We Make it Good has a post with some great images of Le Corbusier and his work from LIFE Magazine.  Definitely follow the link to their post.

Link: Corbu Life

Blow x Blow at the SCI-Arc Gallery stages a competition between two trends in exhibition: the claiming of gallery space by architects, and the ceding of that space to the ambient possibilities of new media.

The problem with this premise and installation is that it limits “new media” to living only on flat vertical surface in the form of projection. This relationship was clearly defined over 20 years ago in Diller + Scofidio’s Slow House.

Slow House - Diller + Scofidio

Many interesting and relevant new media projects have moved beyond the projection into interactive media. The like of openframeworks and processing have helped artists to developed new systems of “new media.”

The weakest part of blow x blow is the change of language from facet to flat vertical surface. If the installation is truly a reaction to the white box it is placed in, why not project on to those surfaces, putting the box to use?

There are very strong correlations and overlaps between current studies in new media and architecture. It would have been great to see those combined in an inseparable fashion, rather than literally creating a boundary between the two.

seen on:ytzr.

News from ArchPaper:

“The president of the Venice Biennale, Paola Barrata, announced this morning that the director of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition will be Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA Architects. Last week, we reported rumors that the next director was going to be a woman—a first for this most important of international contemporary architecture expositions. The names most frequently bandied about for this major job were Sejima and Liz Diller.

In a formal statement, Sejima said, “The biennale has to be everything and all encompassing, a steady conversation with people who are doing things and the viewer or public who see what they are doing.” The 2008 Architecture Biennale was directed by Aaron Betsky whose selection was announced only in January of that year. In picking Sejima, the Biennale has chosen a practicing architect for the first time since Massimiliano Fuksas in 2000. The Biennale has also announced that the exhibition will open on August 29 (with previews starting on August 26) and run through November 21. Traditionally, the Biennale opening date has been mid September; an earlier date should allow many more people to attend the event.”

via A/N Blog.

Thursday, November 19 | 7:30 pm

LACMA and the American Institute of Architects/Los Angeles present:

In naming Peter Zumthor the 2009 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, the jury noted that “All of Peter Zumthor’s buildings have a strong, timeless presence.  He has a rare talent of combining clear and rigorous thought with a truly poetic dimension, resulting in works that never cease to inspire.” The son of a cabinet-maker who apprenticed to a carpenter before studying in Switzerland and New York, Zumthor began his career as an architect working for the Department of Preservation of Monuments of Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.  He established his own practice in 1979 in Haldenstein, Switzerland. Zumthor is a professor at the Academy of Architecture Università della Svizzera Italiana, Mendrisio and has been a visiting professor at the University of Southern California and SCI-ARC, the Technische Universität in Munich, and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.  Among his many awards are the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association (2008), the Carlsberg Architecture Prize (1998), the Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture (1999), and the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2008). His works include the Thermal Baths in Vals, Switzerland; the Field Chapel to Saint Nikolaus von der Flüe near Cologne, Germany; the Kolumba Museum in Cologne; Protective Housing for Roman Excavations, Chur, Graubünden, Switzerland; Saint Benedict Chapel, Sumvitg, Graubünden, Switzerland; Homes for Senior Citizens, Chur, Masans, Graubünden, Switzerland; Spittelhof Estate, Biel-Benken, Baselland, Switzerland; and Kunsthaus Bregenz, Vorarlgerger, Landesgalerie, Breganz, Austria.

Bing Theater | Tickets: $12; $10 AIA & LACMA members; $5 seniors 62+ and students with ID | Ticket Sales: 323-857-6010.

LACMA

via Bustler

These are truly wonderful and inspiring topographical representations by Eduard Imhof.

via bdif

Check out these wonderful images from Iakov Chernikhov. I’d love to see architectural imagery come back to something more unique and expressive like these. The use of color and line work makes it much more interesting than a photo-realistic rendering can ever be.

Check out more here

Iakov Chernikhov, a Russian constructivist

Check out these drawings from various projects including Hudson Square, Ordos 100, Art House, New Suburbanism, Park Tower and Tourbus Hotel. Check out their first publication containing many more images here: Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis: Opportunistic Architecture

Here’s an exciting program in beta testing called Rhonda. It’s based on OpenFrameworks which makes it even better! The program appears to be an enjoyable way to sketch 3D models. Open source tools are a step in the right direction. Check out the Rhonda site, give the beta copy a test run and support the program.

via Rhonda Forever

The hands on the screen belong to James Paterson. He is using "Rhonda", a 3D drawing tool developed by Amit Pitaru circa 2003. The first half of the video shows James doing a drawing start to finish. In the second part James is cycling through various previous drawings, created between 2004 and 2005.

For the last several years Rhonda has been shown in galleries, museums, festivals and conferences. We are excited to finally release this video online (about time!).
Even more exciting is that our good friends Zach Lieberman (openframeworks) and Zach Gage (synthpond) have just joined the Rhonda Team! With their help we’re creating stable releases of Rhonda for various platforms.

From anArchitecture