It was back in 2000 when I learned about Kowloon Walled City (via MVRDV's FARMAX), and my interest in the vertical slum, as it's been called, was great enough that I wrote a piece about it for a friend's website that summer. Most of the photographs I used were pilfered from Greg Girard and Ian Lambot's definitive account of the late KWC, City of Darkness. In the meantime I've discovered a number of...
Monday, 31 March 2014
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Today's archidose #744
Here are some photos of the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastián, Spain, by VAUMM (2011), photographed by Ximo Michavila. Back in 2012 I featured photos of the building's exterior and balconies, so the below photos focus on the interior.To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:::...
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Mies Worship
Today would be Mies van der Rohe's 128th birthday. This year Google did not opt to "celebrate" it with a doodle, but they did so two years ago:I probably wouldn't have taken notice of this anniversary either, except for two recent projects – one built, one a competition – that both reference Mies in...
Book of the Moment: War of Streets and Houses
Not many graphic novels treat buildings and cities as an integral part of their stories, so I'm intrigued by War of Streets and Houses, a new graphic memoir from cartoonist and author Sophie Yanow.[All images via Uncivilized Books]Text from the publisher:The War of Streets and Houses is named after...
Facades+ Performance
A couple years ago I attended the 2012 Facades Conference in New York City, what turned out to be a jam-packed day of design, technology and engineering focused on, naturally, facades. The 2014 conference, Facades+ Performance, takes place April 24 and 25 – the symposium on the 24th takes place in the...
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Today's archidose #743
Here are some photos of the HBKU Student Center (2011) in Doha, Qatar, by Legorreta + Legorreta, photographed by Asli Aydin.Central patio designed with Jan Hendrix.To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just::: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or:: Tag your photos&nb...
Monday, 24 March 2014
2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize: Shigeru Ban
Shigeru Ban is the 2014 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.Here's what I wrote at World-Architects on the award that was announced one hour ago:Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has been selected as the 2014 Laureate of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. In a statement on the Pritzker...
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Book of the Moment: Collage and Architecture
Over spring break I gave my first-year students an assignment to make a collage as part of a precedent study. If I had known about Jennifer A.E. Shields's Collage and Architecture, published in paperback last month by Routledge, I certainly would have used it to give them a little bit more guidance....
Book Review: Materials for Design 2
Materials for Design 2 by Victoria Ballard Bell and Patrick Rand Princeton Architectural Press, 2014Paperback, 272 pagesMaterials for Design was one of my favorite books I reviewed in 2007 (the book was published in 2006). In it, sixty case studies in five chapters (glass, concrete, wood, metals, and...
Book Review: LC FOTO
LC FOTO: Le Corbusier Secret Photographer by Tim Benton Lars Müller Publishers, 2013Hardcover, 416 pagesLe Corbusier is easily one of the top three most written about modern architects, up there with Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe. A search for "Le Corbusier" in Amazon's books section yields...
Friday, 21 March 2014
Today's archidose #742
Here are some photos of the EUROPEAN UNION PRIZE FOR CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE – Mies van der Rohe Award 1988–2013 exhibition at DAM in Frankfurt, Germany, photographed by Frank Dinger.D10 House by Werner Sobek:Haus am Weinberg, Stuttgart, by UNStudio:Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe:Centre...
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Book Briefs #18: A Bunch of Journals
"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...