A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Here are some photos of the Afrykarium - Oceanarium, ZOO Wrocław (2014, under construction) in Wrocław, Poland, by ArC2 Fabryka Projektowa , photographed by Maciek Lulko . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool To contribute your Instagram images for consideration, just: :: Tag your photos #archidose

Like my time-lapse walk of the High Line posted last week , here is a north-to-south tour of the third section of the High Line, which opened to the public on September 21. About 2/3 of this section is a solid-surface walkway that parallels plantings kept in their found, as-is state with wildflowers and other vegetation. After that, the park changes to its more familiar palette of precast concrete pavers, benches, reused rails, and so forth; as will be seen, these elements are used in a slightly different way than the first two sections. Some steel pylons overlooking the Hudson River and West Street: About halfway along the straightaway paralleling the Hudson River are these large pieces of timber stacked into seating overlooking the Hudson on the right and the Hudson Yards on the left: Another view of the benches, this time looking north to Javits: Separating the walkway from the wildflowers is chain link fencing that the wildflowers poke through: A large seating area ca...

Finally! Thom Andersen's brilliant, nearly three-hour documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself is being released on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 14, eleven years after it was completed. At its most basic, the video essay (as it's been called) is an analysis of Los Angeles through movies. On a deeper level, film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum calls it , in addition to "a masterpiece," "an essay that qualifies as social history, as film theory, as personal reverie, as architectural history and criticism , as a bittersweet meditation on automotive transport, as a critical history of mass transit in southern California, as a wisecracking compilation of local folklore, as 'a city symphony in reverse,' and as a song of nostalgia for lost neighborhoods such as Bunker Hill and unchronicled lifestyles such as locals who walk or take buses." (my emphasis) Rosenbaum's description of the film as part architectural history and criticism is spot on, just on...

File this thing under "money does not buy taste": Millionaire architect Vasily Klyukin's proposal for a 4-tower hospital and spa to be built in Tunisia Economic City . (via The Verge )

Here are some photos of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (1977) in Tehran, Iran, by Kamran Diba, photographed by Hassan Bagheri . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool To contribute your Instagram images for consideration, just: :: Tag your photos #archidose

It's autumn, which means it's time to apply for a Rome Prize at the American Academy. Deadline is November 1.

The Architect's Guide to Writing: For Design and Construction Professionals by Bill Schmalz, illustrations by Bob Gill, published by  Images Publishing , 2014. Paperback, 160 pages. ( Amazon ) Writing Architecture: A Practical Guide to Clear Communication about the Built Environment by Carter Wiseman, published by Trinity University Press, 2014. Paperback, 230 pages. ( Amazon ) I am an architect first and a writer second. Educated as an architect and urban planner, I find myself devoting most of my time to writing, be it for this blog, online publications or printed matter . While my situation is different than most architects who run or practice in firms, I share an educational background where studio comes first and writing comes much later – certainly not second but maybe fourth or fifth. This condition makes sense, given the need to express ourselves through drawings and models, the need to understand structures and materials, and a general reliance of t...

The third and last phase of the High Line opened to the public yesterday, so today I walked the full length of it, from 34th Street on the north to Gansevoort Street on the south. On my visit I decided to try out a timelapse app on my smartphone, and while the results are very amateurish (particularly the 5-degree tilt from horizontal that predominates, not to mention the occasional blurry shots and a close-up of my fingers at one point) the 2:46 clip does give a good idea of the changing character of the park and its context. Want a soundtrack for the walk? I'd recommend a 3-minute chunk of Yo La Tengo's Autumn Sweater , as remixed by Kevin Shields. The song is embedded below and set to play the recommended part. Just press play on the song right after you press play on the timelapse and enjoy. Any other songs or pieces of music ideal for a walking the High Line? Please comment with suggestions.

Here are some photos of the Juvet Landscape Hotel (2009, with 2013 addition) in Norddal, Norway, by Jensen & Skodvin , photographed by Flemming Ibsen . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the  archidose pool To contribute your Instagram images for consideration, just: :: Tag your photos #archidose

Archtober – AIANY's moniker for Architecture and Design Month in October – is nearly upon us. To help in determining where to go and what to see, I've waded through 31 days of lectures/conferences, exhibitions, special events, and buildings of the day to offer my top three recommendations in each area. Even between the printed schedule, below, and the online schedule, there were considerable changes, so it's recommended the you check the Archtober calendar and/or the respective websites for confirmed day/times, and in some cases to register or buy tickets. Happy Archtober! [ Archtober calendar | Photo by John Hill] SPECIAL EVENTS Dwell on Design Archtober 9-11 82 Mercer Street One of the highlights of Dwell magazine's first East Coast show are the 20 installations created by local designers paired up with manufacturers. OHNY Weekend Archtober 11 and 12 Various locations throughout NYC The full list of sites will be released on September 30, with re...

[50th Street Commons | Photograph by John Hill] On the way home yesterday I walked along East 50th Street between Madison and Park Avenues to check out Manhattan's newest pocket park, the 50th Street Commons. Opened by the MTA yesterday , the park is a public space that is part of a larger project, a ventilation facility serving the East Side Access project, which will bring LIRR trains to Grand Central Terminal when it's completed in 2022. Yes, 2022. The small park includes planting beds on the sides, striped paving and some loose tables and chairs in the middle, and a water wall illuminated by changing colored lights at the back of the shallow space. Doors to the ventilation facility can be found in two places: cut into the curved planter bed on the right, as seen in the above photo, and in the back left corner. My first thought upon seeing the park yesterday was that the designers at MTA are giving Midtown a contemporary update of the famous Paley Park. [Paley Park |...