A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Today a press release from Portuguese office AND-RÉ about their new BIOMED Research Center in Coimbra landed in my inbox. Here's a view of the design: [BIOMED Research Center by AND-RÉ | image courtesy the architects] The renderings reminded me of a project from Trahan Architects , the River Center Library (2010): [River Center Library by Trahan Architects | image source ] These designs are what I'm calling Squeezeboxes. Unlike exteriors that are serrated in one direction ( here's an example ), these work in two directions: angling towards the corners at top and pinched near the middle in the above. Another project, 11-19 Monument Street by Make Architects (2006), is oriented vertically, but the same angular lines are apparent. [11-19 Monument Street by Make Architects | image source ] Of course, calling something a Squeezebox begs movement. Perhaps the Tango series by Victor Enrich , which implies movement through various images, could someday be a reality. T...

Here are some photos of the Haus Stupp in Köln (Cologne), Germany by Heinz Bienefeld, 1977. Photographs are by chris schroeer-heiermann . Mouseover the photos for chris's helpful descriptions, or if that doesn't work -- say you're using a tablet -- click each photo to read the same. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Schlepping Through Ambivalence: Essays on American Architectural Condition by Stanley Tigerman, edited by Emmanuel Petit, published by  Yale University Press , 2011. Hardcover, 192 pages. ( Amazon ) Back in the mid-1990s, when I was a third-year undergraduate architecture student at Kansas State University, our class visited Stanley Tigerman's office on a field trip to Chicago. We were given a tour around the office by a recent graduate of KSU, whom Tigerman later mocked as we uncomfortably (at first) tried to talk to the intimidating figure. The mockery was in reference to a question from one of us about graduate school; Tigerman was pushing our tour guide to attend a reputable grad school in order to, among other things, be able to articulate ideas clearly and develop a philosophical stance. By the end of our informal chat with Tigerman he had warmed up considerably and regaled us with anecdotes and a hefty dose of advice, cutting through any BS one might exp...

House in Juso, Portugal by ARX Portugal + Stefano Riva, 2011 The following text and images are courtesy ARX Portugal . In the concept for this small house in the vicinity of Aldeia de Juso, the tiniest area of flat land and the high density of the new houses yet to be built forcibly draw us to some sort of obsession about the possibilities of dilating space. Underlying this question, the importance of “expanding” the outdoor space becomes a particular central aspect, since it is also a building integrated in a semi-rural area, where people go looking for the experience of inhabiting garden or open spaces. We propose to solve and clarify the question by widening the inhabitable spaces to their maximum, both in the vertical and horizontal direction, inside and outside. The building has been thus structured in three floors, spatially related in profile, yet each level having specific and different characteristics. In Level -1, the areas are laid out (as the regulations so demand) ...

CLOG: Apple edited by Kyle May (Editor-in-Chief), Julia van den Hout, Jacob Reidel, Human Wu, PlayLab (Design), February 2012. Paperback, 152 pages. ( Amazon ) The first issue of CLOG focused on BIG , exploring the firm, its designs, and its main personality across about 50 contributions, including some responses from Bjarke Ingels himself. The second installment of the periodical that "explores, from multiple viewpoints and through a variety of means, a single subject particularly relevant to architecture now" takes aim at Apple, spurred by the June 7, 2011 presentation by Steve Jobs to the Cupertino City Council for " Apple Campus 2 ." Not surprisingly, renderings of the spaceship-like design were everywhere last summer, one of those rare moments when architecture takes center stage in popular media. But the 40-odd contributions to CLOG do not limit themselves to discussing the Norman Foster-designed project; there is plenty in Apple's oeuvre -- computer...

Here are some photos of the 24 Hours Museum in Paris, France by Francesco Vezzoli with AMO , 2012. The installation for Prada was accessible for 24 hours from January 24-25 in the Palais d'Iéna by Auguste Perret, 1936-1946. Photographs are by victortsu . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Mark yr calendars: Thursday, April 5th is the 2012 Lewis Mumford Lecture on Urbanism, to be given by New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan . The 8th annual lecture is presented by the Graduate Program in Urban Design, Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at City College of New York (CCNY), and will be held in the Great Hall of Shepard Hall at CCNY, Convent Hall at 138th Street. It's free, open to the public, and no reservations are necessary. Previous Lewis Mumford Lectures: 2011 - Richard Sennett : " The Edge: Borders and Boundaries in the City " (video archive available ) 2010 - No lecture 2009 - Paul Auster : " City of Words " 2008 - David Harvey : "The Right to the City" (audio podcast available ) 2007 - Amartya Sen : " The Urbanity of Calcutta " (audio podcast available ) 2006 - Enrique Peñalosa : "A New Urban Paradigm: Building a Just and Sustainable Metropolis" 200...

A couple weeks ago when I posted three Things to Do and See in NYC , I indicated that blog posts on each would follow. Well, I posted about BIG♥NYC and the Metals in Construction Facades Conference , but yesterday on the way to my book talk I hopped off the High Line to check out this: [ Doug Wheeler at David Zwirner Gallery | image source ] Only to find this: Such a line on a Wednesday afternoon! The slow-moving line and the need to get down to the south end of Battery Park City meant I had to pass. Unfortunately the installation runs only until this Saturday, the 25th. Alas my schedule for these few days means I'll miss it. Please share your thoughts in the comments section if you did experience Wheeler's installation.

Thanks to everybody who came to The Skyscraper Museum last night for my book talk on the Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture , published by W. W. Norton. The talk was videotaped, meaning the museum should be posting the footage on their site in the future; I'll post a link when it's available. On Tuesday the Skyscraper Museum's next exhibition, News Paper Spires , on newspaper headquarters in New York City in the late 19th-century/early 20th-century, will open; mark yr calendars. Forthcoming events on the promotion train for the book include some walking tours in the Spring and Summer and an illustrated talk at the New York Public Library's Mid-Manhattan Branch. Details on these and other events are forthcoming.

A lot is happening in New York City between now and the end of the month. Here's a smattering. Space, the Sacred, and the Imagination : A panel discussion with Mark C. Taylor, K. Michael Hays, Steven Holl, Ann Riselbach, Karla Britton, and Jim Williamson at Cornell AAP NYC, 50 West 17th Street on Tuesday, February 21 (that's tonight!) at 6:30pm. L: Change: Architecture and Engineering in the Middle East, 2000-Present Exhibition Opening at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, on Wednesday, February 22 , 6pm-9pm ( the exhibition runs until June 23): R: John Hill Book Talk (that's me!) at the Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place, on Wednesday, February 22 , 6:30pm-8pm. Megacities and Meta-Cities: Global Urban Design Studies and Research in Local Schools : A day-long symposium organized by Antonella Contin, D. Graham Shane, and Giovanna Santamaria, on sustainable models for growing and shrinking territories, on Thursday, February 23 at Studio X NYC ...

a+t 37: Strategy Space , published by a+t , 2011. Paperback, 168 pages. ( Amazon ) Strategy Space is the second installment in Spanish publisher a+t's Strategy series -- the first, Strategy Public was reviewed here , and a review of the third, Strategy and Tactics in Public Space , is forthcoming. The series "breaks up the approach to [each featured] project through its strategies, delimiting the project and marking out a path, while permitting the project to be seen in its entirety." Further, it is "a way of integrating it into general knowledge, through several anchor points, which are the objectives and the strategies." By tackling urban public spaces in this issue, from the small to the very large, the strategies that the editors incorporate into the presentation of the various projects are able to highlight considerations at various times throughout a project's long duration. This a fitting approach, given the way these predominantly la...

Childcare Center in Maria Enzersdorf, Austria by MAGK and illiz architektur, 2011 Photographs are by Hertha Hurnaus. A small school in the town of Maria Enzersdorf, south of Vienna, required expansion in line with the community's growing population. A 2008 competition called for an addition with eight primary-school classrooms, after-school care facilities, and a kindergarten with kitchen. The association of MAGK and illiz architektur won the competition with a plan that uses L-shaped "which are interlaced in such a manner that different places and free spaces to play in and for learning are formed in the interstices." Each "L" relates to one part of the program, although the whole building is interconnected through corridors and to a certain degree the outdoor spaces. This means of planning creates a variety of outdoor spaces: an enclosed courtyard, a courtyard open on one side, a space overlooking but setback from the street, and an space b...

On Thursday I attended the Metals in Construction, 2012 Facades Conference , organized by the Ornamental Metal Institute of New York and The Architect's Newspaper , and held at McGraw-Hill Auditorium. Below are some brief points on some of the presentations. The first talk of the morning came with Bill Zahner (above) of Kansas City-based A. Zahner Company , first in the presentation of a bunch of striking projects -- many with big names (Frank Gehry, Morphosis, Zaha Hadid), but others little known outside of their Midwestern locale ( St. Theresa's Academy by Gould Evans) -- and then in conversation with Julie Iovine of The Architect's Newspaper . Bill's role as a fabricator with a strong integration of digital technologies set the tone for the remainder of the day. His recurring emphasis of precision was one such point found elsewhere, rooted in the use of computer technologies in both design and fabrication. He also recounted how the nuns of St. Theresa's A...