A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Michael Brady is without a doubt the most popular television architect who was a recurring character. While his portrayal barely resembled the realities of architecture (as Jody Brown humorously recounts ), he did a good job of setting a precedent for architects in sitcoms: He sits at his desk surrounded by pretty pictures of houses , but the profession takes a backseat to the usual sitcom antics. This is not a characteristic specific to architects but how sitcoms operate, inherently deriving their humor from situations, most of them revolving around the relationships of families and friends. The workplace is for dramas, and as far as I know no dramas about architects have been tried. Very few succeeding sitcom architects come to mind — Ted Mosby , Elyse Keaton , Rob (a landscape architect) — so I'm surprised to hear that the new sitcom Partners revolves around the "bromance" of two architects who are partners in a firm. [ Partners screenshot — an architectural m...

Here are some photos of the recently opened Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in Amsterdam, Netherlands, by Benthem Crouwel Architects (2012), photographed by Matthijs Borghgraef . 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 Desert Forest " at Burning Man in Black Rock City, Arizona Nevada, by Phoenix, (2012), photographed by Ben Lepley . More information on the installation can be found at Kickstarter . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

Yesterday The Morpholio Project released the app Trace , "an evolution of design process, enabling the development of ideas, free thinking and communication amongst a global community of designers and creators." This morning I played around with the app briefly, importing a photo and "tracing" over it with black and red lines, adding sheet after sheet, just like a real roll of tracing paper (nothing worth posting here, believe me). Basically Trace is a drawing tool, along the lines of the gazillion others on iTunes, but one that is synced up with Morpholio , therefore allowing people to import their portfolio and mark it up. Sketches can then be saved, emailed or shared again via the Morpholio app. I'll admit that I've browsed Morpholio, but I've yet to upload anything to it, so therefore I'm missing out on realizing the full potential of Trace. Nevertheless it's clear that Trace benefits from being straightforward (everything is up top in a...

Here are some photos of the New Waitomo Caves Visitor Center in Waitomo, New Zealand, by Architecture Workshop , (2010), photographed by Christopher Brown . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

Five Borough Farm: Seeding the Future of Urban Agriculture in New York City , published by Design Trust for Public Space, 2012. Paperback, 169 pages. ( Amazon ) The name of the book and project by the Design Trust for Public Space and Added Value says a lot. First, the book is definitely about New York City. Second, it picks up on the growing popularity, awareness, and interest in urban agriculture, in New York and elsewhere. Third, and most importantly, it envisions the five-borough entity as a farm rather than a city. This last one is not a literal replacement of buildings for farmland, but a reconsideration of how we perceive the city, mainly as a canvas able to support growing food. Rooftops, pocket parks, vacant lots, these and other spaces have the potential as sites of city farming. But what is needed for this conceptual shift is desire (obviously growing, as the fact of Five Borough Farm attests), education, and legislation. This publication is the...

Archway Studios in London, UK by Undercurrent Architects, 2012 According to Undercurrent Architects , over 10,000 arches comprise the Victorian railway infrastructure that cuts up the city of London. Their design of the aptly named Archway Studios—a live-work space—positions the building under and adjacent to one of these arches, thereby exploiting the potential for the other 9,999. This particular one is part of a 19th-century railway viaduct in the Southwark district. The load-bearing brick vaults of the viaduct are accompanied by some rusting steel above; both appear to have influenced the architects in their design. The three-story structure looks like it merely sits next to the viaduct, or caps one of the openings. But it actually extends underneath, sitting atop a rubber foundation and separated from the brick above via an independent liner and plenty of acoustical blanketing. This results in a fairly open and light living space on the ground floor, but that is only...

Here are some photos of the Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre in Paris, France, by Rudy Ricciotti and Mario Bellini , (2012), photographed by Laurent Ruamps . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

My last progress report on Studio Archea 's project for the Marchesi Antinori Winery , which I originally featured in 2005 , was way back in April last year . Back then the building was starting to take shape, but it was far away from realizing many of the striking details, particularly the stairs and the brick (or is tile?) vaults. It looks like a good deal of progress has been made on the construction. Here are a few of the many images on the project from Studio Archea's website. Click over to see many more.

It's about a week-and-a-half until Archtober , "the second annual month-long festival of architecture activities, programs and exhibitions in New York City." So it's time to start planning what to do, where to go, and what to see. Below are a few of the highlights, but check out Archtober's calendar or download their PDF guide for a list of all the events taking place next month. 1-7 CITY MODERN Dwell and New York Magazine have teamed up for a week of home tours, design studio tours, panel discussions, and an exhibition. Tickets are now available. Many of the events are free for readers of this blog; just click this link and enter nypress12 in the Promotional Code field. 4-7 Bridging the Nature-Culture Divide 2 The Cultural Landscape Foundation is hosting a symposium at the Museum of the City of New York on October 5 that "engage[s] experts with a range of relevant experience in the field of landscape architecture and environmental design in...

Here are some photos of the Extension Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany, by schneider+schumacher . (2012), photographed by Frank Stahl . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose