A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

California Academy of Sciences* / de Young Museum** , originally uploaded by fdo h . The California Academy of Sciences (under construction) by Renzo Piano Building Workshop , as seen from the M.H. de Young Museum by Herzog & de Meuron. Both are situated in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Photo is best viewed SUPER LARGE to see the detail of the Academy of Sciences in the distance. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

"It is here [Baja California], in the Bay of Loreto, where developers are building a 5,000-unit resort designed by Andreas Duany , who is selling it to the world as 'the first ecologically friendly subdivision.' In a typical New Urbanist appeal, this mega development (PDF link) is customized by an authentic Mexican Village, completing the invasion of Loreto Bay by no only mono culture of upper-middle-class North American land owners who can afford this island of pleasure, but by 'Seaside' and 'Celebration' type of planning, making this the official arrival of New Urbanism in grand scale to the Mexican West Coast. Beyond issues of architectural style, however, it is tragic that these mega developments, as ecologically responsible and manicured as they can be, are indifferent to the social and economic inequalities they will engender, as these 'all inclusive' and gated environments might be eventually surrounded by the shanty towns built by their ow...

Much of my time over the Thanksgiving break was spent helping my parents pack their belongings to move out of the home in which they raised me and my sister. Located about 20 miles north of Chicago, the house is in what could be called an old suburb, with a gridded street pattern, small lots, and walking distance to shops, library, and a train station to Chicago.  Regardless of this condition, the McMansion phenomenon is still to be found in the area, though more likely on the large blocks of adjacent streets with larger lots than this street and its smaller lots, where new houses -- between the size of the old ranches or colonials and the trendy McMansions -- crowd their lots and leave very little yard space. Well, looking out the back of my parent's house I noticed one possible scenario for achieving large houses on small lots:  Buy the next-door neighbor's lot, tear down the house, and plant grass! Yes, that open space directly behind my parent's yard used to be a house...

Spertus , originally uploaded by archidose . The Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies in Chicago, Illinois by Krueck + Sexton Architects . The building opens officially on November 30. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Another year, another Thanksgiving break. Posts will resume on Monday or Tuesday next week. Image found here

Crabgrass Frontier by Kenneth T. Jackson, published by Oxford University Press , 1985. ( Amazon ) Redesigning the American Dream by Dolores Hayden, published by W. W. Norton , 2002. ( Amazon ) These two books, both published in the mid-1980s, provide two very different takes on the problem of suburbanization in the United States. Nevertheless the overlap between the two is great, most likely attributed to the breadth of research of each (particularly Jackson's more overarching historical study) and a critical-historical approach (here, stronger in the case of Hayden's book) rooted in the realization at the time that the trend of suburbanization needed re-evaluation.   Jackson's history of U.S. suburbanization ...

The Boxwood Winery in Middleburg, Virginia by Hugh Newell Jacobsen Pphotographs are by Robert Lautman. The architecture of Hugh Newell Jacobsen is unmistakable; his most well-known buildings are cellular compositions of boxes capped by pitched roofs, be them hipped or gabled. Within this formula Jacobsen finds numerous ways to connect and group the boxes, clad their exteriors, and use them towards creating inviting and sometimes transcendent interiors. At The Boxwood Winery in Middleburg, Virginia, Jacobsen and his son Samuel exhibit the architect's signature approach, with a composition of hipped roofs capped by glazed cupolas. These pieces give the winery -- "a complex of four buildings: a reception for wine tasting; a fermentation ...

By my count about 100 people gathered yesterday in Cooper Union's column-filled Great Hall to attend New York 2030: New York's Green Futur e, a public discussion among the authors of Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC and a panel of urban design experts, organized by the Institute for Urban Design . The morning was reserved for the "authors" of the plan, who gave Power Point presentations on the goals of PlaNYC, its various elements (parks, transportation, water, housing), and some inspirations for moving forward with the plan. What came across as the strongest point to me was that the plan is predicated on growth, specifically the addition of one million more people by 2030. While this point has been apparent since day one, a questioning of that growth -- and the basing of a sustainable plan around growth, as opposed to sustainability for its own sake and for quality of life -- was what I took from the discussion. Given the short time left in the current administration, ...

"At American's outposts, with places like Chili's pumping out its exhaust in one area and Burger King belching its tallow-scented smoke down the street, the place certainly does smell like America. I was struck by how both men [at Camp Carroll in South Korea] referred to the idea of Westerners, as people, standing out, but were not too concerned about the bases standing out, as they do when someone flies over them or walks by them and peers in the chain link fence. When I mentioned this, [civilian Dean] Jackson said, 'But sometimes we build with a local influence.' Colonel [Wayne] Kennedy reacted strongly to this suggestion, stating forcefully, 'But it's absolutely just a façade -- the inside is still American.' Here is a senior Army officer, trained as a logistician, who sees through the veneers of compatibility. Whether in Italy, Japan, or South Korea, planning that stops with sloped tile roofs and stucco walls does not make a place compatible. But th...

Just a quick note on Jean Nouvel 's latest design for Manhattan, a new 75-story tower for a site next to the Museum of Modern Art ( MoMA ) in Midtown. Nicolai Ouroussoff asks , "How did a profit-driven developer become more adventurous architecturally than MoMA, which has tended to make cautious choices in recent years?" He answers his own question in with: Hines [who MoMA sold the site to] asked Mr. Nouvel to come up with two possible designs for the site. A decade ago anyone who was about to invest hundreds of millions on a building would inevitably have chosen the more conservative of the two. But times have changed. Architecture is a form of marketing now, and Hines made the bolder choice. (via Archinect )

IIT Entry Across , originally uploaded by ken mccown . The McCormick Tribune Campus Center at the Illinois Institute ( IIT ) of Technology by Rem Koolhaas/ OMA . Be sure to check out Ken McCown's flickr set for more quality pics of the IIT building. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

"Reduction is always risky, but [Alvaro] Siza's observations [on his working process] could be simplified in this manner: place: origin of all architecture." " distance: provided by the fact that it's others who build." " discussion: pay attention to those who will be using the building." " contingency: the solutions to the specific problems of each job are to be found in the conflicts that accompany the reality of the context of the work." " uncertainty: thanks to the vagueness of the goal being pursued at the start of the job. The reaction is not resignation. On the contrary, that all well-done jobs end in surprise is a source of satisfaction." " mediation: architecture as something that calls for group work, accepting one's limitations (constructive, functional, legal, etc.), sacrificing direct personal expression." " nonsatisfaction: every architectural work is, in the eyes of its architect, unfinis...

Villa Bio , originally uploaded by jmtp . Villa Bio in Llers, Spain by Enric Ruiz Geli . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

One of the recipients of this year's AIA Seattle Honor Awards is the aptly-named Rolling Huts by the critic's darlings, Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects. The firm's embrace and occasional forays into the industrial is clearly evident here, with their steel wheels, frame and less-than-polished surfaces. The architects responded to local restrictions that restricted cabins (a building "type" this office appears to produce almost constantly), "hit[ting] upon the idea of placing the structures on wheels, effectively making the huts into RVs." AIA Seattle praised the project for its playfulness, "a willingness to question local idiomatic practice, [and being] raw, edgy, unafraid of the challenging aspects of nature." The local organization hits on the idea that "the user cannot escape the fact that the buildings impose on the landscape, with their steel wheels and tentative siting. These simple structures engage the spiritual question of...

The Production of Space by Henri Lefebvre, translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith. ( Amazon ) In Henri Lefebvre's now classic search for a "reconciliation between mental space (the space of the philosophers) and real space (the physical and social spheres in which we all live)" the French philosopher touches on a diverse range of disciplines, including art, literature, architecture, economics, and politics. Throughout the course of the book Lefebvre approaches these and other subjects with a subtle touch that is balanced by aggressive stances on a number of issues, all in a deft manner that exhibits the brilliance of the mind behind the words. This makes for a sometimes exhilarating and sometimes ...

Park East Synagogue in Pepper Pike, Ohio by Centerbrook Architects and Planners The following text and images are courtesy Centerbrook Architects and Planners , for their design of the Park East Synagogue in Pepper Pike, Ohio. This new synagogue incorporates a sanctuary, school, and library. It serves as a new East Campus for the expanding congregation of the renowned Park Synagogue in Cleveland Heights, designed by Eric Mendelsohn in 1950. Like the original Mendelsohn "mother-ship," it offers a community center for nearby congregants. The building is a simple steel frame box clad in a stick and panel mosaic of copper. Three large organic shapes burst from the box - a Jerusalem stone sanctuary and two great copper canopies leading to a two-story lobby. These two entrances of equal importance - one for the school, the other for the sanctuary, library, and offices - bend towards each other in a gesture of w...

New Museum , originally uploaded by archidose . The New Museum of Contemporary Art by SANAA in New York City, opening on the first of December. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

It's been a while since I've posted about something blobby -- for lack of a better term -- so when this "design research project on generative, computational form finding" by MRGD (pronounced emerged) landed in my inbox I couldn't resist. Urban Lobby is the 2006 Architectural Association thesis project of Melike Altinisik (Turkey), Samer Chamoun (Lebanon) and Daniel Widrig (Germany). In it they investigate "the potential of fuzzy logic as a loose-fit organizational technique for developing intelligent, flexible and adaptive environments." The project looks at the urban lobby as a contested and negotiated transient space, between public and private, work and home, transit and statis, etc. Interestingly, the team approaches their design by using an existing 1970s office tower ( Centre Point ) in London as the starting point for the new lobby, an apparent appendage that links the building to its context while infiltrating the existing at levels high...

Tucked into the News Brief section of this month's Architectural Record (with slightly-expanded content in the online brief here ), is mention of free, outdoor stagings of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in two of New Orleans's most devestated neighborhoods: the Lower Ninth Ward and Gentilly. Waiting for Godot in New Orleans is a project by Paul Chan (with director Chris McElroen) who states, “The longing for the new is a reminder of what is worth renewing. Seeing Godot embedded in the very fabric of the landscape of New Orleans was my way of re-imagining the empty roads, the debris, and, above all, the bleak silence as more than the expression of mere collapse. There is a terrible symmetry between the reality of New Orleans post-Katrina and the essence of this play, which expresses in stark eloquence the cruel and funny things people do while they wait: for help, for food, for tomorrow.” The first three lines of the play. Godot -- what Simon Callow calls "the ...