The Space of Preparation

Swiss artist Zimoun, previously covered here for his work with the acoustics of woodworms, has been producing a long series of installations involving immersive cardboard structures—both surfaces and spaces—sonically activated by embedded motors. The rain-like plinks and plonks that greet you as you encounter these installations isn't beautified or specially tuned; in any other context, it would simply appear to be industrial noise.

Watch this recently updated compilation video to hear them at work:



Here are installation shots from three of Zimoun's recent works—all of which use "prepared" motors, in the artist's description, like the prepared pianos of composer John Cage, a technique here applied to micromachinery. In a similar vein, it would be interesting to see work produced using "prepared" elevators, "prepared" doorways, or "prepared" architecture at all and any scales. Prepared bridges over rivers, prepared docks on the sea.

1) 200 prepared dc-motors, 2000 cardboard elements (2011)
[Images: From 200 prepared dc-motors (2011)].

2) 121 prepared dc-motors (2011)
[Images: From 121 prepared dc-motors (2011)].

3) 138 prepared dc-motors, cotton balls, cardboard boxes (2011)
[Images: From 138 prepared dc-motors, cotton balls, cardboard boxes (2011)].

See more at Zimoun's website.

Half Dose #87: Mercantile Lofts

[Photos and drawing courtesy The Los Angeles Design Group | click images for expanded/larger views]

The Mercantile Lofts consists of 35 "re-imagined" live/work loft residences in Downtown Los Angeles. The building dates to 1906 and is considered to be characteristic of the Chicago Beaux-Arts style, though a quick glance reveals it to more aligned with the Chicago School than the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in the same city. In other words, the building is more modern than classical, and this lobby design by The Los Angeles Design Group is a contemporary insertion fitting its progressive early-20th-century container.



Spurred by the physical constraints of the existing building's walls, the architects hypothesized for the 10,000-sf lobby, "is it possible to manufacture more space without changing the size of a room?"



They responded to this question in two main ways: wall graphics that "make flat walls appear deep and rich with material qualities" and two custom benches that integrate with and curl away from the wall graphics.



Parallel strips of MDF in varying undulating shapes comprise the two benches. Separated by spacers, these strips give the benches a porosity, like oversized radiators. Surface is created by edges.



The longer bench is located near the glass storefront, peeling away from the wall and directing ones movement towards the shorter bench and the elevator vestibule. The latter appears to be cut from the long bench, a detached segment of an alien creature in the lobby.




Project Facts:

• Date of Completion: May, 2011
• Scope: Renovation of the public spaces for a six-story, 36-unit loft building, including furniture, lighting, wall coverings, and an elevator cab. All elements were custom-designed and fabricated for the Mercantile Lofts.
• Design Team: Andrew Holder (Principal), Claus Benjamin Freyinger (Principal), Noah Rubin (Project Manager)
• Client: ICO Development
• Fabricators / Installers: Machine Histories, GO! Creative, Astek Wallcoverings, Wallcoverings International
• Materials: Acrylic, Rangerboard, PVC Edge-Banding, Expandable Braided Sleeving

Today's archidose #503

Martin Luther Church, Hainburg, Austria, a photo by Ken Lee 2010 on Flickr.

Martin Luther Church in Hainburg, Austria by Coop Himmelb(l)au, 2011.

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Obama's Pritzer Prize Speech

President Obama presents the Pritzker Architecture Prize to Eduardo Souto de Moura in a ceremony at the White House. June 2, 2011.

"That's what architecture is all about. It's about creating buildings and spaces that inspire us, that help us do our jobs, that bring us together, and that become, at their best, works of art that we can move through and live in."

Book Review: Garden Guide: New York City

Garden Guide: New York City, Revised Edition by Nancy Berner and Susan Lowry, with photographs by Joseph de Sciose
W. W. Norton, 2010
Paperback, 424 pages



Memorial Day Weekend in the United States is traditionally the unofficial start of summer, a three-day weekend when people hit the road to nearby places of interest. With rising gas prices and a growing environmental responsibility people may opt to stay near home on that and subsequent weekends, instead heading outside to parks and other green spaces in town. Living in New York City, there is no shortage of these types of spaces, even though many outsiders may only see the city as acres of concrete around Central Park. But as the city turns old industrial waterfronts to parks and entrepreneurs create gardens in the sky, the choices are much more varied and geographically dispersed. This guide to the city's gardens is a great little companion (only 5.8 x 4.4 x 1.2 inches) for the summer months in New York City, as people head for the green spaces that feel so much cooler than the gray spaces that make the city a "heat island."

The book is organized geographically: five chapters are devoted to Manhattan, with one each for the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Maps and photos begin each chapter, and the entries for the 80+ green spaces include location and public transit directions, opening hours and admission fees (if any), a web page, facility details, and recommendations for seasons. This last points to the fact that while summer may be the best time to get outdoors -- especially after the itch of a winter hibernation with closed or unusable parks and other spaces -- the urban landscapes in this guide offer a myriad of experiences throughout the year. Spring blossoms, fall foliage, and even winter snow cover provide their own appealing experiences. Each entry also includes a lengthy description, giving some background on the gardens but also details on the plantings and what one can expect to see. My only grievance is that the photos dispersed throughout the book are not keyed to the entries; some accompany the entries but most don't, making the connections less obvious than they could be. Regardless, this is a small quibble in a book taking its place alongside other guides to New York City in my library. It will also get a good workout this summer.

US: CA: UK:

Architecture + Urbanism recommends: Stirling and the North

At the time of his death in 1992, James Stirling was widely regarded as the leading architect of his generation, not just in Britain but worldwide. Born in Glasgow, he spent much of his childhood in Liverpool and trained at the Liverpool School of Architecture. The rich urban fabric of Liverpool and the North, combining industrial and vernacular buildings with some of Europe's grandest neoclassical monuments, exerted a powerful fascination for Stirling and had a profound influence on the rich architectural language that he was to develop.
Held in Stirling's only Liverpool building - Tate Liverpool, located in the Albert Dock - this panel discussion and debate will re-consider the role of the North in Stirling's development and oeuvre, from his thesis design for Newton Aycliffe to late projects like the Lowry at Salford.
Organised by RIBA NW in association with the University of Liverpool and Tate Liverpool, the event will be chaired by Mark Swenarton, James Stirling professor at Liverpool University.
Speakers:
Robert Maxwell (Emeritus Professor, Princeton University) - 'Stirling the Northerner'
Elain Harwood (English Heritage) - 'The Housing at Preston and Runcorn'
Brian Hatton (Liverpool John Moores University/Architectural Association) - 'Stirling as photographer of Liverpool'.

The event forms part of Architecture Festival 2011 and takes place on Saturday 25 June 2pm-4pm . Tickets cost £5/£3

A brief review of the current exhibition James Stirling: Notes form the Archive at Tate Britain appears here

Today's archidose #502

Lake Flato, originally uploaded by ken mccown.

Arizona State University Polytechnic Academic Building in Mesa, Arizona by Lake | Flato Architects in collaboration with RSP Architects
, 2008. The project recently won a Texas Society of Architects 2011 Design Award, one of five this year for Lake | Flato. Previously.

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