The Architect's Journal has a nice article on a new book entitled Crap Cycle Lanes.

Description below:

Architects come up against short-sighted planning on a daily basis – not least when they get on their bikes

This charming book provides pictures of dozens of half-hearted, incompetent and dangerous cycle lanes. Crap Cycle Lanes is available from the Eye Books website, Amazon or any good bookshop. The book was inspired by the Warrington Cycle Campaign and all royalties go to the Cyclists Defence Fund.

Looks pretty good. Anyone got similar stories or pictures? Post them in the comments!

The late Sam Mockbee established the Rural Studio in 1993 along with fellow architect D. K. Ruth. Sam passed away in 2001 but the spirit of the Rural Studio lives on to this day. Snakebit is a documentary on Sam Mockbee and his Rural Studio.

Image via Bootsnall

The Rural Studio gained recognition for recycling materials into homes for the local population. One of the more famous examples is the Rural Studio community center which used old car windshields for the fenestration and façade.

APPARATI EFFIMERI Tetragram for Enlargment from Apparati Effimeri on Vimeo.

Kinda random, but I was always really really interested in projection-based installations on architectural facades. This project in particular is really well done. Perfect use of the fenestration and the masonry.

Thanks for the heads up Chris!

Just a heads up to my Architecture Intern readers. Since no one told me until today, NCARB requires that you register with them before July 1st 2009 (tomorrow). If you do not, then you lose all your hours. ALL OF THEM. It's called the Six Month Rule. So head here and register. Then pay the $285 or you're screwed!

There are moments in your professional career where you encounter pure inspiration. For me, this came in the form of the Dutch firm MVRDV's work. When I was in Holland 5 years ago, I rode across the country visiting all of their completed work. Coming out of school and seeing design-intensive, theoretical work actually built, not just talked about was just what I needed to push myself.

Check out this interview with the Dutch Architects as Deutsche Welle TV chats with directors Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, and the owners of the Didden Village house, and mentions of the works Westerdokeiland, Rotterdam Market Hall, Parkrand and others.

After months of working on this urban-renewal project, the City of NYC has opened High Line Park to the public. Really amazing use of the old elevated subway line. It seems like a long long time ago that Diller Scofidio + Renfro won the design competition. But it's finally open!

If you're unfamiliar with the project, head over to theHighline.org site. Attached are a few details I really love and one of the winning design renderings.

Coverage via Inhabitat

rendering and reality

A reader forwarded me this project by Alsop Architecture. They said it was 'right up my alley' and they were very right. When I first saw it, I immediately thought it was an MVRDV project. I was wrong obviously. Hell, I even thought it was a Dutch project. Wrong again. This 8-story project was just completed in Manchester.

The parti model of stacking blocks is very much a dutch approach to architecture. In fact, I'm not ruling out that Alsop used MVRDV as a precedent of sorts for it. The project is entitled Chips and consists of "3 fat chips stacked on top of each other". While most projects relate to the context via vernacular stylings, Chips relates through the use of super graphics.

Each mass has text on it that relates to its surrounding neighborhood.

Pretty rad! Head over to Alsop to see more images.

Wow. I can't even begin to imagine the cost per square foot of this insane build-out for Bastard by StudioMetrico.

Amazing. Beautiful details and the store looks MASSIVE!

Check out the whole design process, construction process and final product over at Arch Daily.

Previously:
And for Those Who are Still in Wintertime...

When I was in high school, I did a report on DC's urban plan for my AP US History class. After I began researching, I discovered the theory of Masonic influence with the city plan of the District of Columbia. Pentagrams, right angles, the occult...

This was one of the reasons that Architecture school appealed to me and while in my first semester, I began to admire Le Corbusier's work. There's no mistaken the influence his designs have had on my understanding and execution of architecture. But was Corbusier influenced by the occult as well?

A new book by J. K. Birksted entitled, Corbusier and the Occult delves into this notion...

Read below:

"Hidden sources and ambiguous inspirations abound in the work of famous, highly influential architect Le Corbusier, who reinvented himself in his thirties, mythologizing much of his history. This book takes a robust, unblinking look at the blanks in need of filling, covering "as much about the secret sources of Le Corbusier's architecture-that is, of what he threw away and did not want us to know-as it is about modernist relations to history." As a child, Le Courbusier (then Charles-Édouard Jeanneret) was immersed in Masonic thought (a big part of social life in his Swiss hometown), which elevates the right angle as a symbol of righteousness and life. Le Corbusier's inspiration by, and celebration of, the right angle is a major theme; he referred to his own Poem of the Right Angle representing "not only the foundation of my being but also... of my architecture and of my art." UK scholar Birksted unpacks a wide range of philosophical and aesthetic meanings resonating through Le Courbusier's work. Though it deepens the scholarship considerably, the exhaustive study's meandering narrative makes the material more than a little confusing. Still, the bold connections he makes should hold the interest of art and architecture fans."

Wallpaper magazine, the source for high-end design, has a video up showcasing a man and his wife's dream home. The house slides open within minutes, exposing large spans of glass and the beautiful summer sky.

Really great design. Sensible nods to the vernacular without compromising the modern, high tech nature of such an idea.

The cinematography reminds me of something KDlab would have done years ago, but in rendered form.

KDlab's reel using Cliff Martinez's score from Solaris.

Joseph Kosinski is a maniac...

Thanks Ryan!

Because people asked for it...

There are more images than these two, including process images, models and drawings but this is all I have at the moment to upload. The overall premise for the project was to reuse billboard structures to accept student housing modules. These modules would line the electric light rail in low-density cities like Charlotte, NC and other cities who realized that light rail trains are the answer for mass-transit.

In major cities with elevated trains, like Chicago and NYC, billboards line the tracks, offering prime advertising spaces. Most of the structures in dense cities are above existing structures. In cities of suburban America, there isn't the infrastructural density, so most urban planners align public transit in dead zones.

These housing modules would line the low-density rail, adjacent to the new "university" and students would be able to lease-out advertisement spaces, while living there, subsidizing their housing costs.

It's a far-fetched idea, but the notion was that the modules would then begin to infill within the urban fabric...

I completed this project in 2003. It also included a complex pattern language for the overall infill within an urban area. I'll have to spend some time pulling everything else together. The renderings are really dated too...

This is what I'm talking about. Such a rad concept. I did a similar exercise in school where I took a housing module and placed them inside Billboard structures. Plug and Play / Expandable design is one of my favorite facets of architecture. In fact, I bet if I went back and thumbed through my Moleskines, I'd find some sketches that look identical to this project.

Check out more shots here.

Jun's latest work reminds me of my field assignments in architecture school analyzing positive and negative space in urban fabrics.

Really great! Let's see more man!

You could always build a mini in your house! This aint the typical Bushwick loft-steez, this is a really well designed house with an integrated miniramp. Love the rafters and the overall space. The mini fits within the architecture...

via Arplus

Superuse is a collection of designers whose intent is to reuse and reappropriate scrap building and industrial materials. Spearheaded by by 2012 Architects and Suite75, the collective is pushing the boundaries of green design.

Once again, the Dutch nail it! Below are chairs from Bomdesign.

via Fabrik Project

I am really really feeling these paintings by Borja Bonaque.

If the stark and geometric architectural paintings aren't enough, there's always this group of skate decks...

Taliesen is one of Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces. Not as well known as Falling Water or Unity Temple, it's still a functioning design studio to this day. One of their current projects is their Mod.Fab. Modern prefabricated architecture just does something for me. Something about being able to move with your house and still live in style and comfort. Albeit Bauhaus "style"... but still

I can dream right?

Description:

"unplugged," relying on low-consumption fixtures, rainwater harvesting, greywater re-use, natural ventilation, solar orientation, and photovoltaics.

Sounds like my Shift House!

Via Architechnophilia

I don't need to point out the naked woman because this picture was already relevant to my interests. Great perspective, focal point and composition. Love the Architecture and the surrealist wall the cyclist is emerging from. Classic Cinelli ads are the best.

Not sure where I came across this, I did just see it on Milano Fixed and HK Fixed though.

How did I miss this? 76 bikes and a real piece of architectural design makes this bike storage facility a piece of work. Very simple, clean and more of an experiment with facade, fenestration and cladding rather than jumping through formal hoops. Well done!

Structure by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects and photos by Mark Hadden Photography.

Thanks to the guys at Hipster Nascar for the heads!

So much for keeping this under wraps. The Chinese Government released this pic of the real reason why the TVCC went up in flames!

Via Curbed.

McBride Charles Ryan chose the parti diagram of a klein bottle for this house in Mornington Peninsula, Australia. Not sure how precisely it mimics the geometric formula, but the execution of materiality is pretty spot on!

Part of Rem Koolhaas' CCTV Olympic center, the TVCC building has literally been burnt to the ground. Read up on the incident over at the Times. This part kills me!

At the same time, people were still shooting off fireworks from the sides of the roads, adding to the seeming chaos in the city.

Pic by David Gray/Reuters

Those of you who are either Architects / designers and have been following this blog since 2006 may remember the following project. Casa Torcida was my primary project while I was at SPG Architects. I spent 2 years working on it and it took another 2 to complete, but a visit to their site this morning revealed the final product.

So beautiful!

Check out the older post I made here
.

The guys at Mishka are having a Gallery opening at their space!

Come check it out.

350 Broadway, Brooklyn NY
7pm - 10pm
Saturday, February 7th

Delugan Meissl Associated Architects' newest project recently opened in Stuttgart, Germany. When high-end architecture and high-end automobile manufacturers come together, you can expect things of great beauty and engineering. When the automobile maker is Porsche, you can expect nothing less than perfection.

I'll let the images speak for themselves. Via WorldArchitectureNews.

The next time you want to stay in NYC and would like to avoid Times Square, check out the Ace Hotel. There's everything from a simple 200sqft "Bunk" suite up to a 700sqft "Loft' suite. Their branding and design is spot-on. Really trying to attract the younger tourists!

One slight correction; the Ace Hotel will be opening in March. They are taking reservations now however!

A Minneapolis-based architecture firm City Desk Studio just put a Skyway up for sale on Craigslist. Via Curbed Via Greg.org.

Looking at this prefabricated beast reminds me a lot of my Thesis project completed back in 2004. It wasn't based on the idea of a private get-away as much as it was geared for a solution to Hurricane and Disaster-relief; specifically Hurricane Isabel-damaged Cape Hatteras. Remember, this was before Katrina and prior to the prefabricated design movement we have today.

My premise was that as long as we are inhabiting barrier islands in a permanent way, there will always be billions in property damage due to shifting tides and erosion. Not to mention Hurricane damage. In order to properly inhabit an island, we need a domicile that shifts with the context.

The Shift House's intent was to "lightly occupy" a coastal region based on a prefabricated infrastructural framework.

There's more to it than that, but its basically the premise. Seeing massive, transportable architecture really blows me away!

Rem Koolhaas, the Dutch mastermind behind Office For Metropolitan Architecture has influenced many architecture students and practicioners over the years. He's the driving force behind internationally acclaimed masterpieces like the CCTV building, the Seattle Public Library and the Porto Concert Hall.

Now he's inspired a typeface. FWIS used Koohaas' Miesian typologies to create a typeface that's more representative of his work, rather than a usable type.

"‘koolhand’ is a new type face which takes its form from the architectural works of rem koolhaas.
the typeface is designed by fwis and art directed by chris papasadero. he is aiming to design a font
a day for the month of january and is posting them on his website. while the letters in ‘koolhand’
aren’t really designed for legibility, papasadero envisions them for textural treatments. "

The Basque Health Department Headquarters by Coll-Barreu Arquitects in Ensanche, New Town, Spain is really getting me hot and bothered. Not so much for the crystalline facade, but for the way they treated the stair shafts. Look at it! BRIGHT GREEN. Please please American Architects and Designers, loosen the color-phobia and if you have to keep everything monotone, at least liven up the stair halls! Color is your friend!

Seen at Yatzer.

Hailing from Oslo, Norway, Rintala Eggertsson Architects created this 19 square meter house. It is essentially living stripped to the minimal requirements. Smart living. Programmed living. The reason this project strikes me as beautiful is mostly because of the material choices. The exterior looks like Leviathan out of the Hellraiser movies and yet the inside is clad with a nice warm wood. The structure is also framed from wood.

Typically in the US and other countries when Architects create minimal dwellings such as this, the cold and harsh materials will continue to the interior, resulting in a house that feels more like a prison than a warm and welcoming home.

First seen at Dezeen and then redirected to Rintala Eggersson's homepage.

Fabrik Project just posted this project by the Portuguese architect Pedro Gaganho. I've seen Pedro's work before and his use of heavy geometric shapes is often at the building-scale. Some would think such a design approach would be clunky and out of place in a smaller space scaled for the everyday, but I think this is perfection. The proportions are scaled down in such a way that the geometries pull the occupant into the various programmed spaces.

Not just anyone could pull this off!

More pics here.

Below the Clouds has linked a recent Surface Architects project that is blowing me away at the moment. The detailing and execution is pristine. There's no easy way to fabricate those intersecting facets.

Read up on the Birkbeck Project here! They just won a RIBA award for it as well.

Thanks to Gabe for the heads up.

I've been working on this project for almost 2 years now and it's most likely got another year or so, if not longer until it's complete. So far, I've redesigned the same rooms close to 3 times each, if not more.

Well, we've finally nailed down a cohesive design and I'm in the process of updating the 3d models and 2d construction documents. As you can imagine, there is a great deal of back and forth between the two but at the end of the day, you can create some seductive imagery.

Here's a reading balcony, suspended 20' up in the existing w-sections adjacent to a series of dormered windows within a naive-like space in a pre-war skyscraper.

We're all happy with the way this project is progressing and I can't wait to see it completed.

Mayslits Kassif Architect's have made what looks like an epic place to ride a bike or a skateboard. Surface articulation with regards to urban plazas is something the rest of the modern world seems to do so well. American building codes and clientele seem to keep landscape, building and urban designers on the flat z-axis, which is unfortunate.

The Tel Aviv Port looks like an awesome plaza. Great job.

Via Dezeen.

Dezeen has a great article on the recent collaborative effort between MVRDV and Adept on a new mixed-use development in Copenhagen. The Rødovre Skyscraper in Copenhagen, Denmark is made of multiple 60 meter squares that cantilever off each other in a provocative way.

“The constellation of the pixels allows flexibility in function; the building can be transformed by market forces,” say the architects. “Flexibility for adaptation is one of the best sustainable characteristics of a building.”

House of Copenhagen has re-issued one of my favorite chairs in Architectural / Furniture Design history, "the Shell Chair". Unfortunately, It's way out of my price range. Read up below.

Carl Hansen & Son, the world's leading maker of furniture designed by Hans J. Wegner, celebrated its 100th anniversary on October 28th, 2008

Hans J. Wegner CH07 Limited Edition

Designed by Hans J. Wegner in 1964, "The Shell Chair" is one of Wegner's most iconic pieces. Sometimes referred to as "The Smiling Chair", CH07 is renowned for both its lasting good looks and its generous comfort. This limited anniversary edition is crafted from exclusive xebrano veneer (a first for the CH07) and upholstered in Elegance Special Brown leather, a supple aniline specially chosen for its rich color and soft texture.

I don't really post many Architecture lecture events on this blog, but this one is worth going to. Kengo Kuma's work speaks strongly with crisp forms, soft light and warm materials. The infusion of traditional Japanese styling makes their work some of the most inspirational architecture of the modern age. Not to mention the legendary Kenneth Frampton will be moderating the lecture!

Details here:

Current Work: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Kengo Kuma
Introduced and moderated by Kenneth Frampton
Monday, November 3
7:00 p.m.
The Great Hall
The Cooper Union
7 East 7th Street