A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

A New World Trade Center: Design Proposals in New York, NY by various architects, 2002 Organized by Max Protetch, the exhibit "A New World Trade Center: Design Proposals" is featured at the Max Protetch Gallery in New York City through February 16. Included here are five submissions included in the exhibit. At left is "Floating Memorial/Folded Street" by Steven Holl , with Makram El-Kadi and Ziad Jameleddine. Next is "Zero Zones" by Raimund Abraham which features three buildings situated so sunlight pierces slats in the buildings each day at the exact times the planes hit the WTC Towers. At left is "Oblique WTC" by Lars Spuybroek of Nox Architects : "Elevators form a highly complex structure of diagonals where at some platforms more than five or six different cores come together to form larger ...

National Wine Centre of Australia in Adelaide, Australia by Grieve Gillett and Cox Architects Located in Adelaide, Australia, the National Wine Centre of Australia is a design by the firm Grieve Gillette and Cox Architects (now Cox Architects ). Featured are images (click on each for larger format) by photographer Steve Rendoulis , also based in Adelaide. Text is courtesy of the photographer, with all images copyright Steve Rendoulis. The design brief for the National Wine Centre called for a world class interpretive and educational centre representing the whole of the Australian wine industry. The building was to house wine industry offices, an interpretive exhibition, education areas, function hall, restaurant, cellaring and tasting facilities. Just as wine carries the characteristics ...

Yancy Chapel and Mason's Bend Community Center in Alabama by Rural Studio This week's dose pays tribute to Samuel Mockbee, founder of the Rural Studio in Alabama and partner in Mockbee Coker , who passed away December 30, 2001 at the age of 57. Featured are text and images from the Rural Studio , including their Mission Statement and two projects: Yancy Chapel in Hale County and Mason's Bend Community Center, both in Alabama (photos by Tim Hursley). The mission of the Rural Studio is to enable each participating student to cross the threshold of misconceived opinions to create/design/build and to allow students to put their educational values to work as citizens of a community. The Rural Studio seeks solutions to the needs of the community within the community's own context, not from outside it. Abstract idea...

American Folk Art Museum in New York, NY by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Associates, 2001 The previous dose featured the design for the American Folk Art Museum , designed by New York's Tod Williams Billie Tsien Associates , in their words and images. Here we present images from the completed building (opened on Dec. 11, 2001, next to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan) and my critique of the museum. Only 40 feet wide, the Folk Art Museum has one primary facade, facing 53rd Street. The architects opted to design a facade that is simple in its composition yet complex in detail, as each tombasil panel that comprises the facade differs from the others through variations in pouring methods (some molds were smooth steel, some irregular concrete). An overcast sky greeted me as I visited the museum, effectively muting the panel...

American Folk Art Museum in New York, NY by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Associates, 2001 On December 11, 2001 the long-awaited American Folk Art Museum , designed by New York City's Tod Williams Billie Tsien Associates , opened its doors to the public. The following text and design sketches are by the architect; the following dose will feature a critique and images of the built museum. Located on 53rd Street, this new eight-level building devotes the four upper floors to gallery space for permanent and temporary exhibitions. The Museum will be capped by a skylight above a grand interior stair with openings at each floor allowing natural light to filter into the galleries and through to the lower levels. Art will be integrated into public spaces, utilizing a series of niches throughout the building that offer inform...

Eyebeam Atelier in New York, NY, 2001 Featured here are the three finalists to build the new home of Eyebeam Atelier , a non-profit organization "established to provide access, education, and support for students, artists, and the general public in the field of art and technology." The finalists include New York's Diller and Scofidio, Leeser Architecture, and Dutch firm MVRDV (left). The following text and images are courtesy Eyebeam Atelier. Diller + Scofidio (now Diller Scofidio + Renfro ) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary studio involved in architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts. The team is primarily involved in thematically-driven experimental work that take the form of temporary and permanent site-specific installations, multi-media theater, electronic media, and print, as well as a...

Museum of Archaeology and History in Montreal, Quebec, Canada by Dan S. Hanganu Architects, 1992 The following text and images are by Dan S. Hanganu Architects for their award-winning Museum of Archaeology and History (aka Pointe-à-Callière) in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, completed in 1992. "Memory and inventory" constitute the major themes employed in the elaboration of this project. Given the significance of the site, the architecture of the museum's components is influenced by the events which have taken place here since the founding of Montreal, and where more than six centuries of history are superimposed. The museum is comprised of three elements: a new building called the "Eperon", a crypt, and the former Customs House. The "Eperon" constitutes the focal point of the project. A work of mason...