A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

With all the fanfare of a Chicago Blackhawks' game, the Block 37 108 North State development broke ground a couple weeks ago, on November 15. Billed as a "21st Century urban, retail and lifestyle destination," The Mills development features a who's who of corporate architects in the mix: Gensler (retail/entertainment/transportation component), Perkins + Will (office tower), Rockwell Group (interior design and signage), and James Carpenter (State Street art installation), according to Interior Design . Mayor Daley summed it all up at the groundbreaking: "This is a great day for all the residents of the city of Chicago. We're beginning construction of a one-of-a-kind retail, residential, entertainment and transportation center that will make downtown Chicago even more attractive and enjoyable than it is today...[that] will benefit every neighborhood, by providing 2,700 jobs for the hard-working people of our city – on top of hundreds of construction job...

Reading Kevin Nance's PR-piece about SOM's Adrian Smith and his designs for Trump Tower in Chicago and Burj Dubai in, well, Dubai (both set for completion in 2008), my mind wandered to a film I saw recently: Code 46 , directed by Michael Winterbottom. The "sci-fi love story" is set in the not-too-distant future, taking place primarily in Shanghai. The story centers around two characters played by Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton. Robbins uses "empathy drugs" to find people that are taking advantage of his clients, while Morton plays a worker that Robbins finds out but falls in love with. It's a time when genetic decoding influences choices more than human will. I enjoyed watching the movie, though more for the visuals than the story. From the very beginning, it's apparent the film uses existing locations to convey this not-too-distant but also not-too-far-fetched future. For the approach to Shanghai from the airport, Winterbottom uses the highway nea...

Unbeknownst to me until today, this little page has been nominated for not one, not two, but three Urbs! What's an Urb, you ask? Well, it's an Urban Blogging Award that's run by Gridskipper and features multiple categories that cover the gamut of urban life. This page has been nominated for World's Best Urban Architecture Blog, World's Hottest Urban Blogger (!?), and World's Best Urban Blog. Thanks go out to whoever nominated me and, needless to say, I'm in great company in each category. So head on over to Gridskipper (before Dec. 7) and nominate like crazy, as "only those top blogs with the most total nominations will make it into actual voting."

Referring to the Trenton Jewish Community Center , Louis I. Kahn said, "I discovered myself after designing that little concrete block bathhouse in Trenton." While the small structure hasn't received as much recognition or attention as the architect's other buildings, such as the Kimbell Art Museum or Salk Institute, this quote illustrates that these later masterworks owe a lot to the ideas initially fleshed out in New Jersey. To monitor the fate of the Bath House and later Day Camp by Kahn, the Friends of the Trenton Bath House was formed just this month, chaired by Susan G. Solomon . The organization's web page indicates that the "current owner...is planning to relocate to a new facility outside of Princeton. It is unknown who will purchase the property, which includes the Kahn buildings, and whether or not there will be a commitment to preservation." Membership is free and will help the organization raise attention to the buildings' "fragil...

A View from the Campidoglio: Selected Essay 1953-1984 , by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, published by  HarperCollins, 1984. ( Amazon ) A friend once said the following in reference to Aldo Rossi: "He may be a genius, but I don't like his buildings." The same quote can be used to sum up my feelings towards Robert Venturi and his domestic and professional partner Denise Scott Brown. But after attending a lecture by Venturi a few weeks ago, I decided to finally break open their collection of essays that spans their most influential and popular period and see if it could sway my opinion of their work. Needless to say it didn't, even though Venturi and his wife have ...

Maag Recycling in Winterthur, Switzerland by Open Operating System Photos copyright architekturbild For Maag Recycling's facilities in Winterthur - a relatively small town northeast of Zurich - architect Open Operating System (OOS) and landscape architect Rotzler Krebs Partner envisioned the building in a multitude of ways beyond its intended function as a recycling center. Sitting on the roof of the facility is parking. A curb cut at the street leads to the ramp that leads to the roof. One cannot miss it as the concrete is colored a bright green. Without cars the parking lot resembles an American football field. While this may seem like a shallow gesture, it's one of the approaches that coincides with the client's role as a positive force in society. A da...

It's time for a brief Thanksgiving break. Posts will resume on Sunday or Monday. Image found here