east coast Architecture review

Happy Holidays '09

2009-12-25T00:01:00.002-05:00

Regent Street, London, UK - Regent Street
via flickr: leoniewise

Intriguing Earth Architecture 75

2009-12-22T09:18:00.005-05:00

CGAC, Santiago De Compostela, Spain - Alvaro Siza Vieira
via flickr: David G. Neguillo

VotW 07: Canal Theater By Baldeweg

2009-12-15T14:27:00.009-05:00

In case you were not aware a fairly new website has emerged on the web featuring video reporting of many architectural and design projects throughout Europe. In their own words:

In this weeks video Studio Banana TV features the Canal Theater Building by Juan Navarro Baldeweg in Madrid, Spain. Here is an excerpt from their website describing the video itself:

Juan Navarro Baldeweg at Alessi

Intriguing Earth Architecture 74

2009-12-12T01:07:00.005-05:00

Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - Gehry Partners, LLP
via web: Hello Beautiful!

If you have not visited already, we highly recommend Hello Beautiful! by Edward Lifson which provided the article and inspiration for the photo shared here.

Intriguing Earth Architecture 73

2009-11-21T00:35:00.004-05:00

Alumni Hall Parking Structure (Lehigh University), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA - Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
via flickr: alish863psu

VotW 06: Carolyn Steel Speaks At TED

2009-11-19T02:53:00.008-05:00

Here is a description of the lecture given by Steel from the TED website:

Cullum and Nightingale Architects
Review of "Hungry City" by Steel

Intriguing Earth Architecture 72

2009-11-05T20:47:00.007-05:00

Cite' de la Musique, Paris, France - Atelier Christian de Portzamparc

via flickr: laurenatclemson

Intriguing Earth Architecture 71

2009-10-06T16:36:00.007-04:00

Community Boathouse, Boston, Massachusetts, USA - Anmahian Winton Architects
via flickr: Chris Devers

VotW 05: Daniel Libeskind Speaks At TED

2009-10-03T02:20:00.005-04:00

Here is a description of the lecture given by Libeskind from the TED website:

Studio Daniel Libeskind
TED bio

Intriguing Earth Architecture 70

2009-08-16T21:35:00.002-04:00

Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Germany - Renzo Piano Building Workshop
via flickr: Luigi Rosa

Posta Aerea 08

2009-08-14T17:50:00.004-04:00

We are sifting through the virtual mailbag again and would like to share a few newsworthy items with our readers. So without further ado here are the selections that we have filtered for your enjoyment. The urbanSHED International Design Competition has launched its inaugural event. Here is an excerpt from the press release provided to us:

The Urban Land Institute has awarded BIG Architects its 2009 Award of excellence. The project has also won the 2008 Forum Aid Award, 2008 World Architecture Festival Best Housing Award, and the 2009 MIPIM Award. The Mountain is the result of a collaboration with Høpfner A/S, Danish Oil Company JDS, Moe & Brødsgaard, and By & Havn. The ULI had this to say about the winning design proposal:

Image courtesy of Peter Aaron/Esto

This striking image arrived in our inbox promoting the work of photographer Peter Aaron. the quality of the images rival that of the renown architectural photographer Iwan Baan. Once again here is a description of the work in the author's own words:

Firm Focus: Asymptote

2009-08-13T19:39:00.002-04:00

Today we feature the architecture firm, Asymptote. The second in our long promised five part series stemming from our earlier Young Architects Poll post. The New York City based firm is headed by the two principals, Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture and currently lists a 65 person staff.

Since its inception in 1989, the firm has long been known as a predominately theoretical based practice. Using amorphous forms and high powered three-dimensional modeling computer software and captivating models, the firm has been featured in a number of magazine articles, architectural monographs and design school lectures. Asymptote were (are) regular participants in many world competitions and exhibitions to include the Venice Architecture Biennale. Its first realized commissions came through explorations in interior architecture for esteemed Italian design firm Alessi and the New York Stock Exchange.

Since 2000 more projects have come to realization for the firm especially in southeast Asia, eastern Europe and the United Arab Emirates. Recently completed and current projects include: 166 Perry Street, NYC; World Business Center Busan, Busan, South Korea; Strata Tower, Abu Dhabi, UAE; and the Yas Hotel, Abu Dhabi, UAE among others. What seems to separate Asymptote from others is its particular fusion of structure, materials and design aesthetic. All of which seem to be the source of intrigue for the firm's projects. Additionally, their introduction of refreshingly different forms differentiates how their architecture is perceived, in terms of space, rather than that of the orthogonal norm.

Asymptote Architects
designboom article

Intriguing Earth Architecture 69

2009-07-30T22:13:00.008-04:00

Espacial Habitat, Epinay-sur-Seine, France - ecdm
via email: Matthieu Roggwiller

VotW 04: Jalisco Library By LOT-EK

2009-07-20T02:11:00.012-04:00

Guadalajara Library - LOT-EK from arquiNETWORK on Vimeo.

Ever wonder what could be done with all those left airplane fuselages when they have flown their last miles? Apparently, LOT-EK has given it a lot of thought and has proposed a design for a library in Mexico as an example. You might recall that this New York based firm has been a strong proponent of using/reusing everyday cargo containers in a creative and arguably sustainable way.

An excerpt from noticias arquitectura follows regarding the design:

noticias arquitectura article
BLDGBLOG article

Intriguing Earth Architecture 68

2009-05-18T03:16:00.003-04:00

St Ignatius Chapel, Seattle, Washington, USA - Steven Holl
via flickr: 2:19

VotW 03: Hauz29 on the Caltrans HQ

2009-05-03T17:22:00.010-04:00

Hauz29: Morphosis, Caltrans, Los Angeles from Hauz on Vimeo.

A well crafted video from Hauz29 who also produces some excellent podcasts on architecture that have been featured in our sidebar for some time now. In case you were not aware, the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters was produced by Morphosis and was designed to meet the LEED Silver Certification standard.

Arup Journal entry

Intriguing Earth Architecture 67

2009-05-01T17:05:00.006-04:00

MAC, Niteroi, Brazil - Oscar Niemeyer
via flickr: c.alberto

VotW 02: Niels Diffrient Speaks At TED

2009-04-28T00:44:00.008-04:00

Here is a description of the lecture given by Diffrient from the TED website:

Humanscale Corporation Site
DWR Profile

Intriguing Earth Architecture 66

2009-04-24T01:20:00.006-04:00

Safari Drive, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA - Miller Hull Partnership
via flickr pool: hellothomas

Earth Day '09

2009-04-22T01:13:00.011-04:00

April 22nd is here again and that means it is Earth Day around the world. As part of Bloggers Unite, our fair blog has decided to take a look at sustainability and provide a voice in the global debate over going green by focusing on something in which we have experience.

Previously, we asked our readers in our sidebar poll whether the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED initiative was a good measure of overall sustainability. Our poll had mixed results with most respondents agreeing with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) assessment program. A full half of respondents however believe that either the initiative is not a comprehensive set of metrics or that it was too early to tell its success. To more fully understand the reasoning behind our poll, one needs to know the what, where and why of LEED and its implications.

Without going into a detailed history of the program, LEED is a set of standards and metrics by which the sustainability of building materials, systems and strategies can be measured. These are then given a point value rating and are given a certification level based on the total number of points obtained. Currently these are certified, silver, gold and platinum. We featured a further breakdown of the concepts and point system in this earlier post.

Beyond this point system underlies a more utopian goal of forming a collective of groups that include manufacturers, designers, scientists, and law-makers that all have sustainability as one of their main focuses of concern. As a side note it is refreshing to see that many developers and contractors have also joined this non-profit organization. It is our humble opinion that these key groups as well as complacent governmental bodies that have helped contribute to the destruction of much of the natural environment, especially in the United States.

Although USGBC certifies many manufacturers and their products, it also dictates a methodology of design to which all members should strive to achieve if they wish their designs to be certified. The interesting thing about this six division point process is that a lot of the concepts prescribed are very common sense approaches to site and building design. In fact, one could argue that many of these were rediscovered early in the twentieth century and then were forgotten for almost four decades. And now they have reemerged at the beginning of the twenty first century similar to the means and methods reintroduced during the Renaissance.

As the USGBC LEED enters its third iteration (v3) the exam and certification process has become more refined and less open to interpretation. If one has aspirations to become a LEED Accredited Professional then they need to approach the exam and its contents with the same respect that is given to the Architects Registration Exam for example. It should also be mentioned that another goal of the latest version is to attempt to unify codes between the USGBC and similar organizations in both Canada and Europe. This is still in its early stages.

Although the verdict is still out on LEED and its overall effectiveness, it certainly is a step in the right direction. In a time when energy use and natural resource usage (notwithstanding the global warming debate) is at a premium and the global economy seems to be entrenched in a recession going green only makes sense. As a prelude to the 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010, we offer this small insight and contribution to the overall global effort for better awareness.

USGBC site
earthdaynetwork link

Charlie Rose Talks To Koolhaas

2009-04-19T23:49:00.010-04:00

This video features a discussion between Charlie Rose and Rem Koolhaas from March 2004 in which they discuss among other things his book "Content" and his projects to include: the Dutch Embassy in Berlin, the China Central Television Headquarters in Beijing, and the Seattle Public Library. We feature this as an interesting retrospective considering the recent loss of the nearly complete Mandarin Hotel adjacent to the CCTV complex in February of this year.

Charlie Rose Interviews

Intriguing Earth Architecture 65

2009-04-18T03:55:00.015-04:00

Dominus Winery, Yountville, California, USA - Herzog and de Meuron
via flickr: ianxharris

Intriguing Earth Architecture 64

2009-03-20T13:30:00.002-04:00

EMPAC-Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, USA - Grimshaw Architects
via email: Davis Brody Bond (collaborative architect)

Posta Aerea 07

2009-03-19T19:41:00.016-04:00

It is that time of the year again. Time to share with our readers several recent emails which all seem to have a very common flavor. Competition awards and announcements predominated the virtual mailbox this time.

Design 21 Announces the Winners of its, "Wood, Paper, Checkmark" Competition. The contest was developed to help educate consumers about FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council) wood products and promote responsible forest management. The overall winners this cycle were Damian O'Hara & Christophe Roger from France. Their proposal can be found here. To see the other entrants follow the submitted designs link provided by Design 21

The World Architecture Community has released posters of the winners of its 2nd Cycle Competition for download. It also has sent out a call-for-entries for its 20+10+X Architecture Awards 4th Cycle Competition. For more information, eligibility and requirements please visit the website url provided here.

Pamphlet Architecture is announcing its 30th annual juried competition whose theme is, "Investigations in Infrastructure". You might know and enjoy these fascinating diminutive periodicals available from PA Press. We will try to add a graphical link in our sidebars when we hear back from them with our request until then the release notes are here.

MONU, the magazine of urbanism, has asked us to let you know that they are having an open call for contributions to their upcoming issue #11 entitled, "Clean Urbanism". Information for those interested can be found here.

Another email requested that we tout an article labeled, "100 Amazing Flickr Collections for Architecture Buffs" for those who love flickr eye candy please partake.

Speaking of flickr, we would again like to extend an invitation for all of our readers to contribute to our flickr pool at ecAr2.0. We would love to feature your photography or photos of your work on our site (Intriguing Earth Architecture, Modern Furnishings, e.g.) And of course thank you again for your continued interest and support of our site.

Firm Focus: Hariri & Hariri

2009-03-17T03:38:00.011-04:00

Months ago we asked our readers for their input as to which Young Architect/Firm they would hire in our sidebar poll. Among the comments and feedback we received from this exercise was that our selection of firms were not exactly, "young". And although we would concede this point in terms of the actual physical age of both the firms and individuals involved, that was not our intent. The purpose of our poll, from our standpoint, was to determine which en vogue firm from those listed would one hire at that time. Essentially we were following up on another poll we featured several years back regarding the hot button issue in the news, "Starchitects" (i.e. Gehry, OMA/Koolhaas, etc) and the so-called, "Bilboa effect", to see how preferences had changed or remained the same. Another key point to keep in mind is that we ran this poll prior to the burst of the global economic bubble when iconoclastic architecture was the norm and not the exception.

With that being stated, the first firm we will feature in a five part mini-series is Hariri & Hariri; which tied with Asymptote (25% of respondents) for the firm one would least likely hire according to our less than scientific polling.

Hariri & Hariri is headed by two Iranian born sisters, Gisue and Mojgan, who both received their education at Cornell University in Upstate New York. In 1986, they formed their New York City based firm and began to design many thought provoking and beautifully crafted pieces of both realized and un-built architectural projects. This author’s first introduction to their works came through the monograph authored by renowned architectural writer Kenneth Frampton. At the time, Hariri & Hariri's models and drawings provided seductive and inspiring insights into what was possible in the real world of brick and mortar construction, particularly to a young aspiring architecture student. At the time of this writing their works have been featured in many print forms such as books, magazines, museum exhibits and blog posts to name a few.

Some of their recent commissions include the Sagaponac House in Long Island, New York which was one of a handful of influential designs within the, "Houses of Sagaponac" developmental experiment. In 2006 they won an international competition for the "Sternbrauerei Salzburg" consisting of a residential and mixed-use development in historic Salzburg, Austria. According to their own website they have most recently been involved with development of a mixed-use project in the Dallas Art District while also being asked to produce a chandelier design for renowned crystal manufacturer Swarovski.

Hariri & Hariri Architecture
artandculture article