planning and Development and the CAC, sustainable applications are mentioned as positive responses. In Chicago, water tanks aren't as ubiquitous as Manhattan, where in places like SoHo they litter the albeit skyline. Rachel Whiteread even paid hommage to these rooftop elements by creating and installing a temporary translucent resin cast of a tank in that fashionable New York neighborhood. When I think of water...

The New Modern House by Will Jones, published by  Princeton Architectural Press , 2005. Paperback, 176 pages. ( Amazon ) Given the importance of residential architecture, not just for the owners but the architects themselves - usually their first design statement and for many, like Glenn Murcutt, their lifelong passion - it's no wonder that so many books are published on house design.Will Jones collects a diverse mix of designs in this contemporary collection of international houses. The book is divided into five chapter (Conditions, Materials, Environment, Budget, Aesthetics), that reflect the dominant themes of the houses included, though these themes apply to almost all single-family architecture to some ext...

Coloured Reflections in Grand-Métis, Quebec, Canada by Hal Ingberg Architecte The following text and images are by Hal Ingberg Architecte for his installation Coloured Reflections: Wrapping and Framing Savage Nature at the International Garden Festival at Reford Gardens in Grand Métis, Que bec, Canada. 2005 marks the third year that the installation has been included in the festival, on display from June 23 - October 2. For the fourth annual International Garden Festival (2003) at the Reford Gardens, a forested section of the gardens was wrapped in an equilateral triangle (20ft x 20ft x 20ft) of richly coloured semi-reflective glass – capturing three pre-existing birch trees within its confines. The form and ...

A few days ago when I was hooked on the new European aerial views at Google Maps , I saw this HUGE development under construction just north of the Postdamer Platz Reconstruction and adjacent to Norman Foster's Reichstag . Looking through an old DOMUSdossier from 1995 on a plethora of architectural competitions in Berlin, I discovered the linear project is Axel Schultes 's winning design for the Spreebogen Government Complex . The most notable feature of the project - and what probably gives it its name - is the fact it crosses the Spree River not once but twice, acting like a unifying element in a city long divided. Click on (rotated) aerial view for map link.

The sometimes cute, sometimes eerie, usually strange photos of McCarty PhotoWorks . (via Eyebeam reBlog )

The eerily dramatic photographs of Todd Hido .   Things look strange when you're a stranger...What might be dully familiar or vaguely comforting in your own neighborhood can look desolate, forbidding, strange, if you see it somewhere else, at night, in fog. :: Luc Sante

Been busy the last few days, so I'm catching up on things, ready to make up for the lack of posts lately. :: The biggest news today appears to be the Supreme Court decision that expands the U.S. government's use of eminent domain to encompass economic development. Previously, eminent domain applied to condemnation for public uses, such as highways and railroads. This ruling opens up an avenue for private developments, like a new Pfizer facility , to bully property owners and take their property with the government's backing, in the name of "economic development." This is a bad judgement that will be fraught with problems down the road as courts try to decide if new and "more lucrative" uses are in fact that, or if they are harmful to their context. :: Making up for the above no-no, the U.S. government voted to not cut public broadcasting's funding by 25%. Hooray! :: Treehugger features an interview with James Howard Kunstler , author of The Long Em...

Unbeknownst to me until today, Google Maps has a wide array of high-quality satellite/aerial images for cities outside the United States, particularly Europe. So to play around with this addictive site I looked for some Renzo Piano buildings scattered about that continent. Click images for satellite/aerial link and name for project link. KPN Telecom Office Tower Rotterdam, Netherlands The least visually-striking aerial (it's the slightly tapered box near the center), but you'll see in the satellite link that it's near UN Studio's Erasmus Bridge and Bolles+Wilson's Luxor Theatre, among other contemporary gems. Banca Popolare di Lodi Headquarters Lodi, Italy A large project centered around the circular auditorium in the middle of the aerial. Great outdoor spaces for the bank's HQ. Centre Georges Pompidou Paris, France Probably Piano's most famous building. Still. Bercy 2 Shopping Center Paris, France Also in Paris, but not nearly as well known as the Pompidou...

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, published by Harper Collins, 2005. Paperback, 768 pages. ( Amazon ) Late in Howard Zinn's immensely popular "alternative history" of the United States he clarifies his intentions in writing the book, the "prospect - for the first time in the nation's history - of a population united for fundamental change." Leading up to his hope for "the coming revolt of the guards," Zinn acts like a deprogrammer, breaking down what most Americans have learned about their country only to build it back up with the truth as told by the people, the other 99% of the country without power and riches. Where most textbooks and histories cente...

Tongxian Gatehouse in Beijing, China by Office dA Projects by the Boston-based firm Office dA - recipient of numerous Progressive Architecture Awards, among others - tend to use common materials, like brick, in unique and expressive ways. In 1995's Casa La Roca, for example, the terra cotta exterior folds and ripples, appearing unlike anything else done with the material. For their first contribution to the Tongxian Art Center, its gatehouse, the architects "test the possible interactions between brick, concrete and plaster." In addition to serving as an entry to the Art Center site, the structure houses apartments and studios for two artists-in-residence. One first notices the prevalent use of a local brick - gray and variegated - ...

The latest Wallpaper* features a spread on Ponte City, a 54-story apartment building in Johannesburg, South Africa. The cylindrical building is hollow at the core, an amazing site! Some further information: :: 54 Stories :: The Best View in Town :: Johannesburg Landmarks :: Some exterior images :: Ponte City by Norman Ohler :: A High-rise Prison? :: Emporis' page

With both this week's dose and this week's past dose featuring buildings in Hamburg, Germany, this article at Spiegel Online struck me as a nice coincidence. It covers the city's ambitious reshaping of its harbor area, focusing on the Elbe Philharmonic project by Herzog & De Meuron. The concert hall would be housed in a renovated warehouse and an addition that sits atop the old brick structure. Elbe Philharmonic Another interesting design is the "Living Bridge" by local architect Hadi Teherani (who also designed lofts in Falkenried, the area of this week's dose), a residential project that would span five stories in a bridge over the Elbe River. Living Bridge These projects are part of what's being called "HafenCity" (harbor city), though city approval is still required for the designs to become a reality. They are unique and striking designs that - even if never built - should inspire cities on how to reuse their industrial waterfronts.

First Frank Gehry was animated for a cameo on The Simpsons . Now seven architects don $1,000 suits in the July issue of Esquire . Aside from Daniel Libeskind , the choice of architects is refreshingly less than obvious. They include: Martin Finio , Richard Gluckman , Matthew Baird , James Corner , Brian Healy , and James Slade . Like the picture above - but with faces - the spread combines fashion shots with ethereal sketches that hover about the architects. Too bad they didn't paint them in the air like Picasso .

A couple blogs I read regularly linked to an article by Steve Sailer called " From Bauhaus to Golf Course : The Rise, Fall, and Revival of the Art of Golf Architecture," a subject of extreme interest to me. Why the interest? A little background. The events that led up to me going to architecture school and becoming an architect began with a stroll down one of the halls in my high school during sophomore year. Outside the architecture/drafting classroom I saw in a display case a design of a golf course by a student. I can't recall if it was any good in any way, but it was the first instance that got me actually thinking about designing golf courses. At the time I played a lot of golf, so I was excited by the prospect. In the remaining time before graduation I took as many drafting and architecture classes as I could, though I never got to design a golf course in class (I did so on my own a couple times). Regardless I set off to a landscape architecture program in Kansas...

KCRW's Design & Architecture (DnA) show today featured some interesting commentary on misguided urban schemes (L.A.'s Grand Avenue and the WTC site) as well as a couple recent expressions on the city, one aural and one visual. Ry Cooder's latest album, Chavez Ravine , journeys to the mid-20th century and the "political machinations that leveled the Chavez Ravine barrio to lure the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles." Again, Cooder enlists a plethora of talented musicians to present to the world something overlooked. And Ben Stiller (yep, that Ben Stiller) has just released a book he co-edited, a visual portrayal of the city called Looking at Los Angeles . He says, "From the iconic to the mundane and forgettable, there is a certain unique and singular feeling that is Los Angeles." Kevin Cooley, “CSI” in MacArthur Park (2001)

All sorts of goodies this week: :: It's Bike to Work Week ! :: NeoCon, with coverage at core77 . :: Kerry Skarbakka jumps off the MCA roof today . :: Art Institute hires architecture curator . :: Center on Halsted groundbreaking takes place today .

Falkenried Quartier in Hamburg, Germany by Bolles + Wilson For its 1999 masterplan of the Quartier district of Hamburg Eppendorf, Bolles + Wilson preserved a set of bus and tram sheds and workshops, actually using them as a template for the masterplan. The architects explain that "The principles of the Masterplan were the 'loftising' of one workshop shed, a brick administration building...grows into penthouses and bus garage doors which envelope row houses." Combined with new office and residential buildings, the masterplan is a mix of building types, scales, and spaces. Looking at a plan of the site, the regular and orthogonal nature of the existing buildings gives way to diagonals that act as a counterpoint wh...

In this week's Chicago Reader , Lynn Becker covers the contribution by John Ronan to the Visionary Chicago Architecture book and exhibition now on display (until July 15) at Millennium Park. The local architect proposes reusing the massive, 2.5 million s.f. U.S. Post Office that bridges the Eisenhower Expressway southwest of the Loop. But unlike past proposals that have tried to retrofit residential and office space into the large floor plates, Ronan's is a "municipal mausoleum" that preserves a majority of the existing structure in a suprisingly practical way. Ronan's Mausoleum Becker's article illuminates the importance of cemeteries as public gathering spaces before the creation of city parks, like Lincoln Park which actually displaced graves further north. Ronan's "urban burial ground" could actually ease the burden on typical plot cemeteries; here they would be stacked 14 stories high. Becker states that "Ronan's proposal confron...

"I call architecture frozen music."   Quoted by Johan Wolfgan von Goethe * many, many, many years ago, his description of architecture has been one of the most lasting. It is a quote with many interpretations, most directly reflecting the predominant style of Goethe's time: Baroque architecture and its graceful, flowing contours that seem to solidify all that is intangible. Recent studies of music and architecture - the most well-known being Elizabeth Martin's wonderful Architecture as a Translation of Music - deal less with formal comparisons and more with structure, the building blocks of both disciplines, inspired by the "music" of John Cage. Publicized recently with his biography, Daniel Libeskind turned to architecture after (supposedly) mastering the accordion and (supposedly, again) wowing crowds with his virtuoso performances, another link between architecture and music.  But, if architecture is "frozen music," what does it sound like? Th...

Kerry Skarbakka is an artist known for falling. Images of the artist falling from trees, buildings, ladders, you name it, have occupied him since 2002. In his latest undertaking, he will fall from the Museum of Contemporary Art 's roof to its plaza. But unlike previous photos that only featured the artist, this "photo session" will incorporate onlookers. So, if ya wanna be in a picture - or see how he does it, like me - it all happens on Tuesday the 14th from 11:30 am to 5pm, with Skarbakka giving a talk at 5:30. Update 06.10: Just noticed that the cover story on this week's Chicago Reader is Skarbakka's upcoming jump. And also I just found out that (finally) their Section 1 stories are now available in PDF format. So here it is .

Can't say I would have remembered otherwise*, but Google's made a clever little logo to commemorate the birthday of Frank Lloyd Wright, born June 8, 1867. *I should remember, because my Mum - who, like Wright, is of Welsh heritage - has her birthday tomorrow. **And Mum!

Yesterday I got wind of an anonymous web page that criticizes the Chicago Housing Authority's current situation by taking aim at the city organization's latest ad campaign, "This is CHAnge". The group that also goes by the name Chicago Housing Authority claims that "This PR campaign, authored by the advertising giant Leo Burnett...[resulted] in a new brand identity: CHAnge," reflecting actual conditions: "Including massive organizational restructuring within CHA and the tearing down of all high-rise public housing buildings...Unfortunately, the priorities of CHA haven't changed at all, and public housing residents are still at the bottom of the list." The image at left shows the real CHA's ad campaign, a South Side attorney quoted as saying, "Public housing is coming to a point I hoped it would - full circle." Alternately the fake CHA includes the line "Are tourists more important than the poor?" above a mug of the...