A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Eco Living Japan: Sustainable Ideas for Living Green by Deanna MacDonald, published by  Tuttle , 2015. Hardcover, 240 pages. ( Amazon ) When I think of Tuttle, I think of Japan – and vice versa to a lesser degree. Be it gardens, tea or, in this case, houses, the publisher has a knack for capturing the intrinsic qualities of Japanese culture and disseminating it to a wider audience. Eco Living Japan , by Temple University professor Deanna MacDonald (she teaches at their Tokyo campus), has compiled 20 houses that, while contemporary, exhibit many of the traits that people associate with traditional Japanese architecture; the cover house, for instance, looks like it is wrapped entirely by shoji screens, glowing like a lantern in the snow. (The project, designed by Kengo Kuma, is actually wrapped in polycarbonate with polyester insulation.) MacDonald's collection of green living in Japan and beyond is broken down into five chapters: Borrowed Landscapes; Reinventing Traditio...

Here are some photos of Sky Habitat (2016) in Singapore by Safdie Architects . (Photographs: Trevor Patt ) 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

On Tuesday PBS aired the last of three new episodes in the "10 that Changed America" series by Chicago's Geoffrey Baer. Watch 10 Towns that Changed America below. Previously: 10 Homes that Changed America , 10 Parks that Changed America

Here are some photos of the  Sports and Rehabilitation Center of the Medical University of Warsaw  in Warsaw, Poland, by  Kontrapunkt Architecture  in collaboration with AI Architects Cyprus. (Photographs:  Piotr Krajewski ) 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

New York YIMBY reports  the good news that "on Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved changes to the atrium of the Ford Foundation Building at 320 East 43rd Street." Gensler is overseeing the upgrades to the 1967 building designed by Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo, which address code and accessibility issues. Since the needed "asbestos abatement requires the removal of all living things," according to Alexandra Lange at Curbed , the famous one-third-acre atrium garden designed by Dan Kiley will be replanted. Miami's Raymond Jungles is in charge of that work, and here are some existing and proposed views of the atrium garden. (Images are via YIMBY; click any image to view as a slideshow, recommended). Existing: Proposed: Existing: Proposed: Existing: Proposed: Comparison of the before and after views shows more trees and low plantings in the latter, which should enable more visibility across the terraced atrium. This is aligned wi...

Yes, the title of a brand new book from Lonely Planet is  Toilets: A Spotter's Guide , which appends the phrase: "Nature's call has never been so beautifully answered." Although it's been a while since I've posted about toilets (or 23-foot-high toilets or books printed on toilet paper ), I still contend that the quality of a building can be gleamed from how well the bathrooms were designed. If the below sample pages are any indication, the toilets in the spotter's guide are all about standalone structures and are as much about where they're found as what they look like. Book description from Lonely Planet: Loos with incredible views, lavish lavatories, outstanding outhouses ­ all are featured in this pictorial guide to the world's most stunning toilets. Whether they're high­tech or arty, amusing or amazing, each toilet has a photo and a description of its location. More than 100 restrooms to remember are featured, from Antarctica to...

Here are some photos of the  Pedras Salgadas Eco-Resort  (2012) in Pedras Salgadas, Portugal, by  Rebelo de Andrade Studio  and Diogo Aguiar . (Photographs: José Carlos Melo Dias ) Modular prefab cabins by Luís Rebelo de Andrade and Diogo Aguiar: Tree Snake Houses by Luís Rebelo de Andrade and Tiago Rebelo de Andrade: 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

Head over to World-Architects to read my write-up of the exhibition GARDEN CITY | MEGA CITY on display at the Skyscraper Museum in New York until September 4, 2016. The exhibition presents a number of built and unbuilt projects by Singapore's WOHA.

Between now and April 27, the Van Alen Institute is taking bids for a variety of unique experiences – a jaunt through Madrid with Rafael Moneo, dinner at the Libeskinds', "tripping in the Netherlands" with Winy Maas, etc. – to raise funds for the Institute and their "cross-disciplinary research, provocative public programs, and inventive design competitions." And for those in NYC, tonight is the Van Alen's Spring Party , taking place at The Tunnel in West Chelsea.

Last night PBS aired the second of three new episodes in the "10 that Changed America" series by Chicago's Geoffrey Baer. Watch 10 Parks that Changed America below. Previously: 10 Homes that Changed America

At the end of last week I covered the "Challenges Ahead for the Built Environment" conversation that took place at the UN earlier in the week. Thanks to a comment from Rodrigo Fernandes on that post, here is the video of that conversation:

Here is Heiner Engbrocks's "Project -man in black- watching Gehry buildings." More photos from the "man in black" project can be found in his Flickr set . 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

The Inspired Landscape: Twenty-One Leading Landscape Architects Explore the Creative Process by Susan Cohen, published by Timber Press , 2015. Hardcover, 268 pages. ( Amazon ) The Making of Place: Modern and Contemporary Gardens by John Dixon Hunt, published by  Reaktion Books , 2015. Hardcover, 288 pages. ( Amazon ) Recently I received review copies of a couple books on landscape architecture: one geared to contemporary practices and the other an overview of modern and contemporary gardens. It seems appropriate to review these together, though I can't place one above the other – both are highly recommended. Susan Cohen is a landscape architect based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and coordinator of the Landscape Design Program at the New York Botanical Garden; the former has given her firsthand experience with the process of designing and realizing landscape designs, while the latter has exposed her to many of the biggest names in the profession. Both inform her b...

"Challenges Ahead for the Built Environment"  was the name of a conversation that took place at the United Nations on Tuesday evening, one day after Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena received the 2016 Pritzker Architecture Prize, also at the UN. (Watch a video of the conversation at UN Web TV .) The superstar panel consisted of Aravena, Christian de Portzamparc (1994 laureate), Renzo Piano (1998), Glenn Murcutt (2002), Richard Rogers (2007), Jean Nouvel (2008), and Wang Shu (2012). [Montage of photos as each laureate gave their comments | Photos: John Hill] Zaha Hadid (2004) was slated to attend, but outside of moderator Cathleen McGuigan's brief comment at the outset of the event, nothing was said about the Pritzker Prize winner less than one week after her death. Beforehand I thought her absence would color the proceedings greatly, but in retrospect I'm not surprised it didn't; this was Aravena's event, and his brand of socially conscious architecture...

Here are some of my photos of the exhibition GARDEN CITY | MEGA CITY , on the work of Singapore's WOHA . It is on display at the Skyscraper Museum in New York City until September 4, 2016. Next week I'll have a write-up of this highly recommended exhibition. 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

Last night PBS aired the first in three new installments in the "10 that Changed America" series by Chicago's Geoffrey Baer. Watch 10 Homes that Changed America below. Next week 10 Parks That Changed America will air and the following week 10 Towns That Changed America will wrap up the series.

If, like me, you didn't attend last night's Pritzker Prize award ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters, you can watch an archive of it below. Hint: Skip ahead to the 45-minute mark to hear Aravena's speech, which starts with remarks on Zaha Hadid's passing last week. Tonight is an event, Challenges Ahead for the Built Environment , also at the United Nations, with Aravena and seven other Pritzker laureates: Glenn Murcutt, Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, Wang Shu, Thom Mayne, Richard Meier, and Christian de Portzamparc (Hadid was supposed to attend, and her absence will no doubt color the proceedings). Look for a recap on this blog later in the week.

A number of Zaha Hadid buildings have been added to my archidose Flickr pool since her sudden death last week. Below is a roundup of some of the photos; click on the images for more information on the buildings and photographers. 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