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Thursday, May 31, 2012
Today's archidose #589
Here are some photos of the Bowfell House in Windermere, Cumbria, England by Hubbard Architecture (2011). Photographs are by Wojtek Gurak.
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Designing the Future
Designing the Future
A symposium hosted by Manchester School of Architecture reflects upon urbanism and industry, writes Steve Parnell in The Architects' Journal 31 May 2012
The fact that the students from Manchester School of Architecture’s MA in Architecture and Urbanism hosted their ‘Consumed’ symposium at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, a converted mill that was once one of the largest producers in Manchester, remained unmentioned, although as Irena Bauman rightly noted, such a seminar would not have happened even five years ago. The shift from a production to consumption economy has long been acknowledged, but it’s only really during economic crises that we seriously consider how society is configured and the position of architects within it, lamenting the fact that we are tossed and turned on the waves of other people’s plans and profits.
Throughout the day, several themes emerged concerning a rethink of society’s configuration and, by implication, the architect’s role in it. As anticipated, sustainability underwrote much rhetoric, but a more surprising discursive trajectory was the idea of the city as the new sovereign entity, initially put forward by Joseph Grima, editor-in-chief of Domus. Rapid urbanisation, fuelled by addictions to oil and technological frisson, results in undesirable and invisible long-term side effects. Cities now exist far beyond their municipal boundaries. Besides the obvious environmental impact, the amount of land upon which they depend for food and energy around the world is enormous and unsustainable. Countries, cities and hedge funds are in the process of annexing previously undesirable tracts of land in far-off places for food security and even as a tradable commodity. As usual, Africa bears the brunt of this exploitation and is being rediscovered as the breadbasket of the world, debunking the age-old myth that it is unable to support its starving population. This land-grabbing formed the main thrust of Grima’s talk, but he also introduced economist William Jevons, who wrote in The Coal Question, ‘It is wholly a confusion of ideas to suppose that the economical use of fuel is equivalent to a diminished consumption. The very contrary is the truth.’ Written when Britain’s global dominance was predicated by the supply of coal, this truism seems as apt now, in the age of peak oil, as it did in the mid 19th century, and Grima supplied convincing evidence.
Berndt Jespersen and Mette Skovbjerg of Kalundborg Symbiosis in Denmark described their public/private initiative that started in the 1960s primarily out of an economic motivation. Using the outputs of one industrial process as the inputs of another is so blindingly obvious and joined-up that it could only happen in Scandinavia. The city of Kalundborg now has 14 companies recycling water, 12 recycling industrial by-products (aka ‘waste’) and seven recycling energy in one large symbiotic system that makes the city more competitive as a whole. This competitiveness of cities also formed the basis of Irena Bauman’s talk, in which she claimed that cities were now more powerful than nations. She echoed James Kunstler’s view that the 21st century should be about ‘staying in a place worth staying in’, as opposed to last century’s desire to move, and advocates architects (and developers) working in the area where they live. This is not only because of the reduced carbon footprint, but because they know the area and, fundamentally, can be held accountable for their work. Cities, in other words, should be long-term communities rather than short-term commodities.
On the other hand, Michael Pawlyn of Exploration Architecture still believes in that old-fashioned Buckminster-Fullerian notion that architects can solve the world’s problems technically and materially, if only someone would listen to them. The bio-mimicry he peddles is a 21st century High-Tech movement that applies natural systems to artificial problems. The loop may be cyclic, rather than linear and the energy solar, rather than carbon based, but the ambition is the same: ‘decide on the future we want, and then set about creating it.’ How exactly we do the hard bit – deciding on the future we want – was not elaborated upon.
Where Jespersen and Skovbjerg asked ‘Why should a tomato fly?’, and Grima questioned the sanity of constructing cities like Dubai, Pawlyn would jump at the challenge like an imitation grasshopper. Whereas Bauman was glad to see the back of the marriage between the egotistical client and egotistical architect, and Grima called for a ‘recalibration of expectations’, Pawlyn would ‘start with an ideal and compromise as little as possible.’ All would agree that architects have to regain the territory that an organisation like CIAM once owned, tailored for a post-consumed society. Whether this can be designed before the next boom arrives remains to be seen. One thing is certain: the design solution has to be part of a wider political solution and an architectural culture that only focuses on the former will remain at the behest of the latter.
A symposium hosted by Manchester School of Architecture reflects upon urbanism and industry, writes Steve Parnell in The Architects' Journal 31 May 2012
The fact that the students from Manchester School of Architecture’s MA in Architecture and Urbanism hosted their ‘Consumed’ symposium at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, a converted mill that was once one of the largest producers in Manchester, remained unmentioned, although as Irena Bauman rightly noted, such a seminar would not have happened even five years ago. The shift from a production to consumption economy has long been acknowledged, but it’s only really during economic crises that we seriously consider how society is configured and the position of architects within it, lamenting the fact that we are tossed and turned on the waves of other people’s plans and profits.
Throughout the day, several themes emerged concerning a rethink of society’s configuration and, by implication, the architect’s role in it. As anticipated, sustainability underwrote much rhetoric, but a more surprising discursive trajectory was the idea of the city as the new sovereign entity, initially put forward by Joseph Grima, editor-in-chief of Domus. Rapid urbanisation, fuelled by addictions to oil and technological frisson, results in undesirable and invisible long-term side effects. Cities now exist far beyond their municipal boundaries. Besides the obvious environmental impact, the amount of land upon which they depend for food and energy around the world is enormous and unsustainable. Countries, cities and hedge funds are in the process of annexing previously undesirable tracts of land in far-off places for food security and even as a tradable commodity. As usual, Africa bears the brunt of this exploitation and is being rediscovered as the breadbasket of the world, debunking the age-old myth that it is unable to support its starving population. This land-grabbing formed the main thrust of Grima’s talk, but he also introduced economist William Jevons, who wrote in The Coal Question, ‘It is wholly a confusion of ideas to suppose that the economical use of fuel is equivalent to a diminished consumption. The very contrary is the truth.’ Written when Britain’s global dominance was predicated by the supply of coal, this truism seems as apt now, in the age of peak oil, as it did in the mid 19th century, and Grima supplied convincing evidence.
Berndt Jespersen and Mette Skovbjerg of Kalundborg Symbiosis in Denmark described their public/private initiative that started in the 1960s primarily out of an economic motivation. Using the outputs of one industrial process as the inputs of another is so blindingly obvious and joined-up that it could only happen in Scandinavia. The city of Kalundborg now has 14 companies recycling water, 12 recycling industrial by-products (aka ‘waste’) and seven recycling energy in one large symbiotic system that makes the city more competitive as a whole. This competitiveness of cities also formed the basis of Irena Bauman’s talk, in which she claimed that cities were now more powerful than nations. She echoed James Kunstler’s view that the 21st century should be about ‘staying in a place worth staying in’, as opposed to last century’s desire to move, and advocates architects (and developers) working in the area where they live. This is not only because of the reduced carbon footprint, but because they know the area and, fundamentally, can be held accountable for their work. Cities, in other words, should be long-term communities rather than short-term commodities.
On the other hand, Michael Pawlyn of Exploration Architecture still believes in that old-fashioned Buckminster-Fullerian notion that architects can solve the world’s problems technically and materially, if only someone would listen to them. The bio-mimicry he peddles is a 21st century High-Tech movement that applies natural systems to artificial problems. The loop may be cyclic, rather than linear and the energy solar, rather than carbon based, but the ambition is the same: ‘decide on the future we want, and then set about creating it.’ How exactly we do the hard bit – deciding on the future we want – was not elaborated upon.
Where Jespersen and Skovbjerg asked ‘Why should a tomato fly?’, and Grima questioned the sanity of constructing cities like Dubai, Pawlyn would jump at the challenge like an imitation grasshopper. Whereas Bauman was glad to see the back of the marriage between the egotistical client and egotistical architect, and Grima called for a ‘recalibration of expectations’, Pawlyn would ‘start with an ideal and compromise as little as possible.’ All would agree that architects have to regain the territory that an organisation like CIAM once owned, tailored for a post-consumed society. Whether this can be designed before the next boom arrives remains to be seen. One thing is certain: the design solution has to be part of a wider political solution and an architectural culture that only focuses on the former will remain at the behest of the latter.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tokyo Skytree Tower
On May 22 the Tokyo Skytree Tower opened, providing access to its observation decks. It is the second-tallest structure in the world, behind the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. But what I want to know is...
[Tokyo Skytree Tower Elevation | image stitched by archidose from this source]
Who designed it?
Nikken Sekkei is credited as architect at WAN and Wikipedia. But I recall early reports that Tadao Ando was responsible for the design. Of course, both could be correct, and Nikken Sekkei could be the executive architect, having executed Ando's design. But the news swirling around the opening of the "world's tallest free-standing broadcasting tower" omits any mention of Ando. Personally I have a hard time seeing Ando anywhere in the design, even if the steel lattice-like structure of the bottom half is pretty elegant; the top half is pretty clunky, the result of broadcasting functionalism over design, and observation decks designed like control towers rather than integral parts of the tower. I can't help but think that the recent cutbacks for the 1WTC spire will result in an equally inelegant top.
(For more tall building porn, see this earlier post.)
[Tokyo Skytree Tower Elevation | image stitched by archidose from this source]
Who designed it?
Nikken Sekkei is credited as architect at WAN and Wikipedia. But I recall early reports that Tadao Ando was responsible for the design. Of course, both could be correct, and Nikken Sekkei could be the executive architect, having executed Ando's design. But the news swirling around the opening of the "world's tallest free-standing broadcasting tower" omits any mention of Ando. Personally I have a hard time seeing Ando anywhere in the design, even if the steel lattice-like structure of the bottom half is pretty elegant; the top half is pretty clunky, the result of broadcasting functionalism over design, and observation decks designed like control towers rather than integral parts of the tower. I can't help but think that the recent cutbacks for the 1WTC spire will result in an equally inelegant top.
(For more tall building porn, see this earlier post.)
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Tuesday, Tuesday
A Weekly Dose of Architecture Updates:
This week's dose features Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center in Brooklyn, New York by WEISS/MANFREDI:
The featured past dose is the The Diana Center at Barnard College in New York City by WEISS/MANFREDI:
This week's book review is Italo Calvino's Architecture of Lightness: The Utopian Imagination in an Age of Crisis by Letizia Modena (L):
(R): The featured past book review is Deconstructing the Kimbell by Michael Benedikt.
World-Architects.com U.S. Building of the Week:
Roosevelt University Academic, Student Life and Residence Center in Chicago, Illinois by VOA Associates:
Unrelated links are now found in the left sidebar and on My Diigo Bookmarks page.
This week's dose features Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center in Brooklyn, New York by WEISS/MANFREDI:
The featured past dose is the The Diana Center at Barnard College in New York City by WEISS/MANFREDI:
This week's book review is Italo Calvino's Architecture of Lightness: The Utopian Imagination in an Age of Crisis by Letizia Modena (L):
(R): The featured past book review is Deconstructing the Kimbell by Michael Benedikt.
World-Architects.com U.S. Building of the Week:
Roosevelt University Academic, Student Life and Residence Center in Chicago, Illinois by VOA Associates:
Unrelated links are now found in the left sidebar and on My Diigo Bookmarks page.
My chair update
You may remember 2 months ago I bought a small antique chair and wanted some fabric advice.
I had so many great responses and emails, it was admittedly overwhelming as each person said something different! I decided to go with my gut (and wallet) and use the leftover fabric I had from my dining room chairs, a turquoise velvet from Ralph Lauren Home.
While not my usual taste, the ornate chair will be a great accent piece in my new apartment.
I love how it turned out, what do you think?
Monday, May 28, 2012
Oxford Road Exposed
Corridor Manchester Public Realm Design Competition Exhibition continues at the Manchester Technology Centre until June 8
Buy a Prison
[Image: Prisons for sale; photo by Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times].The State of New York is hoping to sell its old prisons.
"One property, in the Hudson Valley, includes a 16-car garage, a piggery and hundreds of yards of lake frontage," the New York Times explains. "Another offers 69 acres of waterfront land on the west shore of Staten Island, complete with a two-story gymnasium, a baseball diamond and an open-air pavilion." Some of the sites actually sound amazing:
Among the facilities the team is considering selling are 23 state-owned residences set aside for prison superintendents. Some are quite lavish: one in Auburn, to be auctioned this summer, is an 8,850-square-foot brick mansion with eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, an attached gazebo and a barn-size garage.The article somewhat ironically suggests that "the ideal buyer" of one the prisons would be "someone who craves space to spread out."
Despite the piece's pessimistic tone—"You couldn’t make it into a hotel. You couldn’t make it into an apartment complex. You’re talking millions of dollars to renovate. Who’s going to do it?"—I can't help but wonder if someone couldn't buy one of these places anyway, admit that most of the complex will simply be left to ruin, consumed by weeds and filled with pigeons, but then transform some core part of it into a kind of architectural research center, its very setting the most intense spatial lesson of your time spent writing and studying there.
(Earlier on BLDGBLOG: Buy a Tube Station, Buy an Archipelago, Buy a Map, Buy a Torpedo-Testing Facility, Buy a Fort, Buy a Church, Buy a Silk Mill).
Another 'modern' house plan
Again from the unbuilt section of the book "Domestic Architecture of H.T. Lindeberg" I bring you this modern houseplan.
I love this melding of classical and modern. The plan is so rational it is strange to see the 1-story service spaces spilling out so organically on the upper right hand side; A strange after thought? It seems to have been hidden with the landscaping though, not a service wing in sight! I believe it was Frank Lloyd Wright who said he hid his mistakes with Ivy? How would you have solved this problem?
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Theaster Gates and the Prairie Avenue Bookshop Archive
Back in the summer of 2009, when it was reported that Chicago's Prairie Avenue Bookshop would close its doors, I held on to the notion that somebody might save the architecture bookstore, or at least the books. While I anticipated a savior would keep the consumer format, what eventually happened is more remarkable. Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates acquired 14,000 volumes from Prairie Avenue's owners in the fall of 2009, a couple months after the store closed, subsequently moving the books into a renovated residence on South Dorchester Avenue (top photo) as part of a public archive.
[All images are stills from "What does it mean for us to be generous with one another?" with Theaster Gates | image source]
The Dorchester Project, as Gates calls it, encompasses more than the Prairie Avenue Bookshop Archive (below photos); it also contains 60,000 glass lantern slides from the University of Chicago's art history department and 10,000 LPs from Dr. Wax, a record store that had existed in nearby Hyde Park (a Chicago neighborhood also home to U. of C.). Of course, what all three of these archives have in common is a recent transformation and obsolescence of the media (books, slides, records) brought on by the digitization of words, images, and music. Gates, in the act of creating an archive on the south side of Chicago, is "giving these objects another life" and "reflecting upon things that have been forgotten or that we have come to believe have no value." [source with Gates' quotes]
But these archives are just the tip of Gates' ambitions to also transform forgotten neighborhoods, be it on Chicago's South Side or elsewhere. He has purchased two more buildings next to and across from his Dorchester Project, adding a food pavilion, an artist-in-residence space, and facilities for artists. He founded the Rebuild Foundation, "a not-for-profit, creative engine focusing on cultural and economic redevelopment and affordable space initiatives in under-resourced communities." In addition to Chicago, they have projects in Detroit, Omaha, and St. Louis. And lastly he is collaborating with Brinshore Development and Landon Bone Baker Architects to renovate an abandoned 36-unit CHA property near his Dorchester Projects into mixed-income housing and a cultural center; groundbreaking is set for this year.
While certainly an artist -- with numerous exhibitions in various U.S. museums -- it's no surprise that Gates has a degree in urban planning (alongside ceramics and religious studies, no less). He seems to be finding a groove that balances these various interests (at least art and planning), so they reciprocally inform and benefit each other. A certain breaking down of boundaries is taking place, one of the many things I find commendable in his (art)work. And obviously he has great taste in books.
[All images are stills from "What does it mean for us to be generous with one another?" with Theaster Gates | image source]
The Dorchester Project, as Gates calls it, encompasses more than the Prairie Avenue Bookshop Archive (below photos); it also contains 60,000 glass lantern slides from the University of Chicago's art history department and 10,000 LPs from Dr. Wax, a record store that had existed in nearby Hyde Park (a Chicago neighborhood also home to U. of C.). Of course, what all three of these archives have in common is a recent transformation and obsolescence of the media (books, slides, records) brought on by the digitization of words, images, and music. Gates, in the act of creating an archive on the south side of Chicago, is "giving these objects another life" and "reflecting upon things that have been forgotten or that we have come to believe have no value." [source with Gates' quotes]
But these archives are just the tip of Gates' ambitions to also transform forgotten neighborhoods, be it on Chicago's South Side or elsewhere. He has purchased two more buildings next to and across from his Dorchester Project, adding a food pavilion, an artist-in-residence space, and facilities for artists. He founded the Rebuild Foundation, "a not-for-profit, creative engine focusing on cultural and economic redevelopment and affordable space initiatives in under-resourced communities." In addition to Chicago, they have projects in Detroit, Omaha, and St. Louis. And lastly he is collaborating with Brinshore Development and Landon Bone Baker Architects to renovate an abandoned 36-unit CHA property near his Dorchester Projects into mixed-income housing and a cultural center; groundbreaking is set for this year.
While certainly an artist -- with numerous exhibitions in various U.S. museums -- it's no surprise that Gates has a degree in urban planning (alongside ceramics and religious studies, no less). He seems to be finding a groove that balances these various interests (at least art and planning), so they reciprocally inform and benefit each other. A certain breaking down of boundaries is taking place, one of the many things I find commendable in his (art)work. And obviously he has great taste in books.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
The Phoenix Effect
2011 MA A+U graduate Jack O'Reilly has been awarded the Andy Robson Award in the Manchester Society of Architects Design Awards 2012 for his Belfast-based thesis project 'The Pheonix Effect'.
House plan for a doctor
To make up for the lack of posts lately as I prepare for my move, I thought I would post some floorplans from a book I recently was browsing at work, "Domestic Architecture of H. T. Lindeberg".
While never built, this early modern house has an intriguing plan which combines the functions of the doctor's office as well as his nice, but compact house. I only wonder what section of the city this was planned for. If this had been built, I also wonder how the warren of service spaces around the kitchen would have changed over time. What do you think?
Friday, May 25, 2012
Today's archidose #588
Here are a couple photos of the Parque del Cabo in Gijón, Spain by Ángel Noriega Vázquez, 1997. Photographs are by Paul Prudence.
To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:
To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:
:: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or
:: Tag your photos archidose
Kips Bay Showhouse: 2012
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the opening night party of the Kips Bay showhouse. I've been so busy packing in preparation for my big move that I haven't had time to share it with you. I wanted to be sure to share my favorite rooms while the show house was still open! I have to say this was the best show house I've seen. In so many ways, the house (actually an apartment) summed up the best of New York design and living with a surplus of talent. My favorites were too many to count on one hand. 
The entry hall, decorated by Bryant Keller, was a dramatic start to the series of rooms, done up in quintessential New York style with Scalamandre fabrics and wallpaper.
One of the trends which was found throughout the showhouse was the use of fur. I know many people hate the cruel stuff, but nothing says luxury to me like a soft fur throw. The room above by David Scott was delightfully cozy.
One of my dearest friends I'm proud to say, Raji Radhakrishnan (who actually invited me to the party, thanks Raji!) was the belle of the ball. She is seen here in front of a beautiful leather desk from Ralph Lauren Home. Her room has been widely published and for good reason -it simply was one of the most beautiful, detail laden and creative rooms in the show house (how's that for bias?).
She always includes a sophisticated blend of intriguing object d'art and books into any of her spaces, much like her own house - can you see why I'm hooked?
Raji created a focal point in a room lacking any architectural features by adding a mantel by Chesneys. The copy of a Sir John Soane mantel has long been on my wishlist for my dreamhouse and I was so happy to see her using it. Raji included works of art by herself as well, such as the photograph of the chapel at Versailles she took years ago while dreaming of including it in her Kips Bay showroom (dreams do come true!).
The composition of the pieces, each one delightful by itself, is only enhanced by their juxtaposition. And against those beautiful Venetian plaster finished walls AND ceiling by Judy Mulligan, what wouldn't look marvelous? 
One of the trends I was happy to see was the attention paid to ceilings throughout the showhouse -Raji didn't leave it at Venetian plaster, this gilded squiggle made for Raji by Christianson Lee Studios was really fun!
Speaking of fun, Jamie Drake's room was a riot of color, as expected from the king of color! I loved this chrome lamp used in a corner of his room.
He didn't forget the ceiling either, it was silverleafed!
Another colorful space was the room decorated by Thom Filicia, seen here in front of his console designed for Vanguard.
The ceiling was lacquered in the same beautiful kelly green as the walls.
I loved the Kravet curtains.
Another room with a touch of whimsy was by Shawn Henderson. What better way to celebrate the city views than with a swing!
Multi-talented artist Chuck Fischer decorated a room that was awe-inspiring for his shear talent.
Even the entry sign was awesome!
The chinoiserie murals surrounding the space were incredibly detailed and beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, the designer Alexander Doherty decorated my 2nd favorite room, a bedroom for a collector.
Here again was a soft and cozy enormous fur throw, surrounded by cerused oak paneling; I don't know which feature I enjoyed more.
Color was injected into the space with a painted dresser and numerous lamps creating glamorous pools of light.
Someone who knows glamour is Alexa Hampton. Her room was the epitome of a classic New York bedroom, so well developed by her father, Mark Hampton.
Grand tour items from the past lined a desk facing a very modern city skyline.
This bench in the corner of the bedroom sums up both the room and the show house with a simple book title "Luxury Living New York". Notice the fur throw on the bed in the foreground.
Be sure to visit this very fitting and special Kips Bay show house before it closes on June 14th!
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