A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Here are some photos of the Centro de Innovación Deportiva (Sports Innovation Center, 2008) in Guijo de Granadilla, Spain, by José Maria Sánchez García , photographed by Ximo Michavila . Update 04.02: A few more photos from Ximo Michavila: To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

I've written about Jacob Javits Plaza—the public space at the corner of Lafayette and Worth Streets in Lower Manhattan—many times. First was about Martha Schwartz's design on my weekly page; then in 2007 I did an analysis and history of the space for grad school; most recently I contributed an article to The Architect's Newspaper about Michael Van Valkenburgh 's redesign. Before Schwartz's design the plaza was occupied by Richard Serra's Tilted Arc , which makes Van Valkenburgh's design the third installment since 1981, not counting the interim "design" between the demolition of Serra's sculpture in 1989 and the completion of Schwartz's plaza design in 1997. The plaza is not yet open to the public (a couple guys were applying some chemical of sorts to the stone paving when I walked by and snapped these photos yesterday), but it looks like any day now it will be complete and this corner of Lower Manhattan may finally be free of controvers...

I stopped by Grand Central Terminal this morning to check out HEARD•NY , a project by artist Nick Cave, with Creative Time and students from the Alvin Ailey School. Here is a slideshow of some photos—the shots are handheld, but I cropped them in Photoshop so the clock face is always in the same place. As you can see by the movement of the minute-hand, the most intense parts of the dance happen about 10 minutes after the dancers come in and suit up; that's when the drumming starts and the "soundsuits" flail.

Here are some photos of the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem, Netherlands, by BiermanHenket Architecten (2004), photographed by Chris Schroeer-Heiermann . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos  archidose

A Weekly Dose of Architecture Updates (note: the next update on my weekly page will be 2013.04.08): This week's dose features the Museo Amparo in Puebla, Mexico, by Enrique Norten/TEN Arquitectos: The featured past dose is Rajel Mikveh in Mexico City, Mexico by Pascal Arquitectos: This week's book review is Encounters 1 & 2 - Architectural Essays by Juhani Pallasmaa, edited by Peter MacKieth (L): : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : American-Architects Building of the Week : Riverstone Office Building in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, by Patano+Hafermann Architects:

[Henri Labrouste. Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. 1854–75. View of the reading room. © Georges Fessy] About a week ago I visited the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to check out the exhibition Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light , on display in the third floor's special exhibition's gallery until June 24, 2013. The exhibition has received a good deal of attention since it opened in early March, most notably by Michael Kimmelman at the New York Times . Below are some photos I took and some of my impressions on the show, though readers in need of a bit more depth on the exhibition should read Kimmelman's piece. [Photos by John Hill, unless noted otherwise] MoMA bills the show as "the first solo exhibition of Labrouste’s work in the United States." It took long enough, considering that Labrouste died in 1875. It's not for lack of importance or influence, since the architect's two main projects (really, what he is only known for by most)—the Bibliot...

On April 2 Wang Shu, the 2012 Pritzker Prize winner and partner at Amateur Architecture Studio , is speaking at The Cooper Union , in a lecture co-sponsored by the Architectural League of New York. See below for more information. [ Ningbo History Museum | Photo: Lv Hengzhong] Current Work: Wang Shu / Amateur Architecture Studio Wang Shu and his wife, Lu Wenyu, founded Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997 in Hangzhou, China. The name of the office refers to the approach of an amateur builder—one based on spontaneity, craft skills, and cultural traditions. In order to learn traditional skills, Wang Shu spent the early part of his career working on building sites. Rather than looking toward the West for inspiration, Wang’s work is rooted firmly in the context of Chinese history and culture. Today the studio incorporates Wang’s knowledge of everyday techniques to adapt and transform materials for contemporary projects. The “unique combination of traditional understanding, ex...

The new World-Architects eMagazine includes the feature " Viewpoints: Uncommissioned Work of Architectural Photographers " that I put together with my fellow W-A curators. Click the link or photo to see the feature and read a little bit about it below. The importance of photography in promoting buildings and architects is undeniable. But what about the uncommissioned work—the personal explorations, the fine art exhibitions, the free work, the side projects—that architectural photographers undertake outside of their commercial jobs? That is the focus of this Insight, which gathers ten photographers from around the world and presents three photos and three questions and answers on their unique viewpoints.

Encounters 1 - Architectural Essays by Juhani Pallasmaa, edited by Peter MacKeith, published by  Rakennustieto Publishing , 2013 (second edition). Paperback, 384 pages. ( Amazon ) Encounters 2 - Architectural Essays by Juhani Pallasmaa, edited by Peter MacKeith, published by  Rakennustieto Publishing , 2013. Paperback, 366 pages. ( Amazon ) Finnish architect, educator, and author Juhani Pallasmaa's most well known book is The Eyes of the Skin , an argument against the privileging of sight over the other senses, and of visual imagery over other ways of experiencing architecture. His case is a strong one that has rightfully made the book a standard text in architecture schools. It is actually the first part of a trilogy of books focused on the "study on the role of the senses, embodiment and imagination in architectural and artistic perception, thought and making"—the other two are The Thinking Hand and The Embodied Image . Students and architects ar...

Museo Amparo in Puebla, Mexico, by Enrique Norten/TEN Arquitectos, 2013 The following text and images are courtesy TEN Arquitectos ; photographs are copyright Luis Gordoa. Museo Amparo is located within the historical center of the city of Puebla. The museum is composed of various colonial buildings of great historical and architectural value. The museum holds a permanent collection of 4,800 pre-Hispanic pieces, some given by the INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia) and others from private collections. There is another permanent collection of baroque art and one of contemporary art, including pieces from notable artists such as Javier Marín, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Vicente Rojo, Manuel Felguérez and Sebastián. For the rehabilitation and resize of the building, TEN Arquitectos took into account the architectonic modernization of the spaces and of its museographic script. The new design updates the way of exhibiting and walking through the museum’s ...