A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Since 2002, 0lll has documented and published the construction process of the Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion. This year's pavilion is by artist Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen of Snøhetta and is set to open in August, remaining on site until November. Click the image to check out the ongoing construction process.

Just like last year , PartIV is holding its own unofficial Stirling Prize Poll . So head on over for some antifreeze and a vote. To acquaint yourselves with the nominees, check out the Guardian's slide show of the seven projects under consideration.

The World Without Us is a new book by journalist Alan Weisman that is receiving a lot of press, certainly due to its timely, science-fiction premise: what would happen to the earth if humans disappeared? The book first came to my attention in a recent Scientific American interview with the author, which includes a description -- with online video and timeline companion -- describing what might happen to Manhattan without people maintaining infrastructure, buildings, and the landscape. While I'll admit it's interesting to ponder what would happen a few days after humans theoretically disappeared, or a few weeks, years, millennia, the effort ultimately must be about, as Weisman describes, "another way of looking at...what goes on in our presence." If the book affects the way we do things remains to be seen, but the lasting impact of human-created things like plastic and nuclear waste, when seen in the context of a human-deprived world, may not be enough to change ...

Formula New Ljubljana by Sadar Vuga Arhitekti , published by Actar , 2006. ( Amazon ) The Formulas in the title of this monograph of the Slovenian architects' Sadar Vuga Arhitekti are formal gestures that the firm uses towards adding a 21st-century layer to the rapidly-changing city of Ljubljana, to establish a new kind of social interaction, and a means of communicating architecturally without relying on strictly architectural typologies or vocabulary. Within the pages of this book, 15 formulas are applied to 26 projects, meaning the formulas are used on multiple designs and therefore take on numerous characteristics. One example, an executed project, is 2004's Condominium Trnov...

Condominium Trnovski Pristan in Ljubljana, Slovenia by Sadar Vuga Arhitekti In 2006's Formula New Ljubljana , a monograph on Slovenia's Sadar Vuga Arhitekti , the firm laments a lack of professional criticism directed towards their Condominium Trnovski Pristan project in the southern part of the city center of Ljubljana. The project is a "conglomerate of 15 individualized apartments, gathered together and assembled in a fragmented volume that is then placed in the middle of a garden...a lobby-lounge that connects with the private gardens located on the terraces or balconies of each apartment." Like the other formulas their monograph is named for, these condominiums use one (the "Blown-Up Window") towards developing new models, in this case of hou...

Richard Desmond Children's Eye Centre , originally uploaded by bensmawfield . Richard Desmond Children's Eye Centre of Moorfields Eye Hospital in Islington, London by Penoyre & Prasad . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

The New Museum has announced that it will be opening its new SANAA-designed home on the Bowery on Saturday, December 1, 2007. The opening coincides with the museum's 30th anniversary and will be celebrated with 30 hours of continuous free admission to the museum, starting on the first. In a July 26 press release (PDF link), it was also announced that the inaugural exhibition will be Unmonumental , "an international group show that proposes a dynamic, new exhibition model by beginning with a major sculpture exhibition then adding layers of collage, sound, and new media."

Last night I watched Wide Angle , "the only program exclusively dedicated to international current affairs documentaries," after flipping to PBS and seeing images of what looked like a documentary on Dubai. But The Sand Castle episode, it turns out, focuses on Ras-al-Khaimah, Dubai's sister-state in the United Arab Emirates, though really it's about Norwegian architecture office Snøhetta 's experience in the desert. Those keeping up with architectural and urban developments in Persian Gulf probably know that OMA is working on the masterplan for Ras-al-Khaimah, aka RAK Gateway , so the end of the first part of the documentary, in which the Norwegians are pitted against the Dutchman Koolhaas to determine who will work on the masterplan commission, won't come as a surprise. And neither will Snøhetta's design for the new town's mixed-use exhibition/convention/hotel project be a shock. In the case of this show, it's all about the ride. We see th...

, originally uploaded by tiagotchi . The Forum 2004 Esplanade and Photovoltaic Plant in Barcelona, Spain by Lapeña & Torres. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

A Theory of Architecture by Nikos A. Salingaros  ( Amazon ) Professor of mathematics, urbanist and architectural theorist Nikos Salingaros is one of a group of thinkers, based around the writings of Christopher Alexander , espousing the qualities of traditional architecture and urbanism, and therefore countering most contemporary movements in the same, which he has strongly criticized in the past. These past critiques, collected in 2004's Anti-Architecture and Deconstruction , lacked alternatives, positive examples to what Salingaros sees as destructive tendencies within the architectural profession foisted upon the public sphere. In his latest book, Professor Salingaros takes that ...

House of Sweden in Washington, District of Columbia by Gert Wingårdh On a picturesque site in Washington, DC's Georgetown district, overlooking the Potomac River and next to Rock Creek, the House of Sweden is not only that country's embassy but also "the crown jewel of the Swedish presence in the U.S." Designed by Gert Wingårdh , the glassy building attempts to "illuminate the idea of the open society" of Sweden without being monotonous or predictable in the application of this material to its unique site. One can arrive from the water side and be greeted with the view of the image at top, though in most cases people will arrive via 30th Street and the roundabout drop-off, seeing the building as in the image at left. This view spells out most features of the buildin...

Stumbling around the Architectural Record mega-site earlier today, I came across Off the Record , "the brand-new blog written by the staff of Architectural Record ...where the magazine’s team of experienced, award-winning editors offer their insightful, informal, opinionated takes on architecture-related trends, conferences, exhibitions, projects and personalities." Record is not the first architectural print magazine to venture into the realm of blogs. Architect Magazine has a few ; Building Design has a bunch ; Dwell has its daily . Regardless, there's something about Record 's venture that seems to legitimize the efforts of other architectural blogs, or at least it further breaks down the boundary between the content of print magazines versus online blogs and vice versa. But with the ever expanding print and online content of magazines like Record , it's becoming a bit overwhelming; so many words, so little time.

Jyväskylä , originally uploaded by jmtp . A building at the University of Jyväskylä (formerly Pedagogical Institute) in Jyväskylä, Finland by Alvar Aalto (1952-56). To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

This is too good not to pass along. Archinecter o d b posts this news bit : " MVRDV selected as architects for Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam with design resembling a piece of furniture [LACK series] commonly found in Ikea stores." Gotta say, I wholeheartedly agree. This MVRDV misstep reminds me of another one by a fellow Dutch office.

Delugan Meissl Associated Architects is a Vienna-based office with a penchant for glass and folding planes, both used as a way to merge their designs with their contexts. The penthouse addition House Ray 1 is a good example, though recent projects have increased the scale of their designs to, for example, whole apartment towers. Images of their office show a space in a building, that while it won't be mistaken for one of their own projects, seems to embody their embrace of glass and its inherent transparency, particularly evident in the night view. The photos of the straightforward interior space show a reliance on the computer, though by clicking the image above one can see additional shots, including the model area. The terrace photo is the most telling, as it shows the relatively small office size, the potential of this outdoor amenity (as a social or break space, most likely), and what appears to me to be a rather even-keeled group, distributed evenly along the railing. Be su...

A couple things that might be of interest: 1. The Buckminster Fuller Challenge "On the occasion of the 112th birthday of one of the 20th century's most prescient futurists and global thinkers, The Buckminster Fuller Institute ( BFI ) announces the launch of the first annual BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE . Established to catalyze the vanguard of a global design revolution, the Challenge will award a single $100,000 prize annually to support the development and implementation of a solution with significant potential to solve the world's most pressing problems in the shortest possible time while enhancing the Earth's ecological integrity. Entries will be accepted beginning September 4th, 2007 ." 2. Dwell on Design San Francisco 2007 "Dwell presents Dwell on Design San Francisco 2007 September 14–September 16 The Dwell on Design Conference and Exhibition is an idea-driven, hands-on experience designed to ignite a creative spark within anyone who is passionate abo...

The cover story of yesterday's free rag AM New York was about a "McMansion" under construction in the historic Broadway-Flushing/Murray Hill neighborhood of Queens. The short article pitted neighbors versus John Hsu, whose "dream house" is in the midst of construction, with photos accompanying the article showing a two-story, concrete frame next to its traditional neighbors. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought McMansions were more like this than what the article is portraying. This looseness with wording makes me wonder just what is being attacked and why. Hsu's house appears to be within the scale of his neighbors, though his house looks to be closer to the sidewalk, making it appear bigger. So is this more an attack on a "McModern" design than a McMansion? Perhaps this is an attack on the general idea of non-contextual architecture, as the article indicates that preservationists are pushing for the neighborhood to gain landma...

Akron Art Museum - Coop Himmelblau , originally uploaded by wizum . The just-opened John S. & James L. Knight Building at the Akron Art Museum in Akron, Ohio by Coop Himmelb(l)au . See wizum's Flickr set on the addition here . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Near the end of a 2004 Charlie Rose interview with Charlie Kaufman (of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind fame), the screenwriter admits that he really wanted to be a director, that writing was a way of getting into directing. Well, now that dream is a reality. Originally to be directed by Malkovich director Spike Jonze -- who opted to direct the David Eggers adaption of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are -- Synecdoche, New York is Kaufman's directorial debut, now filming in New York. According to Manhattan User's Guide (MUG), where I just found out about this film and which points to what I find so fascinating about it, "a stage director ... ambitiously attempts to put on a play by creating a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse," something the movie poster tries to illustrate: Image from Wikipedia Being a fan of Kaufman's films, I'm afraid to speculate on the possibilities of this idea, as I know the...

Recently I've noticed a few architecture blogs featuring Inversion , a house installation by Dan Havel and Dean Ruck. A couple things made me think this was weird: (1) This is a project I featured on this page just over two years ago, and (2) this project was demolished that same year. Granted, the appeal of the project is not lost on me -- the vortex of wood seeming to devour the existing house like a black hole, a hole in which passers-by could venture -- but the sudden popularity on three popular architecture blogs made me wonder why now ? So I decided to trace these posts backwards to find out, and also to get a taste of how this thing called the Blog-o-sphere works, for better or worse. Of the three pages linked at top, only Tropolism leads back more than one page (.mnp links to Calvin and Calvin's a dead end), like so: Tropolism (July 16, 2007) . via . designverb (June 11, 2007) . via . Hemmy.net (June 11, 2007) . via . BoredStop (June 9, 2007) . via . ? ? ? A Technor...

The Architecture of Madness: Insane Asylums in the United States by Carla Yanni, published by University of Minnesota Press , 2007. ( Amazon ) In the United States today, insane asylums could be said to be revered more by urban explorers , and those with a penchant for ruins, than architects and architectural historians. But one look at the massive edifices sitting on acres of land, and it is apparent that much went into the construction of these facilities, much that needs to be addressed. Carla Yanni's book fills the gap in knowing why these asylums came about, why they look the way they do, and why they disappeared or were abandoned . While previous books have addressed the first and last consideration...

WaveLine in Queens, New York by hanrahanMeyers Architects The following text and images are courtesy hanrahanMeyers Architects (hMa) for their WaveLine project in Flushing, Queens. Photographs are copyright Michael Moran . WaveLine is a steel and masonry pavilion of subtle but powerful vision, with modest dimensions. The building is located in New York's newest "hot neighborhood", Queens. WaveLine does not try to "blend in" with its neighbors -- twenty-story public housing towers built during the 1950's -- but instead uses the contrast of its contemporary materials and graceful form to define a new place for performance and sport within an existing public housing complex. The main façade of WaveLine is the building's bent roof plane constructed using standing-seam galvanized steel and aluminum. The interior is a simple, white, one-room volume for performance and sp...