A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Le Corbusier: in his own words by Antoine Vigne and Betty Bone, published by Papadakis, 2009. Hardcover, 48 pages. ( Amazon ) When my daughter was born last year, one of the gifts she received was a children's book on Roberto, the Insect Architect . This gift came from a friend, an architect. And being that it was given to a girl whose parents are both architects, the gift is entirely appropriate. But since then I've noticed a number of books on architects and architecture that are geared to children, like a reworking of the Three Little Pigs with Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Frank Gehry. Are there enough architects giving their own or other kids books on architecture to sustain this ...

Montauk Residence in Montauk, Long Island, New York by Pentagram Architects Photographs are copyright Peter Mauss/Esto . Montauk is the easternmost place on Long Island, an area with fewer than 4,000 residents located over 100 miles from Manhattan and its two-million inhabitants. Its remoteness and natural beauty have made Montauk one of the most popular warm-weather Hampton destinations, in many cases for the rich who can afford a second house on beachfront property. One such example is a main house and guest house designed by Pentagram Architects overlooking the Atlantic Ocean near Hither Hills State Park . Not surprisingly the main house, a recipient of a 2006 AIANYS Design Award , predates the guest house, a 2009 AIANYS Design Award recipient. T...

Manchester Hilton , originally uploaded by Doilum . The Hilton Manchester Deansgate Hotel by Ian Simpson Architects , 2007. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Recently I saw a string of architecture-related documentaries, one on a famous building, one on a man straddling famous buildings, and one on the suburbs. Here's my thoughts on those three documentaries, all available on DVD. Radiant City is the first of this trio that I watched. It is a documentary on suburbia that is filmed in Canada (Calgary, Alberta) and made by Canadians, but its setting could be anywhere else in North America. Only the accents and occasional reference to "un-American" things belies the generic sprawl that is more often associated with Canada's neighbor to the south. The film is a mix of documentary and reality TV, with some of the usual experts and critics of suburbia ( James Howard Kunstler , Andrés Duany ) comprising the first and some families living in a subdivision in the suburbs of Calgary making up the second. Both the commentary and the statistics flashing up on the screen were second nature to this reviewer, but the actions of the...

Chips , originally uploaded by Doilum . Chips at New Islington in Ancoats, Manchester, England by Alsop Architects . The firm "prepared the strategic framework scheme design for New Islington" and was "commissioned by Urban Splash to design the first of the proposed residential buildings -- Chips -- by the Ashton Canal at New Islington's southern periphery." Check out the developer's handy commercial and residential brochures in PDF form for more information on Chips. Recently Will Alsop announced he will be leaving his architectural practice to devote his time to painting and to teach at Ryerson University in Toronto, home to his Sharp Centre for Design . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Walking around the Nolita/Bowery area a few weeks ago, I passed by some sites to catch up on construction progress. Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, I saw either little or no progress, a clear sign of the troubles plaguing the realms of architecture, construction and development. These sites include: Sperone Westwater Gallery on the Bowery by Norman Foster [site photo by archidose; right image source ] Bowery Hotel by FLANK [site photo by archidose; bottom image source ] Nolita Townhouse by Diller Scofidio + Renfro [site photo by archidose; right image source ] Some quick research on the web (i.e. Curbed ) indicates that Foster's gallery is moving ahead sloooooowly ( if uncertainly ), FLANK's Bowery developer is in the throws of foreclosure , and the Nolita Townhouse has made zilch progress since last April . All three projects would be welcome additions to the area, so I'm hoping they don't end up like Diller + Scofidio's earlier Slow House, nev...

door handle , originally uploaded by d.teil . A door handle detail in Gottfried Böhm 's Maria in den Trümmern (Chapel of Madonna in the Ruins) in Cologne, Germany, 1950. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

The Miller|Hull Partnership: Public Works by The Miller|Hull Partnership , published by  Princeton Architectural Press , 2009. Hardcover, 256 pages. ( Amazon )   Pugh + Scarpa: Report 2005 edited by Bruce Q. Lan, published by China Architecture and Building Press, 2005. Hardcover, 190 pages. ( Amazon ) The buildings of Seattle's Miller|Hull Partnership would hardly, if ever, be mistaken as the buildings of Los Angeles firm Pugh + Scarpa , and vice-versa. Yet the two firms share certain characteristics: a deep-rooted (not greenwashed) sustainability, socially responsible design, a regional emphasis, and a mix of public and private building types. These two monographs exhibit these strengths of each office, as well as their ...

The Siamese Towers in Santiago, Chile by Alejandro Aravena In designing a "glass tower [hosting] everything to do with computers" for the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile's San Joaquin campus in Santiago, architect Alejandro Aravena (with Charles Murray, Ricardo Torrejón and Alfonso Montero) rethought the goals and program of the project, splitting the defining characteristics of it into two. A glass exterior wall became a double wall and the tower became "siamese." By looking at the root of the client's wishes, combined with the functioning of what is housed within, Aravena created a distinctive object on the campus. The architect admits that the 5,000 sm (50,000 sf) tower's design always appeared "chubby," no matter how sm...

Dee & Charles Wyly theater , originally uploaded by fake_plastic_earth . The Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre -- "the world's only vertical theatre" -- in Dallas, Texas by REX | OMA , set to open in October. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

The last firm faces looked at hands as an expression of personality, so here we're taking the other extreme and looking right into the eyes of the individuals at Jones Studio . This is one of the freakier presentations of staff that I've come across, the eyes staring right at me...following my every move! The people page of the firm's site is interactive, not animated like the image above. But the interactivity is limited to seeing each person's eyes and sometimes glasses; no further information is given. The names are already evident at left, so it's just a glimpse that we receive. This is unfortunate, though most likely the office wants to keep things a bit vague, letting the eyes speak. It would probably be fun (or weird) to click on a person's name when speaking to them on the phone, like an old-fashioned video call.

As a means of presenting the people in its office, Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects favor showing the owners' and various employees' hands instead of faces. While this might seem to deny the strength of the face in expressing personality, for an architect the hand says, and does, a lot. Traditionally the hand is the most important piece between the mind and the drawing, the skillful means of creating a design from ideas. But as can be seen by the 13 hands of 10 people below, the architect's job these days is as much -- or more -- about computers than the physical act of putting pen to paper. Only four of the ten "profiles" do not have a keyboard or mouse in the frame. Setting aside the effects of technology on the day-to-day activities of architectural production, do these snapshots accurately portray the individuals and what they do? Hard for me to say, but I would wager that (from top to bottom, left to right) Marcy juggles proposals, clients, and lots of other...

Taking place September 24-27 in Mad River Valley, Vermont is the Architecture and Design Film Festival , which describes itself as "the first film festival celebrating the creative spirit of architecture and design." Over its four days, "An exciting selection of films, including feature-length films, documentaries and shorts will engage the audience with how architects and designers think, work and create." In addition to the 20+ films to be screened, the fest also includes conversations with filmmakers, architects and designers. The Architecture & Design Film Festival will benefit the Yestermorrow Design/Build School . Yestermorrow inspires students to create a better and more sustainable world by providing an architectural education that integrates design and building into one continuous process. The current line-up includes these films: 77 Steps A man named Pearl ...

This post is stop number three on the " Virtual Book Tour " for David B. Williams 's latest book, Stories in Stone: Travels through Urban Geology . Below is my brief description of the book, followed by some commentary from Williams on some contemporary buildings in stone. Check out Clastic Detritus's book review and interview with Williams for stops one and two. Stories in Stone links the natural and the man-made by tracing building stones used in various parts of the United States to their origin in the earth's crust. The Seattle-based writer takes the reader from Boston to Los Angeles, from " deep time " to the late 1990's, via investigations in brownstone, granite, gneiss, limestone, travertine and other stones. Looking at Brooklyn brownstones, the Bunker Hill Monument , the City Hall-County Building in Chicago, and many more pieces of American architecture, Williams reveals how buildings in stone are naturally, not just metaphorically, roo...

120 copy , originally uploaded by The Think Shop . The Flute House in Royal Oak, Michigan by The Think Shop , under construction. For more information check out The Think Shop's flickr sets on the project. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Five Houses, Ten Details by Edward R. Ford, published by  Princeton Architectural Press , 2009. Hardcover, 256 pages. ( Amazon ) Virginia-based architect and educator Edward R. Ford is known most for his two-volume study on The Details of Modern Architecture . Those carefully illustrated books elevated the importance of technical details in the analysis of modern architecture and the education of young architects. Not surprisingly Ford's latest book, the second in Princeton Architectural Press's "Writing Matters" series, is focused on architectural details. In this investigation of different houses he designed for his property in Charlottesville, detailing is seen as an important an...

Messner Mountain Museum in Bozen, Italy by Werner Tscholl Photographs are by Martino Pietropoli . Reinhold Messner, a rock climber, mountaineer and all-around adventure seeker, has been able to create a series of four museums in Northern Italy on the subject of the mountains. One of the Messner Mountain Museums (MMM Firmian) is a restoration and transformation of Sigmundskron Castle near Bozen. Designed by Werner Tscholl , the museum is clearly a contemporary intervention within the walls of the over-500-year-old castle, but one that respects the existing and layers new experiences over it. Sigmundskron Castle dates back to 1473, though a previous fortification on its site extends back to 945 A.D., with some parts of the original s...