"The amount of building becomes obscene without a blueprint. Each time you ask yourself, Do you have the right to do this much work on this scale if you don't have an opinion about what the world should be like? We really feel that. But is there time for a manifesto? I don't know."
--Rem Koolhaas
--Rem Koolhaas
Labels: Architecture, NY Times, Signs of Our Time
Sunday, April 06, 2008
"No global reasons.."
It was only after seeing the rendering for the Hines tower next to a photo of the Institut du Monde Arabe in today's NY Times Magazine article that I made the connection and realized, holy shit, Jean Nouvel is hands down my favourite architect. Then I got lost in his website for about 3 hours...
It was only after seeing the rendering for the Hines tower next to a photo of the Institut du Monde Arabe in today's NY Times Magazine article that I made the connection and realized, holy shit, Jean Nouvel is hands down my favourite architect. Then I got lost in his website for about 3 hours...
Labels: Architecture, NY Times
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
exploring generative design methodologies developed from the complex self-organising behavior of political, social and biological systems
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
A Field Guide to Military Urbanism
A current favourite online visit, Bryan Finoki's Subtopia is a discourse on military urbanism, the architecture of occupation and oppression, and the overarching question of why we, as humans, have it in our nature to build walls between ourselves.
To give you an idea of the subject matter, a recent entry features Jonathan Olley's stark, haunting photos of Northern Ireland's police stations, barracks and watchtowers; structures from a troubled past that are quickly disappearing to progress; to be too readily forgotten rather than stand as a reminder/memorial of how very wrong the world can sometimes turn.
Finoki writes:
"While [these] photos are evidence of a distinctly terrorized Irish landscape the more frightening truth about them for me is that they could almost be, in so many regards, the filmic traces of any number of places around the world today.
If we were just to focus on the brutish walls and violent features of defensive accouterment, it wouldn't be that inconceivable to mistake N. Ireland for, say, parts of Jerusalem or Gaza, or even Johannesburg, maybe downtown Manilla for that matter - possibly a neighborhood in central Egypt or Lebanon; conflicted places which are facing some of their own most cruel histories with political walls and entangled battle urbanism still today."
A current favourite online visit, Bryan Finoki's Subtopia is a discourse on military urbanism, the architecture of occupation and oppression, and the overarching question of why we, as humans, have it in our nature to build walls between ourselves.
To give you an idea of the subject matter, a recent entry features Jonathan Olley's stark, haunting photos of Northern Ireland's police stations, barracks and watchtowers; structures from a troubled past that are quickly disappearing to progress; to be too readily forgotten rather than stand as a reminder/memorial of how very wrong the world can sometimes turn.
Finoki writes:
"While [these] photos are evidence of a distinctly terrorized Irish landscape the more frightening truth about them for me is that they could almost be, in so many regards, the filmic traces of any number of places around the world today.
If we were just to focus on the brutish walls and violent features of defensive accouterment, it wouldn't be that inconceivable to mistake N. Ireland for, say, parts of Jerusalem or Gaza, or even Johannesburg, maybe downtown Manilla for that matter - possibly a neighborhood in central Egypt or Lebanon; conflicted places which are facing some of their own most cruel histories with political walls and entangled battle urbanism still today."
Labels: Architecture, Photography, World at Large
Friday, September 29, 2006
The 10 Most Important Buildings of the 21st Century
As premature as it might be, GQ magazine has released its Top 10 list of The Most Important Buildings of the 21st Century. PSFK has the details.
If you like a little more history with your architecture, check out Lisa Rochon's Seven Wonders of Architecture from entries past.
As premature as it might be, GQ magazine has released its Top 10 list of The Most Important Buildings of the 21st Century. PSFK has the details.
If you like a little more history with your architecture, check out Lisa Rochon's Seven Wonders of Architecture from entries past.
Labels: Architecture
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Future by Design
Jacque Fresco designs the civilizations of the future; and in the process, he defines how the human race will need to change in order to get there.
Jacque Fresco designs the civilizations of the future; and in the process, he defines how the human race will need to change in order to get there.
Labels: Architecture, Design, Design Can Change the World, Great Thinking
Monday, May 22, 2006
Seven Wonders of Architecture
Lisa Rochon of the Globe & Mail has just finished her Seven Wonders series for the newspaper with a focus on architecture "both historic and modern ... but only if the works are still intact and accessible to visitors." It is a great list, but one which immediately had me searching the net for more images and information on the celebrated structures.
So after reading Rochon's choices and her rationale behind each one, check out these links for further insight into what makes these seven so wonderful:
1. Casa de Barragan, Mexico City
2. Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, France
3. Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain
4. The Great Pyramid, Giza, Egypt
5.National Assembly, Dhaka, Bangladesh
6.Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
7. Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia
BONUS: Check out this sweet Angkor panorama.
So after reading Rochon's choices and her rationale behind each one, check out these links for further insight into what makes these seven so wonderful:
1. Casa de Barragan, Mexico City
2. Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, France
3. Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain
4. The Great Pyramid, Giza, Egypt
5.National Assembly, Dhaka, Bangladesh
6.Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
7. Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia
BONUS: Check out this sweet Angkor panorama.
Labels: Architecture
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Frank Gehry raises the bar in Brooklyn
Always inspiring, Frank Gehry reveals his proposed design for the Brooklyn Nets arena and its surrounding 21 acre corridor. The Times architectural critic, Nicolai Ouroussoff proclaims "If it is approved, it will radically alter the Brooklyn skyline, reaffirming the borough's emergence as a legitimate cultural rival to Manhattan."
Always inspiring, Frank Gehry reveals his proposed design for the Brooklyn Nets arena and its surrounding 21 acre corridor. The Times architectural critic, Nicolai Ouroussoff proclaims "If it is approved, it will radically alter the Brooklyn skyline, reaffirming the borough's emergence as a legitimate cultural rival to Manhattan."
Labels: Architecture, NY Times
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
#8 – moma's tall buildings
www.moma.org/exhibitions/2004/tallbuildings
Architecture was a full time distraction for me in 2004. Frank Gehry's influence was always working itself into my designs and I was floored by the plans that were revealed for Beijing's 2008 Olympic Stadium(check out design B11). But when it comes down to a website that kept me coming back, it was the Museum of Modern Art's Tall Buildings site that did it, earning them the #8 spot in my "Top Ten Most Important Websites (to me) of 2004". This site is clean, informative, and chock full of some of the coolest buildings from around the globe.
www.moma.org/exhibitions/2004/tallbuildings
Architecture was a full time distraction for me in 2004. Frank Gehry's influence was always working itself into my designs and I was floored by the plans that were revealed for Beijing's 2008 Olympic Stadium(check out design B11). But when it comes down to a website that kept me coming back, it was the Museum of Modern Art's Tall Buildings site that did it, earning them the #8 spot in my "Top Ten Most Important Websites (to me) of 2004". This site is clean, informative, and chock full of some of the coolest buildings from around the globe.
Labels: Architecture, Design
