A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Commonplaces: Thinking About an American Architecture by Brian Healy, published by  ORO Editions , 2008. Paperback, 112 pages. ( Amazon ) I first became familiar with the work of Brian Healy Architects when they won a Chicago Housing Authority competition in 2001. Living in the Midwestern city at the time, there was a perceptible disgruntlement in the local architectural community that high-profile commissions like this one were going to architects from outside Chicago. This argument was levied at architects from overseas and in other parts of the United States, but it was also, inadvertently, directed at the quality of design produced by architects in the city. Regardless, Healy won because his design excelled above others; he was able to develop a solution that tapped into the spirit of the place, addressed the CHA's needs, and went beyond the shortcomings of much public housing. In other words his understanding of place, program, and client/user led to a ...

Korean Church of Boston in Brookline, Massachusetts by Brian Healy Architects, 2010 See also this week's book review of Commonplaces , a monograph on Brian Healy Architects. To celebrate its fiftieth anniversary the Korean Church of Boston decided to build a Children's Chapel and Eduction Center next to its existing church in Brookline, west of Boston. They held a design competition in 2003, the jubilee year, won by Brian Healy Architects with an infill design that responds to the unique circumstances of the site as well as the program spaces of worship and study for the church's "third generation members -- the children ages five through twelve." At about 8,300 sf (770 sm), the addition is small. It interlocks with the L-shaped church -- sited on a block bound by Harvard Street on the east and Holden Street on the west -- with an L-shaped plan of its own, creating a small internal court in the process. The existing church and Children's Chapel...

, originally uploaded by LNSM_ . Fasano Las Piedras in Punta del Este, Uruguay by Isay Weinfeld , 2009. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

With the recent completion and press coverage of Samitaur Tower by Eric Owen Moss Architects , I felt compelled to take a look at the projects he has created for Frederick and Laurie Samitaur-Smith ( Samitaur Constructs ) in Culver City. Looking at the web pages of the architect and client, I counted a dozen buildings and small interventions in an old industrial area south of National Boulevard on either side of Hayden Avenue, aka Hayden Tract. It is a unique and amazing assemblage of industrial reuse uniting one architect and one client. Yet not having visited the area, and with most coverage focused on individual designs, it was hard to get an overall idea of the 25-year (and counting) project that is transforming the once-blighted area into an area with "creative work space, restaurants, grassy parks and — with the addition of Samitaur Tower I — exhibit and performance space for the many dimensions of culture." So I decided to map the various buildings and installatio...

"Book Briefs" are an ongoing series of posts with two- or three-sentence first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that make their way into my library. These briefs are not full-blown reviews, but they are a way to share more books worthy of attention than can find their way into reviews on my daily or weekly pages. 1: Morris Lapidus: The Architecture of Joy by Deborah Desilets | Rizzoli | 2010 | Amazon While the architecture of Morris Lapidus was not appreciated by contemporaries, a growing appreciation for his work has occurred in the last couple of decades. He is best known for the curving balconies of a number of hotels in Miami Beach, which are collected here in coffee-table-book style in large color and black-and-white photographs. Most of the book is just that, photos of a small number of Lapidus's many buildings, with appreciative text coming at the back of the book. 2: Guastavino Vaulting: The Art of Structural Tile by John Ochsendorf ...

The Photography of Ezra Stoller: Iconic Images of Iconic Architecture [© Ezra Stoller / Esto. Seagram Building, Location: New York NY, Architect: Mies van der Rohe with Philip Johnson] AIA CES LUs 1.5 When: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM MONDAY, JANUARY 31 Where: At The Center    Mid-Century Modernism as seen through the master's lens Four Case Studies: Seagram Building, TWA Terminal, The United Nations, The Guggenheim Museum Moderator: James Sanders Panelists: Kenneth Frampton , Assoc. AIA John Morris Dixon , FAIA Brook Mason Erica Stoller In conjunction with the retrospective of Ezra Stoller’s photography , currently on view at the Yossi Milo Gallery, the AIANY Historic Buildings Committee is pleased to present a forum that reviews these iconic images. The program will review, through four case studies, important architectural masterpieces of the period and the images critical to their iconic stature within the public realm. While the buildings themselv...

The following text and images are courtesy Höweler + Yoon Architecture for their competition-winning design -- Splipstream Public Exchange -- of the Boston Society of Architects Headquarters. The 154-year-old organization will move from 52 Broad Street to Atlantic Wharf . SLIPSTREAM maximizes the BSA’s engagement with a larger public by creating a series of interfaces, both physical and informational. The physical design of the new headquarters introduces a "cloud" ceiling that capitalizes on the viewing angles between the sidewalk and the second floor, to create a highly visible signature feature that doubles as gallery ceiling and supergraphic signage. The information interface utilizes wireless technologies to deliver site specific content to visitors, while also creating a BSA application for smart phones and location-aware hand held devices. BROADCAST Drawing the public up to the second floor, a grand stair drops down from the ceiling above, and provides a flu...

2 - 4 - 6 - 8 , originally uploaded by ken mccown . An oldie but goodie: The 2-4-6-8 House in Venice, California by Morphosis , 1978. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Building of Control CCS in Ferrol, Spain by Diaz and Diaz Architects, 2010 Ferrol is a city in the northwest corner of Spain, in Galicia, on the Atlantic coast. Its location enabled the city to become a major naval center, especially from the shipbuilding taking place since the 18th century. A late 20th-century decline in this sector did not bode well for Ferrol, but the construction of an outer port and new highways this century has extended its reach in trade. Where Spanish naval ships were born, now the ubiquitous shipping containers come and go. Diaz and Diaz Architects , in collaboration with Antonio Desmonts Sierra, designed a multipurpose building for the Port Authority and Control of the Outer Harbor of Ferrol, a three-story triangular building on a dramatic site, on the tip of a narrow pier jutting into the waters. The triangular shape and projecting roof seem to point ships towards the nearby port and Ferrol in the distance. Behind the building is the Atlantic, wi...

eVolo Issue 03: Cities of Tomorrow edited by Carlo Aiello eVolo , 2010 Paperback, 122 pages The third issue of twice-yearly eVolo continues with the same format as the first two issues (but in a slimmer page count), with content divided into four sections: News (including the latest Skyscraper Competition that eVolo runs), Opinion, Depth, and Catalog. Likewise the issue is built around a theme, in this case "the future of urban habitat." The projects and imagery that permeates is accurately, yet inadvertently described by Heidi Druckemiller in her text on MAD Architects ' Taichung Convention Center in the Depth section (and pictured on the cover): "the integration of contemporary art and digital technology into architecture design and projects that connect the natural and man-made worlds." Yes, that seems accurate when considering the other projects by BIG , Terreform One , UNStudio , Vincent Callebaut Architectures , and others, beca...

Here are two photographs of MBO Gildeopleiding in Venray, Netherlands by BRTA , 2010. Photos are by Klaas Vermaas . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

So in 2011, with Kindle, the iPad, and architecture blogs, among other game-changing pieces of computer technology spreading information, what is the state of the architectural monograph? Are they evolving in response to new ways of reading? Are they scaling down as people learn about architecture online? Are they providing content different from the traditional monograph? These four books from 2010 embody the diversity of the genre, featuring architects and landscape architects from the United States, Europe, and Asia. They also map different approaches to monographs, ones which are dependent upon the format being in print to varying degrees. A Landscape Manifesto  by Diana Balmori, published by  Yale University Press , 2010. Hardcover, 272 pages. ( Amazon ) The Manifesto . Instead of a formal presentation of built and unrealized projects, as most architectural monographs are wont to do, Diana Balmori opts for a manifesto, 25 points toward "a new definition of lan...

Had your eye on one of Taschen 's giant books but didn't want to pay full price? This weekend is your chance to snag a display copy of possibly Coop Himmelb(l)au or a slightly damaged copy of Ando's Complete Works or some slightly burnt Sears activewear (oops! wrong sale!). Details are below. Friday, January 21 to Sunday, January 23, 2011. Taschen Store New York 107 Greene Street

Today's archidose is a special Carport Edition. In a time of eight-car garages, it's great to see carports making a comeback of sorts. [Autohaus in Chicago, Illinois by Brandon Pass Architect , 2010. Be sure to check out the time-lapse video of the architect building the project, complete with Benny Hill soundtrack.] [Solar Array Carport in Tucson, Arizona by Tectonicus Constructs .] To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

The Liberal Monument: Urban Design and the Late Modern Project by Alexander D'Hooghe, published by  Princeton Architectural Press and the Berlage Institute, 2010. Hardcover, 112 pages. ( Amazon ) At the end of Alexander D'Hooghe 's 100-page manifesto-like book "that challenges all of the accepted truths of urban design" is an imaginary conversation between Ernst Cassirer , Sigfried Giedion , Louis I. Kahn , Fumihiko Maki , and Josep Lluis Sert , the book's protagonists. The format of this section lends itself to explaining the main ideas of the book, and doing it in an accessible way. That said, I'm surprised it did not come at the beginning of the book. (I may not be the only one, the conversation's footnotes are #1-8, while the book begins with footnote #9, an error I'm guessing was created by the book's potential last-minute reorganization.) At the beginning of the book, the conversation would have given the reader most ...

Steigereiland Kavel 114 in Amsterdam, Netherlands by Architoop, 2007 Steigereiland is an infill island in the eastern district of Lake IJsselmeer. It has been developed as a low-scale, mixed-use neighborhood comprised of small lots (6m x 25m; 20' x 80') with buildings around 3-5 stories. The resulting fabric is fine-grain and extremely varied, with bold contemporary expressions in brick, wood, concrete, and glass. It's like a blank canvas filled by Dutch architects with few restrictions. This project at the T-intersection of Jan Olphert Vaillantlaan and Gerald Hulst van Keulenstraat was developed by the de Landman-Hesselink family as a single-family residence with two office/studio spaces. Spread across five floors, a fashion designer's studio occupies the ground floor, an architecture studio is one floor above, and "a comfortable living space" sits on top. The small mixed-use project (280sm; 3,000sf) was designed by Amsterdam's Archito...