A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

One of my favorite projects in Yuki Sumner and Naomi Pollock's new book New Architecture in Japan is Sou Fujimoto's design for the Musashino Art University Library in Kodaira, Tokyo. Under construction at the time of publication, it is one of the few buildings in the book presented in project form. [click image for larger view] In the design the bookshelves are the walls, spiralling in from the perimeter and providing views and access across the different spaces via cutouts in the walls/shelves. Searching the internet for more information on the design, I came across this photo of the completed building. bookshelf library #2/4 , originally uploaded by guen-k . I'm itching to see some interior shots once the library is stocked with books, but in the meantime take a look at a few other photos by guen_k; they are all best viewed large .

LOT-EK features a bunch of "firm faces" in their LOT-EK ALBUM: [LOT-EK ABOUT >> LOT-EK ALBUM] But very little is found when clicking LOT-EK STAFF: [LOT-EK ABOUT >> LOT-EK STAFF] Let's hope this doesn't mean what I think it means (no staff!).

Here are some photos of "132 VPP ensanche de Vallecas" in Madrid, Spain by Estudio.Entresitio . Photographs are by z.z . To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just: :: Join and add photos to the archidose pool , and/or :: Tag your photos archidose

Those who actually visit this site -- as opposed to reading it via a feed-reader of some sort -- may notice some changes to the sidebar: :: Delicious Links have been added just below my weekly page links. I'm showing the last ten, and you can visit my Delicious page by clicking the heading. :: Facebook and twitter icons have been added to "My Other Stuff": I'm trying to use these social tools for more than just linking to posts on this blog and my weekly page. Bear with me as I figure out what to do with those sites. :: The far right sidebar now features four random books from my library, powered by LibraryThing . Clicking a title brings up a lightbox with more information and links to Amazon, LibraryThing, etc. Titles may look familiar, as they are books I've reviewed here and on my weekly page. So, any comments on the above additions? Are the first and last slowing down the site considerably? Are they all taking up too much space? Or are they just s'wonder...

AIA Guide to New York City, Fifth Edition by Norval White, Elliot Willensky and Fran Leadon, published by  Oxford University Press , 2010. Paperback, 1,088 pages. ( Amazon )   Those familiar with previous editions of the indispensible AIA Guide to New York City will notice the similarities and differences present in the fifth edition, the first with Fran Leadon*. The book is still about the size (and weight) of a small brick, though surprisingly, with extra entries from the last ten years of architecture in the city, the book is about the same number of pages and slimmer than the fourth edition. Different paper, thinner but better quality, contributes to this slight difference. The change to a two-column layout from a single column allows for larger photos (the previous edition squeezed most into a narrow vertical sidebar) and more content on fewer pages. The three-color scheme (black and white with brown) is maintained, but graphica...

UTS Podium Competition in Syndey, Australia by Lacoste + Stevenson Text and images are courtesy Lacoste + Stevenson for their competition-winning entry in the UTS Podium Competition . Lacoste + Stevenson’s podium extension of the UTS Tower Building, together with the CUB developments of Jean Nouvel’s residential tower and Norman Foster’s commercial buildings, and Denton Corker Marshall’s Engineering and IT Faculty Building, will create an outstanding precinct along this section of Broadway. The podium extension gives UTS the opportunity to reinvent its presence along Broadway, in Sydney and beyond. The new main entrance of the university is located on the axis of the Tower Building foyer and reinforces the seamless integration of the extension with the existing building. In contrast to the Brutalist architecture of the Tower, the new podium intervenes as an undulating semi-transparent building wrapping the base of the Tower. This is achieved with curved glass and a white frit ...

One of the first architecture-related applications to explore the potential of the iPad is Edition29_ARCHITECTURE_001 by 29GPS LLC. Other "editions" include racing cars and sports, with 002 for architecture focusing on the Salk Institute by Louis I. Kahn. Issue 001 of the digital magazine presents ten residential projects in a portrait format. Full-size photos "showcas[e] the new generation of modernist architects and their creations through cinematic photographic storytelling." Navigation occurs in a few ways: scrolling to the right through the roughly 100 "pages"; clicking the red box in the upper left corner to bring up a page index link; or clicking from the table of contents that is one flick of the finger from the splash page (top, a photo from 29GPS web page; photos below are by me). [A visual page index is reached via the red box in upper left.] The best way to experience the magazine is a slow scroll through the ten houses. An ambient soundtrack...