Heron Pond Viewing Blind

Earlier today I ventured up to the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary to check out the Heron Pond Viewing Blind designed and built by students from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University for the Audubon Society and US Army Corps of Engineers. The spring 2013 digital fabrication project was led by Andrew Colopy and Robert Booth of Cobalt Office.



The building sits at the south end of Heron Pond, and it is approached via a gravel road that snakes through some farmland. From a distance it looks like a pine cone or some other sort of "natural" object sitting on the ground, but each step closer reveals the materiality of the construction.



What looks to be a fairly solid object is discovered to be made from thin sheets in brown, gray, blue and red that layer over each other like feathers on a bird. This is an appropriate technique for camouflaging the building into its context, "tricking" birds into not seeing the structure and therefore allowing people inside to watch the birds without fear of scaring them off.



The side of the building on the approach from the small parking lot is primarily closed (views above and interior view below), with small cuts allowing natural light and ventilation.


When entering the bird blind from the side, the interior opens up to the pond on the other side (left) through larger, diamond-shaped openings:


The below view is looking the opposite direction from the photo above, seen from the platform at top. The bench allows bird watchers to sit down and look out the windows to see the birds over the pond, though the diamond shape allows for standing and even for children to look through the openings:


Here is the view when looking through the opening as in the above photo:


Here is the triangular flooring on the raised platform:


The view through the opening at the top of the raised platform:


That same opening from outside showing the perforated ceiling inside:


And that same opening (on the far right) from farther away:


Up close the bird blind looks somewhat alien, but from a distance it nestles itself into its pond context:


More on the project's design and construction from Washington University:

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Book Review: [storefront]

[storefront] Olson Kundig Architects 2011-2013 by Olson Kundig Architects
2014, Paperback, 104 pages



By the time I heard of Olson Kundig Architects' [storefront], what the Seattle architecture firm describes as "an experimental workspace focusing on the firm’s collaborations, research, community projects, prototypes, exhibits, and installations," it was already too late. When I met OKA principal Alan Maskin (who co-directed [storefront] with fellow OKA principal Kirsten R. Murray) in October 2013 and he told me about it, [storefront] had already been closed for a few months. It ran from June 2011 to June 2013 in a storefront at 406 Occidental Avenue, in Seattle's historic Pioneer Square.

[storefront]'s two-year run started with artist Mary Ann Peters using the space as a studio to create a custom mural for an exhibit on OKA principal Jim Olson at the Museum of Art at Washington State University, and it ended with DabbleLab, a tent-like installation in the storefront where workshops on urban farming, bike safety, and even fly fishing took place. In these two projects there is an evident shift from OKA-centric to community-centric, from being closed off (if visible) to welcoming the public inside the space (and only working if people come in at all, really). In the 17 other pieces occupying [storefront] for typically one to two months at a time, there is a mix of these two extremes, but for the most part the bulk falls into the community-centric side.


[Record Store. Photo: Benjamin Benschneider, courtesy of OKA]

This diverse mix of projects is a little surprising, given that most architects occupying storefronts use the once-retail spaces for offices (OKA's office is on the sixth floor of the same building). Yet in a survey I compiled for World-Architects in 2012 of architecture firms occupying storefront spaces, there were some noticeable if small efforts to use the sidewalk exposure for more than inexpensive office space or highly visible publicity for the firm. Architects share storefronts with artists or they set aside part of the space as a gallery (rotating their work and other architects/artists). Yet setting aside a storefront space explicitly for interacting with the public through various experimental programs is a pretty novel idea, and one that justifies this self-published book documenting the 19 projects that occupied the space over 24 months.


[Mushroom Farm. Photo: Alan Maskin, courtesy of OKA]

Some of the projects I would have loved to have visited include: Record Store (December 2011), which functioned as a "cultural commons" with listening parties inspired by "Theaster Gates: The Listening Room"; Mushroom Farm (February 2012), a, well, mushroom farm that gave OKA the chance to explore BIM and CNC technology, and that incorporated a table for community meetings; Hardware Store (May - June 2012), which looked at old hardware and new designs by OKA principal Tom Kundig; Skid Road (August 2012), which looked frankly at the homelessness and lack of employment that has long existed in Pioneer Square; Table Talk (November 2012), which tackled difficult topics (death, in particular) through dinner conversations on an OKA-designed table, broadcasting the conversations on the Internet and to passersby; and The Free Book Incident (January - February 2013), which looked at the sharing of ideas when books were de-commodified.


[The Free Book Incident. Photo: Joe Iano, courtesy of OKA]

The publication naturally comes after the completion of [storefront]'s two-year run, but it also comes when many architects are stoked to do something beyond just designing private commissions or spinning their wheels on competitions. Socially engaged architecture is hardly a fad or a means of gaining commissions by "looking good"; it is a way of interacting with more people more directly and of exploring how to make a difference through more than form-making (it is also cheaper and quicker than traditional architecture). [storefront] is but one way of doing it, something that arose from the particular circumstances and context of OKA. It is not a formula to be replicated, but nevertheless the book offers lessons (partnering with community group and sponsors, for example) for those interested in similar endeavors. Personally I'd love to see more architects using storefronts or other public/semi-public spaces to engage the broader public in numerous ways. Hopefully then [storefront], through this book, is hopefully just the start of more experimentation to come.

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Today's archidose #763

Here are some photos of the Taiyuan Museum of Art (2014) in Taiyuan, China, by Preston Scott Cohen Inc., photographed by Jeffrey Cheng.













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Today's archidose #762

Here are some of my photos of the Architecure to Scale: Stanley Tigerman and Andrew Zago exhibition now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

See what I wrote about the exhibition (and Chicagoisms, also on display) in the World-Architects Daily News.

Andrew Zago:










Stanley Tigerman:










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In Chicago

If you've been wondering why I haven't posted in some days, it's because I'm in Chicago covering the AIA Convention for World-Architects. Posts should return to normal next week.

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Today's archidose #761

Here are some photos of the M4 FŐVÁM STATION (2010) in Budapest, Hungary, by Spora Architects, photographed by A.P.







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Book Review: Architectural Guide Venice

Venice Architectural Guide: Buildings and Projects After 1950 by Clemens F. Kusch and Anabel Gelhaar
DOM Publishers, 2014
Paperback, 280 pages



I've reviewed a number of architectural guides from Berlin's DOM Publishers (Japan, Taiwan, Pyongyang), but not until recently was I able to use one as properly designed – as a companion to traversing a city when in that city. Such is the case with Venice, when I took the publisher's latest book with me to the opening of Rem Koolhaas's much-anticipated Biennale. Before delving inside it's worth pointing out that, like DOM's other architectural guides, the book is tall and slender – hardly small but still portable, as it's not too thick, like certain guidebooks.



The book is organized into nine color-coded, geographical sections (well, actually eight are geographical, since the ninth is devoted to a "hypothetical Venice" that is scattered throughout the city) that are visible on a map in a fold-out behind the front cover. The back-cover fold-out includes a handy map of the Actv (water bus) network. At the start of each section are thorough maps (above) that locate the buildings in the guide but also recommended a route for seeing them. If any city is deserving of such routes it's Venice, where getting lost is the norm. (That said, there is value in leaving the guidebook in the hotel on some days so as to actually get lost and discover new things, one of the joys of being in Venice.)



One big difference between the Architectural Guide Venice and other DOM guides I've reviewed is the inclusion of aerial photographs (above) – lots of them. Each chapter has at least two or three, each with certain landmarks (not necessarily post-1950 projects in the guide) highlighted. These aerials do not function like the maps, aiding navigation through the maze that is Venice, but nevertheless they are helpful in understanding the extents of each section through their edges, be it the Grand Canal or the Guidecca Canal, for example. And of course it's just fun to look at the aerials to survey the mind-boggling complexity and beauty of Venice from above.



The authors acknowledge that there is a glut of guidebooks on Venice, but none of them to date have focused on architecture in the modern era. Doing so may seem like an odd choice in Venice, given that most of what is seen on a visit is old – turn a corner from one street lined with old buildings to another street and you'll find more old buildings. Regardless of this fact, there are plenty of post-1950 gems in the city, be it interior renovations (Carlo Scarpa's numerous projects and Tadao Ando's work for Palazzo Grassi (above) are two notable examples) or the many freestanding buildings in the Giardini (below) and the Guidecca, where Cino Zucchi has designed many apartment buildings.



The grounds of the Venice Biennale – the Giardini – are highlighted on yellow pages in chapter five, acknowledging the importance of this event (alternating art Biennales in odd years and architecture Biennales in even years, with cinema, dance, music, theatre interspersed throughou) in the cultural life of the city. A detailed map showing all of the national pavilions in the Giardini (even the ones done before WWII) is a helpful addition for those who visit, as I did on my first trip to this somewhat removed area, when the Biennale is not in session.



The ninth and last chapter, as mentioned, focuses on"hypothetical Venice." The other eight chapters include projects that are in progress, but this one shows us notable projects that never happened. The above spread highlights the unsuccessful attempts of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier to erect substantial edifices in the city. Their luck is echoed by architects today, who must venture to the mainland (Sauerbruch Hutton's M9) or another island (David Chipperfield's San Michele expansion) to do something more than interior renovations or small interventions.

All tolled, this is easily the best architectural guide that DOM has yet to publish, since it is so thorough in orienting the reader/visitor to the joys of Venice, be it the modern projects or its historical fabric. The best guidebooks are those that take into account how they will be used when "in location," and this one does it so well that it should be a model for other authors tackling other cities, be it for DOM or other publishers. Yes, much of the best qualities of the book arise from the specific circumstances of Venice, but the general approach and apparent joy the authors had in finding the best format for exploring the city are definitely worth exporting.

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