A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Detail Kultur: If Buildings Had DNA: Case Studies of Mutations  by Christoph a. Kumpusch, published by Aadcu, 2016. Hardcover, 1030 pages. ( Amazon ) [All images courtesy of detail-kultur.com] Even without the overused quote attributed to Mies van der Rohe, "God is in the details," architects would understand the importance of details, the way in which a building's success hinges on how its materials and assemblies are treated. In terms of books on the subject, they range from practical, technical guides to conceptual explorations, as in the exhaustive work of Edward R. Ford . Architect and Columbia GSAPP professor Christoph a. Kumpusch attempts to blend these two approaches, resulting in a massive, layered volume born from his PhD dissertation at the Universität für Angewandte Kunst - Wien. Even before cracking open the thick chip board cover of Detail Kultur , it's clear this is a special book, a product of much time, energy, and passion. Additionally, the ...

My alma mater, Kansas State University, is dedicating its expanded College of Architecture, Planning and Design on October 13. Regnier Hall, as the expansion is being called , is designed by New York's Ennead Architects (design partner Tomas Rossant) with BNIM as architect-of-record. The expansion renovates portions of, and inserts itself between, Seaton Hall (left in the rendering above) and Seaton Court (aka Mechanics Hall, right in rendering above). The situation is hard to grasp fully in the available renderings, but this video produced by CAPD Dean Tim de Noble is very helpful in understanding the project: Additionally, Tom Leopold has documented the project's construction on Instagram ( apdesignexpansion ); here are a few highlights: A post shared by Photos by Tom Leopold. (@apdesignexpansion) on Jul 27, 2017 at 11:15am PDT A post shared by Photos by Tom Leopold. (@apdesignexpansion) on Aug 22, 2017 at 10:33am PDT A post shared ...

Here is a photo of the 2017 Serpentine Pavilion  in London's Kensington Gardens (on display until October 8) by Diébédo Francis Kéré . (Photograph is by Iqbal Aalam , though be sure to check out his Flickr album  that documents all of the Serpentine Pavilions since 2003.) 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

Astoria, Queens, isn't really known as a living hell, but that is how some residents described one portion of the neighborhood  – the intersection of 36th Avenue and 34th Street, to be precise. That is where the disorderly Club Purlieu was located and where, in March 2016, a cab driver was shot in the head by club patrons. A couple months later the club closed and its neo-Greek building has stood empty since then. I walked past the empty building this morning on the way to work and noticed a "coming soon" sign on the exterior. Per DNAinfo , "[the building's] new landlord [is] looking to fill the property with high-end coffee shops, restaurants and other retail options." Apparently designed by BizDesigns , per a February 2017 permit , "The Shoppes at 36th" is envisioned as more open and modern than its previous state. The permit is an ALT2, meaning the structure is being retained and the 6,800-sf interior is being gutted into potentially five...

This is my kind of event: 5 hours of architects talking about books. It takes place at The Great Hall of the Cooper Union on September 23rd. Details are below the image. Architecture Books / Yet to be Written / 1982-2017-2052 asks seminal voices to present and discuss the making of architecture and books. The event brings together major figures in the discipline and profession to reflect upon the last thirty five years of architecture and book production, and to evaluate the missing volumes of a history in the writing. Participants include Diana Agrest, Stan Allen, Amale Andraos, Harry Cobb, Peggy Deamer, Elizabeth Diller, Steven Holl, Sanford Kwinter, Thom Mayne, Daniel Libeskind, Joan Ockman, Spyridon Papapetros, Brett Steele, Bernard Tschumi, Anthony Vidler, Rafael Viñoly, Mark Wigley, and James Wines, among others. Each speaker will present an architecture book published in the last thirty five years that they consider to be fundamental to the understanding of contemporar...

Earlier today I had to take my laptop in for some service at the Apple Store in Grand Central Terminal. To get there I walked down Park Avenue, stopping at 270 Park Avenue to take some pictures of the trees and bollards surrounding the corporate tower that is home to JPMorgan Chase & Co. [270 Park Avenue, home to JPMorgan Chase & Company | Photo: John Hill] The 52-story tower was designed by SOM's Natalie de Blois and completed in 1961, at which time its plaza was basically barren: [SOM's Union Carbide Corporation Headquarters, 1961, Park Avenue and East 47th Street | Photo: Ezra Stoller/Esto] SOM's page on the project indicates the firm renovated the building twice: in 1983 for Manufacturers Hanover Corporation and in the 1990s, when the firm merged with Chemical Bank. I can't tell if the plaza was renovated into its current state on either occasion, though I'm guessing from the size of the trees that it was more recent. [Sidewalk frontage alon...

"Book Briefs" are an ongoing series of posts with two- or three-sentence first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that make their way into my library. These briefs are not full-blown reviews, but they are a way to share more books worthy of attention than can find their way into reviews on this blog . Architecture Is All Over  edited by Esther Choi, Marrikka Trotter | Columbia Books on Architecture and the City | 2017 |  Amazon Depending on how one reads this book's title, it's either full of pessimism ("architecture is all over ") or promise ("architecture is all over "). The apparent coexistence of "architecture’s simultaneous diminishment and ubiquity" extends to the book's graphic design, which imprints photos from one page in reverse and in orange on the preceding or following page. It makes for an apparently dense and layered book that is thankfully reflected in its scholarly contributions. One highlight: Patty...

The United State's eclipse fever culminates in tomorrow's total solar eclipse cutting a path across the country from West Coast to East Coast. Although New York City will only see a 71% eclipse, the fever is just as strong here as in the path of the total eclipse. Since I'll be taking the afternoon off to stare at the sun through some special glasses, I thought I'd do a post the day before with some buildings – real or not – that look like partial or total eclipses. Most of them, like these, are in the realm of the imagination: [Images from various sources via a Google Image Search] But one built structure comes pretty close to capturing the look of an eclipse, the Ring of Life in China: [Photo via Skyscraper City ] Built or not, they're not really a substitute for the real thing: [Photo: NASA]

The Dream: [A design, by Grimshaw, for the approach to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge with a chain-metal "wave" covering the toll gantry. | Image from  "Reimagining New York's Crossings" ] The Reality: [My photo of the toll gantry on approach to the RFK Triborough Bridge – is the "wave" still to come?] In October 2016 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled his vision for booth-free tolls at all of the tunnels and bridges heading in and out of New York City. The vision would become a reality via sensors and cameras mounted on gantries spanning the roadways. These structures are utilitarian – read: very ugly. But have no fear, since Cuomo's plan states: "Each gantry on our bridges and tunnels will be covered with a decorative artwork presenting a 'wave' effect." My photo above shows one such toll structure, in Astoria, spanning nine lanes of traffic at the entrance to the Triborough Bridge – but obviously no wave. If DNAin...

Here are some of my photos of The Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park (FLWHEP). The Usonian house in Kirkwood, Missouri, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Russell and Ruth Kraus in the 1950s. Since 2001 the non-profit FLWHEP has owned the house, has restored it, and runs tours of it. Photos are not allowed inside during tours, so here is a shot of the interior from the Ebsworth Park website: 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 week I wrote about one project I visited during my work-vacation in Zurich , so here I'm posting about one building from my family vacation in Missouri. On that trip we also went to see a couple chapels by E. Fay Jones, as well as Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and a Frank Lloyd Wright house in suburban St. Louis. But it's the Saint Louis Abbey Church (1962) by HOK's Gyo Obata that stands out from that trip. Located in Creve Coeur, the church is one of a number of buildings on the campus of the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis . Even in an aerial view – and no label on the building – it's easy to see why the church gets all the attention. [Aerial view from Google Maps | All other photographs by John Hill] The circular church is made up of twenty parabolic arches of thin-shell concrete. According to a few sources Obata worked with Weidlinger Associates on the structure, but most talk about how the architect brought in Pier ...

Here are some photos of the Medicus Medical Center (2017) in Wrocklaw, Poland, by JSK Architekci . (Photographs: 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

When in Zurich in June I was able to get around the city a fair amount even though I was there for work. Some of the places are highlighted in a post at World-Architects , but here I wanted to delve into one of the most impressive places I visited:  Kantonsschule Freudenberg in the city's Enge district. Here is an aerial from Google Maps , which does a good job of illustrating how the school, designed by Jacques Schader and completed in 1960, is a fairly large rectilinear concrete plinth with some smaller components projecting above and adjacent to it. Key: 1-Kantonsschule Freudenberg 2-Kantonsschule Enge 3-Gymnasium 4-Auditorium 5-Natural Sciences 6-Plaza 7-Tram Stop My approach to the school was from the tram stop to the southeast (7), via some paths and stairs up the hill. At the southeast corner of the school, the building is simultaneously built into and propped above the landscape. One of the most dramatic aspects of the design – the one that made me want...