A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Here are a couple announcements for fundraisers, one for a non-profit organization in New York and the other an art installation in Detroit. Our good friends at the Design Trust for Public Space will be holding their Annual Benefit on Thursday, November 5th at Ogilvy & Mather's offices in The Chocolate Factory , 636 11th Avenue in Manhattan. The benefit will feature "one-of-a-kind shelters created exclusively for the Design Trust by prominent architects, designers and artists on the theme of 'Nest: Creative Construction for any Living Creature.'" The impressive list of names creating shelters includes Christo & Jeanne-Claude , Hariri & Hariri Architecture , Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects , Slade Architecture , Snohetta , Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and WXY architecture . Ice House Detroit is an installation developed by photographer Gregory Holm and architect Matthew Radune . It "involves the acquisition and recontextuali...

Flipping through October's Architectural Digest , " The Architecture Issue ," a couple advertisements stood out, each using architecture and architects to sell cars. The first is a two-page spread for Lexus, its HS Hybrid sitting in front of a Richard Meier sketch of his "much-anticipated Italcementi Innovation and Technology Central Laboratory " in northern Italy. The fairly ho-hum sketch is accompanied by text that boasts the lab "will be built of TX Active concrete that will 'eat' smog and significantly reduce pollution caused by car emissions and industrial activities." Not surprisingly the pollution-mitigating cement was developed by Italcementi and tried out on Meier's Jubilee Church in Rome. The ad's text further states that the other features of Meier's building (insulated low-e glass, geothermal, solar energy systems) will supposedly "provide close to total energy self-sufficiency." The second ad is one o...

On Architecture by Fred Rush, published by  Routledge , 2009. Paperback, 184 pages. ( Amazon ) Books on architecture by philosophers are much rarer than philosophical books by architects and architectural academics. Of the former only Roger Scruton's The Aesthetics of Architecture and Karsten Harries' The Ethical Function of Architecture come to mind. Now they are accompanied by University of Notre Dame associate professor of philosophy Fred Rush 's contribution to Routledge's Thinking in Action series. Where Scruton's book obviously tackles the subject of architecture visually (his conservative stance is embraced by many New Urbanist, Classicist, and other ...

This week we feature three educational buildings, one just completed and two as designs. The first is the City College of New York 's Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture by Rafael Viñoly Architects , which opened to students on September 16. Second is the University of North Texas College of Business 's new Business Leadership Building by Polshek Partnership Architects , which was announced last week at the Nasher Sculpture Center. Third is the River Center Branch Library in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by Trahan Architects . Before its new home, architecture students inhabited the over 100-year-old Shepard Hall at City College, a building far from short on character but lacking the amenities that many architecture schools have today. Looki...

Pendulum Plane: Oyler Wu Collaborative by Oyler Wu Collaborative , edited by Todd Gannon, published by  L. A. Forum for Architecture and Urban Design , 2009. Paperback, 96 pages. ( Amazon ) At a 2008 panel discussion on The Future of Architectural Publishing , one response to a question from an audience member, "What do you know doesn't work?," was "books on individual buildings." Luckily another one of the panelists countered this position, pointing out the past successes of some book-length case studies on single buildings. I say luckily because I'm a big fan of books that document, present, analyze and critique one building; I agree that they can work well. A magazine article, a portion of a monograph, or a blog post are comparatively lacking in respect when compared to the huge effort of designing and constructing a building. In that sense, this pamphlet-size case study for Oyler Wu Collaborative 's small-scale storefront intervention for the LA...

Cascais, Casa das Histórias e Desenhos Paula Rego. Eduardo Souto de Moura , originally uploaded by z.z . Casa das Histórias e Desenhos Paula Rego in Cascais, Portugal by Eduardo Souto de Moura, 2008. 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 couple of art book happenings in NYC. The NY Art Book Fair takes place next weekend, October 2-4 at PS1 . The free event is organized by Printer Matter , "the world's greatest source for artists' publications." The Fair hosts over 200 international presses, booksellers, antiquarian dealers, and independent artist/publishers, including architecturally minded publishers D.A.P., PIN-UP, and Princeton Architectural Press. [Gagosian Shop | image source ] Last week saw the opening of the Gagosian Shop at 988 Madison Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The ground floor space designed by Daniel Rowen Architects with MN Design displays the numerous art books, posters, prints and other wares in a sparse environment resembling the Gagosian galleries elsewhere in town.

"'[Ric Scofidio] and I typically argue a lot,' [Liz Diller] says. 'Yes,' he says. 'We kind of beat each other up. He has his ideas, I have my ideas, and I think my ideas are better than his.' [...] 'Early in our relationship, we really pushed it many times to be on [sic] the breaking point,' he remembers. 'I mean really be on [sic] the breaking point, and then 20 minutes later we're back together and everything was fine. And I think that that has enabled us to be totally brutal and honest with each other.'" - "Portrait of a Working Marriage" in FLYP Issue 35 , which features a couple videos with DS+R and an audio interview with FHL co-founder Robert Hammond.

Digging around the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs website a few days ago, I came across a " Percent for Art " project from 1994 by Allan and Ellen Wexler for Public School 340 in the Bronx. The simply titled Drawing P.S. 340 is a " 112 foot (34 m) wall mural [that] presents various floor plans and detailed construction drawings based on the actual architectural plans for the school, ... elevation drawings of the hallway and variously scaled maps that situate the school in the community, city, and country. " [ Drawing P.S. 340 by Allan and Ellen Wexler | image source ] Further explanation indicates: " The artwork is intended to provide students with a schematic overview of the new school and an opportunity for architectural study. " [ Drawing P.S. 340 by Allan and Ellen Wexler | image source ] A few things come to mind seeing this mural. First, the hallway would be quite unremarkable without it. The design is otherwise a tile base, painted doors a...

Abbey Mills Pumping Station F , originally uploaded by suburbanslice . Abbey Mills Pumping Station in Stratford, East London by Allies and Morrison , 1997. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion, Architecture with essays by Jill Gasparina, Taro Igarashi and Olivier Saillard, published by  Rizzoli , 2009. Hardcover, 404 pages. ( Amazon ) The relationships between fashion and the realms of art and architecture are complex, interrelated, and contested. Contemporary architecture can paradoxically attribute much of its appeal and derision from fashion's search for the ever-new and the glitzy building designs produced in the desire to attract the attention of travelers, shoppers, and more clients. In turn fashion companies use architecture as another element in promoting their brands, none better than Louis Vuitton , the French fashion house known for its travel ware, acce...

Lake Travis Retreat near Austin, Texas by Dick Clark Architecture Photographs are by Paul Bardagjy . Lake Travis was formed over sixty years ago by the construction of the Mansfield Dam west of Austin, Texas. Like other reservoirs in this and other states, the lake's use for flood control, water supply, and power generation is overshadowed by the recreational opportunities that shape the use of the waterways and its banks. This retreat by Dick Clark Architecture for a three-generation family living in Austin and Houston is aligned with these opportunities, but also the particularities of each inhabitant, setting it apart from its more traditional neighbors. At first glance the H-shaped plan of the retreat appears to be comprised of two zones, grouped around the two courtyards. But furthe...

fisheye-01 , originally uploaded by ZapGun on Flickr . The Dune House in Torrão do Lameiro, Portugal by ZapGun , 2008. Many more pics are available in ZapGun's flickr set on the house . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

In honor of today's start of the 2009 ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo in Chicago, here's a discovered "architectural element" that skillfully combines an access ramp and landscape elements, what I'm calling a rampscape. The rampscape is located at the Tenth Avenue entrance to the Desmond Tutu Center at The General Theological Seminary in Chelsea, which I noticed on the same excursion as when I saw the Sales Tin . The landscape architect is Quennell Rothschild & Partners . The rampscape is perpendicular to the path of travel to the entrance via stairs. A slope of less than or equal to 1:20 means the ramp does not require handrails. A bench and plantings are located on the equivalent of the landing, corten steel defines the outer edges, and plantings and a stone wall sit between the two runs of ramp. A surprise element is the fountain running down the middle of the center planting bed. It reminds me of the garden at the Querini Stampalia Foundation in V...

Extreme Architecture: Building in Challenging Environments by Ruth Slavid, published by  Laurence King Publishing , 2009. Hardcover, 208 pages. ( Amazon ) The term "extreme architecture" immediately brings to mind architecture that is formally aggressive, such as Deconstructivist architecture by the likes of Coop Himmelb(l)au . But for author Ruth Slavid it equals "extreme environments" and the architecture that responds to them. Her survey of close to fifty projects is divided into five sections (Hot, Cold, High, Wet, Space) that delineate the extremes architects must respond to. The selection ranges from variations on the vernacular to far-fetched proposals that seem to exist only to push the envelope by pushing the limits of human existence. What is constant is Slavid's exemplary writing, descriptive and informative to be sure, but also able to hold the reader's interest project after project. Be it a school for a poor community, a ski jump, a floati...

While walking around Chelsea the other day I came across the OnSite Sales Tin for Neil Denari 's HL23 project now under construction on 23rd Street just west of The High Line . Even though the sales tin sitting under The High Line has been there over a year, this is my first time noticing it; I couldn't help take a closer look. I'm not certain who designed the tin, but Denari would surely be a safe guess.  [HL23 OnSite Sales Tin | photo by archidose]  One first notices that the black box adorned with super-graphics is angled relative to The High Line above. It actually points at the site of HL23 as it rises. This sort of "urban referencing," as I've called it before , helps link two objects across space. In this case the gesture is obvious, though unfortunately one cannot see the building rising from the sales tin; removing oneself from under the promenade above is necessary to see the undulating, 14-story cantilevering building. [HL23 under construction | ph...

International House , originally uploaded by wojtek gurak . The International House on University of Nottingham's Jubilee Campus by Make Architects , 2008. For the first phase of the campus expansion project, Make realized two other buildings, the Amenities Building and the Sir Colin Campbell Building. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Think/Make: Della Valle Bernheimer by Andrew Bernheimer and Jared Della Valle, published by  Princeton Architectural Press , 2009. Paperback, 192 pages. ( Amazon )   Expanded Practice: Höweler + Yoon Architecture / MY Studio by J. Meejin Yoon and Eric Höweler, published by  Princeton Architectural Press , 2009. Paperback, 208 pages. ( Amazon ) By architecture standards the offices that are the subjects of these two monographs published by Princeton Architectural Press are babies. Adding together the offices' years of existence brings one close to 25 years, a point at which many architects hit their stride. That these two offices have monographs devoted to them at a point in their careers that can easily ins...

Form & Forest Cabins by D'Arcy Jones Design Inc The less-than-one-year-old Form & Forest began as a means for combining "good contemporary design" and "the crackle of campfire." British Columbia-based owners Jeff and Ryan Jordan enlisted Vancouver's D'Arcy Jones Design to develop a series of flat pack cabins that will bring clean lines and modern appointments to the woods of Canada and the United States. Thankfully the combination of prefab techniques and small footprints mean minimal disturbance to the natural landscapes by the cabins. The four cabins include the Cowboy (635sf / 60sm), the Ranger (1,409sf / 130sm), the Trapper (738sf / 70sm), and the Lookout (1,559sf...