A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

This article originally appeared on World-Architects but has since been removed so it is being archived here, sans illustrations and without any further editing. This second installment of our Venice Biennale coverage focuses on the National Pavilions, where  the first installment focused on the 13th International Architecture Exhibition , directed by David Chipperfield and titled Common Ground . The exhibitions collected below include winners of the awards and special mentions, but also some highlights from the pavilions spread across the Giardini and beyond. In an opening ceremony on August 29 (the Biennale runs until November 25), Álvaro Siza Vieira was given the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and the international jury handed out awards for national participation, best project, and promising practice. As mentioned, Álvaro Siza Vieira is the recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, as selected by David Chipperfield, but unfortunately the Portuguese archite...

Here's an unedited, silent film I made of the Kilometro Rosso (Parco Scientifico Tecnologico) for Brembo, designed by Jean Nouvel. It's located alongside the A4 highway near Bergamo. Previously I featured the project on my weekly page and daily blog .

I'm in Venice this week covering the 13th International Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia for World-Architects.com. Check out the Insight feature in today's eMagazine for some Day-1 photos and impressions.

This article originally appeared on  World-Architects  but has since been removed so it is being archived here, sans illustrations and without any further editing. The 13th International Architecture Exhibition  in Venice, directed by English architect David Chipperfield and titled Common Ground , is open to the public from August 29 to November 25, 2012. In a press conference two days before the public opening, Chipperfield described the theme as running counter to the promotion of individual talents. He stated that architects believe they are contributing to society, but society does not see it that way. The "common ground" that Chipperfield levied to contributors was the common ground among the profession but also that between the profession and the public. Ultimately Chipperfield wants his Biennale to give the public a better means of understanding architects' concerns, interests, and commitments. Traditionally the Biennale is comprised of two parts: the director'...

Here are a bunch of photos of the PHZ Luzern (Teacher Training University of Central Switzerland) in Lucerne, Switzerland, by Enzmann + Fishcer (2011), photographed by John Hill . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

Here are a handful of photos of the Lindenrinde ("Linden Bark") apartment building in Zurich, Switzerland, by Ken Architekten (2011), photographed by John Hill . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

Here are a handful of photos of the Community Centre Aussersihl in Zurich, Switzerland, by EM2N (2004), photographed by John Hill . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

Ever since discovering the work of Arakawa + Gins in the mid-1990s, I've been fascinated -- if not always fully understanding of -- the duo's work. Their mantra of "WE HAVE DECIDED NOT TO DIE" is nonsensical at first, but underlying it are very intriguing ideas about movement and how our environments shape our lives. Equally intriguing is the newly relaunched Reversible Destiny website , designed by Brooklyn's Tronvig Group . The gravity-defying movement that Madeline Gins and the late Shusaku Arakawa translated into installations and environments comes across in the tumbling website. Upon visiting, be sure to drag the words and images around. [ reversibledestiny.org screenshot] As IT News reports it , via a press release: An ever-shifting kaleidoscopic display conveys in one fell swoop to a visitor that enters here all the content this rambunctious website contains. Clicked on, moved around and sorted through by a visitor, words and images jostle plus slo...

Here are a few photos of Dock E at Zurich International Airport in Zurich, Switzerland, by agps architecture (2003), photographed by John Hill . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

Architecture on Display: On the History of the Venice Biennale of Architecture edited by Aaron Levy and William Menking, published by  AA Publications , 2010. Paperback, 208 pages. ( Amazon ) Four Conversations on the Architecture of Discourse edited by Aaron Levy and William Menking, published by  AA Publications , 2012. Paperback, 192 pages. ( Amazon ) In one week the 13th International Architecture Exhibition gets underway in Venice. Officially  La Biennale di Venezia  but better known as just simply "the Biennale,"  the exhibition curated by UK architect David Chipperfield will be the first since Aaron Levy and William Menking performed their research initiative that involved interviewing past directors, from Paolo Portoghesi to Kazuyo Sejima. Most details of the international exhibition (one half of the Biennale, alongside the various national pavilions) won't be revealed until the press preview and subsequent onslaught of informati...

Porsche Pavilion in Wolfsburg, Germany by HENN, 2012 The Autostadt is a theme park in Wolfsburg, Germany, that is focused on "people, cars and what moves them." The mobility-themed park, which is laid out around an artificial lagoon, features pavilions for Audi, Lamborghini, Volkswagen (the park is basically a communications platform for VW and its various brands), and now Porsche, whose arcing structure designed by HENN Architekten recently opened. The pavilion is located in the lagoon's southeast corner, and the design takes many cues from this location. By locating itself right on the lagoon, the pavilion blends architecture and landscape (HENN worked with WES , the landscape architects responsible for the entire Autostadt plan); it defines the water's edge through curving terraced seats that provide seating for visitors. The pavilion proper is halfway along this arcing plan that alludes to the curves of a highway. The dramatic soaring roof shelt...

Precedents in Architecture: Analytic Diagrams, Formative Ideas, and Partis (Fourth Edition) by Roger H. Clark and Michael Pause, published by  Wiley , 2012. Paperback, 352 pages. ( Amazon ) My first exposure to Clark and Pause's Precedents in Architecture was during a semester in Italy in the mid-1990s, where studio was a mix of analysis and design. An earlier edition of the book was in the small but quality library at the study center, and in its pages was the church we were analyzing. Like any student, I copied the diagrams into my sketchbook and showed them later to my professor, only to be berated for going that route, of making the analysis too simplistic. For him, analysis was not just diagramming circulation, hierarchy, symmetry, geometry, and so forth; it was a creative process, like design, that resulted in each student having his or her own take on the building. In other words, Precedents in Architecture was objective analysis and our work was subjective. A ...

The Blönduós Church in Blönduós, Iceland, by Dr. Maggi Jónsson (1993), photographed by Bryan Chang . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

Here are some photos of the Metzler Dairy Farm in Egg, Austria (2012)*. Photographs are by Frank Stahl . See also earlier farm buildings designed by Klaus Metzler and Michael Ohneberg (2001). *Architect is unknown...for now. To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

Peter Zumthor: Hortus Conclusus: Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 , published by Serpentine Gallery | Koenig Books, 2012. Hardcover, 104 pages. ( Amazon ) Every summer since 2000 (minus 2004) Kensington Gardens in London has been the site of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion , a temporary structure designed by a superstar architect. For a few days around the unveiling of the built work, this part of London is the focus of the world of architecture as journalists, architects, and the curious flock to see the newest thing. Removed in the fall, the pavilions live on in photographs and in documentation of the events taking place within them. This year's design actually picks up on the temporary nature of the buildings, aiming to unearth the previous foundations and incorporate them into the pavilion (not finding any foundations, architects Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei rebuilt them as cork surfaces instead). Last year's pavilion, Hortus Conclusus , designed by Swiss arc...

"I remember when I was about to publish my first book and I said to this friend of mine, Larry Rickels, that I had to get used to the idea of people reading it. He said no, you have to get used to the idea that people don't read books. I found that incredibly liberating. And I would say that with books it's the same as with exhibitions. The purpose of an exhibition is not to be seen, but to have a good party that will allow the people who are engaged to engage each other. It's the same with books. The purpose of books is not to be read. I buy books but do not read them. I own a lot of books. I write books, I collect books, I think about books, I copy books, I pay for books -- I'm in the book business. But I don't read books. Don't assume that exhibitions are meant to be seen, and that books are meant to be read. Buildings are by and large invisible, and that's to their credit." - Mark Wigley, in Four Conversations on the Architecture of Discours...

The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology, and Design by Lance Hosey, published by  Island Press , 2012. Paperback, 216 pages. ( Amazon ) Books on sustainability and sustainable architecture are so numerous today that one needs to have a strong slant on the topic in order to stand out from the crowd. It's not enough to impart more of the same wisdom on living green or to document the same green buildings; the literature on sustainability needs arguments that push the thinking beyond CFL lightbulbs and green ratings. Lance Hosey, a former columnist at Architect magazine and the President & CEO of GreenBlue , has written a valuable book with a clear yet strong argument at its core: How something looks is as important to sustainability as how it performs. Green building conserves energy, optimizes its ecological footprint, and improves performance. Green architecture, however, becomes an integral part of its community by embracing the total environment, a w...

Sølvgade School in Copenhagen, Denmark by C. F. Møller Architects, 2012 Like a lot of architecture built in European cities, the six-story addition to Copenhagen's Sølvgade School -- the oldest school in Denmark -- must contend with history while dealing with contemporary concerns. C. F. Møller Architects had to address the mid-19th-century architecture of the school but also the nearby Nyboder, the colorful naval barracks of King Christian IV. The architects describe their extension as one "true to the surroundings" but with "a modernistic twist." The photo at top illustrates how the architects balanced the historical and the contemporary through the scale, massing, and facades of the 2,400-sm (25,800-sf) building (the architects are also responsible for the renovation of the existing school, which the addition more than doubles). While the addition does not physically touch the original school, which occupies the middle of the block, the new corne...