A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

I just discovered Continuum's Thirty-Three and a Third Series "of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the past 40 years." Sounds like a GREAT idea. Not only does it have my favorite album of all time , but a whole slew of other favorites: :: Clash's London Calling :: DJ Shadow's Endtroducing :: Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland :: Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures :: Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV :: R.E.M.'s Murmur :: Radiohead's OK Computer :: Ramones' Ramones :: Replacements' Let It Be :: Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street :: Smiths' Meat is Murder :: Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico :: Neil Young's Harvest

As part of Christopher Hawthorne's story in the LA Times on the architecture of New Orleans and the possibility of rebuilding, the following helpful graphic is provided, among many other images. For those unfamiliar with New Orleans, like me, it's a valuable illustration mainly of the various housing types -- the buildings most affected by Katrina -- in different parts of the city. Click for the original PDF file , a more legible and printable document that also illustrates the effects of water on a house's construction. Update: Check out this amazing image gallery of somebody (Alvaro?) who stayed in New Orleans during the storm and took nearly 200 before and after photos. (via Metroblogging )

Europaconcorsi has a slew of construction pics of UN Studio's Mercedes Benz Museum, rising in Stuttgart, Germany. Check it out.

A lot of marketing today strives to create a clear image for a company across a variety of scales and media, what is known as Branding. This extends from a company's logo to its merchandise, its advertising (print, TV, radio, billboards), even its architecture. For Raab Karcher's flagship store in Frankfurt Berlin, Germany, homecouture -- a tile and bathroom fittings showroom -- Franken Architekten's solution is a mix of clarity and distortion that nevertheless helps the client "brand" themselves. Interior The interior is clean lines, smooth surfaces, and off-white colors that help the colors of the store's logo and products jump. Plan with Lounge and Consultation areas highlighted The angles of the plan follow the irregular corner condition of the site. The architects took advantage of the corner by wrapping the storefront facade along the whole perimeter. View inside The architects approached the design by thinking of the store as having two facades: the e...

The competition winner for the latest, and last major memorial remembering the events of September 11 was announced yesterday, almost four years since flight 93 crashed into a reclaimed strip mine in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. " Crescent of Embrace " by Paul Murdoch Architects with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects is the winner of the Flight 93 National Memorial , which received more than 1,000 entries in the first round and was narrowed to five finalists for the last round of judging. The winning design consists of five major components: 1:: Gateway (Tower of Voices) 2:: Approach/Return 3:: Bowl (Crescent of Embrace) 4:: Sacred Ground 5:: Perimeter/Viewshed , where "existing tree coverage along the Park perimeter is preserved to maintain views to and from the Memorial Expressions and to help decrease disturbance from outside the Park." Given the rural site and its size, its natural for the landscape to be used for meaning more than architecture. Interve...

Make that "Only in Texas." Dallas-based IntelliCool , "a culmination of companies and individuals sharing over 60 years of expertise in the outdoor pump and cooling equipment industries...committed to being the leading outdoor cooling provider in North America," designs outdoor air conditioners. These beauties pictured here are designed to "cool specific areas including lounging, eating, recreation, poolside, and deck areas...by circulating evaporative cooled air." The design is supposed to be appealing, though it resembles a collision of an old-timey lamppost and some sort of railroad equipment or an over-sized meat grinder. Regardless of their looks, they are utterly wasteful, extravagant and anthropocentric — a fitting addition to the suburban landscape. (via HGTV , via Things )

When I read about the TranStrap ( over at Gothamist ), I initially thought it was a good idea for dealing with the out-of-reach bars and poles on Chicago's trains. But then I thought some more. The TranStrap is a portable device made of nylon, neoprene and formed aluminum that hooks onto the aforementioned poles or bars, though really they're more accustomed to the latter. They start at ten bucks and accessories are available for storing and carrying the thing with you. But are they a solution for poor train-car design, or just an accessory for "germophobes"? After my first inclination to think they'd work in Chicago, I recalled the design of the various train cars and realized they're pretty much worthless here. I ride the Brown and Red Lines, the former using mainly 3200-series cars and the latter using mainly 2600-series cars . The 3200-series cars have an abundance of poles that are easily within reach, as well as placing seats in groups of one and two ...