2014 Holiday Gift Books, 1 of 4

This year I'm presenting a selection of 40 holiday gift books from the same number of publishers, presented alphabetically in chunks of 10. Some none-too-serious recommendations of who might like the titles are indicated. See the others here.

Click covers ↓ to visit Amazon - or click titles ↓ to visit publishers' websites.

	For the creative (co)worker: a+t 43: Workforce: A Better Place to Work a+t research group a+t Paperback, 160 pages
	For the naturalist: Animal Architecture Ingo Arndt Abrams Hardcover, 160 pages
	For the aural architect: Shape of Sound Victoria Meyers Artifice Books on Architecture Hardcover, 144 pages
	For the phenomenologist: Architectural Atmospheres: On the Experience and Politics of Architecture Christian Borch, editor (contributions by Böhme, Eliasson, Pallasmaa) Birkhäuser Hardcover, 112 pages
	For the beginner: Conditional Design: An introduction to elemental architecture Anthony di Mari BIS Publishers Paperback, 160 pages
	For the Eurocentric history buff: The Morphology of the Times European Cities and their Historical Growth Ton Hinse DOM Publishers Paperback, 304 pages
	For the techno-theorist: Paradigms in Computing: Making, Machines, and Models for Design Agency in Architecture Edited by David Jason Gerber, Mariana Ibanez eVolo Hardcover, 408 pages
	For the eternal dreamer: Imagine Architecture: Artistic Visions of the Urban Realm Lukas Feireiss, Robert Klanten, editors Gestalten Hardcover, 240 pages
	For the landscape artist: Composite Landscapes: Photomontage and Landscape Architecture Edited by Charles Waldheim, Andrea Hansen Hatje Cantz Hardcover, 176 pages
	For the Mies disciple: Last Is More: Mies, IBM and the Transformation of Chicago Robert Sharoff, William Zbaren Images Publishing Hardcover, 160 pages

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Today's archidose #798

Here are some photos of the Roman Temple of Diana Environments (2011) in Merida, Spain, by José María Sánchez García Architects, photographed by Gonzalo Mauleón.











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Interactive Tour: Bushwick Inlet Park

New York City has seen many physical changes in the last couple decades, but none as dramatic as what is taking place along its once industrial waterfronts. Abandoned piers and waterfront land has become the site for new parks along the East River in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. A stretch of the Williamsburg waterfront in Brooklyn has also seen the creation of waterfront housing. Combined with the neighborhood’s rapid gentrification, there has been a desire for open space, part of it satiated by the Bushwick Inlet Park, designed by Kiss + Cathcart, Architects with Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners.

Click on the photograph below to launch the interactive tour of Bushwick Inlet Park.

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Today's archidose #797

Here are some photos of the Departments Of Law And Central Administration, Vienna University of Economics and Business (2014) in Vienna, Austria, by Crab Studio (Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau), photographed by Sebastian Deptula.

















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Book Review: Nordic Light

Nordic Light: Modern Scandinavian Architecture by Henry Plummer
Thames & Hudson, 2014
Paperback, 256 pages



Last year I included Henry Plummer's Cosmos of Light, a record of three religious buildings designed by Le Corbusier, in my list of notable books of 2013 at Designers & Books. I must admit that even though Plummer contributes both the words and the photographs, be it Cosmos of Light or Nordic Light, the subject of this review, it's the photographs that sway me toward a deep liking of his books. While Plummer's love of what he is documenting in words and images is clear, I find his text flowery, full of adjectives that are trying really hard to convey the qualities of light that come across in particular buildings or places. But I'd argue that his photographs convey those qualities so much better; such is the skill of his shooting, particularly his framing and his patience in waiting for the right light. The cover of Nordic Light – Kaija and Heikki Sirén's Student Chapel in Otaniemi, Finland (1957) – makes this much clear.


[Juha Leiviskä's Myyrmäki Church in Vantaa, Finland, 1984]

In this coffee table book, available both in hardcover and paperback, Plummer documents 45 buildings in Scandinavia, with 14 in Denmark, 22 in Finland, 5 in Norway, and 4 in Sweden. The buildings are split into nine thematic chapters that describe how the architecture in these northern countries responds to the conditions of sunlight: whiteness, rhythm, journey, carving, forest, transparency, tranquility, diffusion, and darkness. While these chapters are listed in the table of contents, the buildings are not, meaning the book is a voyage of discovery more than a reference for highlighting particular buildings. This goes hand in hand with Plummer's patient and almost meditative way of photographing and discussing the projects. Not surprisingly, as is hinted in the cover photo and two other photos included here, Plummer has something for churches, which populate the book in large numbers. This makes sense, given that churches are an architectural typology ripe for exploring the literal and metaphorical role of light, and therefore they are perfect for Plummer's studied lens.


[Matti Sanaksenaho's St. Henry's Chapel in Turku, Finland, 2005]

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Today's archidose #796

Here are some photos of the ARoS Art Museum (2004) in Aarhus, Denmark, by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, capped by Olafur Eliasson's Your rainbow panorama (2011), and photographed by Sindre Ellingsen.









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The Next Glass Walkway?

First in the recent trend of glass walkways came the Grand Canyon Skywalk (2007):

[Photo from Grand Canyon National Park]

Then The Ledge at Willis Tower's Skydeck (2009):

[Photo from Skydeck website]

And this year came the Eiffel Tower:

[Photo from Tour Eiffel]

And the Tower Bridge:

[Photo from Tower Bridge Exhibition]

So what will be the next trendy, vertigo-inducing glass walkway attraction?

A logical site would be the Gateway Arch in St. Louis:

[Background image from Together We Roam]

But why not an Amazon warehouse?

[Background photo from Newsweek]

Or even the Oval Office?

[Background photo from White House Museum]

What would you want to see from above through a glass walkway?

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