Archinect - News

What is the future of the library?

2013-05-16T18:36:00-04:00

For the first time since Henri Labrouste (1801-1875), currently the subject of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, formulated the conception of the new, democratic library, the central library is fighting for survival. The relevance of these gloriously inflated book boxes is being questioned in an age that looks to the Internet for its intellectual resources.

El Paso, laser scanned in 3D

2013-05-16T14:23:00-04:00

Robert González wants to create a 3D digital replica of Downtown El Paso, using lasers. The director of Texas Tech’s fledgling architecture program in El Paso says the student project would be part of a new historic preservation program he is developing here. The project would create a permanent record, in 3D, of El Paso’s most historic and endangered buildings.

An exhibition of 3D captured border cities from around the world projected onto giant scrims filling an abandoned maquilladora, might be an interesting project.

Isotopes v.02 Is An Audiovisual Cage

2013-05-14T20:01:00-04:00

Design studio Nonotak—Noémi Schipfer and Takami Nakamoto—have created an installation, called Isotopes v.02, which is a reaction to the Fukushima nuclear meltdown that happened back in 2011. The piece featured at Geneva's 2013 Mapping Festival and consists of projected light which entices the viewer to investigate further. But, once the unsuspecting visitor has headed towards the light like a moth to the flame, they become trapped in this beguiling maze...

The Dubai Frame is becoming a reality, to be complete end of 2014

2013-05-13T14:47:00-04:00

Lootah said the project is a complete glass, transparent structure resembling a huge window frame intended to highlight the attractions of the city so visitors can view the skyscrapers on Shaikh Zayed Road from one side — symbolising modern Dubai — while the other side of the frame will show the old Dubai landmarks of Deira, Umm Hurair and Karama. “The electrical panoramic elevators will help visitors move through its facilities as if they are moving in the sky inside the glass frame,”

As some of you may remember, when the winner of the ThyssenKrupp Elevator Award was announced 3 years ago, there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding the selected winner. The winning entry, "Dubai Frame" by Fernando Donis of the Netherlands, was a 150m tall structure designed as a literal frame of the city of Dubai.

Well, it appears construction on the monument has begun, with a completion date estimated for the end of next year.

Click here to read the 3-year old news article announcing the winner, with the flood of reader comments.

Architectural Photography without Architecture

2013-05-13T13:44:00-04:00

Slowly it dawned on me that this was not a photograph of a real building but a total digital fabrication. I was shocked, not in a moralistic way but, rather, with amazement at the masterful deception and amused pique at being fooled.

The technologies of representing architecture have advanced steadily over the years, from drawing to photography to digital rendering — and have lately taken a new leap.

On Places, Belmont Freeman argues, "the crafts of architectural rendering and photography have now merged into a common activity of digital image-making — so completely that one can conceive a work of architecture and produce a 'photograph' of it without having to go through the expensive, tedious and corrupting intermediate step of actually building the building. Welcome to the world of architectural photography without architecture."

He discusses the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibitions "After Photoshop: Manipulated Photography in the Digital Age" and "Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop"; the MoMA exhibition "9 + 1 Ways of Being Political: 50 Years of Political Stances in Architecture and Urban Design," and recent books of photography by Frédéric Chauban and Ezra Stoller.

...

2013 National Design Award Winner James Wines among speakers at Saturday 5/11 "WWW Drawing" symposium in NY

2013-05-09T18:30:00-04:00

The (de)vices and virtues of hand drawing versus digital drawing will be debated at "WWW Drawing: Architectural Drawing from Pencil to Pixel" at the Drawing Center, in SoHo New York, this Saturday May 11 from 2-4 pm — a symposium co-produced by Penn State University's Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, and the Drawing Center.

Speakers include renowned architects James Wines (just-announced 2013 National Design Award Winner for Lifetime Achievement, and President of SITE Architecture, Art & Design), Michael Webb (Archigram, Cooper Union), and Mark West (University of Manitoba) — the "Ws" of the project title — along with five rising stars of computational design, fine art, architecture and programming: Daniel Cardoso Llach, Andrew Heumann, Seher Shah, Ann Tarantino and Jürg Lehni.

A new documentary video of the March 2013 WWW Drawing Workshop at Penn State U will debut at the symposium, which will be co-moderated by Stuckeman School Head of Architectur...

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Announces 2013 National Design Awards Winners

2013-05-09T17:08:00-04:00

Winners of the 2013 National Design Awards, selected from a variety of disciplines, were unveiled today by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City.

Prison Architect and the moral dilemmas of a prison simulator

2013-05-09T11:38:00-04:00

“Part of the research I did for that game is I went around to Alcatraz in San Francisco because I wanted to have a level where you break into a prison,” Chris Delay, one of Introversion’s co-founders said in an interview. “I started working on how to simulate a prison and how it was going to work. It was then that it occurred to me that building a prison was quite good fun, and that it shouldn’t be, but it is.”

The physical architecture of the Internet Archive

2013-05-08T15:08:00-04:00

This film was shot in October last year when the Internet Archive celebrated a landmark --10 petabytes of stored media. Tour the space, which still looks more like a church than a library and see where millions of books are digitized and stored in a facility in Richmond, CA.

Cities Of The Future, Built By Drones, Bacteria, And 3-D Printers

2013-05-08T12:43:00-04:00

*This screed is awesomely entertaining and full of cool links, even though it’s almost entirely implausible..There’s also the occasional built-from-scratch Brasilia. So, some people might build a city like this in some central-planned, high-tech rush, before realizing that urban drones, bacteria, and 3DPrinters are fated to become as old-fashioned and pokey as swoopy, Space Age Brasilia is right now. - Bruce Sterling

As part of the Futurist Forum series, Chris Arkenberg composed some vignettes, suggestive of how urban architecture(s) could transform from than the rigid construction methodologies of today, the result being that "Architecture will lose its formal rigidity, softening and flexing and getting closer to the life we see in plants".

h/t Bruce Sterling here

Cartography Made Public

2013-05-07T14:24:00-04:00

"OpenStreetMap is not about crowdsourcing, OpenStreetMap is about community collaboration. This is not you being a mindless crowd adding data to some big company’s map. This is about you putting in data in your own neighborhood, working with your neighbors, working with a larger community to refine and make a really cohesive map. That's the kind of experience that was so successful with Wikipedia."

Get to know your world and not just the restaurants.

Somewhat related: Constellations of Los Angeles

Kickstart this! Archinect's Kickstarter picks for May 2013

2013-05-03T20:21:00-04:00

It's been a while since we rounded up our selections from Archinect's curated Kickstarter page... so here we go...

STEAM Carnival
by Two Bit Circus
The carnival reimagined with robots, fire, and lasers to inspire young inventors in science, technology, engineering, art, and math

Siteseekr! Experience sites through the eyes of architects.
by Linda Feinberg
An exciting new resource for tourists, enthusiasts of architecture and design, historians, students & more!

PARKING LOT PROJECT-an OLD building made into cool NEW stuff
by Architecture for Humanity-Denver
We're repurposing old building parts into a much needed Outdoor Classroom and cool rewards so you can have a piece of it too!

From Sea To Shining Sea
by Evan Mather
Feature length time-lapse video and audio collage of the USA's diverse physical landscape via the interstate highway system.

The D*Table - Dynamic Living
by The D*Haus Company Limited
The D*Table, 8 tables in 1 but infinite possibilit...

Staples announces they will be the first major U.S. retailer to sell 3D Printers

2013-05-03T13:33:00-04:00

Staples, the world’s largest office products company and second largest e-commerce company, today became the first major U.S. retailer to announce the availability of 3D printers. The Cube® 3D Printer from 3D Systems, a leading global provider of 3D content-to-print solutions, is immediately available on Staples.com for $1299.99 and will be available in a limited number of Staples stores by the end of June.

Morpholio app launches v2.0

2013-05-02T14:35:00-04:00

The good folks at the Morpholio Project, who brought you the Trace iPad app, have launched their latest application which combines 7 new tools for presentation, collaboration, and critique.

"The app re-imagines the portfolio as a design utility, moving it into the fast, flexible, at-your-fingertips device era. The project seeks to advance the ways that creatives access, share, discuss, and get feedback on their work from a global community of users."

To learn more and download Morpholio 2.0, check it out in iTunes.

Rooftop Farms to Deal with Growing Food Crisis

2013-05-01T10:34:00-04:00

Some of the most densely populated cities across the globe are tackling population growth and food shortages by establishing more rooftop farms. Vertical farms are popping up on unused rooftops in cities across the globe and the outcome is extremely positive.

Stunning Laser Scans That Could Help Us Reuse Aging Buildings Better

2013-04-26T14:45:00-04:00

It's easier to conceive of creating such schemes for an un-built structure on a computer screen. But as we try to re-purpose an aging building stock in our cities – not just treasured cathedrals, but also old offices and unremarkable apartments – we're going to need new ways of documenting and thinking about the buildings we already have. Historically, this has been a tedious process, but technology (albeit currently costly) means that we might be able to appraise an old building in hours.

Apple Submits Revised Campus 2 Plans, Delays Tantau Development to Cut Costs

2013-04-25T18:59:00-04:00

In order to trim 300,000 square feet of construction costs from its budget, Apple has pushed the entire Tantau Development to Phase 2, which means it will be completed after the main campus is built. Apple's revised campus plan includes the addition of an expanded section detailing bicycle access improvements, which comes with an included visualization of what bike pathways and sidewalks might look like on the campus.

Download all the revised plans from Cupertino.org

German building uses algae for heating and cooling

2013-04-25T17:54:00-04:00

A new apartment complex in Hamburg, Germany, intends to generate heat, as well as revenue, from growing the micro-organism. The five-story Bio Intelligent Quotient (B.I.Q.) building, which was expected to become fully operational on Wednesday, has a high-tech facade that looks like a cross between a Mondrian painting and a terrarium but is actually a vertical algae farm.

Editor's Picks #312

2013-04-23T12:37:00-04:00

The LA Times reported that Renzo Piano, Los Angeles architect Zoltan Pali and officials from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled preliminary designs for a $300-million film museum. Eric Chavkin concluded "A toy chest of architectures related only by location. From the Bruce Goff Japanese Pavilion to the black box Mies bookstore to Hugh Hardy's disco streamlined moderne to Luckmans sorry start. Renzo Piano's 'back-to-the-future cinema spheres just continues the trajectory"

In an essay titled UNEXPECTED COSTS ~ Big ticket design software versus alternate methodologies, Ann Lui a designer and freelance writer reflected on the fact that "Not twenty years ago, if you wanted to start your own firm, you could do so on a Mayline drafting board in your basement...Today, my partner and I sit on our couch as we write up a wishlist of basic softwares we might need for a fledgling practice...tally the price tags, and the bottom line drops like an anvil: just over $15,000".

mfischer3387 echoed curtkram, "its much tougher to start an architecture business than most other fields, because yes, the start up costs are enormous, as outlined in the article. I would argue that software package costs are not necessarily always for the benefit of design, but for liability purposes". Other commentator's like Jeremy Miller offered advice "You could get the Revit LT suite for about $1,800...Also, Archicad has a rental model...Be creative" and Steve Sanderson (founding par...

Why did some Columbia architecture students treat their annual like garbage?

2013-04-16T13:01:00-04:00

Departing with the familiar tradition of producing a hefty physical volume, GSAPP offered its most recent Abstract in the form of an iPad app. In addition to (or on cover-like behalf of) this app, students received an object: It looks like a book, but turns out to be a book-shaped plastic box, and its contents consist of a URL, where the app can be downloaded. This object, as you can see, has not been universally embraced.

SOM and CASE launch AEC-APPS, crowdsourced resource for sharing tech architecture tools

2013-04-15T19:11:00-04:00

AEC-APPS is the first Web-based library of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) applications built by and for digital tool users and toolmakers, who share a common interest in the evolution of innovative technologies. Conceived, designed, and maintained by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and CASE to lead the industry toward a model of collaborative knowledge and technology exchange, AEC-APPS connects tools, from snippets of code to established software platforms, and people, from educators and students to practitioners and hobbyists. Part WikipediaTM, part GitHubTM, AEC-APPS is a not-for-profit online community that fosters knowledge sharing and problem solving across disciplines, software platforms, geographic locations, and experience levels.

“Innovation in digital tools is changing the nature of practice, and it’s being driven by many players in different parts of the AEC industry, but they are not often aware of one another’s efforts,” notes SOM’s Technical Director N...

Apple is rumored to hire Foster to revamp its retail stores

2013-04-11T15:01:00-04:00

Sources close to the project said Foster + Partners... is helping Apple on the retail store design brief.

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson has reached out to us about an error in the cited article at Marketing Magazine...

The Regent Street and Fifth Avenue Apple Store were not designed by Eight Inc., but by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. We also continue to have a very collaborative relationship with Apple Inc., and are fortunate to be working with their Retail Development Team on many new stores worldwide.

Design Museum London Announces the Designs of the Year 2013 Category Winners

2013-04-10T17:56:00-04:00

Back in January, we had published the shortlisted nominees in the Architecture category of the sixth annual Designs of the Year Awards, hosted by London's Design Museum. Today now the final winners across the seven categories—Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphics, Product, Transport—were announced, too.

Editor's Picks #310

2013-04-09T12:04:00-04:00

For the latest entry in the ShowCase series Archinect published the Shrine of the Virgin of "La Antigua" by Otxotorena Arquitectos. The project is located in Alberite, La Rioja, Spain and the architects main constraint was the need to "incorporate a preexisting stone archway in the design. This archway was rescued from a previous demolition in the town and it was preserved by the locals".

Donna Sink exclaimed "Wow, wow. I love it. Love the multiple arcade forms and multiple striations and similar but different textures...Would love to see a floorplan if there is one?".

News

The LA Times reported that the Watts Towers in South Los Angeles will be the subject of a new study conducted by experts from UCLA to determine the stability of the historic sculptures.

Orhan Ayyüce shared these words "In my opinion it is the most beautiful and meaningful public art in Los Angeles that people neglected for decades" and a photo.

The Plain Dealer /Cleveland.com announced th...

Apple HQ building balloons to an estimated $5 billion

2013-04-08T18:55:00-04:00

Since 2011, the budget for Apple’s Campus 2 has ballooned from less than $3 billion to nearly $5 billion, according to five people close to the project who were not authorized to speak on the record. If their consensus estimate is accurate, Apple’s expansion would eclipse the $3.9 billion being spent on the new World Trade Center complex in New York, and the new office space would run more than $1,500 per square foot—three times the cost of many top-of-the-line downtown corporate towers.

Danforth W. Toan - the architect aboard the space station 45 years ago

2013-04-03T16:51:00-04:00

In 1967, his architectural firm, Warner Burns Toan Lunde of 724 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, won a contract to advise the Grumman Corporation of Bethpage, N.Y., for what would eventually be Grumman’s bid to construct an orbiting space station. Mr. Toan worked on the project for the next 20 years, until Grumman was bypassed as a prime contractor by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Building a better big box

2013-04-03T16:41:00-04:00

D’Hooghe, a Belgian-born architect and director of the Center for Advanced Urbanism at MIT, cares deeply about urban form and the large-scale issues cities face in achieving more efficient energy use, better transportation and less congestion. One of his main concerns is better integrating suburbs with the larger metropolitan areas in which they exist.

Editor's Picks #309

2013-04-02T11:00:00-04:00

Archinect was excited to announce a competition we're co-hosting with Designer Pages and the LA Film Festival. This competition seeks proposals for the interior design/layout of the VIP Director's Lounge for this year's LA Film Festival. The winner will have their design executed, with a cash prize and an "Industry Badge" pass to the LA Film Festival in June. The winner's designs will also be on display in the director's lounge throughout the festival.

News
The Architect’s Journal reported that Denise Scott Brown has called for her role in Robert Venturi’s 1991 win to be acknowledged retrospectively as a salute to "the notion of joint creativity" and retrospectively acknowledge her role in Robert Venturi’s 1991 Pritzker Prize during an AJ Women in Architecture luncheon in late March. Since, nearly 2,000 advocates have passionately rallied in Brown’s support by signing an online petition created by Harvard’s GSD Woman in Design Group. Among the signatures include architects Zaha...

UCLA engineers will study the stability of Watts Towers

2013-04-01T16:37:00-04:00

The Watts Towers in South Los Angeles will be the subject of a new study conducted by experts from UCLA to determine the stability of the historic sculptures, which were completed by Simon Rodia in 1954. The study, now underway, is expected to be completed by early next year.

Gawker thinks Gehry's Facebook HQ design looks like the ground

2013-03-29T16:24:00-04:00

"They felt some of those things were too flashy and not in keeping with the kind of the culture of Facebook, so they asked us to make it more anonymous. Frank (Gehry) was quite willing to tone down some of the expression of architecture in the building."