The Fifth Annual MA A+U Colloquium

The Fifth Annual MA A+U Colloquium will be held on Thursday 9 October at 2.00pm in Chatham 809 with research presentations by three recent successful graduates.

2.00 AIDIN AHANI
2.30 REECE SINGLETON
3.00 SETON WAKENSHAW

ALL WELCOME

Atmospheric Crystallography

[Image: From the original research paper (PDF), via Popular Science].

Popular Science reported last week that a "weird crystal"—a "salt made from cobalt"—can "absorb all the oxygen in a room," and, more crucially, release all that oxygen later, at which point it can safely be breathed.

I will confess that I initially thought this sounded more like some terrifying new air-weapon: after all, if "just a spoonful of the stuff can suck up all the oxygen in a room," then you're looking at a very potent, seemingly instantaneous method for causing mass suffocation. Drop a few spoonfuls of these crystals into a building's ventilation system, and... Well, you get the idea.

But the actual, far more productive implications are incredible (assuming further tests with the material pan out). The University of Southern Denmark-based researchers suggest, for example, that this could revolutionize SCUBA diving, "as the material can absorb oxygen from the water around the diver and supply the diver with it," meaning that "scuba divers could potentially leave their tanks at home," gearing up with just a few grains of salt. "

Extrapolate from this for a moment, however, and imagine all of the other confined spatial environments in which oxygen-emitting cobalt salts could upend conventional thinking. Long-term submarine missions; underwater scientific bases or other submerged structures of any kind; mines, collapsed buildings, and other underground spaces; or, perhaps most interestingly, even offworld space missions could all be equipped with radically minimalized oxygen storage systems, reducing costs.

You can thus imagine some strange new everyday reality several decades from now in which deep-sea divers or long-haul astronauts turn to a chewing gum-sized pack of salt crystals which they pop open as needed for emergency oxygen.

Think of this portable atmospheric crystal as the gateway to new spatial possibilities, letting us bring our atmospheres with us in just a few handfuls of salt.

In Chicago

I'm in Chicago for about a week, so in that time posts will be slow. Here's a few of the buildings I saw in the last couple of days, via my Instagram feed.

WMS Boathouse at Clark Park by Studio Gang Architects:


Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston by Ross Barney Architects:


Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois in Skokie by Tigerman McCurry Architects:


Northeastern Illinois University El Centro Campus by JGMA:



Erie Elementary Charter School by John Ronan Architects:

Manchester Re-United

Eamonn Canniffe will be talking about David Gosling's 1962 'Townscape' - inspired MANCHESTER RE-UNITED project at the

Gordon Cullen Memorial Event - Manchester
Location: Manchester
Date: Wed, 08/10/2014 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm


Wednesday, October 8, 2014 from 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

You are invited to join us for an evening of discussion exploring the idea of Townscape and the influence of Gordon Cullen. Held as part of the centenary celebration of Cullen’s life and work this is a joint Academy of Urbanism and Urban Design Group regional event.

The evening will include talks by three speakers:

Simone Ridyard, architect, artist and founder of Urban Sketchers Manchester, will discuss the growing interest in urban sketching

Robert Thompson, Principal Planning Officer (urban designer) at Sheffield City Council will present a summary of his research into Cullen’s work

Eamonn Canniffe, leader of the MA Architecture + Urbanism at Manchester School of Architecture, will discuss townscape in a Manchester context

The event will be held at the offices of Turley, 1 New York Street, Manchester, M1 4HD. Starting at 5:00pm, drinks will be provided.

Turley

1 New York Street

Manchester, M1 4HD

Turkish Pavilion at Schwetzingen

 Located in the gardens of the Schwetzingen Palace complex (along with the Bathing Pavilion and the Temple of Apollo of which I've blogged) is an unusual structure referred to as the Turkish Pavilion.

Designed by French architect Nicolas de Pigage in 1779, the Pavilion was completed two years later and has recently been totally restored and opened to the public.

Designed primarily as a backdrop to the gardens where concerts were held, the building was later sometimes used by the Islamic community as a Mosque.

A large walled loggia surrounds the concert lawn with interesting Turkish inspired detailing.

The building is strictly European with many sort of "Turkish" bits glued on and the end result is totally of its' time. Think of this as Turkish Chinoiserie; not quite a copy but a European version of the original.

 The details such as the arches look almost Gothic in parts.

 The gardens are in the beautiful English style.

 Notice the brick floor patterns of the loggia.

 The Pavilion does have a small interior and again no detail was over looked.

 Beautiful carved stone is classically European with nods to the Turkish style.

The centerpiece is a large room rising up through the room with a gorgeous domed ceiling allowing light to flood inside.

 The polychromed work is playful without being too over the top.

 Many thanks as always to Neil for providing these luscious photographs to inspire us!

MoMI as a Future House

The first time I saw this futuristic house in a commercial for New Jersey lottery's "Cash 4 Life," I thought it looked familiar:


Turns out it's the highly photogenic Museum of the Moving Image expansion in Astoria, Queens, designed by Thomas Leeser:

[Photo: Elizabeth Felicella | Image source]

Specifically it's the cafe at the back of the lobby, which doubles as an event space:

[Photo:Wendy Moger-Bross/Museum of the Moving Image | Image source]

And in the land of commercials it doubles as a house in the not-too-distant future:

Gathering Pavilion

The following text and images are courtesy Mark Pearson, Associate Professor of Architecture at the College of DuPage, which had its first ever Design + Build Studio this summer resulting in a Gathering Pavilion for the community college campus outside Chicago.



During the 2014 summer semester, the College of DuPage Architecture Department offered its first ever Design +Build summer studio. This course became a hands-on, experiential learning opportunity for our students to explore space and the built environment through the design and construction of a creative, spatially innovative, temporary structure.



Designed and built by 16 students, this temporary gathering pavilion is located on the COD main campus adjacent to the west campus pond. This project allowed our students to have a firsthand experience designing, and then building a structure. The necessity of building a design forced students to consider both the poetic and the tectonic simultaneously, adding a richness to the design conversation.



Conceptually, the gathering pavilion is an exploration of "framing" – framing space, framing views, and framing experience. The design is a series of five sectional bays, or frames, which are positioned adjacent to one another. While all of these sections are based on a consistent module, each frame varies in height, alignment, and seating placement. These five frames collectively create a space that allows for students to gather and interact with each other.



This space is activated by light and shadow, modulated through a trellis-like canopy. The design frames views toward the adjacent water feature and provides a creative composition of seating elements that can be occupied in a variety of ways. This structure functions both as a sculptural object within the landscape as well as a memorable space to be occupied and enjoyed by the campus community.