A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Today Vanity Fair posted the results of their World Architecture Survey . The magazine "asked the world’s leading architects, critics, and deans of architecture schools two questions: what are the five most important buildings, bridges, or monuments constructed since 1980, and what is the greatest work of architecture thus far in the 21st century." The results of the first question -- compiled in a slideshow -- are not surprising, with Frank Gehry's Guggenheim in Bilbao easily topping the list. The rest are recognizable buildings by household names like Renzo Piano, Peter Zumthor, Norman Foster, Rem Koolhaas, Tadao Ando, and so on. But I'm more intrigued by the second question, if certain buildings stand out from the rest in a decade that really didn't have its own "Bilbao." Well, there was a clear-cut winner and a surprising runner-up: [L: Most Significant: Beijing National Stadium by Herzog & de Meuron | R: Second Most Significant: Sai...

L.A. Under the Influence by Roger Sherman is A series of case studies in Los Angeles [in which] Sherman applies game theory to scrutinize the behavior of ... intersecting private and public interests, revealing an alternative logic of architectural composition. Making extensive use of diagrams, photographs, and a range of negotiation models employed within game theory, including pecking order, negotiated access, multilateral exchange, and tit for tat, he identifies the characteristic features and behaviors of this new spatial logic. Sherman contends that it is ... negotiations [between ... stakeholders over the use of property], rather than more commonly accepted factors like history, symbolism, and planning, that not only shape a city but also influence the development of its smallest common increment: the individual parcel. [ University of Minnesota Press ] Here are some of the case studies presented in Sherman's book. View Larger Map An oil rig and single-family house buffeted ...

Tadao Ando has been one of the few architects -- superstars, mainly -- in my running tally of those without a web page*. But in my search for information on an Ando project I came across a real estate listing for an apartment in one of his buildings, a listing that features a link to what looks to be the architect's official web page . The Japanese/English site includes the footer "COPYRIGHT TadaoAndo Architect & Associates 2009, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED," so I'm somewhat confident the page is Ando's own, not a fan page, even though the design and content leave a lot to be desired.  One aspect of the Japanese page that I do like is the map feature , missing in the English portion. It is simply a graphically pixelated map of a portion of Japan with red squares for projects standing out from the green ones. A click on a red box opens a pop-up window with a small photo, text in Japanese and driving directions, also in Japanese. These pop-ups remind me of the special ...

The Works: The Anatomy of a City by Kate Ascher, published by Penguin, 2005. Hardcover, 240 pages. ( Amazon )   In general, urban infrastructure falls into two categories: hard (roadways, bridges, sewers, utilities, etc.) and soft ("networking, communications technology, and other Internet-enabled systems" [ source ]). While Kate Ascher's book on how New York City works focuses on the first, it clearly shows how computer technology and the evolution of soft infrastructure are being layered over the traditionally hard infrastructure to make the two types depend upon each other. Two examples: a small computerized submarine analyzes leaks in water mains, collecting data to help develop a repair plan; and Transcom allows different agencies to learn about road accidents so emergency personnel can be dispatched and alternative routes can be given to the public. Flip to any page in the book and the incorporation of technology into hard inf...

Prayer Pavilion of Light in Phoenix, Arizona by DeBartolo Architects Photographs are by Bill Timmerman . DeBartolo Architects found a great client in the Phoenix First Assembly of God , a megachurch who commissioned the local architects to masterplan its 58-acre (23-hectare) campus and design four buildings for it, including 2004's Children's Pavilion featured previously . The final piece for the campus, the 2,500 sf (232 sm) Prayer Pavilion of Light, is perched on the highest point of the campus, a fact made all the more apparent by the chapel's design, a glass box -- illuminated at night -- raised at its four corners. Church-goers ascend nearly 30 feet (9 meters) to reach the landscaped plaza that fronts the chapel. Views of Phoenix open up opposite a slender steel cross, reflecting pool and black concrete wall that extends from the chapel. The trees act like natural counterparts to the riased glass box: their leaves start above head height, providing some...

'Twas time to take another look at the links on my sidebar, to see if the sites are live, if the blogs have posted in the last six months, etc. Below are some links moved from my sidebar to my sidebar graveyard. :: adaptivereuse.net :: ArchitEXploitation :: bookendless :: Critical Spatial Practice :: Danda :: Defpoints :: Design Rag :: Die Gläserne Kette :: Eating Bark :: Looking Around :: The Loss of Silence :: Miss Representation :: NY Architecture Examiner :: The Pocket Square :: ROADS LESS...TRAVELED :: rory hyde dot com blog :: Social Practice :: Stories of Houses :: Thoughts on Architecture :: Triple Mint :: Under the Skyscraper As well I checked the graveyard to see if any blogs have started up again or if they've disappeared entirely. The latter have just been deleted, but the former includes the following sites that have been moved back to my sidebar from the graveyard. :: Architectural Prozac :: Arquitectearte :: Bird to the North :: Future Feeder :: twobo arquitectur...

PS1 , originally uploaded by a tanz . " Pole Dance " installation at MoMA P.S.1 in Long Island City, Queens by SO-IL , 2010. See more shots of the installation in Alan R. Tansey's flickr set and at Domus Magazine . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

"Huge, drab buildings suddenly started to pop up like mushrooms all over the place. It was if nobody had created them, as if they multiplied by themselves. Sometimes, when we visit other cities and countries, we ask ourselves where the beauty of the olden days has gone. In some places we get the impression that all buildings have been designed by structural glass manufacturers; all the roads by asphalt companies; and all the parks by lawn mower firms. It seems as though the architects sign on the dotted line but are excluded from the decision-making process. We ask ourselves why everything has to be planned in one go and built at top speed right up to the last minute. In our opinion, things only work if they are allowed to evolve -- and that requires time. Perhaps it would be practical to oblige all architects and clients to live for a time in the buildings they construct. If you don't like a painting, you can take it off the wall, or put it away, or even burn it -- but archit...

Come again ?

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Glenn Murcutt:

I couldn't make it to this afternoon's press preview of SO-IL 's competition-winning " Pole Dance " at MoMA P.S.1 (its first official "warm up" to the public is on July 3), but I did snap this shot of the installation from the #7 train on the way home. Can you see it ?

Lonnekerspoorlaan , originally uploaded by Marc ZZZ . Lonnekerspoorlaan by various architects in Roombeek, Enschede, the Netherlands. The above composite of 25 pictures can be seen in a much LARGER VERSION (definitely recommended). 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 paradoxes of progress is the ongoing building construction that cramps the style of cities, making them -- well -- construction sites, but also hindering movement as safety zones impede upon sidewalks and streets. But an upside of the boom-time presence of construction sites (something hard to imagine now as many sites in New York City lay dormant) is how views of the construction progress reveal the structure, the innards of the final building. In the case of today's iconic architecture, it is especially rewarding to get a glimpse of a Frank Gehry or some other starchitect's creation before it receives its skin, its polish. In this sense Stanley Greenberg's latest book Architecture under Construction is definitely a treat. He captures a number of buildings by name architects during that stage of construction where the structure is giving the building shape, but where the materials that hang off of it are distant. It's a time when many qualities -- form, li...

Open City: Designing Coexistence edited by Tim Rieniets, Jennifer Sigler and Kees Christiaanse, published by SUN Architecture, 2009. Paperback, 416 pages. ( Amazon )   One of the exhibitions in the 4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) was Open City: Designing Coexistence , curated by Kees Christiaanse with Tim Rieniets. The exhibition and accompanying book ask not "if we want to live together, but how to live together -- how to share the resources and opportunities cities offer." From the perspective of someone living in New York City, the question certainly is not easy (it probably isn't for anyone in any context), but at times it can seem impossible. Opportunities for lower- and even middle-income individuals and families are more sparse and difficult than ever, particularly in Manhattan, as the city draws the small percentage of the upper-upper-income bracket with developments that price out the many. These and ...

Square with four circles in New Haven, Connecticut by Felice Varini Photographs are by Anne Claire-Horner. A quick scan of Felice Varini 's 30-plus-year chronological portfolio reveals a consistent theme -- two-dimensional, geometric shapes in space legible from a single position or perspective -- with an increasing complexity in the geometries and the spaces in which the Swiss artist paints. Circles in the corner of rooms have given way to concentric cirlces on building facades, irregular triangles on rooftops, and now circles within a square on a parking garage near Yale University. Varini's art seems to be at odds with all that is contemporary in art, especially the foundation of simple geometries and one-point perspective. Complexity, rooted in technological and other changes, and the lack of a privileged perspective (physically and psychologically) are the norm more than Varini's apparently anachronistic creations. But Varini's installations rely on u...

Above the Pavement - the Farm! : Architecture & Agriculture at P.F.1 edited by Amale Andraos & Dan Wood, published by  Princeton Architectural Press , 2010. Paperback, 192 pages. ( Amazon ) It's been two years since WORKac 's winning design in MoMA P.S.1 's Young Architects Program (YAP) was constructed at the Long Island City contemporary arts center, but its influence extends beyond its brief tenure in the courtyard. The ninth installation in the ongoing YAP program received lots of press in print and online, and this second installment in the Inventory Books series promises to open the project's blend of architecture and agriculture to an even wider audience. This potential comes about not only from the project's content -- going beyond the usual folly of fun for revelers -- and form -- striking in appearance and construction -- but also the easy-to-digest content (pardon the pun) of the book and the way it is designed. Public Farm 1 , or P.F.1,...

New Art Exchange , originally uploaded by Wojtek Gurak . New Art Exchange in Nottingham, England by Hawkins\Brown , 2009. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Cracking open the AIA Guide to New York City's Fifth Edition that arrived in the mail today, I immediately flipped to my 'hood -- Astoria, Queens -- to see what's new and different with the guide. My own guidebook will feature three or four buildings in the area, but only one is featured in the AIA Guide and one other is briefly mentioned under another building. The latter is Leeser Architecture 's expansion of the Museum of the Moving Image , something the authors describe "might appear around 2020." Having seen the early stages of construction last year I didn't think another ten years would be needed to finish the addition, yet reading this typo or wisecrack spurred me to stroll over and see how construction is progressing. Most of the facade panels have been installed, except for a band above the new Education Center portal (above) and a bay on the northwest corner (below). The expansion is sited at the rear of the existing building, away from 35th A...

Ecole Leutschenbach , originally uploaded by kriss69 . Schulanlage Leutschenbach in Zurich, Switzerland by Christian Kerez , 2009. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Architecture Crossword Puzzles: Volume 1 Museum Masterworks , 2010 Paperback, 28 pages   At the AIA Convention last week I visited the well-stocked temporary bookstore, but being in a stingy mood I only spent four dollars on a book of crosswords, something to do in down time between sessions, the expo and other happenings. That down time didn't end up existing, but finally cracking the stapled binding of the impulse buy a couple days later I realized it probably wouldn't have done me much good. For an architect the crosswords are simple; all 12 puzzles could easily be completed in an hour. In and of itself simplicity would not be a reason to harshly criticize this book of puzzles, but unfortunately it does not go beyond any good intentions that may have instigated it. Not only are the puzzles easy for architects, many clues actually include the answer in their wordings, making it easy for all. The cover makes it appear that the crossword...

Main Street Garden in Dallas, Texas by Thomas Balsley Associates Recent high-profile projects in downtown Dallas have been cultural buildings located north of the city's skyscrapers. These include the Nasher Sculpture Center by Renzo Piano, Norman Foster's Winspear Opera House and REX/OMA's Wyley Theatre , all in the Dallas Arts District . The Main Street Garden runs counter to these in its focus on public space and landscape and its location on the south edge of downtown. Regardless the project is as significant as the cultural buildings, especially when seen in the context of the area's redevelopment. Designed by New York's Thomas Balsley Associates after a competition win, the garden fits a lot of programming into its 1.7-acre (0.7-hectare) city block. Spaces include a lawn with stage, a playground, a dog run, a fountain, a cafe, shade structures, and a terraced lawn. The plan basically rings the lawn area with the small-scale spaces, landscape and fu...