A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Although most architectural photography would not be considered fine art, buildings and cities are a popular subject by photographers. Documenting an individual building is the typical purview of architectural photography, yet these three books exhibit a tendency to explore particular facets of the man-made environment: Spaces of all sorts of authority (Richard Ross), Asian cities (Peter Bialobrzeski), the derelict industrial structures of the American West (David Stark Wilson). These subjects, outside of their focus on the built environment, could not be any different from each other in terms of subject, yet they all exude an appreciation of their subject that is influenced by the photographers' means of execution. Architecture of Authority  by Richard Ross, published by Aperture, 2007. Hardcover, 144 pages. ( Amazon ) The cover of Richard Ross 's Architecture of Authority makes clear that the book is powerful for what it lacks: people. Here ar...

House in Piedra Roja, Santiago, Chile by Riesco + Rivera Arquitectos Asociados, 2009 In the contemporary architecture of single-family houses, courtyards are not used as often as they should. Open space, when possible, is more likely found in backyards, creating private yet very open spaces shielded from neighbors by fences and/or landscaping. An internal courtyard or patio, on the other hand, is intensely private, yet still an outdoor space open to the sky and elements. As one of the oldest types of house forms, courtyards also offer the ability to regulate interior temperatures through ventilation and other means. Architects Francisca Rivera P. and Jose Riesco U. of Riesco + Rivera Arquitectos Asociados see the appeal of these outdoor spaces in their design of the House in Piedra Roja north of Santiago, Chile. They looked to the traditional houses of their home country's central zone, which has a Mediterranean climate suited to the house typology. They view the "t...

Here are some photos of the Handelsbeurs Bridge in Gent, Belgium by Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen , 2008. Photographs are by victortsu . See more on the project at Public Space . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

[All images courtesy NYIT/Holler Architecture] sLAB Costa Rica is a design-build initiative of the School of Architecture and Design at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) located in Nosara, Costa Rica. Led by Tobias Holler of Holler Architecture , the research-driven studio developed designs and held a competition in fall 2011 for a communal recycling center that the students will help build this summer. To aid in expenses for housing students and making a film by Ayana de Vos documeting the project, a Kickstarter campaign has been set up to raise $15,000 by May 21. As the top image attests, the Costa Rica locale is a beautiful one, veering between lush forests in the rainy season (as pictured) and almost desert-like conditions during the dry season. What drew Holler to the area was the fact the natural beauty and its related eco-tourism is offset by a severe solid waste management problem. As the Kickstarter page explains, "over sixty percent of the 2,400 tons o...

Here are some photos of the Oriel Mostyn Gallery in Llandudno, Wales by EllisWilliams Architects , 2010 . Photographs are by Mr sAg . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

The folks at Spillman Farmer Architects tipped me off to the digital art of Lynette Jackson , whose images reside on Flickr. Jackson, of Atlanta, Georgia, attests that the images are "taken, edited, and processed with the iPhone." Knowing this, I'm more amazed by the images -- in many cases equal blends of architectural photography and illustration or painting -- that are appealing even without this process made explicit. Below is a smattering of the 148 images (to date) found on Ms. Jackson's (aka Page67 ) Flickr account. Images appear to be created in short series of four, whereby colors, patterns, and sometimes buildings are consistent. Each is a free-form canvas with manipulations that tend towards the orthogonal. All of the images have an evident balance of parts and careful means of leading the eye. With the square format, I could see many of the images gracing album covers, if such things exist anymore. The images below are presented without comment, but I...

Yesterday saw the launch of a new eMagazine on World-Architects.com , something I've been working on for a while now and for which I serve as Editor-in-Chief. The eMagazine is sent out as a newsletter every two weeks -- alternating with the existing W-A Newsletter -- with an online version appearing simultaneously. The new eMagazine builds upon existing magazines for the Swiss and German platforms, but the World eMagazine is all in English, covering international topics. Here is a snapshot of the first issue online; below the image is more information on the eMagazine and its parts. The six parts of the eMagazine , keyed above, are as follows: 1 - Insight: A long feature, which includes interviews with clients, visits to architecture offices, and discussions with academics, curators, and other voices. The first Insight is an interview with Director Andreas Stadler on the 10th anniversary of the Austrian Cultural Forum's completion, the 20th anniversary of Raimund ...

Looking forward to the weekend, it looks like Saturday will be a great day for a walking tour. At 1pm I'll be giving a walking tour that starts at Van Alen Books (30 West 22nd Street) and heads south to Union Square Park, meandering past Gramercy and Stuyvesant Parks. Head to Van Alen's event page or Facebook for more information. Send an email to rsvp@vanalen.org to reserve a spot.

Architectural and Cultural Guide Pyongyang edited by Philipp Meuser, published by  DOM Publishers , 2012. Paperback, 2 volumes w/slipcase, 368 pages. ( Amazon ) Architecture 11: RIBA Buildings of the Year by Tony Chapman, published by  Merrell Publishers , 2012. Hardcover, 273 pages. ( Amazon ) These two books focusing on architecture halfway around the globe from each other may seem like an odd pairing for a book review, but each book -- unconventional guides, if you will -- shares the trait of boosting national identity through the presentation of architecture. One is a guidebook to a place that most people cannot or would not visit anytime soon (Pyongyang, North Korea), and the other is a collection of awards given out last year by a professional body (Royal Institute of British Architects -- RIBA ) of an island country (Great Britain). In architecture, the similarities end there. Architectural and Cultural Guide Pyongyang from DOM Publ...

Family Crèche in Drulingen, France by Fluor Architects, 2010 Drulingen is a small town in the Alsace region of northeastern France. One of the main routes into town from the nearby motorway is Rue de Phalsbourg, on which this "Family Crèche" (child care center, day care center, kitchen) designed by Strasbourg's Fluor Architects sits. Its site determines much of the building's design, not only since it is at an entrance to the town, but also because it sits adjacent to an old police station. The design melds these three realms: road, edge (of town), and existing building. The most evident means of relating to the site is found in the wood lattice that covers the long elevation facing the road. Fluor Architects -- the duo of Hervé Schneider and Guillaume Avenard -- treat the lattice with a regular, rectangular grid of timber sticks at 45-degrees to horizontal. Variation is found in the infill -- smaller members at different angles and spacings -- as well a...