A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

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...

ando's space #1 by F.j . A Tadao Ando project in Tokyo. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

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! To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

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!)

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 .

Above Paris: The Aerial Photography of Roger Henrard by Jean-Louis Cohen, published by Princeton Architectural Press , 2006. ( Amazon ) When pilot Roger Henrard photographed Paris from his single-engine plane between for over twenty years starting in 1950, he caught Paris not only in the twilight of its Classical period but also in its grips with Modernism. These postwar years saw many European cities transform their historical centers, healing the scars of destruction. While Paris did not suffer a similar fate, surviving largely intact, this transformation occurred at its edges. Images illustrating this transformation begin this beautiful compilation of 320 of Henrard's carefully-composed aerial photographs. ...

Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden by Ake Larsson Photographs courtesy Matthew Sabo . Two hundred kilometers (125 miles) north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden sits the Icehotel . More accurately, for about half the year the Icehotel sits there, near the River Torne and the village of Jukkasjärvi. For the Icehotel is literally made of ice created from the meter thick layer that covers the river. Each spring the hotel melts and returns from whence it came. The hotel operators like to say "the entire Icehotel is on loan from the mighty Torne River." What started as a one room hotel to serve visitors making the trek to the inaugural Art-ic exhibition in 1989 - an exhibition planned to lure tourists to the area in the months when they usually stayed away - the Icehotel n...

" 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)

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 :: Fu...

Campus de Vigo (Lagoas-Marcosende) by esmuz . University Campus in Vigo, Spain by Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue ( EMBT ). To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

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 pres...

Meditation House in Mexico City, Mexico by Pascal Arquitectos Text and images are courtesy Pascal Arquitectos . Among the wide variety of projects developed by Pascal Architects, this is the first of it´s kind. The construction is located in a residential area and being planned as an isolated construction from the sorroundings; an indoor illuminated yard was built. A project of this nature must encourage introspection and peaceful visual harmony through a discrete use of materials and lighting. The building façade is completely covered by grey torched granite and Cumarú wood. The building welcomes the visitor through a narrow 2m (6.5ft) wide and 9m (30ft) high triangular shaped access tunnel, creating a solemn and monastic atmosphere as you enter. This darkening experience at the entrance ends when the hallway opens to a large, double height granite hall illuminated by the northern light coming from the indoor courtyard. In the courtyard is a tall dragon tree at the center an...

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." To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Driving is Murder: The Automobile, Violence, and the City in Film Noir Written for Professor Joan Copjec's Reading the City: Film Noir at City College of New York. December 15, 2006 “Greater liberty, greater fruitfulness of time and effort, brighter glimpses of the wide and beautiful world, more health and happiness – these are the lasting benefits of the motor-car.” – Herbert Ladd Towle, “The Automobile and Its Mission” (1913) “Today a magnificent instrument has ruptured the human environment in the name of progress. Its terror has been accepted as a fact of modern war – almost as if it were a sacrifice of war.” – Kenneth R. Schneider, Autokind vs. Mankind (1971) “Va va voom!” – Nick in Kiss Me Deadly (1955) The years 1941 to 1958 are generally agreed to be the boundaries of film noir’s classic period, starting with The Maltese Falcon and ending with Touch of Evil .(1) These dates most obviously encompass World War II, whose events delayed America’s reaction to t...