re:speak

SANNZ Calendar of Events for 2011

14/02/2011 12:00:00 a.m.

Following their National meet, the Student Architecture Network of New Zealand have published their lineup of events for 2011, including a return of the infamous mid-island intensive.

For those that don't know -both in practice and university, SANNZ is a fresh and incredibly active nationwide student representative body for architectural students in New Zealand's three schools of architecture. They organise national events which are the best and only chance you have to make social and collegial relationships with others like you from around the country. SANNZ have committed themselves to this goal of student community, and are also savvy enough to have close ties with the professional world, both institutionally, and socially.

Quite succinctly, SANNZ sumarised their approach in their most recent update:
"Lastly, but not leastly, we want to foster a collaborative and open community, which welcomes members and gets the stuff done which we said we would do." Sounds pretty good.

Here's the list of upcoming things that you'll see around your school, keep an eye out for your local rep, who will probably be sporting a logo like the one pictured above... take heed!

If there are one or two things you should save up for and MAKE time for, they are the Ohakune trip - an inter-school and practitioner-integrated intensive design charette in the snow, and of course FLUX, this years Australasian Student Congress hosted in Adelaide. People always say it, and you never believe them, but Student Congress is the best thing that can happen to you, and then it keeps happening to you.

Keep an eye out for deals the SANNZ can help you out with too.

Here's the breakdown:

February
28th – 4th Membership drive + signups - UoA, VUW

March
1st – 4th - Membership drive + signups – UoA, VUW
7th – 11th – Membership drive +signups - Unitec
8th – Film screening - VUW, UoA
15th – Film screening - Unitec

April
2nd – sTute - VUW, UoA and Unitec
Graphisoft tutorial this month. Date to be confirmed.

May
Ohakune competition during a weekend this month. Date to be confirmed.

July
4th – 8th – FLUX – Adelaide

August
Superstudio this month, early August. Date to be confirmed.

September
24th – sTute – VUW, UoA, Unitec

Enjoy/Support/Participate!

Before After

11/02/2011 12:00:00 a.m.

Christchurch Art Gallery will host this Exhibition dedicated to engaging the environmental, urban, heritage, residential and infrastructural repercussions of the earthquakes.

With support from the New Zealand Institute of Architects, the Christchurch City Council, and the Warren Trust, Before After opens tomorrow, Saturday February 12, and will run until March 20 in the foyer of the Gallery.

A series of discussion events has also been arranged, covering key areas in the issues facing Christchurch. They will be concluded by lecture from the Ambassador himself, Ian Athfield, in a presentation titled 'Drawing from the collective mind.'

These discussions are free, and will be moderated by Joe Bennett in the Philip Carter Family Auditorium. Capacity is limited to just under 180.

Environmental Planning 
Thursday 17 February, 6pm

Urban Design 
Thursday 24 February, 6pm

Heritage and Character
Thursday 3 March, 6pm

beforeafter.co.nz

Residential 
Thursday 10 March, 6pm

beforeafter.co.nz

Transport and Infrastructure 
Tuesday 15 March, 6pm

Drawing from a collective mind
Lecture by Ian Athfield Thursday 31 March, 6pm

beforeafter.co.nz

This looks like a great series of events to get involved with, I'm sure you've been thinking and talking about these issues at some point in the last 5 months, during the 4,660 shakes, and this is exactly the forum for you to share them.

www.beforeafter.co.nz

Call to Ex-Pats

10/02/2011 12:00:00 a.m.

A special issue of Architecture NZ on New Zealand's architectural diaspora is calling for architects abroad to get in touch, pass it on!

This special issue is quite appropriately guest-edited by three ex-pats who find themselves in Melbourne, Justine Clark (current Editor of Architecture Australia), Paul Walker (current Associate Professor and Deputy Dean, University of Melbourne, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning), and Peter Johns, architect and Editor of industry website Butterpaper.com.

The three have created a simple questionnaire for New Zealanders abroad who have architectural backgrounds to respond to. It's easy and well worth contributing to.

They preface the issue with these questions:

"New Zealand has the world’s highest percentage of citizens living overseas, and this includes a lot of architects. What does this mean for New Zealand architecture and how we understand it? What if we think of “New Zealand” as a network as well as a geographic location?

Who are these expatriate architects? What do they do and where do they live?"

Responses to the questionnaire will be used to create infographic spreads and selected biographical anecdotes drawn from the responses.

Please flick this on to your colleagues overseas, I know for certain there are plenty around, and I think this is a significant area of interest for our profession and discipline to reflect on.

Here is the direct link to the questionnaire:
http://agmpublishing.wufoo.com/forms/architecture-nz-abroad/

Perhaps not coincidentally, AGM Publishers (the Australasian publishers responsible for Architecture NZ along with Houses NZ, Landscape Architecture NZ, ProDesign and Urbis among plenty more), are currently looking for a new Editor, see the call for EOI here.

Should I Work for Free?

4/02/2011 12:00:00 a.m.

What better way to resolve your ethical dilemmas then with a sweet flowchart!

A buddy passed this on to me and I loved it right away, mainly because I seem to work for free a lot, and I've got a bit of a thing for flowcharts.

Designed by Jessica Hische, it's pretty straight forward, pretty funny, and pretty on-point. Needless to say it recommended I give up most of my free-ness... and yet I go on undeterred.

Check out the full size flowchart here: http://shouldiworkforfree.com/

For other such valuable life lessons, check out 'Can We Date?' (full image here) from the Morning News. Apparently we should just be friends.

Can we Date? From www.themorningnews.org

Let me know if you come across some other gems, there's nothing like delegating ethical dilemmas to sweet infographics.

Pecha Kucha Nights

4/02/2011 12:00:00 a.m.

The always entertaining speed-dating of creative presentations continues in 2011 with three new events to mark in your calendar

If you're not sure what happens at a Pecha Kucha Night, check out any of the archived presentations over at www.pechakucha.co.nz, they are always interesting, and well worth taking some buddies along to so you can make witty remarks now and then, and share the awesomeness.

Here are the upcoming Pecha Kucha Nights, with more info about the speakers usually posted a few days before each event.

Wellington:
PKN_WGN_10 Monday 28 February 2011
Downstage Theatre, 12 Cambridge Terrace

Nelson:
PKN_Nelson_09 Thursday 17 March 2011
Theatre Royal.

Auckland:
PKN_AKL_24 Thursday 24 March 2011
Webb's Auction House, 18 Manukau Road, Newmarket
Doors open 7.30pm, starts 8.20pm

Enjoy!

The All Seeing Eye

2/02/2011 12:00:00 a.m.

A new crop of beautiful, serendipitous, and occasionally horrible Google Streetview images have been dug up by Jon Rafman, and they are better then most.

I say new, because I'm almost sure you've come across a blog post or website dedicated to weird and mischievous images discovered online thanks to the all-seeing Google Map or Streetview, but these ones, who I came across thanks to Super Colossal are absolute gems.

Not settling for the everyday voyeurism of Google, Jon Rafman has become a committed (and surely labourious) artist to the material, and he has discovered some amazing images. They can be incredibly beautiful, saddening, violent, and miraculously timed.

Apart from being very surprisingly composed images, they raise quite interesting questions, to Google, to the voyeur, and to the everyday web browser who feels like a galavant down a street in Istanbul or Whereverthehellyouwant.

The first detail we are instinctively drawn to is of course the location, and I think these selections are chosen intentionally to question the 'image' of the place we expect it to be. A Moose running down the street, a pedestrian-looking scene with an armed middle-aged man, an exquisitely glowing white burqa, we seem to recognise where most of them are. At least we become more self-conscious of thinking we know where they are. The second taunt from the artist is that he has located and benefitted from something anyone could have found, but this is exactly what is behind its optimism - in most cases at least: quite fairly, we get a realistic equation balanced with violence, mystery, and ugliness.

Here are a few from his latest project, check out the rest of his work on the subject here.

My name is Sergie-

Blinnng!

GoogleRoadkill

Pretty, and sad.

Chillin' suspiciously.

Now I climb out, now I climb in, now I climb...

GoogleCrimewave

Wow.

Wow-er.

Although his neighbours had thrown millions into their contextual intergration, Callum felt confident his expression of entrance and threshold was superior.

ka-BLING!!!

http://9-eyes.com/

Experimental Architectural Research

20/01/2011 12:00:00 a.m.

C-Lab is seeking applicants for a six-month full-time intern position. They are looking for self-reliant and highly motivated writers, researchers and designers to contribute to current planning initiatives, exhibition projects and the next issue of Volume magazine. Candidates should have a strong design, writing and communications background – and be highly informed of contemporary architecture, design, culture and politics.

Qualifications:

• Interest in C-Lab's mission, agenda and output
• Excellent writing, reasoning and communication skills
• Should be able to formulate lines of inquiry independently and to develop work in a sustained and logical manner

About C-Lab and Volume Magazine:

C-Lab, the Columbia Laboratory for Architectural Broadcasting, is an experimental research unit at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation that studies urban and architecture issues of public consequence.

Since 2005, C-Lab has collaborated with Archis and AMO on Volume, an independent quarterly. Volume is a global ideas platform dedicated to the production of new forms of architectural discourse. Volume magazine was founded in 2005 by former Archis editor and current NAi director Ole Bouman, architect Rem Koolhaas, and Mark Wigley, Dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Interested candidates are encouraged toemail a cover letter, CV, and a URL link to design and writing samples to hr@c-lab.columbia.edu. Include ‘C-LAB INTERNSHIP’ in the subject field. No phone inquiries, please.

Above the fold - direct from the MIT labs

20/01/2011 12:00:00 a.m.

Researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) have invented a real-life Transformer, a device that can fold itself into two shapes on command. The system is hardly ready to do battle with the Decepticons—the tiny contraption forms only relatively crude boat and airplane shapes—but the concept could one day produce chameleonlike objects that shift between any number of practical shapes at will.

Self-folding sheets are just one facet of programmable matter, the attempt to build structures that can shape-shift on demand. The idea, says study co-author Daniela Rus, a roboticist at M.I.T., is bringing materials and machines closer together to make everyday objects that can be programmed, much like people program a computer. "Instead of programming bits and bytes," she says, "you program mechanical properties of the object."

The system, described in a recent paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, consists of a thin sheet of resin–fiberglass composite, just a few centimeters across, segmented into 32 triangular panels separated by flexible silicone joints. Some of the joints have heat-sensitive actuators that bend 180 degrees when warmed by an electric current, folding the sheet over at that joint. Depending on the program used, the sheet will conduct a series of folds to yield the boat or airplane shape in about 15 seconds. The folding-sheet approach is an extension of the field of computational origami, the mathematical study of how flat objects can be folded into complex, three-dimensional structures.

Although the design presented in the new paper takes only two shapes, the researchers say that in principle the system could produce many more. "We were looking for ways to embed a bunch of different functionalities into one low-profile sheet," says study co-author Robert Wood, an electrical engineer at Harvard University's Microrobotics Laboratory. "In the longer run we'd like to develop systems to bring this not to just three, four or five shapes but to a much greater scope of different achievable shapes."

Given a set of desired three-dimensional shapes, the group's algorithms determine how to fold the sheet to produce each of the final shapes and then how to accommodate those different folding sequences on a shared sheet. Another algorithm optimizes the sheet for its desired purpose, limiting the number of embedded actuators needed to produce the final shapes. On the airplane–boat prototype sheet, for instance, only half the joints have actuators.

The researchers note that although the algorithms produce a workable folding pattern to make a given shape, human experts are often able to design a more efficient scheme. "It doesn't know how to get creative, and sometimes human origamists can see a few moves ahead, like a chess player," Rus says. "You see patterns that are not obvious to a computer program that does a step-by-step process."

In the near term Rus envisions the computational origami technology forming the basis of three-dimensional display systems—for instance, maps that can reproduce the topography of a given region on demand. "You can imagine making machines that have the ability to give you three-dimensional views of the objects they render," she says. In the more distant future programmable matter applications might move beyond mere shape mimicry to involve programmable optical, electric or acoustic properties.

Watch the video here: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1399191810?bctid=104510222001

The full article is available here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=computational-origami-robot

Bartlett appoints Frederic Migayrou as Professor of Architecture

20/01/2011 12:00:00 a.m.

The Bartlett, London (where Este and I studied from 2001-2003) has announced the appointment of French historian and writer Frédéric Migayrou as Professor of Architecture, a post last held by Peter Cook.

Migayrou, who will continue to be deputy director of the Pompidou centre in Paris, takes up his post in March.

He was described in a statement from UCL as “one of the most influential cultural engineers of the contemporary international architectural scene”.

He was an adviser for the French Ministry of Culture, and during his time as director of the Fonds Regional d’Art Contemporain (FRAC) assembled a remarkable collection of contemporary architecture.

Meanwhile, UCL also announced the appointment of Professor Murray Fraser to a personal chair at the Bartlett.

Fraser, known for his writing on cross-cultural influences and his work on the Archigram Archival Project, has previously taught at Oxford Brookes and Westminster.

Professor Alan Penn, dean of the Bartlett faculty of the built environment at UCL, said: “I am pleased that the Bartlett has attracted such exciting appointments from a remarkably strong international field.

“There are few places in the world with as rich and innovative an architectural culture as London at the moment. The Bartlett is set to play its part in bringing the best of research, education and design practice to bear on the challenges faced by a rapidly urbanising planet.”

It is also noteworthy that Neil Spiller (former Bartlett Unit Leader) is now head of the school of architecture, University of Greenwich.

Last Minute Shopping

23/12/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

I came across the minimal classiness of the Antrepo group recently, who are pulling off some cheeky posters, concepts and prints. Well worth a look and a thought.

I was initially hooked by the minimalist crusade the Antrepo have practiced on some highly recognisable products, including Red Bull and Schweppes (pictured below), but was even more interested in their movie poster series, and was intrigued by their Full Scale series of prints, until I was completely confused by their price tags.

So backing up a little bit, check out the evolutionary disintegration of branding across a few everyday products, which I think is incredibly clever given that the first few steps in their mock-ups seem feasible if not already in play. The conceptual project systematically simplifies existing branded products, resulting in a succinct and striking critique of data-saturated packaging.

Moving on to the Poster series, which similarly teases out our cultural dependance (both economically and symbolically) on commercial products. Each poster in the series is produced in a rich hue and simplified typography, listing above the title only the products which were explicitly featured. The Dark Knight stars Armani, Mercedes, Nokia, and Bang & Olufson; Kill Bill is Asics and Coca Cola. Signed and limited editions of these posters are available at US$30 here.

The most confusing piece at the Antrepo Shop is the Real Scale Series.
With only one in the series so far –so we can expect more I hope– this seven-piece mounted C-print of the side of an A340 airplane is definitely intriguing, and would be a great feature, but I was, and am baffled at the price tag of US$100,000. Yes, that's not a typo, one-hundred thousand dollars.
I love it, but I don't get it, but maybe you do. Make your $3500 deposit to secure the one-off piece now (after you casually consult with their attorney)! Check it out here, it really is a great series of images, two of the seven pictured below.

Simply, but expensively awesome.

Happy gift-giving, and holiday-making.
Dont' forget to enjoy everything & the details of Real Scale.

Best wishes
Byron

COLOUR

23/12/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

I know you need it, so why not plaster it everywhere you go, and just for the sake of it, why not make it chromo-specific? This new wallpaper concept from Carnovsky, RGB is intense and beautiful.

Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla, who are Carnovsky, have sprung forth on the design-related blogosphere with this intriguing project, which layers three distinct images on surfaces through the red, green and blue spectrum. In natural light they appear as frantic and oddly balanced splashes of colour and line, but as pictured below, can be isolated with targeted lighting to reveal beautiful and varied atmospheres.

Obviously the results are pretty intense in terms of keeping your ocular rods and cones in equilibrium, but I love the revelation of form and image from each respective lighting condition.

The RGB project inspires greatness and great madness.

Carnovsky explain:
RGB’s technique consists in the overlapping of three different images, each one in a primary color. The resulting images from this three level’s superimposition are unexpected and disorienting. The colors mix up, the lines and shapes entwine becoming oneiric and not completely clear. Through a colored filter (a light or a transparent material) it is possible to see clearly the layers in which the image is composed. The filter’s colors are red, green and blue, each one of them serves to reveal one of the three layers.

Below, matching views of the RGB project.

RGB

B

R

G

www.carnovsky.com

eVolo Skyscraper Competition 2011

22/12/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

I know, you're finishing seventeen things right now, but when you return in 2011, it'd be worth entering the eVolo Skyscraper Competition, due mid-January, and open to everyone.

Here's the downlow:

Open to: Everyone
Team size: you choose.
Registration: US$85, by January 11, 2011
Digital Submission due: January 18, 2011.
Brief: Design a skyscraper, anywhere, any size.
1st Prize: US$5000
Submission format: 2 digital posters, appx 1200 x 600mm & 600 word description.

So here's where you can find out a bit more.

eVolo elaborate:
"The annual eVolo Skyscraper Competition is a forum for the discussion, development, and promotion of innovative concepts for vertical density. It examines the relationship between the skyscraper and the natural world, the skyscraper and the community, and the skyscraper and the city.

The aim of this competition is to redefine what we understand as a skyscraper and initiate a new architectural discourse of economic, environmental, intellectual, and perceptual responsibility that could ultimately modify our cities and improve our way of life.

There are no restrictions in regards to site, program or size. The objective is to provide maximum freedom to the participants to engage the project without constraints in the most creative way."

You can enter as many times as you like, but you'll need a separate registration for each. The winners will be announced February 28th, 2011.

Here are last years winners, which frankly, I think were weaker (if not quite dubious) than previous years. You can visit those at their website too. Here.

2010 Skyscraper Competition
First Place:
Vertical Prison
Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, Beh Ssi Cze
Malaysia

Second Place
Rezza Rahdian, Erwin Setiawan, Ayu Diah Shanti, Leonardus Chrisnantyo
Indonesia

Third Place
Ryohei Koike, Jarod Poenisch
United States

www.evolo.us/category/competition

Hiding In Trees

22/12/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

In the far north of Sweden, Tree Hotel opened this year, offering unique and remarkable stand alone rooms, all perched beautifully in the trees.

With each room developing a completely different narrative with its surroundings –and each not surprisingly designed by a different architectural office, Tree Hotel rooms cater for a broad spectrum of personalities, from a Close Encounter with the UFO kind, to an ornithological retreat.

Each is designed around a compact arrangement, dealing with their varying geometries appropriately and pragmatically. Although the rooms offer roughly the same functionality as any other conventional hotel, the experience which is closely designed here looks remarkable.

You can check out each room here, as well as some background information about their philosophy and motivation here. Each room varies in price, but averages around NZ$700-800 per night for two, definitely one for the credit card then.

Luckily you can also gain some insight into the project via their Facebook profile, from which I've nabbed most of these images, and there are plenty more which might interest you, including the construction phase of these beautiful rooms. Here are a few of my favourites.

Bird's Nest
Architect: Inredningsgruppen | Bertil Harström

The Blue Cone
Architect: SandellSandberg

Mirrorcube
Architect: Tham & Videgård Architects | Bolle Tham & Martin Videgård

Aurora borealis over Treehotel and Mirrorcube, incredible.
And 60km south of the Arctic Circle.

www.treehotel.se/en/

UCL Student Occupation

2/12/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Today students of the University College of London entered their eighth day of protest against impending fee increases and resource cuts. Follow their remarkably organised and civilised protest here, which has been described as a spontaneous "academic conference".

With dedicated media-savvy protestors and incredible organisational commitment, the students of UCL enter their eighth day of a sit-in protest, occupying the Jeremy Bentham Room. Their principle protest is against the impending rise of tuition fees, to nearly three times their current levels.

The BBC reported "These are well-dressed, articulate youngsters, there's no damage to the room, and the occupations leaflets are mixed up with sleeping bags and text books about biology and Spanish grammar. This look like a revolution that probably does the hoovering when it's finished."

Other visitors include Professor David Colquhoun, who wrote of the protest:

"The press may like to portray students as irresponsible and revolting . When I visited the occupied Jeremy Bentham room last week, i got a very different impression. That was more than confirmed yesterday (29 November). The students aren’t just sitting around grumbling. They have organised a very impressive series of events... I was asked if I’d like to come back a bit later for group discussions, so I did. I found the students had split into groups. It could well have been an academic conference.

This could be the best educational experience of the year for some of them, and they were making the most of it.

It is really rather beautiful.

You can check out their formidable Calendar of events here which has the appearance of an incredibly intense conference.

Their comprehensive and frequently updated website is here, and check out their blog here, and their flickr account here, which currently leads with some horrendous police violence which unfolded in Trafalgar Square.

Annual tuition fees are set to nearly treble to £9,000 if plans proceed.

Their demands

We demand that UCL:
   •   Issue a statement condemning all cuts to higher education and the rise in tuition fees.
   •   Implement a complete open books policy with regards to existing budget constraints.
   •   Ensure no redundancies for teaching, research or support staff.
   •   Reverse its outsourcing policy by bringing staff back in-house
   •   Implement the full living wage package for all cleaning, catering and security staff with no cuts to hours and jobs.
   •   Ensure no victimisation or repercussions for anyone participating in the occupation.
   •   Allow free access in and out of the occupation

Relax and participate people.

Between the Folds

2/12/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A recent documentary from Green Fuse Films explores the art and science of paper folding through a series of diverse and intriguing profiles. Check out the trailer, some clips, and links to some related thoughts.

Directed by Vanessa Gould, Between the Folds is a relatively short documentary at 56mins, but is logically structured, and filled with extraordinarily interesting folders, from passionate artists and complex mathematicians.

Check out the trailer here, and some clips from the film here to get an idea, I particularly enjoyed the father-son du0 (home-schooled of course, both with ponytails) who are at MIT (the son became the youngest Professor ever, having been awarded his PhD at 20) The official site of the documentary at PBS has some more background information, and a short interview with Vanessa Gould. I suspect you can find a legitimate version of the doco online somewhere, otherwise do a bit of poking around and I'm sure you'll find a bit of it to watch.

A still from Between the Folds.

One of the featured mathematicians, Robert Lang, also spoke at TED about the mathematical advancements in origami, and their applications in technology industries. Check that out here.

Robert Lang at TED.

If you're left wanting more about space, about buildings, and about engineering, I can only refer you to the recent book produced by Jane Burry and Mark Burry, The New Mathematics of Architecture, which was published through Thames & Hudson this year, check it out here.

Earthquake Resilience Ideas Competition

18/11/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Submit proposals as a part of the 2011 Pacific Conference on Earthquake Engineering, 'Building an Earthquake-Resilient Society', for responses to the hazards and vulnerabilities of our cities and communities.

As a build up to the 2011 Pacific Conference on Earthquake Engineering, "Building an Earthquake-Resilient Society", the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering have launched an ideas competition seeking "proposals to increase the resilience of cities and communities affected by earthquakes and tsunami's, with a focus on aiding recovery and social regeneration to affected areas.

The brief elaborates: " Entrants are encouraged to choose a city or community familiar to them, anywhere on the Pacific Rim, and to design a proposal that utilises preplanning and/or post-disaster response and reconstruction methodologies to reduce the long term impact of an earthquake event on the built environment and social fabric. Entries will respond to the specific earthquake hazards and vunerabilities that the chosen area faces."

"This competition seeks design solutions that address the hazards and vunerablities of a chosen city or community, and propose ways in which resilience can be increased to minimise the impact of earthquake related hazards, aid the response process, and to facilitate effective recovery and reconstruction to achieve functional and social rehabilitation."

Full brief details here.

Registration Due: March 18, 2011
Submission deadline: April 8th
FIRST PRIZE: $2000
Runner Up: $750
Highly Commended: $100 per award.

With the recent effects of the Canterbury earthquakes, this competition is clearly significant for the continued dialogue of earthquake resilience through design and research, I encourage you to give it some thought.

Considering Dunedin

17/11/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A vibrant and well-informed blog has emerged from the discussion around Dunedin's new stadium, with intentions to spread its dialogue wider.

Launched by Paul Le Compte during the development of the Otago Stadium, this blog has now evolved into a frequently updated, and informed (and informative) source of information and news for the far South.

Bringing Elizabeth Kerr in to contribute as well, the site has manifested a crucial context for debate and discussion on the public project, which now sits on Dunedin's waterfront. Have a look through their archive of posts for an intriguing, and detailed account of the process, as Le Compte says, "when else in our lifetime are we going to see dear old Dunners throw a couple of hundred million dollars at one project, lets really have a say of some sort."

The site has gained a regular following, and with it, an urge to evolve the blog into a regional forum for issues of the city, planning, architecture, events, and all sorts of interesting snippets that the contributors have sourced.

For an ironic and beautiful introduction to the project, I recommend having a look through 'A Study of Site' which wonderfully documents and critiques the current site of the stadium. Some photographs are reproduced below, but check out the full Study here.

Source: http://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/a-study-of-site/

Source: http://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/a-study-of-site/

Source: http://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/a-study-of-site/

As a little plug, I should point out that they've just posted an invite to EXCITE, the Student Exhibition of Otago Polytechnic, which will exhibit works of Fashion Design, Interior Design, Communications design, and Product Design. November 17-25, noon-4pm weedkays, 11am-4pm weedends, former Wickliffe Press building, Albaby St. The Fasion Design show will open this Saturday 20th at 8pm. The architecture, building and engineering will be exhibited 16-20th in L Block, Anzac Ave. My apologies for not including this in the last post of student exhibitions.

Recently, they also posted about a free 44-page publication, "Architecture Dunedin" which is apparently to be found in local cafes, libraries, museums and so on... sounds great, I hope to grab a copy as I fling through Dunedin on the weekend.

My personal gratitude to Paul and Elizabeth for opening a window to the ongoings of the South, which is chronically under-represented in national built-environment news. I look forward to keeping an eye on things.

B

dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/

Clearview Primary School

11/11/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Opened in February 2010 Clearview Primary School is unique in New Zealand, being the first light steel framed school structure and the fastest design/build school construction that has taken place. It was twelve months from the date Mainzeal were engaged to handover on time and within budget.

Constructing a brand new, five building, 17-classroom school in under 12 months over winter may seem like a tall order. That was the brief for Mainzeal Property and Construction when it came to building Clearview Primary School in Rolleston, Canterbury. It was a GMP contract with a full design and construct element and as well as classrooms it had a library, hall/gym, offices, caretaker shed and associated parking and playgrounds. Amazingly the whole school was built in just under 300 days.

Paul Blackler, the general manager Southern region for Mainzeal said, “The thing that was unique about the project was that because of the speed with which it needed to be constructed, and because a large period of construction was over winter, we chose to build with light steel framing as opposed to timber. We were then not constrained with moisture content in the timber, therefore ensuring consistent quality and dimensional stability. Frames are strong yet lightweight making them easier for installers to handle. Supply and erection was done by N Steel a local steel framing manufacturer.

Like many parts of Canterbury, Rolleston was severely affected, in parts, by the earthquake, however the school structure stood up well and only had to close for a very short time for safety clearance.

Queens Wharf Redesign Unveiled

28/10/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

PM John Key has unveiled the redesigned Queens Wharf Cloud, the temporary host of the RWC 2011 Party Central.

The evolving design (some older images below) has taken to hugging the wharf more than its earlier iterations, but still manages to lift its PVC kilt to the Auckland docks and city now and then. It's difficult to read into the development of the design, given the scarcity of images being published, but this more appropriate choice of perspective makes it look alright really. And given its (apparently) temporary life-cycle we probably shouldn't worry about this thing much anyway (if we ignore for a few months the short-sightedness of building such a building, for such an event, at such a site). Lobbyist's (notably the Auckland Architecture Association here and here among their many articles on the topic) have also been successful, in a compromised sort of way, in retaining Shed 10, successfully convincing the Council of their (or I suppose, just "its") heritage value.

An earlier iteration of the design, conspicuously Shed-free...

...and just a little bit funny.

Actually this is stupid. There are eleven other host cities of the RWC next year.

In Whangarei, the Northland Events Centre will also be upgraded to look like this.

This is where the actual Final will be held.
Good ol' Eden Park with some girth expansion.

In Nelson, Trafalgar Park will undergo an upgrade, set for a 20,000 seat capacity.

New Zealand's second largest stadium in Christchurch recently completed an upgrade as well, and will have a capacity of 45,000.

And in Dunedin, the Brook looks like it'll keep hold of its scheduled games, although Otago Stadium wants a slice of the action, unfortunately it looks a little bit like this:

Rather than this.

Some new and more appropriate images of the Dunedin Stadium I grabbed this morning.
The above was intentionally a bit cheeky.

An older rendering of the stadium on site, which I think is revealing. Grabbed this from http://www.pitchcare.com.au/magazine/article/727
Is this still the site?

And THIS is what it looked like a little while ago... grabbed this from
http://www.flickriver.com/places/New+Zealand/Otago/Dunedin/
by Ian@NZFlickr

There are a few beautifully shot albums on Flickr too, this one caught my eye
http://www.flickr.com/photos/downunderphotos/4720150633/in/photostream/

You can email me with better images, I'd love to see more, or comment with links to any you know of.
speak@productspec.net

Enjoy

Events Calendar for November

10/11/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Check in with this weeks Events update, there's plenty happening around the country in the next month.

With Universities wrapping up the teaching year there are plenty of exhibitions of student work around. These offer valuable insight into the directions of our discipline, and are also awesome celebrations of a lot of creative energy.

NOV
Auckland University collects its diverse creative schools under AMPED, a showcase of architecture, music, planning, art, and dance studies. The ArchPlan show is probably where most of you will head, which opens November 20th in the Architecture and Planning Building. More info here.

In Wellington, the End of Year Architecture and Design exhibition opened this week, and will run until November 20, so check that out at the Vivian Street School of Architecture and Design. Victoria University also hosts the Graphisoft Student Travel Awards this year, which brings together the top work from our three schools. More info for both here.

Current - 27 NOV
Associated with Auckland University, the Gus Fisher Gallery is also currently exhibiting Simon Esling's "Six Obstructions", which "examines the intersection of the body with machines, architecture and the environment." Sounds intriguing, and looks nuts. Fantastic. More info here.

12-19 NOV
In Hamilton, check out the Architecture Forums, a collaborative series presented by the NZIA, NZ Historic Places Trust and the Waikato Museum. The five forums will address Hamilton's rapid growth and place-making in the city. Conversations will take place at the Waikato Museum, 5.30pm-8pm, tickets are $15. Here's the line-up:

5 November, What makes great architecture and cities? How do we achieve this in Hamilton; Ian Athfield, Gordon Chesterman, Andrew Bydder

12 November, How should landscape architecture and public art contribute to great spaces? Renee Davies, Peter Stergel

15 November, Heritage sustainability - full day workshop with Donovan Rypkema

19 November, Sparking our urban vitality, where to from here for Hamilton? Tommy Honey, Mayor, Mike Pohio, Ann McEwen

More info here.

18 NOV
In Auckland again, catch Rachel Neeson and Nick Murcutt from Sydney design practice Neeson Murcutt, who are in town for the Cavalier Bremworth Awards (on the judging panel), and thoughtfully will present a lecture at the AUT School of Art and Design, St Paul Street on Thursday 18 November, at 5.30pm. 10 CPD Points. More info here.

As always check out your local venues and dates for Pecha Kucha, which continues its dance across the country in Auckland (twice in a week even), Wellington and Dunedin. Dates and more info as the events approach available here.

In a similar style, if you're rushed for time to check out the student work on show in Auckland, take a lunch break on Saturday 20th November to check out Fast Architecture, where the Auckland Uni Thesis students will present their year-long projects in quick succession. It's also a great chance to get a peek at the nominated Graphisoft Student Travel Award projects before they head south to battle it out with Unitec and Vic.

Best to you all.

Sketches in the Air

10/11/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Architects and artists Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo have developed a beautiful collection of works, the Non-Sign II here being their latest installation.

Founders of the Seattle-based architectural and installation art firm Lead Pencil Studio, Han and Mihalyo were awarded the 2008 Prix de Rome in architecture, and in 2009/10 the New York Prize from the Van Alen Institute.

Non-Sign II is a new work which builds upon previous explorations in 'sketching spaces' such as 4 Corners (pictured below, 2007) and Stairway (also pictured, 2003). The negatively drawn billboard is the result of a government commission, and is sited between the USA and Canadian border.

Check out a video of its installation here.

And their full collection of work here (their website is a beautiful drawing of its own)

Non-Sign II, 2010

4 Corners
Seattle, 2007

Stairway
Seattle, 2003

Stairway
Seattle, 2003

'Maryhill Double'
Biggs Junction, OR. 2006

'Maryhill Double'
Biggs Junction, OR. 2006

'In-between'
San Francisco, 2007

Enjoy your praxis

Chemical use in steel manufacture

7/11/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Chemical-free steel frame claims untruthful

Claims in promotional literature implying that galvanised steel framing is free of chemicals, have been questioned by some in the timber industry. The message appears to be that thin gauge steel products are durable without the need for protective coatings or additional preservatives.

According to Bill Hayward, New Zealand marketing manager for Carter Holt Harvey, Australasia’s largest wood products company, claims that steel framing is chemical free need to be qualified by context and, like all advertising, must not mislead builders and the public.

Steel treated for rust protection

Bill says that some promotional literature and websites for steel framing make claims such as ‘no toxic chemicals are used to treat steel, unlike the treatment of timber’ (Scottsdale Construction Systems, www.scottsdale.co.nz). However, the reality is somewhat different.

“Galvanizing is a chemical treatment where the reactive metal zinc is applied to the exposed surface of steel products to provide corrosion protection to the steel. Depending on the environment, this coating erodes from the surface over time unless painted or protected.

“What may be less well known is that after the manufacturing of galvanized steel coil (from which steel framing is formed), hexavalent chromium compound is applied. This additional chromate coating (usually applied by spraying) acts to protect the zinc layer from ‘white rust’ corrosion while stored in rolled form.

Without the chromium coating, the steel may become discoloured and it is almost impossible to restore the finish to the original shiny metallic appearance.

Environmental vigilance

Bill believes that manufacturers are placing an increasing focus on environmental attributes in order to attract people to use their products.

Over the last decade or so, the interest in the environmental credentials of products has increased, and with that interest comes a greater level of regulatory and competitor scrutiny of the claims being made.

“There is a long standing obligation in consumer protection law that advertising claims be accurate and avoid misleading and ambiguous statements”, says Bill.

“Generalized claims of environmental benefit are not appropriate where they could mislead. Specific claims must be backed up with scientific evidence.

“I think that all manufacturers in the building industry have a duty to recognize this when claims are made in promotional material about issues such as chemical usage, or the lack of it.

“The timber industry has successfully used preservative treatments for many years. This is well known and manufacturers don’t make a secret of it. The issue here is not about the use of chemicals in steel framing to prevent rust or for other purposes, it’s about being clear and upfront about it.”

Open Agenda Lecture Tonight

27/10/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

If you're in Sydney tonight, myself and Barnaby Bennett will be presenting our work which is currently exhibited at Customs House.

Open Agenda was launched this year by Anthony Bourke, Head of the School of Architecture at the University of Technology Sydney, a competition aimed at developing experimental and research-based propositions for architecture. Myself and Barnaby Bennett were selected for our "architecture drawing project", which is exhibited currently at Customs House in Sydney, alongside other selected projects: "(in)human habitat" by James Gardiner, and "Urban Breeder" by Supermanouvre.

Anthony Bourke, James, Barnaby and myself will be presenting the work at UTS this evening (Wednesday) from 6.30pm, Level 5, Architecture Studios, Building 6, UTS City Campus, with drinks starting at 6.15pm. The lecture takes place as a part of the UTS Spring Lecture Series and is a part of the Sydney Architecture Festival.

It would be great to see you there. Below are some snippets of the work, to be published early in the new year. The exhibition at Customs House runs until late January 2011. After that we might try crossing it over the Tasman...

The List drawing. (3 of 6) 800 x 1000mm

And the Flow Chart drawing.. (4 of 6) 800 x 1000

More info here.

Pictures of the Wellington Rocks

26/10/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

I can't wait to use this terminal. It's not like I'm in a shortage of good reasons to fly to Wellington, but these images have me especially eager. I've been spending my fair share of time in airport terminals recently, and this one makes all others look like the malls they usually aspire to be. Although the rest are financially (and architecturally) modeled as over-inflated commercial conveyor belts, the cavernous interior of the Wellington Rocks looks like an enviable space for geographically and temporally displaced occupants.

Photographer Patrick Reynolds (who I surmise is responsible for the press shots which are mixed with our own snaps below) has said: "As I was photographing The Rock I was reminded of the great images by Ezra Stoller of Eero Saarinen's 1962 TWA Terminal at JFK. Of course the buildings are different in form and scale... but the ambition of the two buildings is clear. They both set out to provide a theatrical space to give glamour and comfort to what can be a tiresome and even stressful process... In both cases the buildings suggest they have a life of their own: they often appear animal-like..."

Each of the features that were carefully explained two years ago, when The Rock received a mix of public excitement and excrement, are looking stunning. Little corners to rest privately, structural negatives carefully sliced into the building, a ceiling which swoops and folds to the floor, and finally a warm airport interior.

The Rock was designed by Studio Pacific Architecture in association with Warren and Mahoney, and constructed by Mainzeal Property and Construction. Kudos to you all.

As mentioned, the amazing photographs below are by Patrick Reynolds, or taken by Productspec at this morning's opening.

Tarmac view from the guy who holds glowsticks, waving you in.

Seriously cool, and a bit scary.

Tarmac bling.

Scaley-copper-foldy goodness.

View from the guy speeding your luggage across the tarmac.

Not a bad descent.

A series of caves, looking pretty comfortable

The high and long view.

Architects talk. Comfy.

Detail! Sharp, negative, perforated, geometric, crisp.

Detail! Interfloor structural slice, negative floor detail: awesome.

Not a bad spot to do some sitting.

Outs and ins and out again.

A new space in Wellington, o hello Mojo.

If the Batcave had an International Passenger Lounge.

A postmodern pre-post-earthquake conceptual structural intervention.

Can't wait to lounge there.

Ideas for Christchurch up for discussion.

13/10/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

The results of the open call for ideas are now published online, waiting for your comments and discussion.

Following the string of earthquakes which have rumbled through Canterbury for the last month, a group of incredibly motivated and committed arhitecture graduates have collaborated to produce this fantastic forum of "Ideas for Christchurch."

Link through to the forum here.

As I'm sure a lot of us were, the collaborative quickly imagined the extent of rebuilding urgently required throughout the city and neighbourhoods, and as those committed to quality spaces, buildings, environments, and objects, it is cynical, but not unreasonable to imagine poor quality developmental projects being hurried along and built to restore the city's cohesion. A critical observation made by the organisers is that the sheer extent of the possible rebuilding of Christchurch's inner city (in particular) could drastically alter the urban environment, and therefore could and should be the subject of considered, imaginative and ambitious re-thinking.

The number of submissions is impressive. There are now over fifty projects for you to consider (link through here to the Foum) online, which is testament to the importance of these issues for Christchurch, and is also indicative of the dedicated and motivated design and architecture community.

There is a great variety of ideas, some focusing on the temporary (re)use of vacant sites, offering urban reinvigoration through agricultural and parkland development, while another considers the suburb, like '50c Mix architecture', with builders and architects actively assisting Dairy restoration across Canterbury, a chance for community engagement at the corner store. On an even more domestic scale, Anna Ferguson has suggested to pool the city's broken china in order to create beautiful and invigorating mosaic's through the "bleak" Cathedral Square. A befitting gesture filled with civic remembrance, and a little chuckle.

50c Mix architecture.

A bundle of infrstructural, and artistic responses for the regeneration of Christchurch.

A number of projects see an opportunity for radical botanic experiments to enrich the city.

On a smaller scale, vacant sites become agricultural hubs.

Ambitious projects have imagined entire towers covered with vertical green-walls, or offered typological paradigm shifts, imagining Christchurch with new vertical mega-strucuctures to compliment the Canterbury Plains.

The breadth of the Ideas is incredibly rich, and representative of a type of architectural practice which I find incredibly valuable. There are infrastructural, political offerings, community-driven social suggestions, deployment of imaginative and expressive art works, reconsideration of historic conservation and preservation, and very importantly, ideas outside of the 'City'.

Enigmatically, Patricia Smith has simply reminded us, "eat an elephant slowly."
Some profound advice really, which seems to express so much about what I hope happens in Christchurch, metaphorically I hope.

View the entire gallery here.

www.ideasforchristchurch.org

NZIA Architecture Award Nights

13/10/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Although I'm not in time for the Nelson Malborough Architecture Awards, which were celebrated last week, here are the upcoming dates and locations for the rest of the nation. Link through here to register for the events.

AUCKLAND Architecture Awards (Tomorrow! You'll need to RSVP now!)
Thursday 14th October 6.00pm - 9.00pm 
St Matthew-in-the-City
Cnr of Hobson & Wellesley Streets Auckland
Tickets cost $35.00 (incl GST).

CANTERBURY Architecture Awards
Thursday 21st October 6.00pm - 9.00pm
James Hay Theatre Christchurch Town Hall 
86 Kilmore Street Christchurch Central
Tickets cost $29.00 (incl GST)

WAIKATO BAY OF PLENTY Architecture Awards
Friday 29th October
6.00pm - 10.30pm
The Atrium, Wintec House
Cnr Angelsea & Nisbet Streets
Hamilton
Dinner and Awards presentation tickets $70.00

WELLINGTON Architecture Awards
Thursday 4th November 6.00pm - 9.00pm 
Renouf Foyer, Michael Fowler Centre 
First Floor, 111 Wakefield Street Wellington
Awards presentation cost $30.00 per person (incl. GST)

WESTERN Architecture Awards
Friday 5th November 5.30pm - 7.30pm
Heritage House 136 St Hill Street Wanganui
Awards presentation cost $28.00 per person (incl. GST) 
The Western branch will also be hosting a dinner at the conclusion of the awards presentation. Contact Alana Seymour at BSM Group Architects on 06 345 8112 or email AlanaS@bsmgroup.co.nz to rsvp.

GISBORNE HAWKE'S BAY Architecture Awards
Friday 12th November 6.00pm - 10.30pm 
Black Barn Bistro, Black Barn Vineyard 
Black Barn Road , Havelock North.
There is no charge to attend the awards presentation however they'd like your registration for catering purposes. The Gisborne Hawke's Bay branch will host a dinner at the conclusion of the awards at the Bistro which everyone is invited along to. Dinner cost $65.00 per person (incl. GST).

SOUTHERN Architeture Awards
Friday 19th November 6.00pm - 9.00pm
The Hunter Centre, University of Otago , 281 Great King Street , Dunedin.
Awards presentation cost $21.00 per person (incl. GST) Please.
The Southern branch will also host a dinner at the conclusion of the awards presentation. If you'd like to go along please contact Murray Goldfinch, Southern Branch Secretary on 03 477 1096 or email nziaotago@yahoo.co.nz

NZIA Event page

For general enquiries you can contact the NZIA Awards Secretariat Daryne Begbie on 07 981 5857 or email awards@nzia.co.nz
You can register online for any of the Award Nights here.

Basket of Events Happening

8/10/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Like a fresh collection of your favourite fruit 'n veggies, have a browse through some of the happenings in our diary for the coming weeks.

Today-Nov 21 Wellington:
The Hirschfeld Gallery's current show The Light Fantastic: Peter Trevelyan
Intriguing new work which is both drawing and sculpture, as mentioned in previous post, well worth a visit. Peter Trevelyan will be In Conversation at the Hirschfeld Gallery with curator Abby Cunnane on Saturday 30 October, 2.00pm. More info here.

Today-Oct 10 Auckland:
Architecture Discussed: Disgust and Other Irregularies.
Although we're too late to catch the opening on Tuesday, if you're quick you can still catch this exhibition at the George Fraser Gallery, 25A Princes St, Central Auckland. The show features the work of Daniel Lowery, Anas Hafeedh and Fraser Moore, who are all currently in their final year at the School of Architecture and Planning.
More info here.

12 Oct - 19 Oct Auckland:
Future Proof Lecture Series
In the next two weeks catch Jerome Partington who's presentation is titled "Too much glass in NZ architecture" at the Design Lecture Theatre, NICAI Conference Centre, 6pm-7pm, 12 October. The following installment will be from Shay Brazier, with "Building integrated renewable energy" on 19 october, 6pm-7pm, Design Lecture Theatre. Both events are free.
More info here.

13 Oct Auckland:
Fast Forward Lecture Series
This great series rounds off with Andrew Barrie, who will present his inaugural lecture as Professor at the University of Auckland. Andrew shouldn't be a new name to you, so check out more info here.

and...
It's nearly Architecture Week!
10 - 17 October, check out the full line-up for Auckland here [http://www.architectureweek.co.nz/], it's looking fantastic. What's your city up to hmm? Let me know.

Enjoy.

Design Mash-up: Part II

7/10/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A second assortment of some design blog action in the last little while. From rock houses to Bow-Wowsers, insane pencil craft and elvish furniture, and the veiny building is revealed.

Starting with the tiniest of this weeks subjects, the miniature sculptures of Dalton Ghetti. Carved with excruciating detail and fragility, Ghetti's chosen medium is pencil lead. The feats accomplished by his needle-point carving are astounding and well worth a look, I keep going back out of sheer disbelief. Ghetti is a carpenter, and likes to spend an hour here and there on the carvings, the more complicated pieces taking over a year to complete. Insane, and beautiful.
Found over at Yatzer, and of course I can't ignore the intriguing exhibition currently on show at the Hirschfeld Gallery, called The Light Fantastic, by Peter Trevelyan []. Also using pencil lead as a material, Trevelyan's sculptures are incredibly complex and equally ambitious in their painstaking detail and fragility. More info here, it runs until 21 November in Wellington.

Ghetti at work with a needle.

Some of Ghetti's unbeleivable pieces.

Now showing at the Hirschfeld Gallery, Wellington City Gallery.

The next piece of work was spotted on CubeMe (who spotted it on karmatrendz...), and was shot by Jsome1 who's photographs you can check out here. The work, in the mountains of Fafe, Portugal is an odd little building, of which very little is known... except that it looks awesome. Jsome1's photo set is here.

Shot by Jsome1, view the set here.

With tight spaces in mind, Atelier Bow Wow have been promoting their new project in Shinjuku, Tokyo: Tower Machiya. Squeezed between two other plots and with a footprint of under 20m2, the four-storey structure has the typical elegance of other Atelier Bow-Wow projects, incorporating slender industrial fittings and a rigorously restrained material palette.
More project information here.

Interior views of Tower Machiya.

On the larger scale of things, Californian firm Faulders Studio have designed a proposal for a high-rise building which literally feeds from its context, proposed to rest near the Persian Gulf waters. The GEOtube building incorporates an external skin which is entirely grown from the saline-rich spray of the nearby Gulf, piped 4.62km underground and gravity-fed to the skin. "As the water evaporates and salt deposits aggregate over time," we're told, "the tower's appearance transforms from a transparent skin to a highly visible white solid plane." The designers propose the resulting structure will be a "specialized habitat for wildlife" (mmhm), and could be harvested for crystal salt. There's some strange possibilities in a work like this, which I think offers a productive contribution to urban renewable agriculture, and dare I suggest an organic (or biological) architecture. Despite their highly finished images, I think the quality of a salt-screen facade (and I'm only entertaining this on an aesthetic level) would be gritty, wonderfully varied and tasty. Some more images here.

The vascular system of the building, distributing the sea spray.

At first I entertained the idea that the GEOtube and the next could be connected, if only in Rivendell or something equally otherworldly. The Enignum Canopy Bed looks like it's for Elrond himself, carved beautifully from timber by Irish designer Joseph Walsh. The piece is one of a similarly designed set, all of which seek to explore and express the qualities of timber. If that isn't of interest, than you could learn more about Rivendell, like I did. Here's a curious observation, Tolkien has based the description of Rivendell on Lauterbrunnen, a municipality of Switzerland where he hiked in the early 20th Century, Peter Jackson on the other hand, just went up to Kaitoke. Choice.

Enjoy

Design Mash-up: Part I

30/09/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A pick n' mix of some design blog action in the last little while. From a Persian building with a vascular system to a Venice Bienalle pavilion that nearly-could; from a hipster bike rack to Atelier Bow-Wow and more...

Starting up in the ropes, New York City commercial mural painters are featured in a beautifully shot and directed documentary short, sponsored by Stella Artois, called Up There. The 12-minute documentary interviews the committed few who maintain the craft of mural painting against the economic competition of vinyl printing billboards. Up There dutifully portrays the long-held tradition of apprenticeship and artful craft in the practice, and the pride each painter and crew member holds in their finished work.

View the trailer here, or the full documentary short here.
Discovered at ME Design Blog.

Concept: Mother NY; Production Co: Mekanism; Director/DP/Editor: Malcolm Murray; Music by The Album Leaf; Painters: Colossal Media/Sky High Murals/Bob Middleton; Presented by Stella Artois.

With the Venice Bienalle at its midway point, it seems fair to present a fascinating pavilion that unfortunately never made it there. The Croatian team have designed an intricately structured floating pavilion, which was constructed by layering 40 layers of reinforcing mesh, amassing 32 tonnes of steel in the process... Thankfully the locals were able to enjoy occupying the pavilion before its departure for Venice, and it is looking incredible, very reminiscent of Diller & Scofidio's blur building. Unfortunately during its transportation, the structure became unstable, slumping over horribly to its demise. Sure, the engineering could have been more resolved, but we still got images out of it... is there much difference in the end between this and the pavilions that were 'there'? Discovered at DesignBoom, here.

The pavilion completed and looking stunning.

The pavilion interior.

Sadly, the structure proved a bit unstable on the high seas...

Speaking of the ephemeral, I've posted a couple of examples in the past of the increasing interest and practice of mapping 3D projections on to buildings, so I thought it apt to keep you up to date on this recent effort from Seeper, organised for the Branchage Film Festival. Although there are much the same tricks as the past projects, a new aspect of this video is a shot from across the town, where we see the building come to life perched up on its hill, looking very animated, and pretty trippy. The final curtain fall is also quite beautiful. Check it out here, grabbed from Wallpaper.com here.

Some eerie stills from the footage.

Across the ditch from that fascinating Island, Rachel Whiteread, who I've always admired, is currently exhibiting a collection of drawings at the Tate, so if you're nearby check it out! Whiteread works rigourously with drawing throughout all her projects, so there are some beautiful representations of a huge range of her works. Luckily the Guardian reproduced a few samples for us. Exhibition details are here.

Finally, to round off this bunch, something very homely, designed by Chris Brigham. With experience as a graphic artist, photographer, and dreams of architecture, Brigham returned to the shed, to craft some beautiful pieces, including a stunning custom-built work station, and this elegant little Bike Shelf (pictured below). With the choice of Walnut of Ash in its construction, I think this is charming, and an elegant solution to bike storage. Cant remember where I found this, but more importantly, check out his work here at Knife and Saw.

Enjoy.

And the Nominees Are...

28/09/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

NZ Wood have launched the 2010 Timber Design Award nominations, link through to vote for your favourite for the People's Choice Award.

The 2010 Timber Design Awards have been hosted by NZ Wood since 2008, and have published for us the 42 projects nominated in the categories of Residential Architectural Excellence, Residential Engineering Excellence, Commercial Architectural Excellence, Commercial Engineering Excellence, Sustainability, Outdoor Infrastructure, Cladding Building Envelope, Interior Fit Out, the new category Clever Wood Solution Award, and the People's Choice Award, which you are invited to vote for here.

Have a perusal through the projects, which are limited to three images and some copy to represent each project.

Some projects that caught my eye for various reasons...

The Coastal House by Tennent + Brown Architects is looking pretty elegant in its formally striking elevation. Mana Tamariki, a Te Reo Maori immersion school designed by Tennent + Brown also looks beautifully finished.

Coastal House by Tennent + Brown Architects.

The Waitomo Caves Visitor Centre has been looking great ever since its early sketches, and thanks to Dunning Thornton Consultants, Architecture Workshop, Hunters, and Hawkins Construction, its roof structure in particular is looking world-class.

The Waitomo Caves Visitor Centre, Architecture Workshop et al.

The detailing and expression of timber in the Courtyard House from KebbellDaish Architects is also a stand-out in the whole bunch, focusing in particular on a beautiful staircase.

Staircase (outside and inside detail) of the Courtyard House, KebbellDaish Architects.

The Folding Whare from Callum Dowie is pretty curious, while Boon Goldsmith Bhaskar Brebner (Team Architects) show us how to take vertical slats seriously in their S House, Oakura. In the Supreme Court, a project which has attracted some pretty heavy critique, you have to admit the interior of the courtroom (nevermind the metaphors) is looking pretty amazing, so long as your 'just visiting'.

The Folding Whare, by Callum Dowie.

The Supreme Court from Warren & Mahoney.

The Windflow 500 from Windflow Technology was a great surprise to me. They have developed a laminated timber blade for a smaller 500kW turbine, which is lighter and constructed from renewable pine. Pretty cool.

See the full list here to cast your vote.

Get(ting) it Louder

23/09/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

SANS, a design duo from NZ, keep us up to date on their role as Exhibition Designers at Get It Louder in China.

With a broad range of projects in their portfolio, Yijing Xu and Neill Gaddes have backgrounds in architecture, industrial design and exhibition design, and have been working since June on the traveling exhibition, which 'moves' to Shanghai in October, although from what I gather it is more of an evolutionary process.

Yijing and Neill have been maintaining a blog which beautifully documents their involvement with the project. Link through here to check it out. An efficient and very flexible module design has proven incredibly versatile for SANS at Get It Louder, which manages to have a diverse and beautiful range of structural, furnishing and aesthetic applications. Check out their early tests with the prototype here, pretty awesome.

Here are some images of the project leading up to the Beijing chapter of Get It Louder, which was completed, and opened last week.

The manufactured modules on site.

Installing the modules in their various functions.

A finished fit-out.

A completed structure & furnishings. Beautiful.

A detail of the completed structure.

"Sans Strike Through is an apropos momentary act of design. Cheating to get through life, we appropriate the inappropriate to create something perishable and provisional, but always good. Driven by Yijing Xu and Neill Gaddes, we currently practice from Auckland, New Zealand in a rather schizophrenic composite of Architecture, Installation, Exhibition and Industrial Design capacities." -SANS

We hope to hear more from SANS soon.
My warm thanks for the use of their blog images.

20UNDER40 24Hr Design Competition Returns

15/09/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Sadly the Architectural Centre have informed us the 2010 20Under40 Competition has been postponed until early next year. Stink! We'll keep you updated when it returns.

Yess! The best design competition in NZ returns September 24-25, run by the debonair Architectural Centre.

Shrouded in secrecy, but veiled in allusion and rumour, 20 Under 40 is a long-running 24-Hour design competition, which despite rumours, is open to Everybody, from Anywhere.

There's very little else to say except that the briefing will be launched September 24, 6pm at LT1, Victoriau University Faculty of Architecture and Design (Vivian St), with submissions due a day later at the Lyall Bay Surf Club.

Judges will be Simon Twose (VUW), Sven Mehzoud (Massey) and the Mystery Celebrity Judge. Keep tabs on the Architectural Centre's online forum here, for more information coming soon.

Do it!

www.architecture.org.nz

Ideas for Christchurch

14/09/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Launched as a design initiative to engage with the effects of the devastating earthquake, a group of architectural graduates are looking to engage in public and professional dialogue.

Ideas for Christchurch declares an urgency, like the fast-tracked rebuilding response, creative, critical and considered responses to and for the city should be considered in submissions. The organisers explain:

"The events in Christchurch have given their concerns a direct and immediate weight: over the coming months, hugely significant, city-defining architectural and planning decisions are going to have to be made. We implore the public at large, as well as architecture students and praticing architects, to become involved in a positive and productive discussion over the nature of these decisions and the kinds of rebuilding they would like to see take place. We want to see your ideas providing a framework to give shape to what could, should, or might be."

"Choose your strategy, construct an argument, share a notion, indulge in joyful play, fight against or reach towards. Scale is open: form a strategic vision for the entire city; reconsider a hard hit suburb; preserve a local dairy. Salvage heritage and character, design temporary infills, sustainable developments, urban parks/reserves, inner-city living, a new typology of housing, a city of skyscrapers, a city of pickes..."

There's some loaded dialogue in there ready to be sprung, so this is a great opportunity for those living in, or having lived in, or having connected in some way with the Garden City, to offer something to this eager conversation.

Works can be created in any medium, but must be translated to an A3 (420mm x 297mm) digital format and sent along to ideasforchristchurch@gmail.com

Submit as often as you like, between September 15 - 25.
Selected works will be uploaded to online discussion forums, presented to media, and publicly exhibited.

For more info visit ideasforchristchurch.wordpress.com.

Also check out rebuildingchristchurch.wordpress.com.

Question mark over steel frame Code Compliance

13/09/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Steel-framed homes built in some parts of New Zealand may not meet the Building Code requirements for thermal performance, according to new research.

Conducted by Green Being Ltd, independent Consulting Engineers, the research concludes that to achieve code compliance in the South Island using steel frame construction, a house would need to have additional insulation than that required for timber framed construction.

According to Green Being director Paula Hugens, most builders and specifiers are aware of “thermal bridging” problems that occur with steel framing and the need to use thermal breaks.

Thermal breaks are typically polystyrene strips or sheeting, approximately 12mm thick, additional to the steel framing and fitted between the framing and the external lining.

“However, even with these thermal breaks, steel frame homes will only meet the minimum building code requirements in the North Island, while in the South Island, they often don’t meet the standard at all unless additional measures are undertaken”, says Ms Hugens.

Because steel transfers heat and cold much more readily than wood (400 times more readily), steel studs create thermal bridges to the outside of the home, which can significantly compromise thermal performance.

“I think what the industry in general doesn’t realise is that creating thermal breaks is only one part of the solution”, says Ms Hugens.

“To achieve the same level of performance as a timber framed home, you have to up-spec the insulation when using steel framing.”

Ghost marks

Ms Hugens says particular care should be taken when installing thermal breaks with steel framing.
“If they are not correctly installed, condensation and mould can form on internal and external linings. In some cases, this leads to the appearance of “ghost marks” (shadow-like outlines of the framing) on the interior walls.

While “ghost marks” are unsightly, condensation and mould can have more serious consequences and may adversely effect the environment of the home and the health of its occupants.

Heat loss through ceilings?

Ms Hugens points out that while the National Association of Steel Framed Housing (NASH) recommends a thermal break for walls constructed with steel framing, there is no recommendation for a thermal break in ceilings where steel framing is used.

“Given that the greatest heat loss in homes is through the ceiling, it is likely that a steel framed ceiling and roof space will also require a thermal break to achieve code compliance. Even a continuous blanket of insulation will still have thermal bridges at truss verticals and diagonals”

Ms Hugens advises anyone considering building with steel framing to thoroughly investigate what extra measures will need to be put in place to ensure the home is insulated to a performance level equal to a home constructed with timber framing.

Higher standards to come

Ms Hugens believes that although people building new homes start out with high expectations for warmth, comfort and energy efficiency they are sometimes disappointed with the end result.

“The fact is that the insulation values given in New Zealand’s standards for insulation are very low compared to many other countries with similar climatic conditions. For example, in San Francisco, the minimum insulation value for Package C is R4.4 whereas in the South Island of New Zealand, it’s R2.0.

“I think that in New Zealand we will ultimately review and upgrade our insulation standards in keeping with overseas trends because of the positive gains that can be made in terms of health and energy savings.”

Source: http://www.greenbeing.co.nz/news/11/

Picturing the Earthquake from afar

9/09/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Paul Nicholls of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, has animated every earthquake in Christchurch since Saturday morning.

For anybody not quite sure how unnerving it must be to live in Christchurch over the last week, refer to Paul Nicholls's Christchurch Quake Map, which visualises the recorded earthquakes since Saturday morning, graphically represented by location, magnitude and time.

"The Christchurch Quake Map on this website aims to present a time-lapse visualisation of the earthquake and its aftershocks, primarily to help those outside the affected area understand what those of us in Canterbury are experiencing. It plots earthquake data from GeoNet on a map using the Google Maps API, with the size of the circle denoting the magnitude (the higher the magnitude, the larger the circle) and the colour showing the focal depth (see the legend below the map)."

It's difficult to fathom just how unsettling it must be, but we thank Nicholls for providing some insight to those further abroad.

Visit the Quake Map HERE.

An uneasy flickering of earthquakes, all within minutes of each other on Saturday morning.

www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz

Architectural Design Research Online

8/09/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Find full digitized copies of Architectural Design Research at the digital headquarters of the Association of Architecture Schools of Australasia.

First published in 2008 as a unique publishing platform for architectural design research, the pint-sized journal of the same title is overseen by the Association of Architecture Schools of Australasia, an elusive (from Google at least) but significant organisation which has the progress and performance of our schools of architecture in its sights.

The journal is co-edited by the eminent researcher Michael Ostwald, of the University of Newcastle, and Brent Allpress, the Research Director and Postgraduate Coordinator at RMIT.

The annual journal (of which there are three volumes now available) is introduced by the Editors on its first edition cover:

"This journal promotes the publication of architectural design research, focusing particularly on project-based research and associated discourse on design. Design is a core activity of the architectural discipline, and yet there are few refereed publications committed to disseminating design-driven research. The term design research is often accounted for as a design science, relying primarily on empirical analytical methodologies drawn from outside the discipline.

This journal offers an alternative model."

'Drafting Pier 40' is an intriguing project presented in this first issue. Using (what I would further call) drawing research as as principle methodology, Yoryia Manolopoulou engages "chance as a drawing tool in the process of Architectural Design." And the results are beautifully curious.

Fire/House by Luke Douglas is another exquisitely drawn project reminiscent of Libeskind's unstable orthographic projections, which culminates in a stunning transparent planometric drawing (pictured below). Both well worth a closer reading.

Fire/House drawing by Luke Douglas (detail), ADR, Vol 1, n.1

In Volume 2, Richard Goodwin grabs my attention, with his playful but subversive analysis of urban porosite, a study based on the improvised 'infiltration' of occupants through vertical urban buildings to find 'public', or more accurately 'accessible' spaces. The results are presented in a 'porosity index', as well as some expressive spatial diagrams of 'porosity' (pictured below), and a beautiful range of hand-drawn and digital sketches.

Richard Goodwin, 'Porosity' ADR, Vol.2, n.1 p76-77

Volume 3 is befittingly launched by Brent Allpress with 'Design Research Infrastructure', a short introduction to the role of 'design research' in the University, specifically in regard to the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) who now recognise qualitative and creative research as a key research activity, alongside traditional publication and grant funded research.

Another standout work is Light Works, from Gabriela Seifert, Goetz Stoeckmann, and Narelle Yabuka (pictured below).

Light Works, detail photographic drawing. Seifert, Stoeckman, Yabuka. ADR Vol.3, n.1

If you'd prefer hardcopies in your fingertips, you can subscribe here.
Otherwise check them all out here, online.

Enjoy.

Archived New Zealand Design Review Digitised

1/09/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Published by the Wellington Architectural Centre between 1948 and 1954, the Design Review was a refreshingly ambitious and broad-spectrum journal, now made available in full by Victoria University's Electronic Text Centre.

The Architectural Centre was formed only a couple of years earlier, in 1946, by a group of students, teachers and architects, who offered a fertile site for dialogue, critique and education in the Wellington architectural scene.

The New Zealand Electronic Text Centre makes a great introduction:

"The Wellington Architectural Centre began the two-monthly publication of Design Review in 1948. The Wellington Architectural Centre was founded in 1946, and began the first architectural school in Wellington (1947) and the first town planning school in New Zealand (1949). The Centre was unique at the time of its founding in that it invited members interested in a broad range of design and the arts, rather than restricting membership to professional architects and architectural students. Internationally it is one of the oldest organisations of its type." -NZETC

The very first issue even had some column inches dedicated to Wellington's new students of architecture, who the Centre had essentially created a school for (twenty-five years before Victoria University got around to it), they colourfully explain:

"There are now nearly sixty architectural students in Wellington City. Rightly or wrongly they are all aiming to qualify for entry into the governing professional body, the New Zealand Institute of Architects. Since the only School of Architecture in the country is attached to Auckland University despondent students in the capital have long voiced the need for organised direction in their studies. Their road to qualification is inevitably painful and often ultimately crushing." Design Journal Vol.1, no.1, 1948

Great stuff to peruse, both graphically and textually. And the richness of subjects is incredible. In my browsing, I was hooked by Design Review Vol.2, no.3, edited by E. C. Simpson, with art edited by E. Mervyn Taylor. It is prefaced by an editorial titled "a plea for ornament", which combined with Felix Schwimmer's feature piece "The Industrial Fashion Designer" (which offered the cover image, pictured below) makes for a remarkable allusion to Adolf Loos's two-time journal Das Andere ("The Other", a proto-fashion & architecture journal, sparked by Loos's fascination for Western fashion having just returned from America, which he loved) which featured a similar cover image, displaying the fashion of Goldman & Salatsch (who would soon after commission Loos to design their flagship store in Vienna, a significant project for Loos). The connection is delicate of course, given E. C. Simpson's colourful plea for a more invigorating deployment of ornament, and Loos's pared-back exteriors, with their overtly Freudian interior complexity.

Cover Image of Design Review Vol.2, no.3.

Loos's Das Andere No.1, 1903.

Simpson is resigned, "The third characteristic modern style [of ornament] is 100% sober. The utmost indulgence by way of ornament is a mild flirtation with some elemental figures which have strayed out of a geometry book. But the more drab our workaday lives, the more kick do we need. There remains the same kind of difference as between a whisky when you feel like it, and a continuous state of dipsomania. A style that is bare, austere and completely sterilised feels stale, insipid and anæmic."

The psychology of Loos's work could in fact be exactly the remedy for Simpson's thirst, although I suspect Simpson would categorise some of Loos's tendencies in the second of his unfavoured types, the "Jazzy" modern: the "ornate cinema chandelier... so violent as to become unbearable", but I'm probably saturating some of Loos's interior scenes with my impressionable memory.

Nontheless, Schwimmer's article is a fascinating read, and clear example of the Centre's broad and inclusive contributors, readers, and objectives. This is precisely what continues to make them my favourite architectural institution in New Zealand.

A selection of the Design Review Covers. NZETC

Get on the wagon here!

Mark Burry Lecture, Wellington September 9

1/09/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Director of the Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory in Melbourne, and Executive Architect and Researcher to the Temple Sagrada Família, Professor Mark Burry will return to the motherland next week to present a lecture at the Wellington School of Architecture, Vivian St., on Thursday September 9, with drinks and nibbles served at 5.30pm, and the lecture starting at 6.15.

Professor Mark Burry somehow maintains the productivity and global whereabouts of several human-beings, most recently finding the time to co-author, with Jane Burry, The New Mathematics of Architecture (Thames and Hudson, 2010), as well as a forthcoming title Scripting Cultures
(2011).

Some pages from the The New Mathematics of Architecture (Thames & Hudson, 2010)

His lectures are always eloquent, and the work presented is beautiful, complex, and smart. Absolutely worth investing some time in.

Thanks to the Architectural Centre for keeping us up to date, which is apt given Mark's connection to the Centre's Committee in the mid-1990's.

Enjoy.

Augmented, but real, and wordy, and sublime

25/08/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A short collage of things from here and further abroad that have permeated the blogosphere in recent times.

Tardigotchi by Tiago Rorke and SWAMP, with assistance from Bureau.
An international collaborating design team largely involved at Victoria University of Wellington's School of Design have produced an uncanny device (and its world), the Tardigotchi, portrayed in a short video you can view here.

They elaborate "Tardigotchi is an artwork featuring two pets: a living organism and an alife avatar. These two disparate beings find themselves the unlikely denizens of a portable computing enclosure. The main body for this enclosure is a brass sphere, housing the alife avatar in an LED screen and the tardigrade within a prepared slide. A tardigrade is a common microorganism measuring half a millimeter in length. The alife avatar is a caricature of this tardigrade, its behaviour is partially autonomous, but it also reflects a considerable amount of expression directly from the tardigrade’s activities (like eating)."

The Tardigotchi, being fed.

The Tardigotchi, at its docking station.

A detail of the Tardigotchi schematics.

Stockholm Library Interior by Olivier Charles.
Featured at the CG Society of Digital Arts, Charles's render is a competition image developed in 3ds Max, alongside a sketch design from collaborating architects Armel Neouze and Jacques Gelez. The link above will take you to a short article which goes through his process in creating the engrossing image.

A section of the Library design, revealing the vertical cut, at right.

The 3ds Max model in development.

The completed render.

"This concept was made for an International Competition of Architecture, for the Stockholm Public Library. The project was conceived by Armel Neouze, Jacques Gelez and myself, and we entered the image into the competition after creating more than 1,000 renders. We started our project with some quick drawings and some deep discussion." -Olivier Charles.

Olivier Charles graduated from the Architecture School of Paris La Seine. He started to work with 3ds Max 11 years ago.

Words presented by Radiolab and NPR, from here.
A short film by Will Hoffman and Daniel Mercadante with an original soundtrack composed by Keith Kenniff. Sorry if the credits are confused and multiple, the names are right, but there seem to be a lot of organisations and websites involved in production, broadcasting, promotion, etc.

Nontheless, this short film is a beautiful piece of work, dancing through our language in words and associations. It makes unexpected and sometimes flittering references and connections, in a few short minutes which keep up a keen energy. Give it a few minutes to keep your mind sharp, and if you've got a few more spare, check out Everynone's other short films, all of which are beautifully produced. See them here.

Some stills from WORDS.

And finally, this is cool, (yet another) augmented reality video portrayal from Keiichi Matsuda, although this one has the clever option of viewing in 3D (if you've got your goggles handy), but awesomely, you can just click the 'cross-eyed' veiwing option and use your Magic-Eye trick to see it in 'manual-virtual' 3D. It's interesting to consider that viewing this in 'cross-eyed' 3D is easy enough, but after 3 minutes it is worryingly difficult for your eyes to stay in Real-D.. a warning I reckon of the very real risk of having an obtrusive (or dependent) visually augmented reality.

3D View of Matsuda's augmented reality portrayal.

Enjoy.

Cool Stuff happening Soon

19/08/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Check in with a gathering of events, lectures, discussions and exhibitions happening around the country:

From August 25th, next Wednesday
There'll be Pecha Kucha Nights Everywhere!

In Dunedin: PKN_Dunedin_07, Wednesday 25 August 2010. Event starts 7.30pm, Lecture Theatre P152 , New Art Block at the Otago Polytechic, more info soon.

In Whangarei: PKN_Whangarei_04, Wednesday 01 September 2010. Event starts 6.30pm at The Old Library, Rust Ave, Whangarei, $5.

In Auckland: PKN_AKL_20, Friday 3 September 2010, Waitakere Council Chambers, 6 Henderson Valley Road, Henderson. Doors open 7.30pm, start 8.20pm, $9 doorsales only.

In Wellington: PKN_Wellington_08, Latino Kiwi, 'The latino connection in Wellington', Monday 6 September. Doors open 6.30pm, Event starts 7.30pm. Cost $9 cash only, Downstage, Cambridge Terrace, Wellington.

In Christchurch: PKN_CHCH_09, Thursday 16 September 2010. Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, doors open 7.30pm, start 8.20pm.

In Nelson: PKN_Nelson_08, Tuesday 19 October 2010, 7pm. The Granary Café, Founders Park, Tickets are $10 (from Everyman Records, 249 Hardy Street, Nelson) SOLD OUT!! [ed. WHAT!? maybe keep an eye out for scalped tickets...]

Keep an eye on www.pechakucha.co.nz for event details as the dates approach.

Now, and on September 1st, Wednesday.
Currently exhibited at the Wellington School of Architecture, Arquitectura Sin Papel (Architecture without Paper) will host a Curator's Talk to discuss the work, with drinks at 5.30pm, and a 6.15pm start time. Info here.

Septemer 2nd, Thursday
Victoria University of Wellington School of Architecture is also hosting a discussion on the (potential) role of a Government Architect in New Zealand. Speaking will be Tasmanian Government Architect Peter Poulet, and the Chief Architect at the NZ DBH, Duncan Joiner. Drinks at the School (Vivian St) start at 5.30pm, with the talk scheduled for 6.15pm. Info here [] thanks to the Architectural Centre for posting (sort it out VUW..)

Before November 19th, a Friday.
The AAA Cavalier Bremworth Design Awards for 2010 are now open for pre-registration (do that here). Being one of the broadest and potentially conceptual competitions in New Zealand architecture, the Award simply asks for projects which "deal with an aspect of the built environment and while not necessarily the result of an actual commission, they must be a solution to a design problem."

As usual, the Award has two Categories, Student and Open, so make sure you're in the right ballpark. You have to register by November 19, nicely in time to wrap up any student works form this semester. More info here.

Now, through October
Keep an eye on the TWO fantastic lecture series coming out of Auckland University School of Architecture and Planning, the Fast Forward Lecture Series and the Future Proof Lecture Series. Link through to see the dates.

Way to provide for the discipline, Universities, awesome.

Remember to flick any events my way if you'd like to spread the Word, with a link to the relevant info, or provide enough details and a pic maybe. Brilliant.

Our featured soup metaphor continues with this Kosher vegetarian Onion Vegetable soup from Cafe Liz. Looks pretty.

Superstudio 2010 24-Hour Competition Success

18/08/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Earlier this month, a carefully timed 24hr design competition was launched simultaneously across New Zealand and Australia, dragging architecture and design students through an intense and lively studio experience.

Here are the mixed recollections, myths, and lies from two Superstudio gatherings in Auckland (representing the 3 schools of architecture in Auckland and Wellington) and Melbourne (representing Victoria's 4 schools), the evidence of which I've acquired from the reliable and enduring enthusiasts behind these events, Jean Bachoura et al from Melbourne –where I was generously hosted, and Nick Leckie, Rachel Dawkins and Charlotte Brennan et al at Auckland.

The brief, kept dutifully secret until students across Oceania were synchronised, revealed an enigmatic soundbite, in which a mysterious character strides steadily through a scene that we can only piece together through acoustic echoes and fragments. Soon after, we are asked to find 'Place X' in the next 24 hours. Place X is a hidden space, one unnoticed, experienced by the disinterested...

"Make an invisible space become a place through play. The proposal should consider a chosen demographic and a function of play.

Finding Place X is to walk out of your city. The fringe area where by the language of the city its grain, setbacks and landmarks meet the landmark structure of the celebrated single family detached dwelling, the suburban home with grass all around. This space in-between the suburban and urban
environment holds languages of barriers, integration, voids, intersections, nodes, axis’ where place X is waiting to be seen."
-Superstudio Brief.

Before reacting to student reactions, playing my part as the "24Hr Tutor" –an equally improvised performance– I was excited to see the brief challenging the hermetic seal of the studio environment, charging the students with a playful seriousness and some serious play. The over-reaching goal of Superstudio (since its inception in Australia some years ago) is to re-invigorate studio culture, implicitly questioning the role of studio in architecture and design education. The enculturation of the student to the 'Studio' is complicated further, or advanced more richly, by the inter-school collaboration of the event, where teams are encouraged -and sometimes positively required- to form competition teams with complete strangers before embarking on the 24-hour design charrette.

In New Zealand, the southern students of Victoria University of Wellington's school of architecture had the arduous but adventurous task of traversing the country, to make it to UNITEC's School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, this years host (the 3 New Zealand schools have a respectable agreement of rotating the host venue each year). Thanks to the overwhelming support of KiwiRail, (who deserve our continued patronage!) students travelled at near-zero expenses, arriving a dash late, but surely eager and excitingly dislocated.

Wellington students enjoy the 12 hour commute to Auckland thanks to the hugely generous sponsorship of KiwiRail []! Catch a train, go on!

Everything was colleagial, until Moustachio said that Coke sucks.

Despite its dignified appearance on the skyline mid-North Island, Sophie turns her back on Mt Ruapehu, and in a single stroke decries the Rural.

Meanwhile, the University of Melbourne School of Architecture, Building and Planning welcomed its largest ever turnout from students across the State, with one-hundred students jostling for studio space and a fresh take on the brief.

Students in Melbourne enjoy pre-briefing feeding.

The ensuing event is a heady brew of excitement –"It's my birthday at midnight!" – intellectual dexterity, headlong confusion (tutorials after midnight, with a glass of wine which seems to be relentlessly refilled by my gracious hosts, become questionable, but are always keenly participated in)...

And then I return, to see faces more tired than mine, having wrought out ideas and projects through the quieter hours of the morning, fashioned on paper and screen, with collage and cardboard, and summary sentences still fragile in their latest arrangements.

As the 24Hr deadline looms, they regather, 60 in Auckland and about 90 survivors in Melbourne. Early reports suggest NZ has benefitted from the enthusiastic (manic?) Wellington immigrants, with the breadth of proposals incorporating dance, dream-state trainrides, and body augmentations...

An Auckland project...

In Melbourne, the 6-member judging panels are also well provided for, and are encouraging through the 6-hour marathon of presentations from the 30 teams. Here it seems the results are surprisingly –to me at least– conservative, perhaps the relatively young demographic (which is terribly exciting for the future of this event) are tied too closely to their tightly monitored studio courses, very few depart from formal solutions of the architectural type, and those that do wander into the rich space of speculation and risk are noticeably more compelling. Process becomes key, as well as insightful (and inventive) site analyses, and of course in such competitions, skill in both performance and presentation pays off big time... hook, line, and sinker.

Curiously, pictured below, the train takes a Finalist position in both cities, "Brotown" from Auckland offers:

"Aucklanders commute to the city daily, but resist the public train network. Place X is the underused, underappreciated spaces, moments, and sequences of train travel. Place X is further defined by hidden, individual playfulness – daydreams, condensation doodles and stranger life-planning."

And in Melbourne, the Metro line is defined as a 'fringe' space between urban and suburban space, using a highly methodic approach (and presentation) and some playful possibilities for the thousands of Melbournian commuters. In this case the capacity for serious play (competition) and the train-line as community becomes a compelling and potentially viral project (pictured below).

From here, the four finalists selected in Melbourne, and three from Wellington are offered a few weeks to clarify their proposals, which are presented among the other Finalists of Australia online here from August 20. In early October the Finalists are assessed by the National Judges, with the National Winner announced October 12, the grand prize being a trip for the winning group to the Venice Biennale - a very handsome prize.

Importantly, Superstudio also offered the chance for SANNZ to hold its AGM, where the new committee were elected, so check out your local reps. Congratulations and best wishes to Samantha McGavock (VUW) who will become the next President of SANNZ.

As always, these events rely on the generous support from sponsors. Superstudio 2010 has Bluescope Steel as its principal National sponsor, and in New Zealand, SANNZ was grateful for the support from Gordon Harris, and of course KiwiRail.

Many, many thanks for the images, from Nick Leckie (NZ) and Jean Bachoura (AUS).

www.sannz.net.nz
www.sona.com.au

Project Freerange: Teaser 3 Out Now

18/08/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Anticipating the third issue of the Freerange Journal, check out the first Teaser, which tackles the Trickster in contemporary culture and practice. Free downloadable file available here!

You should know about the Freerangers by now, their publishing arm, the Freerange Press recently brought you Gerald Melling's latest word-crafting, Tsunami Box (sample and purchase here at a dicounted rate), and they also maintain a highly collaborative and international blog which serves as the testing ground for Freeranging ideas about the "complexity of the city."

This teaser introduces their next thread of investigation, the Trickster:

"From the ancient Greek Odysseus to Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, we grew up on stories of subversive characters that sprinkle chaos into our ordered society. The stories of our wise and brutal ancestors tell us tales of events from long before we laid our bare feet upon the earth. Folklore, mythology and religion are filled with brilliant forces of light and dark, played out by a myriad of colourful characters including that of the trickster. Most cultures still have these characters, both real and fictional. They are the mischievous rule breakers, artful swindlers, punks and independent outlaws. They hold an important purpose: to push boundaries, to enter realms others are afraid of, to stir the waters, provoke thought and discussion, to speak truth to power."

A sample of the deftly crafted Teaser, designed by Lord Shaker.

Four projects are offered in this tasty morsel of a pdf, Hana Bojangles's "Living in a Tricksta's Paradise" does a fantastic job of setting the scene across history and culture with a roll-call of tricksters, followed by Warwick McCallum's visual entrée "Slipping the Trap of Appetite", and Federico Monsalve's hearty "My kid could do that": a clever critique of contemporary art and youthful perception. For dessert, Toby Huddlestone presents "No_12_internal_subversion", a glimpse of which is below.

This photograph was taken on the 8th May 2010 by Gina Moss at Charles Plimmer Park in Wellington, as part of Toby’s collaboration with Wellington artist Sarah Jane Parton on his project Protest Apathy.

Check it out, have a read, offer feedback, thoughts, tricks and tirades to the Freerange Project here.

Long Live the Modern Forum

10/08/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

The Otago Museum invites you to be part of one of the big debates surrounding modern architecture: When should 20th Century architecture become heritage?

In A Nutshell:
FUTURE FORUM - WHEN SHOULD 20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTURE BECOME HERITAGE?
Thursday 12 August, 7pm
Hutton Theatre, FREE!
Refreshments available for purchase

Long Live the Modern continues its nationwide tour in the second half of this year at the Otago Museum (until 3 October), where the exhibition will be supplemented by a public debate this Thursday 12 August which asks the difficult question outlined above. Members on the invited panel include Douglas Lloyd Jenkins, the Director of the Hawkes Bay Museum and Art Gallery; photographer Gary Blackman (whose photo's are included in the accompanying text of the same name, edited by Julie Gatley); Glen Hazelton will represent the Dunedin City Council; Steve Macknight, a local engineer will offer his expertise to the discussion, and Peter Entwisle, art historian and writer, is introduced with an "unmatchable knowledge of Dunedin's architectural heritage".

It sounds like an amazing group of experts to have in the room to address the difficult subject of architectural and landscape heritage, but a rewarding discussion when we consider the relative youthfulness of our built environment in an historical (global) perspective, a youthfulness which has been matched by playfulness and inventiveness – as Gatley's book, and this exhibition promotes.

If you're in or near Dunedin this week, this will be an enlightening and engaging dialogue about the built fabric that shapes the space around you (and our stretched out islands), so open a bottle of red to keep warm and brave, and head down to the Otago Museum.

Also this event and exhibition shouldn't be mentioned without pointing you to DOCOMOMO(NZ), the local stronghold of those dedicated to the DOcumentation and COnservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the MOdern MOvement around the globe. Check them out here.

The Unaccounted

5/08/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Errol J Haarhoff, Professor of Architecture at the University of Auckland, has published a new survey of NZ architecture graduates, revealing some great relationships between the architectural institutions of NZ.

"Practice and Gender in Architecture: A survey of New Zealand Architecture Graduates 1987-2008" (Auckland University, 2010) extends Haarhoff's previous, and similar, survey completed in 2001 – and if you're interested, extends two older surveys of Australasian architecture graduates undertaken by Peter Johnson and Susan Clarke in 1979 and 1987, and supplements Michael Ostwald and Anthony Williams' comprehensive survey of architecture education across Australasia (see the end of the article for these references). Fortunately, the study can be downloaded from the NZRAB here (look on the left-hand column for the link).

I don't want to go into a full analysis or discussion of the findings here (but I encourage you to), but I did want to point out a few interesting statistics which I had always wondered about, but never really knew the numbers...

Firstly, and most striking is a comparison Haarhoff makes between graduating (architecture) students and those Registering with the NZRAB (the New Zealand Registered Architects Board administers the Registered Architects Act 2005, and maintains the architects register, obviously), and he finds that in 2009, only 24% of graduates (from the 3 NZ schools) are Registered Architects. Statistically, this is a drop from 30% which was achieved in his 2001 survey.

Clearly this is a complicated statistic. Firstly, Ostwald and Williams' (2008) show a current trend in our schools for international students to make up about 20% of the population, it's possible a considerable proportion of these students emmigrate upon completion. Another consideration is that more recent years will obviously drop off in registrations (given the 140 weeks of experience required). Haarhoff also suggests that the registration itself has changed, especially with the introduction of the 2005 Registered Architects Act. I won't communicate the full translation of all that here, but Haarhoff does suggest the 'real' figure might be around 38%.

Even so, a quick scan of the results shows that never has more than half of a graduating class registered as an architect.

Haarhoff also goes on to show that even when considering the trail-off of registrations in the last five years (because of the experience required in practice), there is still a significant drop in the proportion of graduates who register, given the fact that the average annual cohort of graduates across NZ hitting the scene has jumped from 115 to 165 (43% increase, most of which is attributed to Unitec's new programme).

A few more factors are discussed by Haarhoff, namely that graduates may now be progressing through practice careers without feeling the necessity for registration, achieving fulfilling working environments alongside other registered architects. Another critical aspect which Haarhoff confirms, is that a disproportionate number of females never register (where graduate proportions are approximating 50% - although strangely all three schools show a drop in this over the last 2 years - while only 18% of registered architects are female).

I've grabbed a few of Haarhoff's tables for your perusal, but check out the full document for his analysis.

Taken from Haarhoff, p19.

Haarhoff: p19.

Harhoff: p20.

Undiscussed here, but really interesting, is Haarhoff's more detailed analysis of gender in the profession, as well as some curious insight into membership to the New Zealand Institute of Architects - a really great piece of cross-institutional research (which suggests for example that there are 300 unaccounted Registered Architects who aren't Architect Members of the NZIA).

Unfortunately -and reasonably, given the breadth and value of this survey- it is still very difficult to trace where the architectural graduates really might be. This is a piece of research that I think would be very very valuable. It would be a bit of a headache to find everyone (1,850 of us perhaps), but reasonably empirical right? I suspect there are a few interesting factors which account for the apparent 76% of us Unregistered (or 62%, or 1,850, by Haarhoff's conservative figure).

1. We travel overseas. A million New Zealander's live outside of New Zealand, which by my proportionate calculations of registered architects to population, means about 440 of those ex-pats could be architects.

2. Recent diversification (or 'fragmentation'!) in the discipline (in the last decade even) – into urban design, city planning, digital fabricating, and all sorts of hybrid practices, means a fair few may never benefit from registering as architects.

3. We research. Haarhoff correctly identifies, although never puts a figure on, those who follow academic careers in architecture (or other related disciplines).

4. We change careers. This one I quite love, and although we can't all be Italians and imagine studying architecture as a generalist education in worldliness –or more accurately, convince others to– I am pleased that there are architecturally educated peers out there, because I believe there is an ontology, and a discipline to architecture education, something important to Being, which is not necessarily about registering as an architect.

Images are Copyright 2010, Errol J Haarhoff.
Email: e.haarhoff@auckland.ac.nz

Errol J Haarhoff
"Practice and Gender in Architecture: A survey of New Zealand Architecture Graduates 1987-2008" Auckland University, 2010.

Peter Johnson & Susan Clarke.
"Architectural Education in the Commonwealth – A Survey of Schools"
1979 & 1987, University of Sydney.

Michael Ostwald and Anthony Williams'
"Understanding Architectural Education in Australasia"
2008, NSW, ALTC.

Autodesk Labs launch PhotoFly

5/08/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Coming up of the Autodesk Labs, Photofly allows users to generate 3D models from their photographs. Using cloud computing, and generating point-data models, this software is pretty intriguing.

If you haven't already, bookmark the Autodesk Labs website now, to keep up to speed with neat add-on's and software experiments being produced by Autodesk.

Photofly works around a similar concept to Photosynth, which you should have seen by now on TED Talks or their website here, both generate a virtual position of the image capturing device in relation to the viewed image, and by compiling a data set around the image's subject (demonstrated on PhotoFly with buildings, miniatures, faces, and mountains!), the outcome is produced. Where Photosynth foregrounds the viewer – its graphic interface is a stunning 'cloud' of 2D photographs – PhotoFly is more interested in digital data, and removes any sense of viewing the data from a fixed point by generating a fairly dense data-cloud of points in a 3D digital environment.

Images captured from Introductory Video.

The aesthetic of the rendered data-clouds is pretty intriguing, ghosting in and out of 'being-there', with wonderful digital shadows generated in the elusive edges of the model. As raw data, the point-cloud –depending on your tenacity and skill with other modelling software– could be a fuster-cluck of editing, but we've seen in Radiohead's 'House of Cards' video, that the results can be stunning.

Pragmatically speaking, this isn't (and was probably never meant to be) a reliable modelling tool for any professional documentation, but they do throw in a couple of neat tricks that have some interesting benefits.

The first is that the generated model can quite easily be scaled, simply by introducing a few known dimensions. What this allows, as is demonstrated in the video, is a level of accuracy across the whole model for dimensions which were originally unknown. Could be useful for particularly tricky dimensions, or hard-to-reach spots (like mountain ranges).

Visual interface which allows scaling of the model.

The other, sort of cheeky application of PhotoFly, is made possible by its unobtrusive data-collection method. Fly-by photo-grabs of new buildings, or rarely visited monuments, or fenced-off areas could allow you to generate models for all sorts of spaces, one of the 'whoa' moments in the video is a model of two mountains – which does in the end raise some ethical questions – ones which GoogleMaps have already encountered, should we be allowed to go modelling all these spaces? Does the data actually have any value?

Check out the introductory video here
And more details about PhotoFly at Autodesk Labs here.

In the News and On the Calendar

28/07/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Like a soupy broth for the winter, I've tried to throw in all the seasonal goods out there in to the mix, with a few bendy vegetables from the back of the fridge too.

•Tomorrow, Thursday July 29th, in Wellington at the School of Architecture, catch Talk 20: New Zealand Resilience, a panel discussion follows presentations of work from the field. 5.30 drinks 'n nibbles, 6pm start.

•This Friday, log-off early and head over the hills to Featherston to catch Stuart Gardyne, Chris Kelly and Evzen Novak present at the Anzac Hall. Doors open 5.30pm with a complimentary drink, the presentation, titled Contemporary Architecture will start at 6.15pm. Tickets are $25, more info on the Trust House Winter Talk Series here.

•In Auckland, the Fast Forward Lecture Series [] keeps offering the goods, right through until October, check out the listing at link above.

•My, aren't they busy, Auckland University also hosts the Future Proof Lecture Series, through the next two months. "The Future Proof series of seminars analyses and challenges whether we are designing buildings that are suitable for the future. The speakers will examine whether the so-called sustainable architecture that is currently being built is prepared for climate change or able to adapt to a low energy future." Sounds brilliant. More details here.

•In similar unrelenting style, Pecha Kucha Nights roll out across the nation, coming up soon in Hamilton, Dunedin, Auckland, and Christchurch. For details link here.

•Some urban news, yesterday, a single wire failure in Melbourne's Southern Cross Station -a pivotal node in the city's rail network- slammed the public transport system to a halt all morning, delaying an estimated 400,000 commuters, with a loss of productivity to the city that has been quantified at AU$12m. Where's your city's achilles heel? Read more here.

•Still in Australia, all is not-so-well in the post-stimulus economy, with Victoria's 'first home buyers' boom of 2009 doing very little to ease housing affordability, reported by the revaluation figures released yesterday (read more here). Another key package gone awry is the federal government's school building stimulus package, falling victim to mismanagement – untimely news for Prime Minister Julia Gillard who is also the education minister. More here.

•Don't forget about the 2010 New Zealand International Film Festival, still gallavanting through cinemas across the nation, you'll have to link through and check out your own city for details, unfortunately screenings vary across the land. More here.

•Wellington's ever-complex Newtown has a new gem sparkling near the corner of Constable and Riddiford St's, the multi-disciplinary studio Candywhistle has a sweet frontispiece jewellery micro-gallery, The See Here. Have an outrageously close look whilst sipping your People's Coffee out front. If you're keen for some studio space, drop a line with Candywhistle, I hear there's some room.

•Up North again, take the opportunity to join in the opening of the TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre in Monte Cecilia Park, Hillsborough, Auckland, on Sunday 15th August. The restored heritage building at Pah Homestead will hold the James Wallace Arts Trust collection, with a changing programme of exhibitions. More info here.

Enough? Never! Throw us a line on anything happening near you, I'm more than happy to broaden the broadcast. Mail me at speak@productspec.net

Superstudio 24Hr Student Competition August 6th

27/07/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Get involved with this years Superstudio, a 24-hour design competition for students across Australia and New Zealand.

With a vibrant series of successful Superstudio's hosted in New Zealand for the last few years (previously limited to Australia), Auckland's Unitec School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture takes its turn in hosting this great event which launches on Friday 6th August.

As well as encouraging all students to get involved in this rare opportunity to work alongside your peers from both other schools of architecture, the Superstudio organisers are also on the look out for tutors to come in and offer a few hours expertise on the Saturday morning. Rachel Dawkins is the one to contact if you're interested (rachel.ellen.d@gmail.com) - I've done this in the past and had an incredibly good time.

Check out the Public Event posting here for more info.

This from the Student Architecture Network of New Zealand:

Superstudio is run in conjunction with SONA in Australia for 24 intense hours. The secret brief will be released on Friday evening with hand-in and presentations on Saturday evening. Afterparty to follow...

...It'll be a great time for students from our 3 schools of architecture to get together.
This event has a great (short) history of providing an amazing time for that cross-school and cross-year level mixing.

A SANNZ AGM will be held over the course of the weekend too, where students will have the opportunity to get involved in the committee for next year. Become a part of the change to help make this Network reach its potential.

If you're in Wellington and wanting to get up to the event, check out the event listing for the chance to get in on outrageously cheap transport, in typical style the Victorians have arranged for a train carriage ride up and back for next to nothing, thanks to some incredible support from KiwiRail - kudos to them.

Bluescope Steel have generously supported the event this year, along with Gordon Harris who offer the necessary goods to get some serious work done in seriously little time.

Enjoy.

Under Construction until September 26

23/07/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Not us, or them, but the current show Under Construction at the New Dowse in Wellington presenting five artists responding to 'space, location and environment' is intriguing, and has gathered some fantastic talent.

Under Construction opened last month, and runs until September 26, so be sure to make a visit while these site-specific works are 'in-situ'.

And if you pencil it in after July 31, bring the children, who will go nuts for Fuzz, Felt and Fur, a new exhibition at the New Dowse "celebrating the magical touch of textiles."

The five artists represented in Under Construction are Joanna Langford, Karin van Roosmalen, Douglas Bagnall, A.D. Schierning, and Fiona Connor. Two works that are real stand-outs for me personally are Joanna Langford's The Howling Country, and Fiona Connor's Stairs In A Series. Although I'm not discounting the others, I have been intrigued by the work of these two for a while, and can see that these two pieces are rich developments of both of their works.

Wellingtonian's may remember Joanna Langfords piece The Beautiful and the Damned at the Hirschfeld Gallery last year, which was elaborated wonderfully with an architectural interpretation from Architect Sam Kebbell (read that piece here).

The Howling Country is exciting in the body of work of Langford, because it offers a new topography, discovered after a seriously ambitious journey through the skies (see down from the nightlands, 2007 installed at the Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui), and even breached the clouds (see Beyond Nowhere, 2006) at the Christchurch Art Gallery. But rather than discovering terra nova, or even terra firma, Langford's delicate, "raw and shonky" construction is more likely a rare glimpse at terra incognita.

Looming over the viewer, the engineered structural (in)stability of the work empties the landform of any earthly grounding, and literally forces the 'worm's-eye-view'. So where to from there?

The title offers an emotional cue, and perhaps is a climatic reference to its notoriously gusty host-city, not to mention that this landform might be an entity of itself, with its rippling tentacles wavering about - an aquatic analogy suggested by Mark Amery seems completely apt.

Read more on Joanna Langford here.

Joanna Langford
The Howling Country 2010
Courtesy the artist and Mary Newton Gallery
Image shot by Jeff McEwan.

The second work that draws me in is Fiona Connor's Stairs In A Series, which evolves from the middle of the floor, rising heavily but as precariously as Langford's to be truncated only by the ceiling, it seems.

Connor continues a line of work dealing overtly with mimicry and (dis)placement. You might recall her beautiful work in Auckland's Michael Lett Gallery last year, Something Transparent (Please go around the Back) which is not surprisingly a finalist in this year's Walter's Prize.

By carefully manipulating the immediate environments of wherever her work manifests, Connor is able to foreground the ordinary, and politicize the mundane architectural material around us. This unsettling work continues in a similar line of enquiry, shaken (or broken) from its original placement –a post-earthquake aesthetic that should strike a chord with Wellingtonians– the stair fragments climb powerlessly to the ceiling, but can't seem to hold on to each other, crumbling about the floor in quite beautiful pieces.

Fiona Connor
Stairs in a Series, 2008
Courtesy the artist
Image by Jeff McEwan.

Fiona Connor
Something Transparent (please go round the back), 2009, installation views. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Lett. Photo Kallan MacLeod

My gratitude to Jeff McEwan, who shot the New Dowse images.

Geodata at your Digital Fingertips

22/07/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Developed in New Zealand, Koordinates has become The Place to find geodata, so long as you're using it fairly, it's a data goldmine.

Developed from a simple premise that walking tracks in New Zealand could be digitally accessible to anybody, One Track Mind (a befitting title it would seem) has changed name -and breath-taking scope- to become Koordinates, who now aim at being "the one place for geodata".

The website [link through here] has a very manageable interface, splitting the screen vertically with your data searches on the left, and the resulting map image (in the ubiquitous Google style) appearing on the right.

Fantastically, Koordinates gathers a huge amount of free open-source data, and even more cleverly, allows you to interact with the data, overlaying as many layers as you wish (and there are hundreds in New Zealand alone), before simply downloading or ordering your information (directly available if the data is free) across the whole country or in a cropped area.

Giving credit for the data providers is usually a requested Term of Use, as well as limiting their use to 'personal' rather than 'commercial' (ie. for-profit, unless a limited license is acquired), and of course the disclaimer that the data should not constitute legal or professional advice. I've posted the introduction to these Terms of Use below, check them out here in full before you go gallivanting through Koordinates.com.

The other convenient aspect of Koordinates is that certain data which still carries a cost can still be downloaded, with supplied costs either per MB of download or per Feature, depending on the data type.

Obviously this is useful to all students who are working on non-professional work, or designers working speculatively, whether its obtaining remote geodata for sites around New Zealand, and the world, or more interestingly, experimenting with multiple layers of information to find unexpected spatial relationships.

A quick scan I had brought up Registered Historic Places (downloadable for a small fee), Coastlines, DOC Tramping Huts, Wellington's Recycling Centre's, Runways and Airstrips, Waterfalls, Firestations, even Recreational Gold Fossicking Areas! Right through to the more sobering Deprivation Index (with detailed instructions for interpretation).

So like the NZS 3604 or the Registered Architects Act, use adventurously, but warily.

A typical screenshot of the interface with data layers (left) and interactive map (right).

Note: lead image contains thumbnail of "NZ Building Footprints", provided by Land Information New Zealand.

Terms of Use (introduction):

"Please note that data downloaded from Koordinates is covered by separate copyright law and license terms specified by the copyright owner. See the details of each data layer for any license conditions and restrictions which may apply.

"The information on this website does not constitute legal or professional advice. We will not be liable for your reliance on any information contained in this website.

"You may only use this site for your own personal use and not for profit or commercial purposes unless granted a limited license by Koordinates Limited."

www.koordinates.com

Portfolio: Henrique Oliveira

15/07/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

The installation work of this Brazilian artist is remarkable, sculpted and painted from torn veneer sheets which bulge and morph their way through host spaces.

Studying at the University of São Paulo, where he still lives and works, Oliveira obtained his bachelor degree in Fine Arts (painting) and then a Masters if Visual Poetics (!) both from the School of Communication and Arts.

The installation work originated from painting experiments directly on construction site perimeter walls, eventually being claimed entirely by the artist as a surface and structure. The rusted and moulding colour palette also originated from the raw material, but has similarly been advanced by Oliveira, who now reproduces and fabricates the aesthetic finish.

I don't want to say much about the formal results of the work, they deserve your attention and own inspection, I found them simply stunning, and will eagerly await a more local exhibition to experience the work and space.

A few works below, but check out the full portfolio here.

Lead image and below:

Tapumes - 2005
Casa da Cultura da América Latine, Brasilia.
Wood - 2.7m x 16m x 1.5m

Tapumes - 2005 (Interior view)
Atelier Amareio, São Paulo
Wood - 2m x 3m x 4.5m

Below, a dazzling corner detail of:
Tapumes
Rice Gallery, Houston - 2009
Wood - 4.7m x 13.4m x 2m

Whirlwind for Turner - 2007
British Council, São Paulo
Photo: Mauro Restiffe
Wood - 4.35m x 6.92m x 2m

The work in Galeria Baró Cruz with Oliveira's own concurrent paintings. 2006

www.henriqueoliveira.com

Productspec Revit models now in Virtual Showroom

14/07/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Check out this nifty application from vTourInteractive, who have created a digital showroom for users to browse the Revit files available through Productspec.

Featuring products from Precision, Holyoake, Continuous Spouting, Alphatron and Mercer, the every-expanding catalogue of CAD Files available through Productspec for you to download can now be browsed in a digital 3-dimensional environment.

From a quick download (link here to go directly to the Productspec vTour), visitors are able to navigate using the mouse for direction, and the W-S-A-D keys for movement. As you move through the showroom, CAD files are grouped into their respective manufacturer rooms, with each product embedded in the digital environment, revealing its details as you scroll over each with the mouse.

Screengrab from the Productspec vTour, highlighting product details.

From there you simply browse the CAD Files over at Productspec by product type and company, and away you go.

Screengrabs from the Procuctspec vTour.

Navigating the Productspec CAD files should be a breeze from here.

The gaming aesthetic is quite nostalgic (necessary, given it's a small and stand-alone file), and I found myself wishing there would be a machine-gun I could pick-up and test the resilience of the Precision Office Furniture with, but alas...

Just imagine battling off PersistantSalesperson, so you could browse in peace (which you can of course - the vTour is a private one), sending a frag-grenade into the Metalbilt showroom, scattering the remains of your nemesis Marketing Director across the latest Bifold Renlita -which is looking great by the way.

I guess it won't be long before you will actually be having these spec conversations in virtual environments, SecondLife had (and still has) a good crack at that, but I suppose it is easier just to pick up the phone, for now.

If you're interested in the technology, check out the vTourInteractive website here, or contact the maker of the Productspec vTourInteractive, Matt Cantwell at Mattcantwell@vtourinteractive.com or +64 21 770 897

Fast Forward Public Lecture Series

9/07/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Auckland University's School of Architecture and Planning have an amazing line-up this season, with plans to podcast every one of them!

Check out the full list of lectures below, starting at the end of this month, and running through until October.

I would make a serious effort to make it along to these, my personal picks are Momoyo Kaijima from Atelier Bow-Wow (Tokyo) on August 4th, the Mayoral Debate on the Urban Environment on August 11th should be a ripper, and Andrew Barrie's inaugural lecture for the University of Auckland should be great.

This, from NICAI's Events listing:

Fast Foward is an annual lecture series hosted by NICAI's School of Architecture and Planning. The lectures present the recent and current work of leading practitioners in the fields of architecture, planning and urban design, including those working at national and international levels. This coming series includes lectures by two internationally renowned architects, as well as sessions focussing on the Auckland Supercity. The School believes that presenting the work and concerns of leading practitioners is crucial in supporting the ongoing debate, discussion and development in the fields of architecture and planning.  

Lectures are open to the public, and those other than Momoyo Kaijima are free entry. Attendance at each lecture earns 10 NZIA CPD points.  

You can view information on individual lectures at the links below.
For more details phone 09 373 7067.

July 28th
Marshall Cook, Cook Sargisson & Pirie Architects, Auckland

August 4th
Momoyo Kaijima, Atelier Bow-Wow, Tokyo

August 11th
Hitoshi Abe, Atelier Hitoshi Abe, Los Angeles

August 17th
Towards a new Auckland: a Mayoral Debate on the Urban Environment

August 18th
Leigh Auton, Manukau City Council

August 25th
Ken Tremaine, Peter Salmon and Graham Bush: Perspectives on the Supercity

September 15th
Christina van Bohemen & Aaron Sills, Sills van Bohemen Architects, Auckland

September 29th
Thom Craig, Thom Craig Architects, Christchurch

October 6th
Pete Bossley, Pete Bossley Architects, Auckland

October 13th
Andrew Barrie, University of Auckland, Inaugural Lecture

Pecha Kucha Nights - WHA, AKL, CHCH!

9/07/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

In the next couple of months make some time for Pecha Kucha Nights in Whanga's, Orkland, and Chur-chur.

Here's the details for upcoming events, keep an eye out closer to the date for the line-up (usually posted a day or two before each PKN), and don't forget to fill your lunch-break - or satisfy a wandering eye - with their collected archive of presentations from around the country, including Auckland's two most recent PKN's. Visit www.pechakucha.co.nz.

Whangarei:
PKN_Whangarei_03
Wednesday 21 July 2010. Doors open 6.30pm, event starts 7.30pm.
At the old library, Whangarei. $5 door sales.

Auckland:
PKN_AKL_20
Friday 3 September 2010
Henderson, with more info soon!

Christchurch:
PKN_CHCH_09
Thursday 16 September 2010. Doors open 7.30pm, start 8.20pm.
At the Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue. More info soon!

iPad Competition Winner..!

2/07/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Congratulations to Jaime Lawrence from Athfield Architects, who is the proud owner of a brand new Apple iPad.

Organised by Productspec to celebrate the release of the stunning new EvoLED™ from Collingwood Lighting, Jaime Lawrence has just been announced the winner of the competition, and is -I'm sure- the excited owner of her new Apple iPad.

You can check out the full range of products from Collingwood here, but the real gold, the EvoLED™ is worth a look here, but here's the low down of this great new lighting technology:

Using only the best LED technology, Halers Lighting have created the EvoLED™. The EvoLED™ incorporates patented technology which ensures exceptional long life through ingenious heat management, whilst the groundbreaking optics produce a perfect 40° beam with virtually no loss of light output.

Halers Lighting have also pioneered LED electronics, producing the world's first super efficient mains dimmable driver for high power LED luminaries, making retrofit a realistic and trouble free option.

EvoLED™ is 90% more efficient than a halogen option, and lasts 30 times longer, saving time, money and maintenance, whilst dramatically reducing carbon emissions, landfill waste and hazardous materials entering the ecosystem.

Productspec at 2010 DesignBuild Expo

30/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Last week Productspec's BIM and Revit Specialist, Matt Pettengell, was in Melbourne for the DesignBuild Expo, working alongside our Australian partners AEC Systems to introduce the latest services offered by Productspec to Australian architects, designers and industry colleagues.

I made it along to catch up with Matt hard at work at the Productspec & AEC stand, in his third day of the event, showing little signs of slowing down. The main topic of conversation was introducing the latest Productspec services to a range of new users, particularly the benefits of the latest Revit CAD and BIM content now available at Productspec.

The feedback was fantastic, with a lot of new users excited to have an efficient service available for CAD and BIM modelling, and I suspect there were a fair few Autocadets thinking twice about their software allegiances, staring down at nearly 10,000 CAD and BIM files already accumulated at Productspec.

If you'd like to know a bit more about Productspec's Revit Content, have a browse through the CAD & BIM section of Productspec, or just give us a call at +64 4 382 9305.

The inquisitive inquire...

Matt Pettengell greets a couple of the Expo attendees, and dishes out the Productspec goods.

This time with More Instensity Matt: action!

www.productspec.net

Cintiq 21-inch Interactive Pen Display from Wacom released.

29/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

From the experts of tablet technology, this line of interactive pen displays isn't completely new, but seems to be slow in the uptake from architectural designers. Its the new drawing board, ditch the mouse!

I had a quick play on a similar model at the DesignBuild Expo last week, where Productspec was fortunate enough to have the use of a Wacom interactive display unit, and I loved it.

It's inevitable that the computer screens we use should become physically activated, bridging a physiological and mental distance we've become accustomed to by using the mouse. Advances in tablets were particularly useful, where designers could ambidextrously hold the pen (once again), and (most likely) rest the other hand on a set of quick-keys familiar on the keyboard.

The integration of the drawn-hand back on to the drawing plane is a logical evolution of the architect and designer.

It also allows a more seemless evolution for new digital users, who may have a dexterity (and sensitivities) for the pen-in-hand, but have trouble negotiating the 'blindness' of using the mouse, which visually dislocates the hand from the drawing process -a factor not to be scoffed at.

Australian academic Gevork Hartoonian has already written about the significance of the body's (and mind's) shift from drawing on the drawing board to the screen -the horizontal (or angular) to the vertical. Access that here (Hartoonian, Gevork(2009) 'The Drawing Position', Architectural Theory Review, 14: 3, 248 — 259).

The other benefit the Wacom Cintiq series offers is pen pressure-sensitivity. Users of tablets will be familiar with this, but it is a revelation to start sketching (in Sketchbook Pro for example) digitally with a pressure-sensitive brush in hand, you must really hunt one down to have a go.

Wacom products should be available and Harvey Norman or any decent digital technology provider, and to be honest, you'll pay only a bit more than what you might've, or do, spend on a high-end CPU and screen. The 21-inch model is going for about $3,500 and is compatible across Windows and Mac software.

Wacom have also provided a few Case Studies which give some idea of the their application, although nothing there specifically touches on architectural drawing. The closest combo worth checking out is the Industrial Design applications, and Medical Imaging and Analysis (a pretty good analogy to architecture I think...), and this is a good video demo from Marcel De Jong, Solutions Engineer at Autodesk, demonstrating how Wacom's Cintiq 21UX improves a Maya to Mudbox workflow -again, not ideal software, but you'll recognise the generaly layout and interactivity.

The Wacom Cintiq 21UX.

Check out the Cintiq series here.

Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio

25/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Watch the trailer to the long-awaited documentary on Rural Studio, which develops from never-before-seen interview footage with Mockbee who passed away in 2001, and follows Jay Sanders as he undertakes a building project from start to finish.

Screening next month in the 2010 New Zealand International Film Festival, 'Citizen Architect' is a must-see for anybody involved in the building industry in New Zealand. I could only find the film in the Wellington line-up, but am following that up now, it would be a shame to have it limited to the captial.

"Citizen Architect explores Mockbee’s effort to provide students with an experience that forever inspires them to consider how they can use their skills to better their communities. Revealing the philosophy and heart behind the Rural Studio, the documentary is guided by passionate, frank and never-before-seen interviews with Mockbee himself."

The Wellington screenings:

Sat 24 July, Film Archive, 5.30pm
Tue 27 July, City Gallery Cinema, 12.15pm, 1.30pm

Book tickets here

Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio
Director / Producer: Sam Wainwright Douglas
Producer: Jack 'Jay' Sanders
Producer: Sarah Ann Mockbee
Director of Photography: Dutch Rall

The filmmakers. Photograph by Kevin Byrd / Armchair.

This synopsis from www.citizenarchitectfilm.com:

"Citizen Architect explores Mockbee’s effort to provide students with an experience that forever inspires them to consider how they can use their skills to better their communities. Revealing the philosophy and heart behind the Rural Studio, the documentary is guided by passionate, frank and never-before-seen interviews with Mockbee himself.

"Citizen Architect supplements Mockbee's words and the students' experiences with perspective from other architects and designers who share praise and criticism of the Rural Studio, including Peter Eisenman, Michael Rotondi, Cameron Sinclair, Steve Badanes and Hank Louis. Their dialogue infuses the film with a larger discussion of architecture’s role in issues of poverty, class, race, education, social change and citizenship."

www.citizenarchitectfilm.com
www.bigbeardfilms.com

Productspec at the Future Proof Building National Roadshow.

22/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

This month the FPB Roadshow will continue its nationwide tour, starting in Tauranga on June 29. Productspec is excited to join the Roadshow in Tauranga, so come along and meet the team.

The National Roadshow hosted 3000 trade professional across sixteen venues last year, and this year looks equally promising with some fantastic and topical presentations from DBH and BRANZ (check out the keynotes below!), as well as a huge range of innovative products from leaders in the construction industry.

Productspec is excited about meeting new industry innovators, and of course catching up with our clients and friends around the country, as the Roadshow travels south through Wellington (our HQ!) and further. If you'd like to catch up with us at the Roadshow, get in touch today!

"The 2010 roadshow series will highlight different strategies and thought-provoking ideas to make sure trade professionals are kept abreast of changes in their industry, new product innovation and required skills to continue to operate at the forefront. This should assist in creating a thriving business, attracting and retaining customers and maximizing the value offered to those customers."

Incredibly, all of these events are free! So register online right now to get your place secured.

You can register here for Tauranga, or scroll through the events listings on the right-hand side of their site to find your local event.

Future Proof Building National Roadshow dates:
Round 1
29 June Tauranga
30 June Rotorua
1 July Napier
2 July Gisborne

Round 2
3 Aug New Plymouth
4 Aug Palmerston North
5 Aug Wellington
6 Aug Nelson

Round 3
19 Oct Queenston
20 Oct Invercagill
21 Oct Dunedin
22 Oct Christchurch

Keynote Speakers in 2010:

Department of Building and Housing (DBH) - Paul Alsford will cover topical areas such as trade licensing, clarifying the Licensed Builder Practitioner (LBP) scheme. Also discussed is changes made to the building consent process and proposed legislation changes in the pipeline from government.

Edmund Lawler and Associates Lawyers - Edmund Lawler will then speak on facilitating some of the Government changes into commercial reality managing liability risks and the single hazard class for timber treatment. This is presented with thanks to Carters.

BRANZ - Chris Kane or Richard Arkinstall will give an insight into the extent of some of the BRANZ global research into building design and specification, examining significant development trends, and what the shape of construction in NZ could look like in 20 years time.

Find out more about Future Proof Building here

Wellington Airport's New Terminal

18/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

If you've flown into, or out of, Wellington recently, you may have spotted the progress of Studio of Pacific Architecture's Terminal extension through your little porthole window, which now takes its final shape with its copper cladding going up.

As The Dom Post has reported, the building itself is incredibly difficult to see at the moment, except for carefully choreographed peepholes, and even I've had my camera pointed out the window during take off, to little avail.

A great shot by Diego Opatowski of the Dominion Post is reproduced above, which gives a fantastic view of the sculpted shell of the building (you can see the models pictured here below, and other illustrations at SPA's project page here, which give the shell its distinctive expression), part-way between lining on the left, and the rich copper cladding on the right.

Project models developing the complex structural system. SPA

Interior render of the Terminal. SPA

Plenty of debate rollicked around the place when this was first presented to the world over a year ago, and what I find interesting now is the '2.0 media' blogging style of the Stuff article, which has collected over 60 comments to date. Looking through these is interesting, because it offers some sort of 'public' commentary, however warped it may be by its medium.

Some commentators focus on the copper exterior, but "GeraldNZ" is fairly unexcited: "Pretty ugly design, but at least the colour should improve as the copper oxidises into blue-green. Unfortunately that'll take decades."

"El Scorcho" agrees, with an optimistic outlook, marred only by the last five words which I guess he/she couldn't resist: "Good on Wellington airport for stepping outside the box and building something different. I can't wait to see it finished and watch the copper roof patina into that beautiful green. Some people are so ignorant..." And "hayleyb" rounds it off with an all-round shrug of indifference: "...It may look all clean at the moment but i wonder; A) How long will it be before the copper tarnishes? B) Will it be looked after properly? C) How will it look in 5 years? With proper care it'll be ok and retain it's ugly glory but it's better than a plain boring cement building. Personal overall opinion... Meh."

Then "Fredd" goes and throws an unexpected one in the mix: "All well and good, BUT...Where is the green roof?
I'm disappointed to see yet another new building project in Wellington without one.
Surely such a progressive city as Wellington should have some kind of policy towards promoting green building techniques such as having living green roofs.
It's the way of the future. Check out Copenhagen's new policy, and Chicago's. All new buildings are required to have greenery on their roof."

"christine Groves" is scathing, and also can't help slinging some shit at Architects: "Who gave them the nickname "pumpkins”, the general populous has named them balls? If they are coated to prevent oxidation they won't go green, if they aren't coated they will go rotten! What a waste of money -Architects are just Artists playing with other people’s money!"

"Tyrrell" is bafflingly skeptical of architects, "... my only worry is after a few decent southerly storms, and a few howling 100k norwesters and horizontal rain - how waterproof will they be. All those odd angles and folds for water to get into, I reckon it will leak like a sieve." Curious, as though one of the largest and respected architecture offices in New Zealand hadn't worked out how to make a frickin water-tight detail. 'Oh no! We bent a surface! Shit! What ever shall we do!' And there I go, contributing to the mundane saga of comment-scraps.

As a lover of process, I can't help enjoy the lead image from the Dom Post of the building in flux, with its bones bared, and its folded skin slowly growing across the body of the terminal.

But we should respect the words of "Poochee" who is considerate and patient enough to say:

"Lets wait & watch for the completion before throwing in our comments either good or bad."

If you happen to get a close(r) look, I'd love to publish some images of the interior taking shape... Anyone reading at SPA? Guy, any hook-ups?

Design by Studio of Pacific Architecture
Original report by the Dominion Post, sourced on Stuff
Client: Wellington International Airport Ltd.
Image by Diego Opatowsky

NOW + WHEN Australian Urbanism

16/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Australia's adventurous submission to this year's Venice Architecture Biennale explores diverse futures for Australian cities.

Organised as a competition by Creative Directors John Collings (Gollings Photography) and Ivan Rijavec (Rijavec Architects), the NOW + WHEN project challenges entrants to consider 91 years in the future of Australian urban centres (a country which has a massive 93% of its population urbanised), and the selected 17 projects sound intriguing, and look absolutely amazing.

Intriguingly, the projects presentation strategy forms a crucial element of the exhibition, using digital stereoscopic [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereoscopy] imaging to allow new levels of immersion for the viewer across the two-level pavilion designed by Philip Cox.

They explain:

"On the pavilion’s upper level, NOW will feature current urban environments in Sydney, Melbourne and Surfers Paradise. Stereoscopic visuals will show contrasting views of these cities from macro-scapes at 20,000 feet to ‘helicoptering’ views of urban and architectural icons at close range. All three cities will be filmed at dusk, when the ‘Australian urban spectacle becomes luminous and articulate in conveying the way our cities work'.

On the pavilion’s lower level, WHEN will dare to imagine Australian urban spaces in 91 years time, with the intent of ‘catapulting urban debate into eye-popping visceral entertainment set in a soundscape’. Australian architects will be asked to submit 3D entries for inclusion by entering an ‘Ideas for Australian Cities 2100’ national competition. A range of entries will then be chosen focusing on the creative potential of architecture.

Two stereo screens mounted back to back at the rear of the upper and lower exhibition spaces will be the focus of the installation. An urban themed black and white geometric matrix will be projected on the walls, floors and ceilings of both levels leading to two stereo screens, which will feature the urban environments in continuous three minute loop cycles."

Sounds fantastic, and hopefully we can get a better look when the Australian Pavilion opens on August 26, and I've heard some word of a return tour of the exhibition (makes sense..) but I can't find the dates yet...

Here's the full list of the 17 finalists, I suspect you could google a few of them to find more imagery, but I've included a few that are floating around online currently:

•   Sydney 2050: Fraying Ground, RAG URBANISM, Richard Goodwin (Richard Goodwin Art/Architecture), Andrew Benjamin, Gerard Reinmuth (TERRIOR)

•   Symbiotic City, Steve Whitford (University of Melbourne, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning) + James Brearley (BAU Brearley Architects and Urbanists, Adjunct Professor RMIT)

•   The Fear Free City, Justyna Karakiewicz, Tom Kvan and Steve Hatzellis

Fear Free City.

•   A City of Hope, EDMOND & CORRIGAN, Design - Peter Corrigan (everything), Realisation - Michael Spooner (and support)

•   Mould City, Colony Collective, Madeleine Beech, Jono Brener, Nicola Dovey, Peter Raisbeck and Simon Wollan

•   Sedimentary City, Brit Andresen and Mara Francis

•   Aquatown, NH Architecture with Andrew Mackenzie

•   Multiplicity, John Wardle Architects & Stefano Boscutti

•   Ocean City, Arup, Alanna Howe, Alexander Hespe

Ocean City.

•   -41 + 41, Peck Dunin Simpson Architects, Fiona Dunin, Alex Peck, Andrew Simpsons in association with Martina Johnson, Third Skin, Eckersley Garden Architecture, Angus McIntyre, Tim Kreger

•   Survival vs Resilience, BKK Architects (Tim Black, Julian Kosloff, Simon Knott, George Huon, Julian Faelli, Madeleine Beech, Jane Caught and Steffan Heath) Village Well, Charter Cramer and Daniel Piker

•   Terra Form Australis, HASSELL, Holopoint & The Environment Institute, Tim Horton, Tony Grist, Prof Mike Young, Ben Kilsby, Sharon Mackay, Susie Nicolai, Mike Mouritz

•   Island Proposition 2100 (IP2100), Scott Lloyd, Aaron Roberts (room11) and Katrina Stoll

Island Proposition 2100, absolutely stunning visual, a clear reminiscence of Le Corbusier's project for Algers circa 1938 (below)

•   Implementing the Rhetoric, Harrison and White with Nano Langenheim, Marcus White, Stuart Harrison and Nano Lagenheim

•   How Does it Make You Feel (HDIMYF), Ben Statkus (Statkus Architecture), Daniel Agdag, Melanie Etchell, William Golding, Anna Nguyen, Joel Ng

•   Loop-Pool / Saturation City, McGauran Giannini Soon (MGS), Bild + Dyskors, Material Thnking, MGS - Eli Giannini, Jocelyn Chiew, Catherine Ranger, Bild - Ben Milbourne, Dyskors - Edmund Carter, Material Thinking - Paul Carter

•   a tale of two cities, Billard Leece Partnership Pty Ltd

Revitalising the City

16/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

The Design and Arts College of New Zealand's Architectural Design students are opening their graduating exhibition, Revitalising the City on Thrusday 17 June.

Revitalising the City
Exhibition opening, 5.30pm-7pm Thursday 17 June
D&A, 116 Worcester St, Christchurch.

It's unfortunate we don't hear enough from the South, so it's fantastic news to see this exhibition opening tomorrow, with a generous invitation to us all. The third-year graduating students -from the Diploma of Architectural Design and Technology- were given a brief to utilise one of three existing gap sites in the Christchurch City Centre. Leo Harris, Programme Coordinator explains "[t]he council's revitalisation plans aim to create diversity in the city centre and identifies mixed-use buildings as key. Students were to design a hybrid building which combined a 21st century workspace and an event space for up to 300 people."

Some promising student work is sampled at the D&A website, so tomorrow night's opening should be a great opportunity for some architectural stimulation, a bit of schmoozing, and of course an ideal chance for employers to meet some new talent.

Some student work reproduced from the D&A student work catalogue:

Chris Keen: Youth cycle and skate centre.

Rachel Stratford: Architectural Design Stage 3

Ricky Booth: Major Project.

For more info on their Design and Arts programmes, check out D&A online [],
or contact Emma Gray (Marketing Coordinator) ph (03) 365 1578

Upcoming Events in June

10/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Fill in some gaps on the calendar this month with this bunch of quality stuff happening around the country.

5th Australasian Housing Researchers' Conference.
30 June: Submissions.
17-19 November: Conference.

First off, an invitation to submit papers to the 5th Australasian Housing Researchers' Conference has been sent out, they're due June 30th though, so take a closer look at the conference details if you're interested in developing or publishing some work towards this, with only a couple weeks to get it in. Not sure if you're "researching housing"? If in doubt, submit something anyway I'd say.

The conference will be hosted in Auckland, November 17-19, 2010.
For more details and contacts, link here.

Auckland Architecture Association: Westmere Site Visit
27 June.

The next in the popular series of Site Visits organised by the AAA will drop into Westmere, with a great line-up of buildings on the itinerary. This from the AAA:

"There are more award winning houses in close proximity in Westmere than any other suburb in NZ. View award winning houses by Fearon Hay, Pete Bossley, Malcolm Walker and Felicity Wallace, and fabulous designs by Patterson Associates, Noel Lane Architects, Susan Firth & Grant Copeland and a house under constuction by David Ponting. Each house is located within easy walking distance to Cox’s Bay Park."

The tour will cost $55, with proceeds going to Westmere Primary School. Places are limited, so check out the full programme here (pdf file), and/or contact Kristen George on 021 388 374.

Wellington: 'Children’s changing worlds: Do our cities work for children?' Seminar
16 June, 12-1.30pm.

Organised by the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities, this presentation from Professor Claire Freeman (Director of the Post Graduate Planning Programme at the Department of Geography, University of Otago), Barbary Lambourn (National Advocacy Manager for UNICEF NZ), and Dr. Adrian Field (director of Synergia) looks fantastic, and is a great opportunity for these experts to engage in more dialogue from urbanists and the design community.
The seminar will be held next Wednesday 16 June, 12-1.30pm, in the Nordmeyer Lecture Theatre, Wellington School of Medicine, 23a Mien St, Newtown, Wellington. Also check out a huge list of their events planned around the country, a group worth watching and participating with!

Pecha Kucha Nights!

How could any events update not include the prolific momentum of Pecha Kucha. This month sees a nationwide boom of nights, so check out PechaKucha.co.nz for details and updates of presenters (they're usually published a couple nights before each event), as well as some great recordings from previous PKN's.

Here's the summaries:

PKN_Dunedin_06
13 june 2010, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 7pm. This will be a special event celebrating Puaka/ Matariki. $8 or $5 conc. Entry via Moray Place (no eftpos available!)

PKN_AKL_19
(as part of the Auckland Festival of Photography). Wednesday 16 june 2010, Galatos, 17 Galatos St, off K-Road. Doors open 7.30pm, start 8.20pm, $9 cash doorsales only, as usual come early as seats are limited.

PKN_Gisborne_03
18 june 2010 Tawera Studio Gallery, 293 Gladstone Rd. 5.30pm, a bargain $3+bring a cushion.

PKN_Hamilton_06
Thursday 1 July 2010, Doors open 6.30pm, event starts 7.00pm. Gallagher Hub, Wintec, Angelsea Street, Hamilton. $7 door sales (cash only) | Cash bar available.

Keep busy.

Vive l'institution!

8/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Reported in Cross Section were the NZIA Awards Night held in Auckland last month, where the new President for the New Zealand Institute of Architects, Patrick Clifford gave an encouraging inaugural speech, with particular reference to the architectural community:

"I operate in an environment of collective responsibility and commitment – and one of regular delegation! I look forward to working with the Council and Richard, and Beverley and the executive. Most importantly, I was deliberate in my choice of the phrase earlier “with all of you” with regard to my role as President.

Together we are New Zealand architecture. This is a collective position and the cause is one that we can all support." –Whoa there, wait, what, who is?

Now, I had a lot of work at school obsessed with locating unusual 'architectures' - and quite spectacularly missed a fair few times - but there's something quite fascinating that a room of architects, and their clients most importantly (god, I hope there were clients), might constitute an architecture. There's something fascinating in that spatial concept for a start which I wont talk about here, but there's also something deeply institutional about that statement which to me resurfaces the authoritarian relationship the NZIA attempts to promote over architecture in New Zealand.

"Well aren't they supposed to?!" I hear you screaming, "Well yes," (I'd say, well not really, I don't talk like this) "they are certainly in the strongest and most useful position to advocate the strength and usefulness of architects in New Zealand, but they have to be mindful of their institutional exclusivity if they are also to represent 'architecture' in New Zealand too, and do all the marvellous things for architecture that their Objects declare, rather than what seems obvious but is so often subverted: that they are organised for looking after architects, their architects.

But I wasn't there, and my recalcitrance in this matter makes me tired and cynical, and it's sort of moot anyway that the Institute should be so institutional, so who knows? I guess I'm just a status quo moment of resistance, like a shear wall to your torsionally dynamic floor slab.

In his column for Cross Section, he had this encouraging stuff to say:

"What we do is fundamental to the way that society operates: architecture has the potential to contribute to our sense of identity, and to economic and social well being. Good housing enhances people’s lives, well designed hospitals help them to get better faster, good quality school buildings contribute to how we educate our children, well designed workplaces underpin gains in productivity, and good cities help attract people to live and work in New Zealand."

Vive l'institution!

Naughty by Nature by Numbers

7/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Spanish graphic designer Cristóbal Vila of Etérea Studio makes a short and pretty digital video of the mathematical world we live in. Frank Lloyd Wright also gets some screen time in the back catalogue.

Yes, I know you know about this stuff, but for some early-week reminders of the pretty goodness out there, give a couple minutes to Cristóbal who has digitised and animated some beautiful mathematics.

In the short video, he introduces some basic mathematical relationships, the Fibonacci Sequence, the Golden Ratio (ah! and from it such architectural pleasure!), and concludes with the Voronoi Tessellations, all beautifully strung together on screen.

As I say, some of it has had plenty of media mileage in the past, but I do think this video is doing some great things, especially in animating the mathematics so clearly.

Check out the video here.

Stills from Nature by Numbers.

As I was looking over Vila's back catalogue of works, I couldn't help throw this one in too. Completed in 2007, it's another short film re-animating Frank Lloyd Wrights' Fallingwater house. Although the rendering is beautiful (cranking the soft-focus), what is of particularly intriguing here is the animated re-construction process of the building from scratch, revealing the rarely seen extent and scale of the project, as well as some interesting little nooks, crannies and corners of the fairly huge house for the Kaufmann's.

Check it out here.

I wish I had an appropriate link with Naughty By Nature, but I don't, I just wanted to call my post that. More then happy for theories to be proposed which connect Fibonacci, Fallingwater and the '90s hip hop crew.

"who down wit OPP? yeah all da homies."

The Geotaggers' World Atlas

1/06/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

If you haven't already, check out this must-see series of city maps by Eric Fischer, representing 100 of the most photographed cities in the world.

The Geotaggers' World Atlas is a simple, but elegantly presented project, dipping into various disciplines, and coming out with something rich with information, meaning and curiosity.

Creator, Eric Fischer has collected raw data from Picasa and Flickr photo-streaming websites, collating 'geotagged' images (when a photographer digitally tags a photograph with its location) against location and density, represented digitally on a series of city maps with simple vector lines.

From the creator Eric Fischer:

"The maps are ordered by the number of pictures taken in the central cluster of each one. This is a little unfair to aggressively polycentric cities like Tokyo and Los Angeles, which probably get lower placement than they really deserve because there are gaps where no one took any pictures. The central cluster of each map is not necessarily in the center of each image, because the image bounds are chosen to include as many geotagged locations as possible near the central cluster. All the maps are to the same scale, chosen to be just large enough for the central New York cluster to fit. The photo locations come from the public Flickr and Picasa search APIs [Application Programming Interface]."

Series overview.

As a set (viewed as thumbnails), the sliding scale of photographic density offers spidery clusters of media interest, some spreading like thick arteries (like Sydney and San Francisco) and others clustering predictably around each CBD. Polycentric cities like Los Angeles and Tokyo offer more complex maps, and some register monuments, tourist attractions and even green space.

Sydney, looking decidedly hearty. Link here to fullsize.

San Francisco. Fullsize here.

The urban interpretation through media (digital photography) could be a very useful resource for urbanists if it could be analysed further, by analysing profiles perhaps (are they tourists, professionals, locals or visitors?) and locations (what are the most photographed locations and routes?) which could then be 'designed' for, in a warped version of urban marketing. Admittedly it's a crude proposition, but nontheless, an incredibly well executed project from Fischer.

What shouldn't be overlooked is that these maps are beautiful. Generously the images are available at incredibly high resolution on a Creative Commons license, so take advantage of seeing your favourite cities in a new light. Sadly New Zealand hasn't made the list yet, but in the series of 100 photographs you're sure to find a favourite.

My gratitude to Katherine Roberts for the great link.

Is something happening with architecture nz?

28/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

The last few issues of architecture nz seems out of the ordinary, with more bite, more frustration and some unexpected articles.

Print periodicals are hard right now. We all know that, with advertorial income shifting quickly online, the printed journal is having to work at what it does best -lengthy, considered and even academic writing, so it's with surprising enjoyment that I've watched architecture nz take on a few more daring projects in the last few issues.

One article that finally compelled me to report on the journal's recent experiments was Ross T. Smith's 'Warm Fuzzies' (architecture nz, No2, 2010. p26-28), an essay (yes, an actual essay in architecture nz) who is completing his PhD through Auckland University on the work, writings and teachings of Pallasmaa.

Spending the first half of the essay conveying key positions in Pallasmaa's recent writings, The Thinking Hand in particular, Ross T. Smith sets up a fertile ground for an attack on architectural education –a topic in dire need of some column inches.

On 'The Thinking Hand' Smith points out:

"The Thinking Hand essays propositions on how the body and the mind may be reintegrated in order to subvert the visual hegemony in our current cultural condition." He continues, "Pallasmaa espouses praktognosis, knowledge through practical action. He advocates maintaining the physical, sensual, and material qualities in architectural education through practices such as hand drawing and model making, and preserving connections to the traditions of craft, whilst preserving the indeterminate and dynamic practice of art and the ourpourings of the imagination."

Warmly, we are offered some insight into the new and unpublished work of Pallasmaa (titled fantastically, "In praise of vagueness"), like such humbling gems from Pallasmaa: "my sense of uncertainty has grown constantly to a degree that is has become nearly intolerable." We can look forward to the full book soon, I hope.

The critique of architectural education is clearly articulated by Pallasmaa and Ross T. Smith, who are committed to energetically muddying the barren landscape of education they see around them.

"Architectural education and a dynamic professional rigour are necessary to avoid a blinkered plunge into the obscurity of substance brought about by a superficial, image-driven presetnation in schools of architecture where the sensuous, the haptic and the imaginary are overwhelmed by the visual and digital. For Pallasmaa the human condition is an "impure" and "dirty" mixture of ingredients."

Some great polemic finally finding its way to the pages of architecture nz. Although I won't got in further depth here, another key Issue worth checking out is last years 'Looking for Edges' edition (No.6, 2009), which had a curious 'insert' Guest-Edited by Tony van Raat, well worth a read.

Subscribe here, go on.

Shanghai World Expo Images

28/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

The Boston Globe has published some incredible photographs of Expo 2010, drawing out the theme of "Better City, Better Life".

The Big Picture is a project by the Boston Globe's digital site "inspired by publications like Life Magazine (of old), National Geographic... The Big Picture is intended to highlight high-quality, amazing imagery - with a focus on current events, , lesser-known stories and, well, just about anything that comes across the wire that looks really interesting."

They've captured an amazing array of shots from the Expo, a few which I've reproduced here in completely unflattering size, so be sure to check out the full album of 37 shots here.

The British pavilion known as the Seed Cathedral (exterior pictured in article lead) from Heatherwick Studio looking absolutely stunning:

Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

Kevin Lee/Bloomberg

The Danish Pavilion getting a test-ride from architect Bjarke Ingels of BIG, and the Little Mermaid in her new hangout.

Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

And some other highlights:

Visitors walk past the "Information and Communications Pavilion," built by China Mobile Ltd. and China Telecom Corp., in Shanghai, China, on Monday, April 19, 2010. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

Visitors walk past the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion, known as the Dream Cube, in Shanghai on April 26, 2010. Multi-nationals are seizing on the six-month event beginning May 1 to build their brand presence in the market of 1.3 billion people, but also the business and government connections - or "guanxi" - crucial to making money in China. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

Is there more space in things than things in space?

25/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

While we're on the interior theme, check out the work of Swedish artist Michael Johansson, whose elaborate installations densify and mystify the objects of the everyday.

Johansson has been a prolific artist in the last 6 years, traveling thoroughly through Scandinavia for work and education, where he exhibits primarily. Perhaps this is someting in the Scandinavian pragmatism being put to work, as these three selected works play out an obsession with space, with a tonal palette from the gallery and the woods.

See Johansson's full portfolio here.

Ghost, 2009

Ghost, 2009 (detail)

Ghost, 2009
White objects.
Dimensions: 1,75 x 1,75 x 1,75 m.
Installation view: Akershus Kunstsenter, Lillestrøm (NO)

'Ghost' is a small domesticated piece, but is an alien in each territory, whether it is the snowy footpath or exclusive gallery. Packed into a cube, it could be the result of a violent crush, an abandoned Ikea dream, but recently abandoned, will quickly dirty, swell and rot. It's the ghost of what?

Ghost II, 2009

Ghost II, 2009

Ghost II, 2009
White objects.
Dimensions: 2,9 x 2,9 m.
Installation view: Galleri Arnstedt, Östra Karup (S)

'Ghost II' is a haunting sequel, or perhaps a sibling, perfecting its institutional camouflage at the rooms extreme end. This could be a whole house, a series of structural elements, furnishings, flashings and cutlery, who have long since left their ivory shells. White, cut with shadows at the edges, it's like a receipt of its former self.

Konstakademien, 2010

Konstakademien, 2010
Objects from the storage room at Konstakademien, Stockholm.
Dimensions: 1,7 x 2,6 m.
Installation view: MARKET at-large, Konstakademien, Stockholm (SE)

'Konstakademien' is a richer work which like its namesake (the Academy of Art) is aged, coloured, and gloriously shadowy. The archive of leather volumes, unknown contents of suitcases and miscellaneous wooden boxes easels and shelves are nestled in the under-stair space, which we all know curls and descends as an inverse result of the stair. Here the Academy is rationalised, economised, and still beautiful.

www.michaeljohansson.com

Sustainable Habitat Challenge 2010

24/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Last years' SHAC '09 competition saw some exciting collaboration across the design, environmental and scientific communities, with a broad spectrum of institutions working together on a wide range of innovative design-build projects. You can browse some results of the competition here which is highly recommended for anybody with an interest in what's happening on the sustainable drawing-board as well as on (and in) the ground of New Zealand.

To get started in SHACD '10, have a read of the existing forums which have been set up to establish direction, trajectory and some ideas, as well as helping to form some idea of who might be involved, so you can find your local posse.

Some images from Wellington team 'The Plant Room' of SHAC '09.

The Seat/Wall/Planter/Worm-Farm from the Plant Room looking great at the New Dowse.

Here's the calendar of SHAC '10 'Steps' you need to know about:

1. Express your intent to form a team and develop a proposal – now
   •   Post an idea for discussion on the SHAC forums today!
   •   post it now
   •   ask friends, colleagues to respond

2 – Submit team proposal.
   •   creating your group and post your proposal on your SHAC group page
   •   due by 29 July 2010

3 – Detailed Concept, due 1 October 2010, for by Regional Workshops
   •   workshops in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill

Here's a nice overview from the SHAC team, led by Tim Bishop, the National Coordinator and man behind the wheel -or maybe the guy with his foot on the accelerator.

"SHAC challenges teams to build or retrofit a more sustainable house, building, office, classroom or community hall. Form a tertiary, industry, or community-led team, and work collaboratively, involve young people and communicate widely about your designs.
The aim is efficient, affordable, adaptable, durable, simple, healthy, and delightful buildings and neighbourhoods with focus on regenerative communities. Join in this national project with tertiary, industry, and community-based teams designing and building or retrofitting a more sustainable habitat for their community."

Good luck, and keep busy.

www.shac.org.nz

Intense Interior Reprogramming

20/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

See how Singapore-based architect Gary Chang has redesigned his tiny apartment using sliding function-heavy partitions of the dwelling.

Singapore architect Gary Chang has devised an intense interior reprogramming of his tiny apartment, collapsing functionality into a series of shifting vertical planes, all packed into a fairly typical high-rise residential block.

The 32 square-metre apartment, which is nested among hundreds of similar cell-like dwellings has been kitted out with functional sliding panels, each housing a typical function, the kithcen, pantry or entertainment centre for example, and each revealing and creating new surfaces and spaces for Chang to adjust his home.

The idea is not especially new, but its rarely pulled-off, probably because of the obvious effort required to maintain the mechanics, as well as being bothered to haul your walls around when you need to watch a DVD or cook an egg. People are lazy, they say. But, like a great teacher I know of says about the 'short attention span of a student' being the short attention span of a bored student, I'd like to think that even the act of living in this sort of environment would stimulate a bit of pro-active living, rather than the distracted or languid styles of occupation most of us can admit to now and then.

To combat the eternal heaving of walls, it's interesting that the main moving panels are suspended from the ceiling, meaning they're much easier to slide across, and to me, seem to evoke a theatricality to the interior, which is compounded by the bizarre choice of tinting the windows with a warm yellow. All up, the space(s) are far from anything 'domestic' and maybe with this combination of effects, can actually provoke a more active interaction with the apartment.

The space looking from the entrance, with the 'shelves' spread out. Photo Marcel Lam

A diagram of the space.

The cleared out living area with bookcase on left and kitchen at right.

The laundry snuck in behind the bookcase (left) and looking back towards kitchen and entry.

You can check out a few more images here (photographs by Marcel Lam for the NYT), and a nice walk through description, from the New York Times which illustrate some of varying spaces and functions.

You can also get a video tour here, which is pretty neat.

I don't know though, is it just me or should buildings stay still? Let me know Calatrava... let me know.

Pecha Kucha Nights in AKL and CHCH!

17/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Pecha Kucha will hit the North and South this week, with Auckland hosting its eighteenth Pecha Kucha Night on Wednesday, and Christchurch its eighth on Thursday.

PechaKucha.co.nz has posted its Auckland line-up, which is looking great as always. In particular I'd encourage you to check out Gerald Melling (who I hear will be visiting both Auckland University and Unitec Architecture schools this week as well), who will be talking about his brand new book, Tsunami Box, published by Freerange Press, who have this enticing line on the project:

"Tsunami box tells the story of an architectural journey into the heady tropics of emergency housing in Sri Lanka, following the Asian tsunami of 2004.

With tenacious commitment, an eye for detail, and a reckless sense of humour, architect and author Gerald Melling launches fundamental ideas about architecture onto the troubled waters of post-tsunami re-construction and hopes to see them float.

They sink, of course, but not without a trace – this book offers genuine insight into the nature of ‘good intentions’ and the anatomy of a useful architecture."

Tsunami Box will be available for purchase at the Pecha Kucha Night, so keep an eye out. You can also order a copy online, with an amazing 25% off its retail. You can even get a sneek preview of the first chapter here.

Some snaps of Tsunami Box, from the Freerange Press.

The Auckland Line-Up.

Mark Dytham // architect and PechaKucha founder, Tokyo
Oliver Neuland // Industrial Designer, Senior Lecturer ID Massey University // Slim rides – My journey from a motorbike design to public transport
Lisa Ho // Social Change Advocate // Art as a tool for social change: The Tiny Toones story
Alastair Jamieson // Environmental consultant and photographer // The volcanoes in our backyard
Meighan Ellis // Photographic/Video Artist // beauty, beauty look at you: an archive of curiosity
Andrew Johnston // architect, designer // a story of a succesful transition from an architect to a product designer
Tom Reilly // movie director // www.colossuspictures.com
Jessica Mills // about colour management
Fabiana Kubke // scientist // Science and Science communication in the 21st century
Flip Grater // singer/songwriter/author
Gerald Melling // architect // Freerange/Tsunami Box
Wil Bardebes // lecturer UNITEC, e-Learning Community Coordinator // about a future environment for learning

PKN_AKL_18 will be hosted in Shed 10 and 12, 90 Wellesley St, which you can enter from 77 Cook St. Doors open at 7.30pm which an 8.20pm start. $9 cash door sales only, so get there early.

In Christchurch, PKN_CHCH_08 will be hosted at Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti, Level 5, 263 High Street (above Hallensteins). Doors will open at 7.30pm with an 8.20pm start. $10 pre sales form Galaxy Records on Manchester St (cash only). There are only 220 tickets available for this one, so get in quick, and bring some cash for the bar. Keep an eye on PechaKucha.co.nz for the speaker list to be announced.

Enjoy.

WIN an Apple iPad with Productspec and Collingwood EvoLED™

12/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

To celebrate the launch of the stunning new Collingwood EvoLED™ we are giving away an Apple iPad.

Simply enter your details here to be in the draw.

The EvoLED™ is a breakthrough in sustainable lighting design with fire-rated, high-powered, and dimmable technology. Distributed in New Zealand by Collingwood Lighting the EvoLED™ is a superior solution for interior and commercial lighting.

Using only the best LED technology, Halers Lighting have created the EvoLED™. The EvoLED™ incorporates patented technology which ensures exceptional long life through ingenious heat management, whilst the groundbreaking optics produce a perfect 40° beam with virtually no loss of light output.

Halers Lighting have also pioneered LED electronics, producing the world's first super efficient mains dimmable driver for high power LED luminaries, making retrofit a realistic and trouble free option.

EvoLED™ is 90% more efficient than a halogen option, and lasts 30 times longer, saving time, money and maintenance, whilst dramatically reducing carbon emissions, landfill waste and hazardous materials entering the ecosystem.

Rybakker Remaking Daylight

11/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Swedish designer Daniel Rybakken crafts a carefully developed daylighting solution to the dark Scandanavian winters.

By developing a number of projects dedicated to creating artificial 'daylight', Rybakken has produced some really attractive results, including the Daylight Entrance (pictured here) and the very clever 'Subconscious effect of Daylight'.

Using an array of LED-lights mounted on the reverse of the variously sized panels, the visible effect is incredibly persuasive. The major project shown here recreates the tilted shadow from an unseen window above, mounted carefully in key locations to give the effect of warmer and brighter space.

Presumably the panel variations are easily modified, meaning you wouldn't have the repeated parallelogram of light across the entire interior, although I suspect there would be a limit on the nature of the surface material and its texture.

The Subconscious effect of Daylight plays off a similar perceptive assumption we make, where a piece of furniture appears to cast a shadow beneath itself, Rybakker attaching a clever little projector on its underside to give an eerie extension of space with a simple false-shadow.

I think they're very interesting, and probably of real interest to those suffering a bit of Seasonal Affective Disorder, I do think you'd have to be especially crafty to actually install them in the right spot, in the right space, next to the right materials, but given all that, I like it heaps.

A range of the Daylight panels, reverse side.

Pretty sweet looking close-up. Check out the soft edge.

The panels frontside, doing their thing. "See, there." he said.

photos are by Kalle Sanner & Daniel Rybakken

New Productspec BRANZ functionality

10/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Productspec has been working closely with BRANZ to offer a new functionality helping Architects and Specifiers to more easily access BRANZ appraisals throughout Productspec.

BRANZ Filter

We've added a 'BRANZ Filter' enabling Productspec Users to now filter BRANZ-appraised products from within the Productspec categories in order to help them make a product selection.

Live Linking

This will then enable Specifiers to easily make appraisal-based product selections and view (BRANZ-hosted) appraisal documents in the Productspec website. Also, if you have an appraisal and it is updated at any point, don't worry - the link will be updated automatically, so you won't need to amend any BRANZ information within your Productspec listing.

So, if you have a BRANZ appraisal and would like to further leverage it's value all you need to do is login to the Productspec Client Dashboard (admin.productspec.net), select the relevant product from My Products, then in Technical Files just enter your appraisal number. Simple..!

Allandale House: A Cabin of Curiosities cranks the A-Frame

6/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Young American architect William O'Brien Jr. has dabbled with the triangular section to great effect, and challenging scale.

The A-Frame holds a certain place in New Zealand architecture, commonly deployed in bach or chalet construction as well as a few alternatives -I seem to recall spotting a few A-Frame chapels in the countryside- but in recent memory it hasn't really been popular -or at least not to the editorial tastes of our local magazines.

The Allandale House has attracted the attention of the blogosphere in the last few days, and I couldn't help pass it on, with a few New Zealandish thoughts of my own.

Designed by O'Brien Jr. and Bhujon Kang (on the project team), and wonderfully visualised by Peter Guthrie, the house is designed for a family as a holiday home -is the A-Frame a holiday typology?- and is apparently a "small" vacation house, which in particular has to store and display a curious collection of artifacts. The planning conforms to a linear progression from garage and library, to bedrooms and bathrooms (in the second and central two-storey frame) and the third frame is programmed with a kitchen, dining and living area -including the spectacular triangular framed view.

Some formal studies which develop the axial allignments of the 3 A-Frames.

Site to Building progression -entrance from left.

Visible here is the subtly curved surface transferring to the tilted wall, and of course the stunning triangular framed view.

A brief line from the design team which introduces the attractive detailing of the floor-wall connection: "The house aims to undermine the seeming limitations of a triangular section. It is done with the increase to extreme proportion in the vertical direction and the use of the acute corners meeting the floor as thickening of the walls, telescopic apertures and built-in storage."

The thickened wall-floor detail with embedded storage and deep window.

The transverse sections.

I find the interior view of the thickened wall to be very attractive, it obviously makes the wall more approachable (diagrammed in the section) with its sphere of space, and there's something very intimate about such a short vertical surface. It also appears to be a curved transition to tilted element -an aesthetic taste in softened corners I've probably acquired from early Athfield projects.

As I've alluded too, I think the scale of this A-Frame is challenging to my experiences of much smaller versions of the typology in New Zealand. Aside from a comment that this place looks massive anyhow in terms of planning, I think the images we see here are very compelling, and I would love to see more work being done on the typology, can it be scaled? Are there more elegant ways to detail the floor-wall meeting? How do you move vertically? How do you truncate the extrusion? If you have some thoughts on this, or better yet some projects, I would love to see them and open a discussion on some of these issues.

These and more images are at www.wojr.org

When the Going Gets Weird...

3/05/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

...The Weird turn Pro. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson has a point, as I consider some new music video's which offer new realms of post-human reality and then some.

Monday's need weirdness, like Wednesday's need Tuesdays, I think, so when I came across Yeasayer's new video for their recent single release 'Ambling Alp' (which you can download for free here, mind the nudity in the vid.) I was further convinced that music video's are the contemporary realm of creative speculation for weird futures, and one trend in particular (popular in pop and Indie music scenes at least) is a neo-pagan, post-human postulation, being shaped by plenty of video directors around the world.

First is a local sample from The Mint Chicks, for a track called 'Hot on Your Heels', which roughly -although not exclusively- follows a tiger through a human digestive tract, rendered wonderfully in low-fi animation cutouts, video layers and brilliant colour -all common features in this bundle actually. It was created by Special Problems, which seems apt.

Second is from last year (or maybe 2008?), from the Animal Collective –champions of genre– for their track 'Peacebone', which narrates a picturesque -and grotesque- outing of two monsters, very unsettling, but beautifully shot. It was directed by James Whale.

And the catalyst to all this weirdness, the track Ambling Alp from Yeasayer, the best quality of which I could only find on Wellington Art and Music blog Maniquill -who I owe for the link, see the video here. Some portions of this video are, as they apparently say, NSFW. It was directed by Radical Friend, who's website is hilarious.

Enjoy.

Communiqué Flurry of Lectures in May

29/04/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

If you're in Auckland in the next couple of weeks be sure to take a few long lunches to catch some of Communiqué's great line-up in their Autumn Lecture series.

Here's an overview of the schedule, and here's where it is, each start at 12pm at Auckland University (details below)

4 May: Namita Kambli: New Media and the Changing Nature of Urban Place

"Urban place is a well conceptualised notion that denotes a physical space in which people gather to exchange goods, ideas and information, and this function of place has remained relatively stable over time. In this talk Namita Kambli will discuss the growing incorporation of digital communication media, and how this will change the role and the nature of urban places."

11 May: Lada Hršak: Local Stories

"In May and June Lada Hršak is leading an intensive design studio at The University of Auckland’s School of Architecture and Planning. This lecture will present several of her designs and will illustrate how they have been conditioned and articulated by the local conditions of topography, landscape, culture, agriculture, economy, politics, memory, history and building techniques and materials."

13 May: Akihisa Hirata: Tangling (NOTE: 6pm, Engineering Lecture Theature)

"Akihisa Hirata has established himself as a leader among the new generation of Japanese architects. The latest in an illustrious group of young architects to emerge from Toyo Ito’s office (including Astrid Klein, Mark Dytham, Mokoto Yokomizo and recent Pritzker Prize-winner Kazuyo Sejima), Hirata established his independent practice, Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office, in 2005."

Location: Engineering Lecture Theatre (Bldg 401), 20 Symonds Street, Auckland

18 May: Peter Robinson: Snow Ball Blind Time and other projects

"In Snow Ball Blind Time, (Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 2008), Robinson realised a kind of artificial-industrial-nature, with the multi-level gallery threaded through with polystyrene chain. The links, varying in diameter from reasonable to supersized, plunged from floor to floor in the white gallery space."

19 May: Astrid Klein & Mark Dytham: My Design Life

"Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham are the directors of Klein Dytham architecture (KDa), one of Japan’s most exciting young design firms. They studied together at the Royal College of Art in London and in 1989 travelled to Tokyo where they found work with Toyo Ito. Staying on in Japan, the pair established KDa and quickly gained recognition with a series of audacious and award-winning projects."

All of the Communiqué Autumn Lecture series takes place at the Design Lecture Theatre, Conference Centre, 22 Symonds Street, Building 423. GoogleMap location here, and run from 12pm - 1pm (with the exception of Akihisa Hirata on May 13).

Enjoy.

Archigram Archive Project might enliven Architectural speculation.

29/04/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A few years ago now a small bunch of wellington architecture students and recent grads flew up to Auckland, excited by the prospect of a Conference about a radical Architecture Student Congress that happened in the 70s in Auckland. There are a number of stories that have unravelled from this event, but a particularly memorable presentation that day was from Kate Heron (or was it Sam Hardingham, i can never remember) from the University of Westminster, who had been working alongside David Greene -a poet and member of the Archigram group- on a particular project called the Invisible University -which we were invited to contribute ideas to.

A lasting impression was the excitement that a revitalised and active member of an incredibly famous group (in the architecture community) was to some extent continuing its work some 30 years later, in a reasonably radical way.

Westminster University has just published the Archigram Archival Project online. It is an amazingly comprehensive digital archive of the entire Archigram oeuvre, containing hundreds of projects and thousands of staggering images produced by the group in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

"Almost 10,000 items are included in this archive, including digital versions of drawings, collages, paintings, photographs, magazines, articles, slides and multi-media material, accompanied by original texts by Archigram wherever these are available. Around half of these items belong to the 202 projects currently listed and given project numbers by Dennis Crompton in the Archigram Archives. The rest are supporting and contextual material such as letters, photos, texts and additional projects provided by the depositors."

What I find interesting given this new availability is the possibility for a renewed enthusiasm and experimentation in architectural representation, especially from the student body, which in large, produces increasingly frigid architectural representations –a tangential discussion to be had relates to the uptake of digital representation in architectural practice, which in my mind is still largely in a state of clumsy infancy in most conventional architecture schools and practices. What I find interesting is the conceptual and intellectual rigour and consistency applied throughout the body of work, which radically attempted to imagine future conditions for modernity, the city, the suburb (and so on, the breadth is phenomenal), and to a huge extent been proved as fairly accurate. Commodity-fetishism, virtual nomads, techno-environmentalism and invisible network cities are just a handful of ideas flooding through the work, which remember, was created when only snippets of these conditions were evident -the mobile phone was really only taken up in the 70s.

A few favourites:

Sin Centre

‘Entertainments Palace’ on the site of the Empire Theatre, Leicester Square, London. Originally ‘failed’ as student final thesis project at the Regent Street Polytechnic

The Polytechnic failed the scheme and continued to do so several times even after its prominent display at MOMA and published status as an epoch-making and original technic icon.

This makes me think of the stories heard (in NZ…a few years back) of students being failed in final years of study, only to retort that the university wasn’t able to argue its case based on the assessment criteria, and eventually were forced to pass the student under legal presuure. I wonder what it would take to fail these days, sure you could do it by being crap -maybe, but it would be interesting to see which directions you could take architecture that might be considered un-architectural enough to be denied by the university. I know I tried… and there’s plenty to be analysed there, but I havn’t been bothered yet.

Plug In University Node

"The University Node was an exercise to discover what happened to the various notions of gradual infill, replacement and regeneration of parts on to a Plug-in City megastructure: but with a specific kind of activity."

Instant City

"Instant City forms part of a series of investigations into mobile facilities which are in conjunction with fixed establishments requiring expanded services over a limited period in order to satisfy an extreme but temporary problem."

Love it.

Check out some early discussion over at projectfreerange.com from the Freerangers.

New Productspec Theme Changer

29/04/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

As a part of the upgraded productspec.net you can now personalise your online experience.

This week on Productspec.net you would have noticed a new tab at the bottom right side of the screen, that small cyan tab now lets you personalise your experience of Productspec by allowing you to select from a range of six new themes. I've grabbed some shots of my favourites below, which are in the first available range of six.

Much like re:speak's backgrounds which you are similarly able to personalise, we hope that these can make your regular experience with productspec.net familiar and more suitable to your own stylish working needs, because we're convinced you can be browsing thousands of products, accessing CAD content directly from manufacturers, AND look really cool doing it.

Simply click on the small tab to select you're favourite theme, and it's done.

Brooding and 'Take-me-seriously'' Black Theme.

'I-make-buildings' Architecture Theme.

'I-prefer-green' Grass Theme.

www.productspec.net

Murray McCully in conversation with the NZ Herald yesterday, discusses the new Queen's Wharf plan.

21/04/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A quick link to a video of RWC Minister McCully who puts on a good show when confronted with some reasonable questions.

The first twenty seconds are probably the most entertaining for me, as McCully squirms visibly at suggestions from NZ Herald reporter Edward Gay about the timing of the project effecting its outcome. As the report continues, we hear from the Chairman of the Auckland Regional Council Mike Lee, who throws in a few gems, and between them we end up with the fairly predictable picture of a cheap, pragmatic scheme (god knows why it might be shaped so awkwardly..), which will probably linger on the waterfront like a post-RWC hangover. Fortunately at least, the necessary strengthening of the Wharf is secured, and the building itself -a prefabricated series of frames that slink down the Wharf- bears a fairly low cost ($9million).

You can check out more detailed discussions on the project over at the Auckland Architecture Association, who in particular are voicing concerns about the hasty demolition of the historic sheds onsite, so give them a visit for more on that, as well as info about the opening of the famed red gates.

But back to the squirmish interview, here's the opening scene that completely reveals McCully's awkward avoidance of the question about timing and design outcome:

(Reporter Edward Gay): "How long will this take to build Mr McCully?"
(Murray McCully): "It's actually a very easy build, it'll take about six weeks roughly to put up, it'll take three months to construct [aah the old two-week months], we've got plenty of time in that respect, and we envisage construction will start probably in March of next year, the pre-fabrication work having been completed between now and then.
EG: "How much did the time constraints impact on the design though?"
MM: Not at all. I asked the officials to come back with the best possible design that met all of our requirements, and ah, they did that, there were no compromises built around timing."

Brilliant, first, watch for the twitching of McCully's eye as he sees the question coming, as "constraint" is uttered, he carefully resets his posture and throws back the retort. As he stutters vaguely into the next sentence –apparently architects are just 'officials' now, although there must indeed be a swathe of officials between him and Jasmax (it was them wasn't it?)- he makes the classic move of resetting his jacket with his left hand, a great power status move to assert his authority on the reporter, suggesting that despite the blatantly self-evident lie, he stands his ground.

The next scene at the press conference is a bit glum, with Mike Lee assuring us that "it's not what we originally wanted to build there, but we're going to give it our best shot [feel good moment!] to make us something that looks really nice and attractive to our visitors." Wow I'm enthused, if only more key strategic urban projects were 'really nice'...

He continues, "the silver lining of the Mayors decision, and chronic leadership failure [Ouch, some inflammatory and confusing editing there], is that we're dealing with something which is way more cheaper than was envisaged only a few months ago, this is way cheaper [orsome!], a) than the preferred cruise ship design, and way-more cheaper than Auckland City's suggested temporary options." I'm not sure Councillors are supposed to say 'way more', which makes him kind of cool, but also fairly unconvincing.

The new temporary design imagined on site.

The truncated face of the new shed.

Fantastically, McCully has invited us to invent our favourite icon-labels, offering a 'cloud' and a 'sail' to the reporters 'slug'. I'd love to hear more...

Autodesk Launches HomeStyler, Online Home Design Software

19/04/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Homestyler is a new 3D Design platform from Autodesk offering a free and highly accessible CAD tool to the public, ideal for visualisation and refurbishment planning.

Developed in the Autodesk Labs as a test-version previously called Project Dragonfly, Homestyler has now been launched publicly, enabling quick and visually crisp designs to be created, and interestingly, shared through the HomeStyler MyDesigns portal (requiring an account registration at no cost).

A short series of video introductions are available here on the Autodesk YouTube Channel for your perusal.

The availability of the MyDesigns platform is pretty interesting, which would allow the sharing of designs between remote collaborators and client groups, the downside being the risk of a continuously changing model between all the parties involved -the expertise of planning and specification being somewhat undermined.

The other curious aspect of HomeStyler is the added link directly to product manufacturers and suppliers. The shift from generic to specific (branded) CAD modelling is an increasingly prolific practice, in fact I imagine most designers and specifiers probably always have had preferred catalogues mentally projected through their projects (preference of quality, style and reliability being pretty important), but the proliferation of these increased networks and accessibility (much like Productspec's MyProjects in New Zealand) is an exciting and curious new shape of the industry.

My concern about these platforms is the deterioration of design quality at the hands of the unqualified. To make a crude analogy, would we so readily download MyDefence ("Law Suits Made-Easy!") or FacialStyler ("2D and 3D Facial Remodelling for the everyday reconstructive planning and visualisation")? My worries about the flippancy that these platforms introduce to designing spaces are somewhat dissipated by the hope that any substantial design would need the engagement of a professional designer, but I can envisage an erosion of some fundamental ideas about how we arrange spaces -HomeStyler descriptions that begin: "With no training required..." get me on edge a bit, but then how arrogant is it to deny that people know best about how to shape their homes? It's a tender one. That description continues: "Users can create floor plans with drag-and-drop rooms, doors and furnishings; easily experiment with finishes and visualize design ideas in 3D with a single click; and easily share designs with friends, family and professionals to get their feedback."

In New Zealand at least we can join this to a fairly extensive network of DIY technologies and educative sites (all industry sponsored or developed), The Drawing Board is targeted at home renovation, predominantly using case studies whilst making clear the role of the 'expert', Right House (developed by Meridian) focuses on environmental and energy design tips, and NZ Wood offers technical and quality data for a range of domestic-scale projects in the form of quite decent How-To Guides.

In order to avoid being undermined, the building industry and design professions need to intellectually and practically consume these services -not in the form of antagonism or bitchiness, but with an expanded field of knowledge and practice in mind.

EVENTS Around New Zealand April - May.

15/04/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Fill up your Calendar with a handful of public lectures, exhibitions and the famous Pecha Kucha's spreading around the country.

Tonight (14 April), Charles Renfro, New York-based partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro speaks in Wellington at the City Gallery, info here, frustratingly for some, it's been sold out for a while, so if you've got a ticket, don't forget! Is there a market for scalped lecture tickets? Probably.

Communiqué, the public lecture series hosted by Auckland University's School of Architecture and Planning, and has two events coming up. Next Tuesday, 20 April, renowned composer and teacher, Robert Constable will present "Proportion and Musical Design" which sounds fascinating, and the following week, 27 April, architects Aaron Paterson and Dominic Glamuzina of GP-A have titled their presentation 'Salad Days', in which they will "discuss GP-A projects and student work from the design studios, Monstrous, Noise, Something Must Die and Fibre and will expand on how key concepts generate our architectural position."

'Miles: A Life in Architecture' opens April 23rd, at the Gus Fisher Gallery, and mark it down, Sir Miles will be in conversation with Exhibition curator Dr. Rodney Wilson on April 24. The exhibition will also host lectures from Dr. Jessica Halliday and Associate Professor Paul Walker, who will discuss Miles Warren and brutalism, and Warren's contribution to New Zealand modernism respectively.

Pecha Kucha spreads its mad wings to three cities in the coming months, first up will be Wellington, April 19 at the Downstage Theatre, see the line up here. Coming up in May, Auckland hosts PKN_AKL_18 on Wednesday 19th, at Shed 10 and 12, Wellesley St, and Christchurch hosts PKN_CHCH_08 on the 20th. More details of entry fee's, times and locations at PechaKucha.co.nz.

Keep busy people.

The ANZAC Centenary Bridge Group tables a proposition to keep future Harbour crossings above ground.

13/04/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Auckland's future harbour crossing is on the agenda this year, with the ANZAC Centenary Bridge Group tabling an iconic bridge proposal to challenge the NZTA's tunneling interests.

The convenient website of the ANZAC Centenary Bridge Group (CBG) explains the benefits of their concept design (explaining explicitly the rendered images by NextSpace are indicative, and clearly not the design proposal), which intends to replace the existing bridge altogether. Cost savings are initially argued, with an estimated budget between $2.5-3.0 billion being an improvement on the estimated $3.7-4.1b for the tunnel option (they also list some funding options which the bridge would 'lend itself well to' but I can't see why their exclusively for a bridge). The second main argument is for the superior flexibility of the bridge in carrying capacity, with the option for adding further lanes, as well as flexible infrastructure (such as a movable median barrier) - is it just me or is the flexible lane addition a bit moot if the tunnel option is already adding lanes (by keeping the existing bridge in limited operation, as well as having the potential for future-proofed design in the tunnel anyway), and once again I can't see why a tunnel can't have a flexible median barrier. The final thrust of the argument is to bring the construction forward to 2015 (the NZTA reportedly plan the harbour crossing development for around 2020), for economic, employment and cultural reasons. Economically the sooner the bridge is built, the cheaper, and will provide an estimated 10,000 jobs -the sooner the better, and culturally they wish to secure a befitting monument to commemorate the ANZAC Day Centenary. I can't see a problem with all of those, although I'm always a reasonable skeptic of hastiness in design matters of such national importance.

From Scoop, we hear them being a lot more persuasive, especially in regard to giving more modes of transport the experience of crossing the harbour:

"What’s more, our concept design for the ANZAC Centenary Bridge would carry more cars and trucks than the alternative and would provide for rail, cyclists and pedestrians. It dovetails perfectly with efforts to re-generate the waterfront, particularly the Wynyard Quarter, and would significantly raise Auckland’s international profile.

"Mr Simpson noted that polling released late last year by the Group clearly indicated that a bridge was the solution favoured by Aucklanders."

One of the key issues here is the admitted finite longevity of the existing Harbour Bridge. Current upgrades which are strengthening the box girders signal the end of the Bridge's capacity, the NZTA announcing in December that "a new engineering report assessing the effects of future traffic growth on the bridge had confirmed that the box girders could not be strengthened any further and the bridge has a finite service life in its current configuration, emphasising the need to secure the future of an additional harbour crossing."

With the final $86 million committed to that complex upgrade, which is designed to suffice for 20 years, the next move of the NZTA was to secure a 'sub strata' designation for the potential tunnel site, in order to protect to viability of the option against underground (and restricting) development in the Wynyard Quarter. The NZTA Board have met with the ANZAC CBG, and although apparently opting for the tunnel approach, have not discounted the ANZAC proposal by any means, welcoming the information (including a pre-feasibility report) which will contribute to more robust and serious dialogue at a Governmental level as the project develops.

Richard Simpson, former Auckland councillor, is leading the ANZAC CBG, and is speaking about the bridge at the Transport Infrastructure & Economic Development - New Zealand Summit 27 April - 28 April at the Crowne Plaza, Auckland. Richard’s topic is “The Auckland Harbour Crossing - How the Anzac Centenary Bridge could generate great economic outcomes.”

For detailed information about the ANZAC Centenary Bridge Group, visit their website here, which usefully includes a bunch of links to other media discussions on the Bridge debate.

All (fantastic) images from www.bridge2015.org.nz, visualised by designers NextSpace.

The proposed ANZAC Centenary Bridge location, connecting Onewa Rd on the northern side of the harbour and Wynyard Point on the southern side.

Is a bridge cooler then a tunnel? Or are we tired of building upwards?

A concept sketch illustrating some multi-modal crossing possibilities. Good stuff, anything but rocketing through a tunnel would be harrowing, Sylvester Stallone already proved that.

New Zealand Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo

12/04/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Images and renderings have been released for the New Zealand Pavilion at this years World Expo in Shanghai. Luckily its a step up from our embarrassing french rugby ball 'pavilion', unluckily, it looks like a Mini-Golf course.

I can't figure out how these opportunities to express something formidable and respectable about New Zealand society and our (built and natural) environments end up being these kitsch amusement parks. These things are important Mr. Minister for Tourism, so remember our last Minister having the embarrasing task of talking up an inflatable rugby ball ("This pavilion itself is another symbol of the growing technological sophistication of New Zealand. Its construction required several world-firsts: nobody has made an inflatable building in this shape before, and projecting a coherent image onto an oval-shaped surface is no mean feat." read the rest here), that takes guts, standing under the Eiffel Tower.

Story Inc have been given design credits for the pavilion it seems, at the official Expo homepage here, who seem to have a successful portfolio of some interesting museum and gallery installations, but in my quickish hunt for a designer of the building and landscape, nothing is revealed (please help me out here!). So I look a bit closer at Story Inc and wonder if we actually gave them the whole deal, with their experience in "work rang[ing] from museum exhibitions to theme park experiences, from visitor interpretation centres to art installations – and everything in between."

Actually that explains a lot. I would probably file this project under all of the above. I invite you to peruse at your leisure the press release which details the finer 'conceptual' devices that are packed into this gem (don't forget the "maori totem poles", they're interactive!), as well as the official Expo page where you can learn about our Pavillion Highlights like "The welcoming space in front of the pavilion is a physical manifestation of Rangi and Papa. The white canopy in the plaza representing Sky is supported by white pillars that represent a vertical forest. It is erected on the forecourt that symbolizes Earth." Sorry folks, that would hardly fly with my First Years.

Finally, we are invited in to the interiors, a smooth digital video rendering of the design can be viewed here, which in my opinion is appalling, and reeks of Mini-Golf, Kelly Tarltons and sentimental mediocrity. What on earth does this have to do with New Zealand? What does this have to do with anything? I have no idea, and only wish that some descent architecture and landscape architecture could have substituted this bizarre pavilion, which is at best a 3D powerpoint, and at worst an offensive exploitation of our cultural significance. It's both, and it's bad.

It's fairly harsh of me to pile this on the designers, so I hope somebody can help me alleviate some of that stench, predictably I would say some governmental enthusiast has enjoyed writing the brief, lovingly sprinkling it with kitschy cliché's and horrendous lines about Kiwi Kultcha, with the ambitious hope of attracting investors with a sentimental-clip on their wallets. Good luck to you. For my money, I'd give them putters and a golf ball and let them loose, maybe a driving range off the roof garden for good measure.

Cruelly expensive stuff. That's enough.

OH.NO.SUMO to the power of 3

1/04/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Auckland's architectural youth punches out another gem in the Urbis Design Day, in a gorgeous folded ceiling-scape.

Am I gushing too much? Or cheekily toying with my editorial facility to publish the work and play of Oh.No.Sumo again and again? Really the attention is due, and if there were more young-and-busy architectural groups out there, I would love to offer some pixels, but alas the pickings are slim -but not too slim. Fortunately, like a solo cherry tomato, the pickings are juicy and rich.

As a participant in Urbis Design Day, collaborating with Poggenpohl, Oh.No.Sumo have been driving their little hands (and the hands of their minions) to crank out the 'Paper Sky', a 20,000-piece flexible paper ceiling installation, with even more cable ties, kilometres of double-sided tape, and far too many ceiling hooks to think about. The result, as wonderfully photographed on their website, will be published in the upcoming issue of Urbis, but I thought I'd sneak in with a shout-out to the quartet.

Oh.No.Sumo have alluded to atleast three other secret projects lined up this year (so far) so keep tabs on them at their website, and check them out on Facebook for some behind-the-scenes snapshots and up-to-the-minute progress reports.

Installation photographs are by Sophie Leuschke.

Some of the installation modules. More shots on their Facebook profile.

www.ohnosumo.com

d3 Natural Systems Competition 2010 Announced

31/03/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

d3 invites architects, designers, engineers and students to collectively explore the potential of nature-based influences in architecture, design and industry.

The format and expected outcomes of international competition have been left intentionally open, with categories suggesting responses could be urban, architectural, industrial or interior -or anything else for that matter, with a stricter strategy aimed at the methodology of the submissions.

Proposing a form of 'design-research', the competition challenges competitors to create "innovative proposals that advance sustainable thought and performance through the study of intrinsic environmental geometries, behaviors, and flows. By identifying, examining, and applying their structural order on form and function- -bottom-up, performance-based solutions for limitless building typologies, functional programs, and material conditions may be realized."

Before you start tracing butterfly wings, or mapping the metamorphosis of a bug, the organisers are (thankfully) keen to remind entrants of the methodology being deployed here: "An architecture of emergence suggests that design expression requires purpose beyond formal assumption and aesthetic experimentation itself. Concurrent with sustainable thought, the d3 Natural Systems Competition assumes that architecture does not simply form, but rather perform various functions beyond those conventionally associated with buildings. "

Sounds promising, although the rhetoric does seem slanted to the creation of artefacts, additions, new-things, (especially by dropping in "environmental geometries") rather then keeping an open eye and ear to alternatives - infrastructural (say 'ecologies'?), social (biological), and other analogous (to 'environmental') conditions like extinction (demolition, excavation, etc)... but then I suppose I'm complicit in reading into 'geometry' in a materialistic way.

d3 2009 Sustainable Worldwide Winner. Urban Agriculture - London

Anyway, it's a good ideas competition (they don't come all that often with a bit of money attached), and NZ can definitely offer some unique and highly regarded expertise on the matter, I reckon.

Submissions are due July 5, 2010.
Inquiries to naturalsystems@d3space.org
Registration and competition information here:
www.d3space.org/competitions/

Communique 10 Lectures Today and Tomorrow!

30/03/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

If you've got a moment over lunch in Auckland, nip down to Auckland Uni to catch Kelly Greenop speak on 'Urban indigenous people in Brisbane', and David L. Pike tomorrow on 'An Expanding Subterra'.

The Communiqué Lecture Series continues this week with two intriguing presentations (one's in about an hour!) at the Design Theatre, School of Architecture, Auckland University, Building 423, 22 Symonds Street. Get running!

Today's presentation at 12pm-1pm will be from Kelly Greenop, who is completing her PhD this year at the Aboriginal Environments Research Centre with the School of Architecture at the University of Queensland. "Urban indigenous people from Brisbane, new forms of place, tradition and indigeneity" will 'reveal the major findings of Kelly Greenop's research to date and discuss the critical questions raised: How can indigenous cultures survive, and thrive in a city? How can a city respond? What changes for Indigenous people living away from their homelands and in city environments? What traditions are preserved and what new forms of cultural expression are found?'

Gudanji Dancers at Inala Civic Centre, NAIDOC opening ceremony 2007. Photo by Kelly Greenop.

Tomorrow's presentation (12pm-1pm, Wednesday 31st April) will be from David L. Pike, a talk titled 'An Expanding Subterra, and the New Life Underground' will discuss the range of subterranean spaces in the modern world and they changin ways in which they have been and continue to be imagined. Professor Pike's books include 'Subterranen Cities: the world beneath' and 'Metropolis on the Styx: the underworlds of modern urban culture', with this talk from Pike discussing 'An Expanding Subterra', the exhibition by New Zealand photographer Wayne Barrar at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery from 13 March to 27 June 2010, which you should definitely check out if you're reading from the deep South.

Mapping Architectural Controversy

24/03/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Just picked this up off the Volume Magazine RSS, a course initiated and managed by Dr Albena Yaneva of Manchester University which attempts to map architectural controversies for projects such as the London Olympic Stadium. I'm particularly thinking about how these sorts of mapping strategies might be useful to trace local examples (such as nearly every "waterfront" design in Wellington and Auckland in the last five years), and reveal consistencies or inadequacies of the processes and final outcomes of the projects. I would love to have the 'actual effectiveness' of all the stakeholders represented and played out, who's listening, who isn't, who's talking, and who's being heard... It could make a huge difference to how organisations operate and facilitate effective resistance or dissidence for example, how designers might persuade clients, or small groups or individuals might engage with corporate identities.

The method is transferred from the social-scientific community, based on the work of Bruno Latour, and seems to ascribe to the fashionable Actor-Network Theory:

“The methodological and conceptual roots of this approach stem from the discipline of Science Studies, with the writings of the French sociologist and philosopher Bruno Latour forming the primary source for its subsequent development. Latour first developed his ideas in relation to the analysis of scientific and technological controversies in his book Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1987. Controversy analysis is also part of the Actor-Network-Theory developed in his most recent book Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. ”
www.mappingcontroversies.co.uk 'History of the Concept'.

The published work samples to date seem to have followed the London Olympic Stadium with some animated network diagrams, with a bunch more seemingly in pipeline. The project sounds interesting, Like I mention above, I would be curious about the production of outcomes which might effect the design or regulatory processes of similar schemes, so that the work becomes more then merely a recording of traces and relationships, but I’m ahead of myself there without having gone into this in any considerable depth, or understanding the social theory and implementation.

Here’s some more about the project and its supporters:

"Mapping Controversies comprises a research method, a teaching philosophy and a way to approach public debates. The platform serves as a database on controversies related to a variety of topics from Science, Technology, Innovation, Design and Urban Planning, provides tutorial guidance to the Mapping Controversies teaching and learning methods and their relevance to architectural studies, and showcases some initiatives in enhancing the public understanding of controversies."

Christian Derix & Aedas|R&D - London 2012 Olympic Stadium case study project.

“Documenting and visualising recent controversies in architecture, it also aims to address a broader audience interested in the design of cities, spatial networks and built environments as well as planners, representatives of city government, NGOs and citizens. As it is a part of the EU-funded project MACOSPOL, Mapping Architectural Controversies draws on a variety of documental sources and visual methods to explore the multifarious connections of architecture and society.”

Title image: Christian Derix & Aedas|R&D - London 2012 Olympic Stadium case study project.

Under Ground House

23/03/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Submitting to Zumthor's neighbouring Bath House in Vals, Switzerland, Christian-Müller Architects and SeARCH build a stunning and pragmatic Villa, buried in the hillside of course.

Understandably doing the rounds in the blogosphere, the project was pipped by a similarly rocky project for an international award over at ArchDaily, but deserves the attention, and a closer inspection.

A collaboration between the Dutch-based SeARCH and the Swiss CMA -both of whom share an interesting penchant for research and competition work, the team confess their surprise that the whole thing went ahead, given the proximity to the world-famous Zumthor baths, and the subsequent planning stringencies. But swiss pragmatism has prevailed, with the building being a precise cylindrical cut in the vertical, revealing an elliptical window in the mountainside, and the authorities dig it too.

Furthermore, the project is entered from a neighbouring Graubünder villa (of the vernacular) by tunnel, "absurd" planning authorities thought, but convincing and permitted. Strategically burying the entire project under the existing topography seems analogous to the subversion of their architectural agenda in this architecturally sensitive environment.

For more images, including the occasional sketch model and some construction snapshots, check out both CMA and SeARCH. And great news, you can go stay there! Details here, where thankfully you can also inspect some floorplans (fairly conventional) and sections (averagely presented) and a curiously unfolded elevation which really gets things cracking.

Unfolded Elevation from the cylindrical cut (see velow).

Diagram of the building volumes underground.

The serenity.

A glimpse at some interior space, all images from http://www.villavals.ch/.

Tsunami Box Book Launch

18/03/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Author and architect Gerald Melling, of Melling:Morse Architects launches his new book, "Tsunami Box" in Wellington on Friday 26th March, with a presentation at Victoria University School of Architecture.

Its inside cover is elegant enough to shamelessly reprint here lengthily to describe what he's up to:

"Tsunami Box tells the story of an architectural journey into the heady tropics of emergency housing in Sri Lanka, following the Asian tsunami of 2004.

With tenacious commitment, an eye for detail, and a reckless sense of humour, architect and author Gerald Melling launches fundamental ideas about architecture onto the troubled waters of post-tsunami re-construction and hopes to see them float.

They sink, of course, but not without a trace - this book offers genuine insight into the nature of 'good intentions' and the anatomy of a useful architecture."

There's no need to go any more into the content here, suffice to say it is a refreshingly vivid and dexterous piece of writing on (and around) architecture, being both an 'architectural text' and an insightful novelette.

Being the first book from Melling for a little while -making time for writing is imaginably difficult after you make New Zealand's Home of The Year- his pencil remains incredibly sharp (2B clutch, twisted about in its barrel sharpener I imagine), and steady with the confidence of a poet.

The Wellington Launch is sponsored by the Architectural Centre who would love an RSVP (arch@architecture.org.nz), and the Wellington Branch of the NZIA. Drinks and nibbles will be served from 5.30pm, with a presentation from Gerald at 6.00pm. CPD Points are available.

Tsunami Box will be available for purchase at the launch, and is published by the Freerange Press, where it will be available for order online very shortly.

Web Traces of Traces

17/03/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Hours of digital drawing can now be beautifully traced thanks to IOGraphica, one of many applets now available for digital sketching.

Russian designer Anatoly Zenkov (who "can do anything"!) has developed a nifty application called MousePath, which proved fairly popular on his Flickr photostream, so along with his buddy Andrey Shipilov, developed the application into IOGraphica which you can now download and experiment with.

Drawing of drawing a kitchen pantry, by Marcus Trimble.

I came across this at Super Colossal's blog, where the Sydney-based Architect Marcus Trimble published his drawing of drawing a kitchen pantry (pictured). The embedded history of a digital drawing is pretty intriguing stuff, making the 'back catalogue' of an entire piece of work readily available, and if things are done well enough (and parametrically), sneaky trips in the near-past of drawings might soon allow retrospective iterations to open up the flexibility of architectural design drawings. But compared to my feeble dabbling in the topic, read Daniel Davis's blog, Digital Morphogenesis, who really told me about all this. In particular his recent post on Excel and GUI will be of interest.

For the less computationally-inclined, there are number of sketching applets out there as well, I think I've mentioned OdoSketch before, which I still quite like, as a curious example of digital sketching attempting to mimic analogue drawing (like the 'unsteady-hand line' in Sketch-up), but thanks to Super Colossal again, I came across a more exciting algorithmic applet, called Harmony, by Ricardo Cabello (a.k.a. Mr. Doob) which offers a basic range of 'pen tools' (again that analogue language...) for your sketch, but has the pretty gorgeous effect of manufacturing near-infinite connections between your drawing line and the previous lines on the page. Definitely worth a digital doodle (the title image was made using Harmony).

Sketch from Harmony.

I couldn't find anything especially useful to visualise keystrokes, as I type here rather boringly (my Mouse Tracking pictured below, the last 2 hours of my internet related and typing activity is a series of pauses and erratic tracks), beyond basic magnification and projection, I would love to have an application measure and visualise keyboard dexterity for example, as well as key frequency, key combinations and so on... if it's out there, let me know.

Also if you know of any more great digital sketching websites I'd love to gather a bit of a collection together, I think they may offer interesting pedagogic opportunities now that nobody knows how to draw with a pencil (yes, I saw you cruelly throwing out those drawing boards Schools of Architecture, and no, your students can't draw very well anymore.)

Images from Anatoly Zenkov's Photostream, Super Colossal, and me.

Unhappy Hipsters

15/03/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Clipped and captioned from the glossy magazines of our industry, Unhappy Hipsters hits a hilarious nerve, it is afterall, lonely but funny in the modern world.

Title caption:
"With rising panic, he realized that “skin the cat” was no longer a show-stopper."
(Photo: Chad Holder; Dwell, December/January 2006)

Unhappy Hipsters is the sharp and perfectly timed come-back to the strange and choreographed world of architecture glossies. Cut-and-Pasted from their original journals, the decontextualised photographs are immediately uncanny (unheimliche, derived from 'un-homely') in Anthony Vidler's sense, they are 'at home' but something –despite its homeliness– is alien.

Balancing the equilibrium, Unhappy Hipsters tears the masks from the über-cool and über-domestic, revealing a glimpse of the psychotic, the lonely, and the everyday torment of the clearly hilarious everyday.

I couldn't help paste a couple here as tasters, but be sure to trawl your way through the Hipster archive, link through here. You can also vote for Unhappy Hipsters as the 'Best Design Website' here!

It became his morning ritual. He woke, stepped to the window, and fantasized about the day he would be free of his knotty-pine cell.
(Original Photo: Hertha Hernaus; Dwell, July/August 2008)

One day, after a particularly dull afternoon, she would yank hard enough on the vertical drawer to wrench it off the track, sending everything crashing to the floor—and tell her husband it was an accident. But not today.
(Original Photo: Jack Thompson; Dwell March 2008)

Productspec Charity Golf Classic!

9/03/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A reminder about the Productspec Charity Golf Classic, coming up on the 23 March, get involved for a great outing and a chance for some amazing prizes.

Enjoy a fun and social afternoon in the shared company of architects, suppliers, consultants, and their clients at Remuera Golf Course and have the chance to win a new Mazda MX5 Convertible, a Seadoo Jetski, and over $5,000 of prizes kindly donated by Productspec clients!

If you want to get even more involved, there are also a couple of opportunities left to ‘sponsor a hole’ or to donate a prize – so, if you are interested in providing a prize or playing golf (regardless of your skill level..!) then let the team know (give us a call or email) and you can enter a team of four or enter as an individual and be placed in a team. Your registration details are available here, and some more information on great promotional opportunities is here (personalised golf balls anyone?).

Some delicious hospitality will be provided throughout the afternoon (drinks kindly donated by McCashins Brewery) followed by the prizegiving featuring prizes for all participants. All proceeds will be donated to the Auckland SPCA. It will be lots of fun and a great chance to network with other industry professionals..!

You are most welcome to invite your colleagues, suppliers, clients, or friends to enter as a team of four, alternatively feel free to enter as an individual and be placed in a team.

The format for the day is Ambrose so regardless of expertise or skill all players will enjoy a thoroughly fun and social day with other industry professionals.

For more information, link through here.

Communiqué 2010

8/03/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Auckland University's School of Architecture and Planning Lecture Series, Communiqué continues in 2010, with Rau Hoskins and Lena Henry speaking on Tuesday 16th March.

Their lecture is titled 'Māori and the Future of Local Government', and will critically address Auckland's political governance, in light of the National and ACT led governments decision to reject recommendations made last year in a Royal Commission (originally initiated by the Labour Government in 2007), that there be reserved Maori representation written in to the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill.

Lena Henry (Ngati Hine, Ngapuhi, Te Rarawa), Lecturer, School of Architecture and Planning, The University of Auckland; and Rau Hoskins (Ngapuhi, Ngati Wai, Ngati Hau, Ngati Rahiri), Lecturer, Maori Architecture, Unitec, and Director of Design Tribe architects, will speak together on the issue in a free and public presentation at the Design Theatre, Conference Centre, Building 423, 22 Symonds Street, Auckland, starting at 12:00pm next Tuesday 16th March.

Communiqué correspondence elaborates on their lecture: "Originally, a review of Auckland Governance inspired hope and enthusiasm for the establishment of a single, region-wide unitary authority to overcome fragmentation and lead to more effective governance. As the process draws to its conclusion, communities feel a sense of reinforced disempowerment. Local governance in Aotearoa New Zealand has developed with little regard to the indigenous political structures and values of iwi and hapū. Manawhenua of Tamaki, Iwi, hapū and Tangata Tiriti are committed to the kaupapa of establishing Māori seats in Local Government."

This is a massively significant issue facing Auckland's political and cultural future, and the public involvement of these active practitioners, teachers, and community members should be supported duly.

More information here.

Image credit: Auckland “Super City” Dawn Vigil, summit of Maungawhau/Mt Eden, photo by Helen Te Hira.

This Too Shall (be Sur)Pass(ed)

4/03/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

The art (or commercial enterprise) of making a music video has been the healthy motivation for many curious collaborations between artist, musician, and various designers. Ok Go were a YouTube phenomena when their choreographed treadmill routine for the track Here It Goes Again went viral in 2006 (it's own Wiki page is here). Fortunately, the group have maintained a fairly loose and unpretentious strategy for their follow-up videos, and despite the huge man-power involved (and months of preparation), their latest video for the track 'This Too Shall Pass' keeps a firm grip on dignified music-video making. Watch it HERE!

The old Rube Goldberg machine has rarely fallen from the attention of artists, hobbyists and/or nutters, but as you watch this machine, which fills a whole warehouse and runs for the entire length of the song (a single-shot video), a new magnitude of absurdity and physical drama really has surpassed any other Goldberg machine I've seen before.

Watch for yourself as furniture gets catapulted around, paint gets fired, a TV is ritually smashed, a band member is even swung across the room... all making for an incredible machine, which is occasionally beautiful, sometimes melodic, and all too very much.

Thanks to www.booooooom.com I also discovered another great video from Hold Your Horses which is entirely different, but similarly surprising (some pictures below). Hilariously recreating some of the worlds classic and recognisable art works, the band manage to keep straight faces in their compromising compositions, with instruments appearing at all the right dubious moments. I think for me the clincher was The Last Supper, not only for its perfectly timed appearance of the Guitar from under the table, but the all-important hubbub, which I think it's all too easy for us to neglect on da Vinci's painting given the supposed circumstances of the portrayed gathering.

Enjoy the sounds and sights.

6 Green Stars

26/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A new building in downtown Christchurch gets a record 6 Green Star rating from the NZ Green Building Council, check out some impressive specs...

You might recall the New Zealand Green Building Council awarding its first 5 Green Star rating in 2007 to the Meridian Building chilling on Wellington's waterfront, and late last year, the Geyser Building in Parnell was the proud recipient of the first 6 Green Star rating for an Office Building. In our society of excitable one-upmanship, you'll be interested that the near-completed Christchurch Civic Building has also been given a 6 Green Star rating, boasting even more impressive results than Geyser, including a record for its 'innovation' rating.

The Civic Building is a joint venture between Ngai Tahu Property Ltd and the Christchurch City Council. It is a redevelopment and extension of the old Post Office building in Worcester Street, built in the 1970s, and was designed by Athfield Architects, and built by Hawkins Construction.

From the NZGBC: "Chair of the Civic Building Joint Venture Gill Cox says the Council was hoping for at least 5 Green Stars. "It's great to have exceeded expectations by achieving a 6 Star rating within the approved budget.""

In their media release for the Civic Building project (and for more information on any of the NZGBC Green Star Case Studies, go here) they list the key sustainable features:

•   Tri-generation system enabling the building to generate its own electricity from a renewable energy source - biogas, which is piped from the Council's Burwood landfill site - and in future years from the city's Wastewater Treatment Plant - to be converted into electricity. This process is used to heat and cool the building with annual energy savings of about $1.3 million.

•   Energy-efficient light fittings, automatic daylight dimming, occupancy controls and sensors on the escalators, which will activate only when people approach, and regeneration capabilities on the lifts.

•   Double-skin facade between is a thermal and solar buffering zone. This facade will also be used to vent air and heat from the building, enhancing its thermal properties. Within the office floors a monitoring system detects when carbon dioxide has reached a certain level and automatically introduces fresh air through floor vents.

•   Rainwater harvesting to provide up to one million litres of water annually. It will be used to flush the toilets, for landscape irrigation and a water feature.

•   Solar power will provide 85 per cent of the building's hot water.

•   The reuse of an old building rather than build from scratch represented an embodied energy saving of 65,700 gigajoules - equivalent to a saving of 6440 tonnes of CO2 emissions or 12,800 return flights from Christchurch to Auckland.

•   The target for waste recycling from the building was 70 per cent. In January 2010, the project was achieving 88 per cent recycling for demolition and construction materials - achieved by contractors Hawkins Construction.

Pretty great stuff if you ask me.

Compare exterior and interior renders of the Civic Building here. I haven't been in Christchurch for some time, but know the site and vaguely recall this thing amassing last time I was there... I'm curious if any Cantabrian readers have comment on how the new building's fitting in...

Check out the NZGBC online for Case Studies, Accredited Green Star Training events, Membership and heaps more.

Late Lounge & Bill Viola at the New Dowse

22/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A reminder of the upcoming events at the New Dowse, including the Late Lounge session with Hikoikoi, and the exciting opening of Bill Viola's new work this weekend past.

Exhibiting a major work for the first time in New Zealand, Bill Viola's new work The Messenger opened this weekend, and should not be missed. The New Dowse explains how the work is inspired by the 11th Century Norman architecture of the UK's Durham Cathedral, where it premiered in 1996, and "envelops its viewers in an entrancing underwater world of image and sound that has been described as 'eye-opening' and 'life-affirming'." Sadly I'm yet to see this work yet, but have been completely overwhelmed by Viola's video art in the past, so I highly recommend a visit.

Fantastically, for those confined 'south of the Ngauranga', the New Dowse has arranged a bus tour departing from City Gallery Wellington on Saturday March 6th, for a very reasonable $15. Starting with Janet Cardiff’s immersive sound piece Forty-Part Motet followed by Bill Viola’s The Messenger at TheNewDowse and the extraordinary exhibition experience of Anthony McCall: Drawing with Light at the Adam Art Gallery. Bookings are essential, so check details here, or email here: newdowsebookings@huttcity.govt.nz or call up at (04) 5706500 to make sure you don't miss the bus (proverbially and literally).

And of course take advantage of the New Dowse's Late Lounge session, (reserved for the first thursday of each month) Thursday 4th March will be a ripper with the local sounds of Hikoikoi gracing your hearts and heads, with the gallery open til 9pm.

For more details, check out the New Dowse online.

Tomorrow: Global PechaKucha for Haiti Special Edition: Dunedin + Auckland.

19/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

On 20th of February, 200 cities will band together for the world's first, 24-hour, live-streaming PechaKucha. Auckland will be the first city to take part and the event will streamed live across the world to millions of viewers.

PKN_Dunedin, will be hosted this Saturday in the Gazebo Lounge, University of Otago. Donation entry.

PKN_AKL_17 Global PechaKucha for Haiti Special Edition will be hosted at Galatos, this Saturday 20th February. Just off K' Road, doors open 7.30pm, with an 8.20pm start. Entry by donation (suggested $9), cash only, and unfortunately limited seats, so be early.

Confirmed list of Speakers includes:
- Divya Dhar // Young New Zealander of the Year
- Rod Oram // Journalist & Economic commentator // The journey
- Yvonne Underhill-Sem // Centre for Development Studies, University of Auckland
- Andy Ong // Architectus // Architecture for Humanity
- Barrington Gohns & Sebastian Hamilton // Designers // Other than Human
- Noemi // House sitter // On house sitting
- Alexandra JaYeun Lee // Architecture for Humanity // Container Studio
- Callum Dowie // Jasmax // Folding Fale
- David Lawson // Habitat for Humanity
- Andrew Barrie // Designer & teacher // After sophistication
- Oliver Mannion // rebuilding efforts via microfinance // Tsunami: Scenes of Disaster & Relief

Architecture for Humanity is partnering with PechaKucha in "Global PechaKucha Day for Haiti" to raise $1,000,000 for rebuilding Haiti:

"In organizing this event PechaKucha intends to not only raise funds through pledges from host cities and contributions from individuals but also illustrate the power of innovative minds, creative passion and, most of all, sharing ideas for change and sustainability."

If you can't make it along, you can watch the event from any computer via the PechaKucha ustream.

Productspec speaks with Andy Buchanan

15/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Professor of Civil Engineering at Canterbury University, and member of the NZ Wood management, Andy Buchanan speaks on material developments which can and should be saving more lives.

A shocking image in the aftermath of the recent Haitian earthquake is the Haitian presidential palace, collapsed and abandoned.

Andy Buchanan of Canterbury University says that if the palace in Haiti had been built with a modern structural framework of wood, chances are it would not have collapsed so badly.

While the palace is understood to have been built of reinforced concrete, Prof Buchanan says the worst buildings in earthquakes are built with un-reinforced masonry. Many of those in Port-au-Prince are believed to fall into this category. Buchanan reflects on New Zealand's position in all this:

Andy Buchanan: New Zealand engineers learned the lesson in the 1855 Wellington earthquake. The old Government Buildings, built in 1876, have proved that wooden buildings can last the distance.

New engineering techniques now allow multi-storey buildings to be constructed of wood and can mean buildings surviving major earthquakes with very little damage.

Product Spec: And comparatively with concrete buildings – how do they perform?

AB: Badly designed concrete buildings behave like un-reinforced masonry buildings. While modern concrete buildings can be excellent, one disadvantage is their heavy weight.

You need both strength and flexibility for a building to perform well in an earthquake, but weight is one of the most important factors. The mass of the building can amplify the shaking.

PS: And what about steel?

AB: Steel has the advantage of flexibility. Being a very ‘ductile’ material, it can perform very well in a well designed building and in fact, both wooden and concrete buildings rely on steel’s ductility in either their reinforcing or the connections between members.

But because of its weight-to-strength advantage combined with its natural flexibility, timber buildings can perform just as well as concrete or steel buildings.

PS: Isn’t there a greater fire risk with timber buildings?

AB: Well designed heavy timber buildings can perform very well.

Fire performance is only a disadvantage for wood if the buildings are poorly constructed with inadequate plaster-board protection of light timber framing and a large number of buildings very close to each other. Modern, well designed multi-storey timber buildings have more than enough fire resistance.

Large wooden beams do not burn easily – they tend to char on the surface only and remain structurally intact - just think of all the tall tree trunks left standing after a devastating forest fire - and can actually perform better than unprotected steel which can lose its strength very quickly.

Mostly what burns in a building fire is not the wood or the wood structure, it’s the solid petrol in all the foam and plastic in the finishings. This is a problem regardless of whether the building’s made from wood, steel or concrete.

Fire Performance Testing.

Seismic Shake Testing.

Strength testing.

PS: As we discussed briefly in our last chat, you’re working on new techniques for using wood to build multi-storey buildings, could you elaborate?

AB: At Canterbury we’re developing multi-storey timber post-tensioned buildings which incorporate tensioned steel cables together with laminated wood beams, a technique that is also used in some concrete building designs. The steel cables provide extra strength, elasticity and earthquake resistance.

PS: Have multi-storey wooden buildings been put to the test in terms of earthquake performance?

In the last few years six and seven storey wooden buildings have been tested on the world’s largest shaking table in Japan at simulations of magnitude 7.5 earthquakes and have shown almost no damage.

For the last 30 years the guiding principle for earthquake engineering in New Zealand was ‘capacity design’ where the objective was to allow for small ‘controlled’ failures but to avoid collapse of the building.

The aim was that in a small earthquake there would be no damage, in a medium-sized earthquake the damage would be reparable with the structural integrity of the building retained, and for the largest earthquakes the building may suffer non-reparable damage, but there would be no collapse.

Now, and only now, are people thinking about being able to resist a large earthquake with no structural damage.

This is the way things are moving in the earthquake engineering world. Steel and concrete construction engineering is working towards this, and our new wood construction techniques are advancing right along with them.

Andy Buchanan is Professor of Civil Engineering at Canterbury University and is a member of the management team for NZ Wood.

ARCHITECT BILL TOOMATH: Liberating Everyday Life

17/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Guest Contributor Holly Beals illuminates the elegance of daily life in City Gallery Wellington's retrospective of Wellington Architect, Bill Toomath.

The catalogue of City Gallery Wellington’s exhibition, 'Architect Bill Toomath: Liberating Everyday Life', written by Wellington architect, Sam Kebbell is challengingly titled ‘Architecture in the House of Art’. Kebbell raises important questions, “How do we look at architecture as an art form? Is it pretentious to even try?”

Further to this, how do we visit architecture in an art gallery, which is spatially posing as the interior of an existing house? This act may immediately position the notion of the domestic NZ house in a higher cultural realm than we are normally asked to see it, but this investigation of the elegance of daily life, is just one of the intentions apparent in Toomath’s work.

The spatial arrangement of the exhibit mimics that of the living room of the Toomath Senior House (1949) programmatically implying the same logic and dimensions. Initially this curatorial move appears as a bit of a one-liner, or an obvious attempt at positioning the viewer inside the architecture, but as we walk amongst the brown tape framed windows and doors, the scrawled notations and between the ordered line work we are inside an architect’s passing thought or a working drawing.

The route through the space exhibits traces of Toomath’s processes, rigorous diagramming and programmatic analysis. As they are collected together, the architecture of the exhibit becomes a coherent, cartographic work, mapped with meticulous indian ink lines, and textural moments of collage, film and nostalgic card-mounted photographic prints.

Within this room, contained by a subtle time-line of process and progress, are architectural moments with an awareness of the temporal nature of culture and modernity, as well as some with a firm grip on the discrete and timeless considerations of good architecture. One of Toomath’s most curious investigations of timeless spatial and proportional moves is his ‘Toomath House Study Extension [2005]’ where a scene from Antonello de Messina’s 15th century painting, St Jerome in his Study is replicated in his Roseneath house. Here functionality and the mediation of light and space were resolved in negotiation with the existing architecture.

It becomes clear within the mind-map-like retrospective, that the apparent hard edges of Toomath’s modernist architecture are not rigid after all, but offer a spatial continuity that bleeds from room to room, exterior to interior, in a beautiful cross-over of logical relationships.

Here is a self-conscious vision for Modernism, one that does not declare an inflexible policy. Toomath’s approach considers people in space, responsive to their inward and outward looking vantage points, it is an approach with confidence in form, but also reserved and socially challenging in the way we inhabit place. Where Architecture is invited into the house of art, we are offered an opportunity to grasp how Bill Toomath diffuses complexity in the everyday, to understand elegance in our daily lives.

Some Things in the Air

11/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A quick snapshot of some news: HNZ dubiousness, Queens Wharf revivals, Venice Biannele catalysts and Plant Room cheekiness.

First off, the NZ Herald reports on dubious (and "isolated") on-goings at Housing New Zealand, apparently an HNZ staff member has been soliciting bribes for preferential treatment... HNZ seem to be doing the right thing about it.

The tempestuous Queens Wharf competition doubles its budget to $100m for the winning (and developed) proposal from Jasmax and Architectus published by the Herald earlier this week. Apparently "revived" by switching to a night-shot. Nice. (I'm kidding). I hope to get genuinely informed on this soon.

Architectural dexterity doubles the budget brilliantly. (Images from NZ Herald)

Finally it seems, the profession follows up what a group of students managed in the 90's, by sending a pavillion to the 12th Venice International Architecture Biennale. Creatively Directed by Tony van Raat (recent guest-editor of a refreshing portion of Architecture NZ), they are currently seeking sponsorship to cover the fairly epic journey across the globe, so give it a thought. Announced here at Cross Section.

Incase it slipped off your radar, the Plant Room (Wellington's SHAC team) have posted some new developments including some Cheeky Diagrams and Renders. Check them out here, and also start dropping SHAC '11 into your conversations... Next week we'll hear from Tim Bishop, SHAC's organiser for more info...

If you've stumbled across -or are responsible for- some (of this) news, send me a mail to speak@productspec.net, and we'll see what we can do.

A Clipper in the Clouds

10/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Released last week, the Aircruise from Seymourpowell is a concept design for a hydrogen-powered floating cruiser, destined for our skies in the next decade, apparently.

Getting straight to it, the diamond-shaped structure is 265m tall, weighs in at 270t ("the same as a A380 super jumbo"), which is offset by humungous hydrogen volumes, and invites on board a maximum of 100 passengers (20 of whom crew the Aircuise). If I sound skeptical, I am. This dubious accomplishment seems like an extraordinarily consuming one, but in the efforts of futurology, this project probably deserves some distribution.

Nick Talbot, design director of Seymoutpowell says of the project: "The Aircruise concept questions whether the future of luxury travel should be based around space-constrained, resource hungry, and all too often stressful airline travel. A more serene transport experience will appeal to people looking for a more reflective journey, where the experience of travel itself is more important than getting from A to B quickly." A fair, and not exactly revolutionary argument, but I just fail to see how a floating (huge) building for a tiny and elite community is a productive societal creation.

The developed interior design of the Aircruise -paid for by Samsung- is fairly ridiculous, and feels completely impersonal and more attuned to Smurf sensibilities, but then, the potential clients of this thing must be of a similar fairly ridiculous ilk, so I'll leave them to cast their opinion.

You can check it out for yourself in Seymourpowell's pretty animation here, with more information ("technical data") in their press release here.

Long Live the Modern at The New Dowse and More

9/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Opened last week at the New Dowse, Long Live the Modern is a constructed extension of Julia Gatley's highly successful book of the same name. Curated by Gatley and Bill McKay, the exhibition brings drawings, photographs, models and more to the Hutt Valley.

Awarded the NZIA Presidents Medal recently, Gatley and McKay celebrate "twentieth-century architectural initiatives concerned with the new." The exhibition (toured by the Gus Fisher Gallery and the University of Auckland) is also supplemented by two local tours, hosted by Julia Gatley on the 13th and 14th March (bookings required, find more info here).

With the NZ International Arts Festival looming, the New Dowse is hosting three other great shows, including 'Bogle Bogle' by Seung Yul Oh ("mischievous, animal like shapes and forms"!), and 'Drawing Conclusions: Hotere, McCahon, Peebles, Walters' (how could it not be great), rounded up with Bill Viola's 'The Messenger'. Viola's work (on show in NZ for the first time, unbelievably) is the most profound video-art I've experienced, and should definitely be checked out among these other alluring shows.

Image credit: Bill Viola: The Messenger, 1996. Sound /video installation. Photo: Kira Perov

Image credit: Gordon Walters, Waiata, 1977. Collection of TheNewDowse

www.newdowse.org.nz
www.nzfestival.nzpost.co.nz

Ekokooking NZ Sustainable Habitats

8/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

An eco-kitchen concept from the Faltazi Lab, which is actually amazing, stirs up new practices for the home, and loops in wonderfully with recent local design initiatives.

Industrial Designers Laurent Lebot and Victor Massip lead the Faltazi Lab, with a background in domestic appliances, they have moved to more expansive concept, integrating domestic functionality into a detailed and completely sensible evolution of the kitchen, called Ekokook. There is much much more here to be discussed -which I must detail in future articles, but for now I'm interested in provoking some linkage to our own Sustainable Habitats Challenge ('SHAC'), which completed its first run late last year, and is taking registrations for SHAC 11 now.

The Ekokook project is curiously restrained, I say 'evolutionary' very intentionally, there is nothing especially mind-blowing or technologically advanced about it, just a refinement in procedure, packaging each facility carefully and efficiently for better productivity. Its key selling point for now -beautifully diagrammed of course- is the integration of three 'Micro-Plants' for immediate waste processing. Solid Waste, Liquid Waste and Organic Waste are 'treated' immediately (crushed, broken, minimised etc.) reducing waste output, and by association, the frequency of expensive waste collection services.

“Ekokook is about implementing a global prospective research project for eco-friendly habitat in the real world: the Faltazi Lab. We are trying to answer the question of how to introduce ecological projects into the home. How to upgrade existing housing without advocating complete reconstruction. The obvious responses are those that use non-structural elements of living space (doors, windows, equipments…), which can be mass-produced industrially and are simple to install."

I'll produce a more detailed analysis of the project in the near future, for now check out the media release here.

Images from www.ekokook.com

As these things tend to -and should, the contextual link that came immediately to mind is the Sustainable Habitat Challenge, initiated last year as a collaborative (cross-institutional) competition, with aims to "make ideas and methods for low-energy, low-resource housing a reality for New Zealand."

The results of the 2009 Challenge can be viewed online now, and are definitely worth investigation. I must say publication of these schemes has been fairly limited -or is that just me? So once again I'll make a commitment to finding out more from Tim Bishop and the SHAC initiative, and post much more from them soon.

Green Fo' Life:

www.ekokook.com
www.shac.org.nz

NZ Architecture Blog feature: Christchurch Modern

4/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

We salute the South for producing this great little blog, maintained by enthusiasts of the Modernist Christchurch Style, complete with a Modern House Map for the Sunday drive.

"We’re not architects," they proclaim, "we’re not historians and we don’t know much about anything. However we do like modern houses and Christchurch is a great place for them." What a brilliant lead, unashamedly energetic and completely niche. What any good blog should be.

The blog essentially posts examples of (or around) the 'Christchurch Style' which they elaborate as being "the modernist architecture movement that exploded in Christchurch in the middle of last century." They continue, "It's hard to grasp how a small, conservative city in the South Island became the centre of architectural attention during the 1960s and we’re lucky to have so many great houses of the period surviving." Although some projects include interior views, there is a furtive cheekiness to some of the listings, snapped quickly from the street-side, maybe over a few fences to grab the most revealing shot, combined with the provided House Map of each project, makes the blog a sort of Chose-Your-Own Adventure, which is probably an apt description of most Architects and Architecture these days (and some are deeply lost in the woods).

Generally the projects are residential ones, with some refreshingly educated commentary, but the site also links us to their 'sister site' of 'Humdingers of the Grid City', a Flickr collection of larger commercial projects of interest.

www.christchurchmodern.co.nz

Feeling Significant?

2/02/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

A new model of the Known Universe from the American Museum of Natural History adds some bewildering data to the Eames' famous Powers of Ten. Take the tour here.

"The film shows the known universe as mapped through astronomical observations. Every satellite, moon, planet, star and galaxy is represented to scale and in its correct, measured location according to the best scientific research to-date. The data is maintained and curated by research astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History as the Digital Universe Atlas."

gulp.

Thanks to www.amnh.org

Augmented Reality Tea Ceremony

29/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Sorry to steal from Geoff Manaugh yet again, but if you're not one of the millions of people reading his excellent blog, you need to see this video, a project called Domestic Robocop from graduating student Keiichi Matsuda at the Bartlett School of Architecture.

See the video here.

It's been getting a huge amount of attention from the Augmented Reality (AR) crowd, who are convinced that 2010 will be the year of AR, and given the evidence of commercialised technologies - especially prolific gaming systems like Wii they might not be wrong.

What I like about Matsuda's AR is the premise: making a cup of tea. The allusions to chanoyu are interesting, given that this scenario is absurdly technologically precise: the kettle counting down by the millisecond, and even directing your attention and actions to the milk and cup. The temae or artistic performance of the tea-making is far from the meditative perfection sought in chanoyu, but we get a glimpse of respite, a paradise overlay of info-packets and serene landscapes... which I think is the incredibly interesting aspect of AR, when we can 'switch it all off' or in this case, simply replace it with yet another AR. 'Mixed Reality' is becoming a more common term, and I think we are already more mixed up in many realities right now then we care to be conscious of, so although this clip presents an overwhelming amount of visual information, Matsuda's project also suggests that this is only a mundane part of our future augmented realities.

You can see in this original recording of Matsuda's space here, the mundane physical reality, which opens a whole other conversation which I'll save for another time...

More from Keiichi Matsude here.

iPad Launch

28/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Today Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, gave a demonstration of their new tablet computer, a new generation device right smack in the middle of the iPhone and Mac.

Launched with a casual sort of enthusiasm, the first generation iPad has a 24.6cm screen (diagonal), is priced around NZ$700, with models in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, and a 1GHz processor. Essentially the interface is identical to the iPhone, with a larger screen (and some sharpening up of applications to suit the large screen).

Technology Editor for nzherald.co.nz has appropriately pointed out the limited functionality of this new release, sitting somewhat awkwardly for now between the its two antecedents -the Mac and iPhone. Much like early generation devices, the potential is there though. Already the iPad will be a great gaming platform with multi-touch controls and larger screen (and improved mobility and comfort), as well as being a real threat to Amazon's Kindle iBook device.

Aside from 'comfort', I agree generally that the device is a bit limited in commercial and business appeal for now –without a webcam for communications especially. But I'm thinking back to some Tech Bit Spe[a]k articles which suggested the iPhone could become a construction and building-site aid, with 3-D models and BIM file access and navigation. Probably a tad optimistic given the puny screen, but the iPad now sits perfectly as a cheap, readily available, on-site and mobilised communications device. Plans could be easily uploaded and viewed at any scale, digital models could be swooped-through and panned-across, specifications and even products could be confirmed on-the-spot through Productspec's MyProject files... I really think it could work very easily given the right software (and a video-conferencing capability... I still think it needs it). But of course this is only if you can't be bothered bringing your Mac around with you, all 2kg's of it...

Check out Apple.com for video introductions and pretty pictures of the iPad.

A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter

27/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Recent works from the artist are increasingly obsessed with revealing conditions of the art institution, the Gallery, the Collector, the Artist... and cleverly undermining them whilst foregrounding them. In the tradition of our own enigmatic Billy Apple for works which are of and are the actual economic transaction of art (Billy Apple's famous exhibitions of the 1980's include 'Art for Sale' and 'Transactions' where shows were made up of the receipts of payments made to the artist), Larson has followed suit, appropriating eBay as a means for this work to perpetually re-sell itself.

The black box is contractually required to be connected to the internet, whereupon it is programmed to list itself in an online auction with no warning. The current owner (the Collector) is able to control the listing to some extent, to include gallery commissions for example, but must adhere to strictly to the Terms of the Agreement (included very carefully in every Auction listing), or else – and here's the kicker – the work "will no longer be considered a genuine work by the Artist and any value associated with it will be reduced to its value as a material objects and not a work of art." (Clause 12).

You don't need Walter Benjamin to realise how clever Larson is being here (although Benjamin is illuminating on the subject), but to thwart the art institution the way he is, by being absurdly institutional, is something I have always enjoyed, especially about architectural practice.

The work of art in this case, as a work of 'the architect' might be, is legitimated by the contract, which guarantees its authorship -and thus its artistic 'value'- but is also conditioned by the work being somewhat self-directed, and perpetually on its own mission. The poetry at work here is as wonderful as its subversive institutionalisation.

If you're keen, you can check it out here, and make a bid, and also check out Larson's other work, where you can unravel the lineage of his works including the "in progress" '$10,000 Sculpture'.

To Do

25/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

As I mentioned not long ago, the Wellington City Gallery will be opening 'Bill Toomath: Liberating Everyday Life' in the Hirschfeld Gallery at the end of this week, with a presentation from Toomath this Thursday evening at 5.15pm.

In the North, the Gus Fisher Gallery in Auckland will be hosting a public lecture from Gregory Bennet on Sound and Motion on the 30th January (1.00pm) to supplement its current Len Lye exhibition: Art the Moves.

The prolific and nationwide phenomena of Pecha Kucha continues in the coming weeks with three imminent Nights: PKN_CHCH_07 SPECIAL EDITION (in collaboration with the Pacific Arts Festival) hits Dux de Lux on February 4th, starting 7.30pm sharp (limited space), then PKN_AKL_16 (with the NZ Book Council) at Galatos from 8.20pm, limited seats as per usual. PKN_Nelson_06 on February 17th at the Cellar Room of Woolaston Estates, Upper Moutere from 8.00pm sounds like a ripper location, be sure to check in with Pecha Kucha online here for the presentation listings as they arrive.

The AAA brings to our attention an intriguing tour from the Masonic Friendly Society, which –apart from devising a brilliant name– have organised "The Inside Story: a private tour of Devonport's most surprising homes & gardens." Sounds like it'll be 'surprising' for sure. Check out a bit more here.

The NZIA have also posted rather pre-emptive notice of their first 2010 CPD Events, being held in Auckland (14-15 May) and Christchurch (17-18 May) with a promise of 80 CPD Points. Make it a roadtrip and go get Continuously Professionally Developed.

If you have your ear closer to the ground than I do, or are responsible for up-coming events that I don't know about, let me know (at speak@productspec.net) and we'll be happy to get them Out There and On Here.

Daniel Levya's Pretty Place for Friday

22/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Graphic, Video and Web-Designer Daniel Levya shows off some pixel-craft at his personal homepage, worth the drifting adventure on a grim-looking Friday.

My buddies at the DryDairy are responsible for luring me into Levya's world, which includes a mad and saturated blog which is like a visual slap in the face each day. Great stuff.

Graphically, Levya's works is reasonably restrained, often using simple collage and CMYK palettes, as well as a bit of a penchant for warped typographic stunts. Similarly, his websites usually do the best justice to portfolio sites, with generous space for the beautiful work they exhibit.

But back to Levya's site itself, which I think is a pretty great outcome for a reasonably simple premise. The conscious obfuscation of each layer of the site is the clincher, with icon's floating around across and in front of the information you're trying to access, it's incredibly appropriate, and seems to have a sincerity about it, mimicking the visual madness of trying to navigate multiple pages programs and windows simultaneously. Have a drift around his site if you're interested in setting up a basic but effective site for your-self/your-business, re-imagining a more appropriate set of icons/colours for yourself, and of course, spend a micro-pause dragging through his great blog, here.

Happy weekend.

Screengrabs from www.danielleyva.com

The Third and The Seventh by Alex Roman

19/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

This is the best CG digital environment that I, and You, have ever seen in film. That's it. Watch it.

Yes, I know, you've seen Avatar on IMAX, 3D and what-have-you, but spend a year making a 10-minute film, as Alex Roman has done, and you get this, a tribute to architectural photography which as far as I've seen, in unparalleled to any fully-CG film out there today.

The film is made exclusively in 3dsmax, Vray, AftereEffects and Premiere (and some other software for its soundtrack), Alex Roman has even posted a supplementary film which deconstructs small segments of the piece into its digital layers, apparently just to prove that it is in fact all digitally modeled. After seeing the film, you'll be skeptical too, so check it out here.

Rather than wax lyrical on the achievement, or the incredible quality of this, I really think you should just go watch it, it's just over ten minutes, a healthy break I promise.

You can translate an interview here for some of the background.

Dim lights, Headphones on, Fullscreen. Enjoy.

NZ Blog Feature: The Russian Frost Farmers

18/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Keeping tabs on this collective is a time-consuming but rewarding commitment, with an energetic and productive working-thinking ethos, the RFF supplement prolific exhibition-making with sharp, succinct and wity blogging.

The Russian Frost Farmers offer some insight in to their world of action: "We offer a selective portal to all relevant artistic ideas, themes and issues from around the globe. Our goal is to keep on the pulse of contemporary themes in all aspects of art through research, selective analysis and online gleaning." For the last six months that I've been following these folks I've not been disappointed.

The blog content itself is succinct, marvelously obscure, and frequently updated. Among the diverse links to projects and collectives around the world, the posts are also bursting with exhibition updates, either of their own work, their mates' work, or their mates-mates' etc. etc. The seven-strong team seem to be keeping a frantic pace of activity between them, with decked-out, temporal, ad-hoc exhibitions popping up from Wellington to Beirut.

Check them out here in full, where you can find their Shop, Blog, Project Links and Exhibitions.

www.therussianfrostfarmers.com

"And These Are My City Clothes..."

14/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

French artist Elisabeth Lecourt prompts a curious phenomena of way-finding fashionware, deftly folding urban maps into quaint dresses and button-down shirts.

Making her way from France in the mid-90's, Lecourt graduated with a Masters of Art from the Royal College of Art, London in 2001, and has since exhibited through Europe with her first solo show in 2006. Aside from clearly being an accomplished worker of craft, the conceptual possibilities of the work are worth teasing out.

Thinking back to some post-graduate work I saw coming out of the MIT Media Lab (I think this is it here) which was exploring the fine crossroads of textiles and technology -such as weaving thermal responsive or light-sensitive LED's directly into fabrics- they posited that eventually clothing and fabrics might be able to express any number of things about their environments or even about the person wearing them -something I found slightly disconcerting as a fairly rampant phenomenologist ("If my shirt expresses everything about me, what do I do with my Body?").

All-fabric capacitive Keyboard. E. Rehmi Post & Maggie Orth, MIT Media Lab.

So with Lecourt's contribution, I begin to ask how way-finding and urban navigation might be improved with smart-clothes... could they drag us in the right direction, or something as simple as a GPS blip of our current location -information which is already ubiquitous in most advanced cellphones or other hand-held devices. Maybe they could track your friends in their own Smart-Dress, lighting up a little swarm of activity... which would be creepy, and I'm starting sound like Geoff Manaugh, which would be unoriginal of me.

Poetically, I think the project works wonderfully to, as a civic reminder of how we interact with the City, or even the country, how we literally 'wear the city' or is it wearing us? I'm thinking how the City might rub off on us, leave a trace -whether its gum, spilled wine or desert sand- so the shirt or dress -in this case very literally- becomes a drawing surface.

Artwork © Elisabeth Lecourt 2005. All rights reserved

Artwork © Elisabeth Lecourt 2005. All rights reserved
Photo: © onepom/London 2005

Urban Design Family

12/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Urban Adapter features in the current Shenzen and Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, by Rocker Lange Architects. Practicing as an international collaborative team working from Hong Kong (Christian J. Lange) and Cambridge, USA (Ingeborg Rocker) –which seems to be an increasingly familiar practice phenomenon– the duo are also embedded in educational practice, both holding Assistant Professorial positions at their local Universities.

Which brings us to the Urban Adapter, a parametrically derived piece of urban infrastructure (I swear it's more than just a chair), coded for site-specificity, local micro-context, and of course function(s). Okay, I'm not saying the formal result of this particular piece is mind-blowing, or even especially innovative, we've seen these before: the vertically sectioned, laser/plasma-cut pieces, part-bench, part-wall etc. etc.... but that's not the (or their) point, the validating aspect of the project is the ability for mass-customisable derivatives from this design 'family', adaptable to any site, anywhere.

The architects explain: "at its core the model utilizes explicit site information and programmatic data to react and interact with its environment. That way the model's DNA structure is capable of producing a variety of unique furniture results. Together they generate an endless family of new urban bench furniture."

Diagram of parametric derivation (all images can be viewed larger here)

Diagram of constructive elements

In-situ at the Bi-City Biennale.

What this project presents is a situation (a process) where any city in the world could simply enter specific site conditions, desired functions (sitting, lying, displaying...), budget (commensurate with scale), local material of choice, and click Create. Rocker Lange could simply connect with local manufacturers in say, Auckland, or Petone, and click Print, and with minimal energy, straightforward construction and installation, the Urban Adapter becomes a cost-effective urban (or wherever for that matter) safety net, when the creative lights have all but gone out in Council.

Freerange Volume 2: Gardening and Violence

8/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

Dig into the latest edition of Freerange, a digital publication loosely grounded in our home shores, with contributions from around the globe. This issue takes a close look at the cross-roads of gardening and violence, which has produced some incredibly interesting reading, and plenty of food for thought, so to speak.

Freerange is a great, and expanding project, lead by "Chief Egg" and Editor Barnaby Bennett, a journeyman who grew up in Whangarei, and now resides sort-of in Wellington, and sort-of around-the-World. Freerange's associated blog lets us know what its all about:

"Freerange is a regularly released online and print journal that investigates the complexity of the city. Its leading proposition is that we need to keep our wits about us while doing this, living in the city is not just about understanding but engaging."

This issue is co-edited by Mr. Bennett and Gina Moss, who have done a sweet job, enough for me to end on a gem from their editorial which I think sums it up:

"If this second issue of Freerange was a cake then you would be about to tuck into
a feast of many layers, for the interaction between gardening and violence is varied and
complex. From the personal to the global this issue covers everything from backyards
to tectonic plates, climate change, vegetable gardening, global food production networks,
trauma healing, sustainability, design and non-violent resistance."

Keep an eye on the Freerange blog, for wide-reaching articles from authors who Give a Damn.

freerange.editkid.com

Moderne Text

5/01/2010 12:00:00 a.m.

This concept typography from Borja Bonaque is simple, massive and über-International Style.

'Abcity typo' is one of Bonaque's many 'personal projects' which of course are the most interesting of his portfolio, and thankfully can be purchased online. Based on formal 'superpositioning' of cubes and buildings are illustrative elements, Abcity typo creates an uppercase mega-font of epic mass. Architectural stylings that are reminiscent of Blade Runner, Metropolis, and surreal dreams which mock gravity, look tantalising, whilst horrific.

For a contemporary motion-picture comparison, it might be worth keeping an eye on Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan of Dark Knight and Memento fame. Being only the second of his original screenplays, this was probably a gift from producers after raking it in with Dark Knight. It looks veritably intriguing, if you can handle DiCaprio.

Exhibition for Toomath in the New Year!

30/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

The substantial work of Wellington architect Bill Toomath will be the feature of celebratory exhibition at the Hirschfeld Gallery, opening January 29, 2010. A sample of his significant contribution is pictured here, the Wellington Teachers College in Karori, as beautifully photographed by Architectural Historian Michael Dudding.

A release from the City Gallery:

"Renowned Wellington architect Bill Toomath is one of the pioneers of Modernism in Wellington. His work as practitioner, teacher and mentor has influenced subsequent generations of architects both locally and nationally. This exhibition focuses on his articulation of open planning, a key modernist concept, through three major projects. It is the first in a staggered series of architecture-based exhibitions, and will be supported by a strong programme of architecture-related public events."

Sounds dashing, and having attended a number of Toomath-inspired events –including a charming visit to his home to celebrate his 'Antonello' homage– I would highly recommend the aforementioned public events when they are announced.

Her Theory of Everything

29/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

Fresh from graduation, Swedish Illustrator Karin Rönmark's 'Theory of Everything' is currently on show at Designhuis, a part-drawn, partly constructed story of Everything. Perfect for end of year contemplation I thought.

Foreworded with the poetry of cosmology, the Theory of Everything narrates:

'the universe started out in a state of PERFEKT SYMMETRY, with all the forces infied into a single force. The universe was BEAUTIFUL, SYMMETRICAL, but rather useless. LIFE AS WE KNOW IT COULD NOT EXIST IN THIS PERFECT STATE. In order for the possibility of life to exist the symmetry of the universe had to BREAK.'

And so the world of Life As We Know It unfolds, in snowcapped peaks where designers perch over lamp-lit tables, and stalactites like potatoes, even bigger than the mountains loom overhead, and comets tear between them, and clouds of eyes and words are blown by, in the Theory of Everything.

Installation views, 'Theory of Everything' Karin Rönmark, 2009.

www.karinronmark.se

In Your Blue Suede Shoes

28/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

One of my favourites, Gram shoes, have a startling pair of Blue Suede shoes on their shelf, perfect for a bit of swaggering down the tail end of 2009.

The Swedish duo of Alexis Holm and Anna Stenvi have stormed the shoe-world since launching in 2005, with their limited release range of casual-but-tidy designs now branching into multiple stylish ranges to cover your seasonal demands. A wary sensibility for Heavy Duty boots is particularly noticeable, with some solid and classy looking Heavy Weights in their 2009 Winter range.

But this is about the other end of the range, the colourful Light Weights, in Blue Suede especially, leather lining, cushioning EVA outsole and insole, rubber heel and toe piece for added durability... meant for the dance floor, or I suppose some downtown swaggering, or moseying, and definitely some sauntering.

You can purchase these directly online at fairly reasonable prices –if you can find your size and style, some have under 300 pairs made worldwide– or you'd do well to hunt a pair down at your local NZ stockists:

WELLINGTON: Good As Gold / 140 Vicotira St
AUCKLAND: Black Box / 35b Surrey Cres
QUEENSTOWN: Angel Divine / 3 Searle Lane
CHRISTCHURCH: Infinite and Definite Boutique / 148 High Street
DUNEDIN: Slick Willys / 323a George Street
MT MAUNGANUI: Thanks / 5/26 Matai Street

www.gramstore.com

In Conversation with Nick Leckie, Incoming President of SANNZ.

17/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

I caught up with Nicholas Leckie, current President of SANNZ, the Student Architecture Network of New Zealand. In its relative infancy (launched two years ago), SANNZ has become a hard-working and hard-playing network for all students of architecture in New Zealand, with ambitious members and a debonair leader. For more information on SANNZ check their website, or see the contacts at the end of the Interview.

Byron – Nick, would you like to briefly explain the role of the SANNZ, and what functions it performs for the architectural, and public, community of NZ?

Nick – Sure thing, SANNZ is the national network of students of the three New Zealand Schools of Architecture, supporting architecture student perspectives, initiatives, and futures.

Its function is to connect architecture students with their counterparts at other schools, connect architecture students better with the profession, and likewise the profession better with students.

I believe there is a lot to be gained from increasing one's awareness of how what they are doing at their school compares with shenanigans at other schools, and this dialogue should also be encouraged between students and the profession. Critical, comparitive self-reflection is essential in the game of keeping architectural education on it's toes, and I suppose it is the rationale behind all of these connectivity goals that SANNZ sets itself.

Quintessential student encouragement, SANNZ BBQ.

Byron – And how has SANNZ helped the New Zealand community of architecture students communicate and collaborate energies and efforts?

Nick – So far, we've held two 'Superstudio' competitions. University of Auckland played host last year and this years competition was held in Wellington. Superstudio is a very fast design ideas competition, run simultaneously across several Australasian locations.

It's really great to get all that creative energy together from students and the profession. Also, for two thirds of the people to check out a school other than their own, and for the visiting school's to go on an adventure across the North Island is great. A team of fourth years from Victoria University were one of four teams from the 20 chosen finalists across Australasia to have made a 'special contribution' this year, so congrats to them!

We've also organised three 'sTute' tutoring days (one in Auckland and two in Wellington) this year, where practising architects/designers from other fields come along and offer tutoring to students on whatever project they're needing help with, in a speed-dating take-it-or-leave-it kind of way. They're great events!

The infamous 'Team Zissou' of VUW compete in Superstudio.

Byron – How do you think SANNZ has been recieved by a) students, b) academia, and c) the profession?

Nick –
a) Students. Pretty well, as the vast gap we are attempting to fill is reasonably unexplored territory for us current students, so these ideals are pretty well shared and accepted by everyone. One challenge is living up to the expectations people naturally have when they hand over $50 for a membership at the start of the year and want their moneys worth out of what we do.

b) Academia. I think most in academia would agree that anything that adds further strings to the bow of ones architectural education is a positive thing!

c) The profession. Feedback from the profession so far has been hugely encouraging, with tutors we've called in to be involved in events finding them highly rewarding. There is so much scope for us to develop these avenues further than just tutoring events, and we look forward to doing this.

Byron – Do students of architecture have a role or responsibility outside the university?

Nick – Yes I think we definitely do. Aside from connecting with the profession, which is underway, the most alarming responsibility at the moment, in my mind, lies with informing prospective students of architecture about the subject.

The NZIA (our parent body, I might add) is certainly stepping up with its 'Shaping Our Places' document and political-level work - perhaps students can pay particular attention to raising awareness of architecture on the general-public level?

Crikey this sounds like a revolution, everyones an architect by 2050. Sign On.

Byron – No, not at all, I think public education of design and architecture are incredibly important, and other regions of the world do it much better, to greater civic results. Another big issue for SANNZ is student apathy, which is the bane of politically and socially active student organisations, do you have any thoughts about this?

Nick – Student Apathy... we've got targets to reduce apathetic emmissions from students by 2050 as well.

I'd describe the immediate situation as follows:

- 170ish architecture students in NZ feel inclined to part with $50 per year for membership of a professional body.

- Our three schools are certainly very active in terms of establishing programmes and adjusting to changes (3+2 degree structure, for example) at the moment, and students aren't just sitting back and watching these things happen.

- Architecture students are a passionate bunch. Reinforcement of point: I've just completed a rather poorly run and awkward paper at my university, and since its termination 70 members of the class have joined up to a Facebook group to discuss and compile the papers failings and areas for improvement. Passionate. Or perhaps people just can't find work and are bored.

Another thought on this - I suppose the fight against apathy ensures that SANNZ runs events and works on things that are more relevant to all.

The Biannual SANNZ v SONA Soccer Match, played at RE:HAB Congress in Canberra.
Sadly, the host nation won, fortunately the trophy remains hidden in New Zealand still.

Byron – From this, if student organisations do have a responsibility to construct critique and implement positive change, there seems to be a constantly changing set of effective tactics, such as legitimising yourself professionally (becoming a Non-profit, or Incorporated Society for example) or aligning yourself more closely with professional institutions... Which to some is seen as complicit institutionalisation (an institutional mimicry), but is there more to be gained by employing and adapting to these conditions of activity?

Nick – The answer to that question probably lies in a balance between two extreme ends of what a student organisation could be. I'll touch on where I think we should attempt to align ourselves.

In the grand scheme of the existence of professional institutions, I think that alignment between and representation across different levels of a profession can improve both those institutions' ability to analyse a problem more comprehensively, and also their collective effectiveness when taking action. In this respect, alignment is empowering.

The danger, as you point out, is this institutional mimicry. Hopefully, SANNZ is structured in such away that avoids much of this danger:

    - an organisation aligned with, but distinct from other institutions/groups
    - a deliberate bottom-up approach to operations
    - an annual weekend get together of the committee that fuels an open culture of big ideas and aspirations (deliberately avoiding the term 'strategic planning')
    - a committee structured for equal representation from each school.

These four characteristics should ensure that SANNZ adapts and remains relevant into the future. Fundamentally, if SANNZ is all about the people who make up the Network itself, then we shouldn't strike problems.
It seems trivial, but to reinforce this I'll point out that our website is deliberately www.sannz.net.nz, and not '.co' or '.org'.

Byron – What are your personal ambitions for SANNZ for the next year?

Nick – Personally, I'd like to get something moving in working with High School careers people to form some kind of package for schools about what studying architecture is like, why a student might consider doing it, and also some differences between our three schools.
I dare say schools need it - I got told in my careers interview at school that Christchurch had the best Architecture school in the country!

Aside from that project, I hope that the committee can have a really productive and hugely enjoyable weekend meeting in February, and we can build on all that has happened this year and do some great things in 2010!

Anyone's thoughts on what SANNZ has done/should be doing in the future are more than welcome - in fact they're essential! Please email info@sannz.net.nz with any suggestions, or follow us on Facebook.

Photographs courtesy of Nick Leckie, cheers.

Make Your Own Monster! Finally.

22/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

From the crafty workshop of Donna Wilson comes this clever little bundle of Monster bits, for the aspiring Frankenstein, just in time for Christmas...

Spotted locally in Wellington, this bundle of felt bits, cotton, eyes, teeth and miscellaneous monster-bits allows the more demanding connoisseur of Monster Making to arrange and create their own ghoulish beast.

It's an awesome idea for the rainy days of summer, or the warm nights, or whenever your craft-fingers are tingling in anticipation of their next creation. A peruse of Donna Wilson's website confirms stockists in Christchurch (Annex), Auckland (Tessuti), and of course the quintessential gift-shop of Wellington, Iko Iko. You can order everything online, but you'll miss the under-the-tree deadline which is looming awfully quick.

For the more anti-establishment craft-folk out there, you can ditch the instructions and get a 'Make Something With Me' package too, which ups the randomness factor considerably.

Both products come with a warning to provide adult supervision, because in the hands of a free spirited 6-year-old, you're likely to end up with a savage felt creative that might bight your face off if you're not careful. Garrr.

Shenzhen Paper Banquet from the Dry Dairy!

21/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

A brutally truncated heads-up on the international excursions of a few enthusiasts, who make pathways from Grey Lynn to South-east China like its a bike ride to the dairy.

Launched with the onset of Spring in a tiny roadside Studio in Auckland –dubbed the Dry Dairy–, the 50¢-mixed-lolly-bag collaboration of architectural grads and designers have been cranking in the after-hours from their day-jobs to bring more vivid colour to the world.

We'll be making much more room for them here on Re:speak in the New Year, but for now check out a few snaps of their contribution to the 2009 Shenzen & Hong Kong Biennale for Architecture and Urbanism, titled the Paper Banquet, which seems to have been a huge success.

Some snaps from their blog...

Follow them here.

More in January...

NZ Blog Feature: Diffusive Architectures

20/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

The first in a series of posts recognising design & architecture related Blogs emerging from the Long White Cloud. Written out of Auckland by Carl Douglas, Lecturer of Spatial Design at AUT, Diffusive Architectures is a refreshing glimpse into academia and other worlds from an experienced and enthusiastic voice.

As I write this, BLDGBLOG has forwarded kudos to Diffusive Architecture, as top new blog for 2009, fortunately for us that means Douglas has posted an especially useful menu of previous posts, my pick being 'Sleeping Over' –a fantastically written account of three dreams in one mad night, an excerpt:

–I dropped into my dream, slow wave and rapid eyes. I dreamed about architecture. There was a monastery, solid, stable and Byzantine that held the horixon down. The ground was still my desert, but it was soft and plastic and inky like me. I was a monument being built and held up by crutches that were sensitive to my misshapen body–

The thematic dexterity of posts from Douglas is formidably carried by their substantial content. Published as a personal-but-public "testing" blog for ideas around 'diffusive architectures' (by which he means "various manifestations of distribution, difference, and collective subjectivity."), Douglas is not shy to post drawings, personal recollections, and developing threads of thought, readings, and even supplemental Tweets, which offer ambiguous and teasing citations.

As I say, it is reasonably rare to be offered such candid insight in to the workings of academia and teaching, in fact I've heard of studio leaders abroad who ban blog posts about their teaching or studios which is curious.

As well as Douglas's selection, make some Sunday-reading time (if you've found us over the weekend) for a deeper browse through Diffusive Architectures' archive, I'm convinced you'll find something intriguing.

diffusive.wordpress.com

Skarbakka Backbreaker

19/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

One for the restful Weekend, with credit to Carl Douglas of Diffusive Architectures for sharing this one. Check out American artist Kerry Skarbakka's performative photographs, inspired by dare-devil stunts and tragic slips.

With a background in martial arts and mountain climbing, we can be assured Skarbakka is keeping himself together in these shots, which are part-trickery and part-stunt. Regardless of their set-up, the results are addictive. The absurd human fascination for witnessing others completely slip up has everything to do with 'status', if we see an elderly women trip over, it's heart-wrenching, but a celebrity, and suddenly its hilarious. The flicker of fear in the eye, and the fragility of elegance coming toppling down is money in the bank for entertainment.

You can hear from Skarbakka himself, interviewed on msnbc.com here, or check out more of his works nerve-wrecking works here, a few teasers below.

'Stairs' (detail) (2002)

'Over The Handlebars' (detail) (2008)

'Winter Roof' (2004)

Images from Skarbakka

For Future Urban Getarounds

16/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

Speculative green vehicles get flexible, with this recent concept design from Thierry Dumaine, which adapts to traffic conditions by offering a quick-change between Four, Three and Two wheel modes. The TransforMiss is a dubiously named, but flexibly designed personal transporter.

The French Dumaine can be spotted on a number of Concept Car design lists –presumably it can be lucrative if you get picked up by a manufacturer– but I found this one appealing to a more broader speculation of urban transportation in the near future. First off, it is incredibly difficult to foresee urban transport infrastructure being even remotely alike to today's car-dependant cities, which are terrible and slowly on their way out thanks to an enlightened few. Medium and small public transport vehicles seem very feasible, but I would guess that independent and unique/specific paths through future urban environments will always be necessary, which brings me back to this design, which I find attractive as an adaptive vehicle, which could be manipulated to cruise down a cycle-lane, expand to a Trike for more robust and stable maneuvering, and slip into the 'car' lane (or its replacement) for mid-distance travelling.

Alternative Trike modes of the TransforMiss.

If you have a crash you'll be protected by your inflatable tires, which will flip over any other nearby cars.

While you're pondering that baffling photograph, make a cerebral link with a local proposal for an Electric Scooter Recharger, designed for Waiheke Island by architectural collaborative Dry Dairy, which offers a clever cross-programmed structure for a fairly unique island community.

More from the ever-busy Dry Dairy in the New Year.

Floating Your Boat...House.

18/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

Australian Architect-Builder Drew Heath's recent Arkiboat design has become a serial vision with original collaborator/client Ian Ugarte, with the team now offering 'spec-boats' to prospective clients.

Having spent some glorious time in my childhood living in a Housetruck on a farm in Titirangi, I am a blatant Romantic for this stuff, which might also contribute to theories of my continual state of migration. Sadly I've never set foot on a Boathouse, and its probably fair to say that most New Zealanders havn't either, they just havn't taken off.

This simple design (the 'prototype') came from the hand of Drew Heath, an Architect and Builder with a unique practice of moving about with his crew from project to project, seeing each one through design and completion. Not surprisingly the work portfolio of Drew Heath Architects has an established and exhibited an exquisite ability for detailing, which is perfectly suited for marine architecture. The pared-back planning of the prototype Arkiboat is well-balanced and flexible, aligning each room across the width of the boat. Larger alternative designs (view here) offer more open-plan variations, and start to appear more conventionally 'domestic' in nature (with internal corridors for example) although it's clearly stated each is to modified by the client. The prototype –for me at least– feels resolved much more convincingly, and coherently as a design which exploits its unique conditions, and modest intent.

Arkiboat photographed by Brett Boardman

Arkiboat Plan schematic (aligned roughly with photograph).

I'm sure there are some semi-permanent dwellers in some of our cities' docks, maybe they prefer to hold on to their boat status rather than these more cumbersome cousins. Rivers and lakes, yes we have plenty, but they do seem relatively more volatile don't they, with all the flooding going on. If you're itching to go, give Drew a call, he might be enticed by a cross-Tasman adventure.

If you know more about the local boathouse scene, I'd be intrigued to hear from you.

Check out the website of Arkiboat, and Drew Heath Architects.

Caitlin Masley: The Tel Aviv Series

16/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

Living and Working out of Brooklyn, New York, the subject of Caitlin Masley's latest series of works is Tel Aviv, following a body of work committed to studying urban contexts.

The Tel Aviv Series takes on a new complexity from her earlier works, which similarly study figure ground relationships of global cities (where some are titled, and some left untold and ambiguous), these works are heavier, richer, with thick black shadow drawings alongside golden, light-filled pieces.

Untitled (Gold Tel Aviv 2)
Metallic gold and black inks and whiteout / 26" x40" / 2008

Untitled (Gold Tel Aviv 3)
Metallic gold and black inks and whiteout / 26" x40" / 2008

Untitled (White Tel Aviv 3)
Black ink, whiteout and acrylic / 10 1/4" x 9 1/8" / 2008

Masley's skill across media is also evident in her other threads of work, which are similarly striking, and carefully constructed Installations, and Photographs.

Untitled (Neo Habitats)
Islip Museum, New York / foam-core / variable dimensions / 2009

Untitled (Neo Habitats)
Islip Museum, New York / foam-core / variable dimensions / 2009

Visit Caitlin Masley's website to explore her Portfolio.

Printed Matter from Crafty Kasikov

17/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

A new hand-made Book from Evelin Kasikov, 'Printed Matter: Type' explores four themes at the crossroads of Type and Embriodery: Type and Colour; Typographic colour; Estonian traditional type; and Type as image. Committed to a practice of hand-crafted exploratory works in book form since 2006, London-based Evelin Kasikov has a number of one-off publications to date which rigorously tease out contemporary technologies -especially from the advertising field- including a beautiful study of CMYK.

Printed Matter: Type
210x210 mm | 92 pages | Hand embroidery on paper | French folds | Deckle edge

“But the screen is nothing like a piece of paper”

Fred Smeijers, Counterpunch: London Hyphen Press 1996

“But the screen is nothing like a piece of paper”

Fred Smeijers, Counterpunch: London Hyphen Press 1996

Printed Matter: Type (quotation: Fred Smeijers, 1996)

“But the screen is nothing like a piece of paper”

Fred Smeijers, Counterpunch: London Hyphen Press 1996

The somewhat obsessive technique of embrioded cross-stitch must offer a meditative pace of production for Kasikov, with some insane visual outcomes which are hypnotic in the least. The precise and strict guidelines of the technique are exactly what gives the work such rigour though, because of course it is only possible to define the innovative and inventive outcomes relative to a resilient (and quite often conservative) point of departure -any well-funded academy will know this, and any radical Academy will abhor it.

The range of Kasikov's Book's have explored: Process, Element, Type (pictured in this article), Image, all are well worth checking out if you are interested in self-publication, process-work, and exquisite craft.

Her website is here.

The Plastiki Expedition

9/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

A heads up on an ambitious and beautiful project, about to embark on a Pan-Pacific journey sailing an incredibly high-tech super-Catamaran which gets its buoyancy from over 12,000 plastic bottles.

An insanely detailed design of the 60-ft Catamaran can be checked out on its super sharp website, where great images of all of the boats features can be accessed, including its trailing energy-generating turbine, energy bikes (so you can pretend to cycle across the Pacific, AND generate some more energy), hydroponic garden, solar-panels, and detailed design of its cabin. This thing is loaded to the brim.

For a sneaky look inside the construction shed, check out this great article from Dwell, which includes a good-humoured video tour of the Cabin design by Nathaniel Corum and an overview from David De Rothschild of Adventure Ecology.

You can follow the journey online, as scientists, ecologists and all-round keen adventurers make their way across the Pacific from San Francisco to Sydney.

Mirrored years at the City Gallery: Yayoi Kusama

9/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

Last week I experienced the compulsive and extraordinary work of Yayoi Kusama, currently on show at the recently re-opened Wellington City Gallery, until Feb 7, 2010. 'Mirrored Years' is a bold and fitting (re)opening exhibition for the City Gallery, and having offered Kusama the entire Gallery (except of course for its new specialised galleries), has been beautifully filled.

The expanded entrance to the Gallery immediately draws in the visitor, confronted by the surreal Narcissus Garden (1966, refabricated in 2008), where hundreds of chrome spheres send your inquisitive and distorted gaze right back at you. Depending on your sway, you'll end up in either the West Gallery's 'Early Works', or you'll find yourself wandering through Clouds (2008) in the East Gallery while contemplating Love Forever (2004-07). In the West Gallery you absolutely must make time for Fireflies on the Water (2000, pictured), one of the most serene and phenomenal spaces I have experienced ("It feels like space.." I dumbly uttered, not really thinking beyond the galactic appearance of the room).

Upstairs in the South Gallery, you'll experience the disorientating labyrinth of 'Dots Obsession – Day' (2009) and its accompanying 'Dots Obsession – Night' which left me feeling like an amoeba, and empathetic for gallery staff who have to stand guard in the bizarre space.

Older installation works in the North Gallery are also crucial to the exhibition, with 'Infinity Mirror Room Phalli's Field (or Floor Show)' (1965, refabricated 1998) offering an expansive and white field - countering the Fireflies downstairs, which is a relief after the oppressive 'I'm Here, but Nothing (2000, recreated 2009), a UV-lit domestic scene arranged by the Gallery on Kusama's request, appropriately for the disorientating piece, the room is right from the 1950's in every detail except for the incessant polka dots glaring of every surface.

By bringing together two reflective and comparable decades of Kusama's work (generally the work is pre-1970, and post-1995), Mirrored Years attempts to critically engage in the obsessively recurring themes and inquiries of Kusama's work, most famously the polka dot in its various aesthetic and conceptual manifestations. If you find yourself near the polka-dotted facade of the City Gallery in the coming months, don't be afraid of forking out your admission charge for this rare opportunity.

The Tele-Presencing Video Symphony

9/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

Okay, from the outset you're going to have to commit to some broadband consuming patience to get the best effect of the Digital Symphony conceived by Darren Soloman from Science For Girls, and conducted by none other than You. The concept is simple, choose a key to work in (Bb Major as it happens), get the public to submit some airy tunes on their madly diverse instruments, and spread them all out in a tidy pile for you to activate. The result is addictive, and beautiful.

If you can manage to get even four or five of the instruments playing, you'll start to get that great feeling of making something sound intriguing by mixing and pausing and replaying each musical sample. The endless combination of instruments is the second wave of excitement, as you find out what a distorted guitar, clarinet and Nintendo DS sound like together. Not bad as it happens.

If you've got some spare megabytes to chew through, and a speedy network, I would definitely give this a few minutes.

Gadgets for 2010 : could this be the iPhone killer?...

15/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

For a while now there have been rumours of Google launching their own “Google Phone”. Yesterday saw Google confirm these rumours in a blog post that they are indeed working on a new phone and that they have already sent it for testing to Google employees across the globe. While details are still little sketchy they confirmed that it runs on Android and has new features and capabilities similar to that of Apples iPhone. With the world of IT abuzz with rumours of the new “Google Phone” to be launching in January 2010, you may want to think twice about buying a new smart phone this side of Xmas.

Pompon Chair from con3studio

12/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

This giant dog of a chair looks like a perfect way to surrender to gravity, with a hardy book, beer or brandy firmly in your grip. Italian designers Elena Belforte and Giusi Rivoira of con3studio are responsible for this over-sized take on the Pom-pon.

With its construction method taken directly from the Pompon, illustrated appropriately like your gran could make it, the Pompon chair puts to good use an oversized yarn (a recycled waste product of the textile industry we're told), which is bailed together, snipped in half, and flopped over.

The result is this cosy looking ball of fluff, which I think would be hugely useful for losing small children in, or for camouflaging ellicit pets when the landlord visits. Unfortunately for me, the con3studio website is all in Italian, and somehow the chunky navigation of the site has left me feeling equally illiterate, but there are some glimpses of class among the Progetti.

Evolo Skyscraper Competition

12/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

The Evolo Skyscraper Competition is making an international call for submissions to its annual Skyscraper competition, with registrations due January 12th, 2010, and final submissions due a week later on the 18th.

The Skyscraper Competition has become a highly publicised award, with previous winners going on to prolific publication and exhibition, which supplements the reasonably modest monetary prize. A detailed archive of the previous winning and commended projects can be accessed at the Competition Website here.

They explain: "The main idea of this contest is to examine the relationship between the skyscraper and the natural world [cringe], the skyscraper and the community, and the skyscraper and urban living", which reminds me to link you through the recent winner of the NZIA Graphisoft Student Design Awards, Simon Harrison, who proposed a "neighbourly high-rise".

This type of speculative design competition should be encouraged for catalysing discourse and design work which confronts hugely important building typologies, and the future of the skyscraper certainly deserves a lot of attention and critical engagement. Here in New Zealand we are seismically (and perhaps economically) cautious about building very far into the skies, which is precisely why I think we could offer reasonable and contemplative proposals to the given invitation.

www.evolo-arch.com

Dog Walker Leash for the Lonely and Neurotic

9/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

Alice Wang is a graduate from the Royal College of Art, a place with a fierce reputation for producing world-class graduates, who can perform in an impressive range of media. Listing eight unique services ranging from Product to Electronics and Programming, Wang leads with a thematic range of Products, which all explore the weirdly real phenomena of Commodity Love.

She teases out the anxiety of technological obsession and creepy reliance, baldly cutting in one "I love my dog more than my husband" and "I love my blackberry more than my girlfriend" on another. The fact that love remains the definitive emotion in all the products is reassuring, the cleverness in the products is messing with the other end... Why can't we sit down to a romantic dinner with the dog, give him a dashing lapel-bib while he dines from his custom tilted plate and wine glass..

The simple answer is the forbidden intimacy which all these activities are typically warming up to, but the innocence with which these products are presented is the kicker: how dare we presume anything more than a reciprocal love between owner and pet.

Alice Wang's work is well presented on her personal site here, including Chairs for the Dysfunctional, and of course the Leash, pictured.

Interview with Harriet Compton Richards

10/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

Principal of Young + Richards Ltd and judge of the NZ Wood Timber Design Awards for the last two years, Harriet Compton Richards is passionately committed to innovative design and construction with timber, a material she believes New Zealand has the capacity to lead in contemporary construction methods. I spoke to her about the Awards, and working with wood in New Zealand.

Byron Kinnaird – Harriet, could you elaborate a bit on your background in working with timber internationally, and how this experience and practice has influenced your position and expectations working with timber in New Zealand?

Harriet Compton Richards – I pursued Masters research in Switzerland at the ETH Zurich university in order to focus on an in depth study of European prefabricated design and construction methodologies with a focus on timber and green building techniques for the housing industry. Having worked in Melbourne for 4 years prior I was eager to learn from the advanced European construction technologies with wood and bring back to this part of the world.

Having returned to Auckland I am now enjoying being part of the practice Young + Richards Ltd and continuing to pursue architecture with a focus on modular and timber design.
In addition, my latest venture pursuing the ideas I gained in Europe is the company Eunoia Living Baches – set up with a fantastic team to design and build timber baches throughout NZ.

Byron – So how do you feel New Zealand rates currently in terms of technologies and design with timber, compared to say Scandanavian or other European regions with an established reputation and culture of building with timber -especially pre-fabricated?

Harriet – New Zealand lacks the scale of industrialized prefabrication as operative throughout Europe. We are now entering an age of increased realization that this is the most efficient practice in many situations and it’s exciting to see a real interest in pursuing this further in New Zealand and investment in this area.
In the past the perception of prefabrication was tainted and had negative connotations for most people. A new generation of enthusiasts are debunking the old ideas of pre-fabrication and presenting it as the most efficient, high quality and environmental building methodology suitable for many cases.
I believe we can become international leaders in timber detailing and timber products adding value to our logs rather than just shipping them off overseas. Many young NZ companies are now pursuing this which is fantastic to see.

Byron – So how close are we to incorporating or testing these processes in New Zealand at the moment -is there anything else like it at the moment in NZ that could be improved, or are there entirely new manufacturing or industrial environments needed?

Harriet – many factory based construction technologies are being used in large scale buildings and industry such as pre-nail truss factories and it would be great to see more of these techniques used in whole house projects in NZ. Likewise many of the sophisticated timber factories in NZ are working mostly on off-shore projects and it would be great to see more of these large-scale timber buildings being constructed in NZ.

Byron – As a Judge for two years on the NZ Wood Timber Design Awards you must get an expanded view of NZ timber building, how do you feel this contemporary timber work rates internationally?

Harriet – In my experience, particularly this year, the work is of an international, high standard and many sophisticated examples of great architecture were presented. In my experience New Zealand is renowned for its highly designed timber houses – particularly in Australia I found many people looking to New Zealand architecture as leading in this area.

Byron – And in the Awards, have you noticed any interesting shifts in timber design in New Zealand in the last few years, new technologies, more adventurous experimentation, or developments of more traditional building types (the 'bach' for example)?

Harriet – We still have mostly houses being entered and we would love more designers to pursue wood in commercial and industrial situations further.
This year designers have been heavily influenced by the latest European trend for timber slatted rainscreen claddings and its great to see some fantastic examples of this. Great to see also more people entering the awards and increased complexity of the houses detailing.

Byron – So what are your thoughts for NZ timber design going in to 2010?

Harriet – I think it is a very exciting time for timber designers in NZ at the moment. We are critical in the race to hang on (or win back) and save our name as ‘clean green, 100% pure New Zealand'.

And If They Told You to Jump Off A Bridge, Would You Do That Too?

9/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

I thought this would be the most appropriate way to launch into Re:Speak, here it is, the very first Article posted on the new generation of Spe[a]k, Productspec's wide-reaching digital voice. Our little upgrade can probably – and mischievously – be likened to taking a controlled leap off a bridge: the ropes have been tested for the last couple of years (and forty Editions of Spe[a]k), and with the train of Repetitious Obsolescence hurtling towards our little Bulletin, we decided to take a leap into the void of all-rounded design and architecture websites available in New Zealand, and let the icy winds do its worst, and best.

I've tortured that metaphor for far too many words, so I should get back to the absurd brilliance of this elegant hobby, photographed here by Russos, being practiced in Russia. It's so straight forward in fact, that the technical grace of the whole thing is admirable – and so very photogenic. All you do is get some friends together, some abseiling/climbing gear (ropes, harness,helmet etc. etc.), a bridge (slightly higher than your ropes – crucial), and wait excitedly for a train to arrive. After the rush of nearly being smashed by a 100-ton locamotive, you perform a synchronised leap off the bridge, and swing madly too and fro until the cops turn up.

Although I have no idea what's going on at Russos, the photographs are stunning, and seem to follow an infrastructural, industrialised theme, well worth scanning through at your leisure.

Welcome to re:speak, be sure to fasten your rope well before leaping.

Going West, and Loving the Paper Cuts

9/12/2009 12:00:00 a.m.

Check out this beautiful animation Produced by Colenso BBDO and animated by Andersen M Studio for the NZ Book Council, which brings to life a passage from Maurice Gee's Going West.

The dark and flickering architectural scenes are hypnotic and meandering with such ease it's like a dreamscape, with seemingly microscopic paper slices and cuts forming unexpected walls, houses, clouds and spectres. I don't want to trample through more exotic descriptions, really the story is for you, so go ahead and check out the Video here.