Archinect - News

On the Folk Art Museum: Save Modernism from the Modern

2013-05-07T13:20:00-04:00

The Modernism worth pursuing — worth protecting — is the one where Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed into a large insect, and ends up with an apple embedded in his carapace, which is exactly what the Folk Art Museum is to the Museum of Modern Art, right now, right where it is.

On Places, David Heymann presents an incisive critique of MoMA's decision to raze the Folk Art Museum building, by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects.

From a quiet beginning — "Here is why I think the American Folk Art Museum is a great Modernist building" — Heymann works his way to a pointed conclusion: "Modernism in the architecture of the Modern is just another sad Historical Revival Style, the very thing Modernism as an ideology set out so intently to destroy."

Buildings That Lie About Their Age

2013-04-19T20:10:00-04:00

John Hill’s book “A Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture” is filled with examples of the crazy new forms of the last decade, like Frank Gehry’s white wind-filled “sail” on the West Side Highway in Chelsea. [...] And yet, the United States is in the middle of a great revival of traditional architecture — Georgian, neo-Classical, Arts and Crafts and so forth — that is almost absent from Mr. Hill’s stimulating and enjoyable work. So, what isn’t contemporary about traditional design?

Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Concrete" Pinterest Board

2013-04-19T17:21:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Concrete.

↑ Pavilion Siegen in Siegen, Germany by Ian Shaw Architekten; Photo: Felix Krumbholz

↑ Secondary School, Braamcamp Freire Pontinha in Lisbon, Portugal by cvdb arquitectos; Photo: invisiblegentleman.com

↑ Otsuka-Dofukuten in Kyoto, Japan by Yusuke Seki

↑ Center of Interpretation of Cave Paintings in El Cogul, Lleida, Spain by Prudenci Español

↑ House in Nova Scotia, Canada by Alexander Gorlin Architects

↑ Jindu Sustainable Pavilion in Hangzhou, China by Paul Lukez Architecture

↑ House in Soan Garden, Islamabad, Pakistan by Arkam & Partners

↑ Hotel Básico in Playa del Carmen, Mexico by Central de Arquitectura

↑ Apartment in Brooklyn, NY by Craig Konyk; Photo: Brad Dickson

(Cov...

Le Corbusier's Ecology: What Modern Architecture Teaches Us About Green Design

2013-01-21T20:02:00-05:00

The modernists were attempting to make architecture for a class of people who were not necessarily privileged to the architectural product... that’s very relevant for our times, because once again architecture has drifted to the fringe of being a product for the elite... when the early modernists imagined that we could build light, airy, and dignified environments for working-class, they recognized that there was a limitation on the resources and capital society had available to make the work.

Artinfo talks to Kevin Bone, curator of “Lessons From Modernism: Environmental Design Considerations in 20th Century Architecture"

The TMH/Nowell's Architecture Movie Series Presents "The Pruitt-Igoe Myth"

2012-12-18T13:04:00-05:00

“Pruitt-Igoe has lived on symbolically as an icon of failure. Liberals perceive it as exemplifying the government's appalling treatment of the poor. Architectural critics cite it as proof of the failure of high-rise public housing for families with children. One critic even asserted that its destruction signaled the end of the modern style of architecture.”

December 16, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) -- Triangle Modernist Houses’ Nowell’s Architecture Movie Series continues in January with a special screening of “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” on Thursday, January 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Raleigh Grande.

Pruitt–Igoe was a 33-building urban housing project in St. Louis, Missouri, designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki, who also designed the former World Trade Center towers. It was named for Wendell O. Pruitt, an African-American fighter pilot in World War II, and William L. Igoe, former U.S. Congressman. Costing $36 million, 60 percent above the national average for public housing at the time, the design was heralded as a transformative tool for the disadvantaged; the architects and city planners sold the project to the public on the belief that good design would make a hugely positive difference in people’s lives.

However, living conditions in Pruitt–Igoe began to decline very soon after completion in 1956. By the late 1960s, the complex was internati...

Historical homes that helped influence modernism

2012-11-28T12:28:00-05:00

Separated by about four centuries and the Pacific Ocean this pair of houses may seem on paper to have little in common. One was an imperial villa in Kyoto, the other a suburban villa in West Hollywood. One is built on Zen principles for the Japanese emperor, the other was built by a central European architect for himself.

Edwin Heathcote discusses the historical relevance of Rudolph Schindler's Schindler House and Kyoto's Katsura Imperial Villa, and how they helpef influence the modern movement.

Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Concrete" Pinterest Board

2012-10-19T15:15:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Concrete.

↑ Casa La Punta in Mexico City, Mexico by Central de Arquitectura

↑ Stöðin Roadside Stop in Borgarnes, Iceland by KRADS (Photo: Kristinn Magnússon)

↑ Modern Island House in the Dominican Republic by Rangr Studio (Photo: Brad Dickson)

↑ House of San-jo in Gwangju, South Korea by studio_GAON (Photo: Youngchae Park)

↑ AzCA Experimental Playground in South Tucson, AZ by Studio Play, a fifth year studio at the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona (posted by team member Drew Allen)

↑ Archohm Studio in New Delhi, India by Archohm

↑ HSU House Mass Wall in Danby, NY by Epiphyte-Lab LLC

↑ AZL Pension Fund Headquarters in Heerlen, the Netherlands by ...

Columbus, Ind.: A Midwestern Mecca Of Architecture

2012-08-06T14:21:00-04:00

Columbus, Ind., looks like any other small town, with its small shops and restaurants. But what sets this town apart is its architecture.

Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Concrete" Pinterest Board

2012-06-01T13:58:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Concrete.

↑ Residence on the Mediterranean Coast by Manuel Herrera Ros estudio MUHER

↑ Vivanta Hotel in Whitefield, Bangalore, India by WOW Architects | Warner Wong Design

↑ Academy of Art & Architecture in Maastricht, the Netherlands by Wiel Arets Architects

↑ Escuela de Artes Plásticas in Mexico City by Taller de Arquitectura

↑ Max Mara Soho in New York, NY by FZAD Architecture & Design

↑ Naha City Gallery & Apartment House in Okinawa, Japan by 1100 Architect (Photo: Shinito Sato)

↑ Summer House at Langitangi in Grímsnes, Iceland by KRADS

↑ Alésia Museum in Alise-Sainte-Reine, France by Bernard Tschumi Architects (Photo: Christian Richters)

↑ Huludao Beach Exhibit Center in Huludao, C...

Delhi's Modernist Architecture in Photographs

2012-05-31T15:16:00-04:00

Veteran photographer Madan Mahatta took shots of some of the prominent buildings that defined the landscape of Delhi from the 1950s to the 1980s, as the city was embracing Modernist architecture. An exhibition of his work is on at the Photoink gallery in New Delhi till June 21, 2012.

Unloved Building in Goshen, N.Y., Prompts Debate on Modernism

2012-04-07T11:21:00-04:00

As Modernist buildings reach middle age, many of the stark structures that once represented the architectural vanguard are showing signs of wear, setting off debates around the country between preservationists, who see them as historic landmarks, and the many people who just see them as eyesores.

Also see this discussion in the forum: Paul Rudolph threatened with demolition: when I see #&*! like this I just want to give up.

Architectural review: Cliff May 'Carefree California' show at UC Santa Barbara

2012-03-30T18:24:00-04:00

To the extent that modernism in architecture was about clearing the historical decks — about dramatically and even gleefully breaking with the past — Cliff May was never cut out to be a modernist. Not an orthodox one, anyway.

Tom Kundig on the Frey House II

2012-03-16T18:09:00-04:00

Mr. Kundig first visited Frey House II about 25 years ago. "The design is a bit strange, but it completely resonated with me," he said. "I'm influenced by architecture that toes the line between rugged and beautiful, that demonstrates how they can be the same thing." He notes that Mr. Frey's simple design nodded to the local vernacular of humble miners' shacks.

Modern Tide: Midcentury Architecture on Long Island

2012-02-24T17:44:00-05:00

Modern Tide: Midcentury Architecture on Long Island explores the work of the region’s best postwar architects and designers, including Albert Frey, Wallace Harrison, Herbert Beckhard, Frank Lloyd Wright, Horace Gifford, Edward Durrell Stone, Marcel Breuer, Andrew Geller, Philip Johnson, Charles Gwathmey, Barbara and Julian Neski, and others. The film features interviews with architects and historians, as well as friends, families and clients of these influential designers.

Eugene Weston III obituary: Modernist architect dies at 87

2012-02-13T16:25:00-05:00

Modernist architect Eugene Weston III was in his early 30s when he declared that "the house is the last of the handcrafted objects" in an industrial age... The architect built a number of homes in and around Pasadena but only one in Eagle Rock, in 1953, for Norman Bilderback, then a director of design at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Why DC's Architecture Is So Boring

2011-11-09T12:02:08-05:00

Architects innovate through design, but developers also innovate by selecting architects and making decisions to invest in new neighborhoods or provide housing forms that they think other developers are neglecting. Although what developers do is not as obvious as architecture, that doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences to liming competition among them.

From glass stairways to great market halls

2011-10-16T23:44:00-04:00

This has been a vision of architecture since earlier in the last century. Modernism, some people would argue, is doing more with less. Steve wanted us to push the edge of technology, but it had to be comfortable for people. Sometimes that idea got lost in modernism. It’s an interesting challenge, how to marry the two.”

The Sunday NYT Business section published A Genius of the Storefront, Too, a piece which explores a collaboration, that extended from Pixar’s headquarters completed in 2001, to more than 30 Apple Stores (and counting) around the globe, between Peter Bohlin and his firm, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson — and Mr. Jobs himself. James B Stewart argues in the process, that the idiosyncratic design aesthetic(s) for which Steve Jobs was known professionally, "left an indelible stamp on architecture, especially the retail kind, traditionally a backwater of the profession."

The Bias Against Tradition

2011-09-13T12:18:18-04:00

Much of the debate involves modernist architecture's role in landmark settings of a traditional character. Preservation professionals often advocate modernist additions to these settings, while at the grass-roots level there is strong support for keeping the new work traditional.

Is Fallingwater Modern?

2011-08-26T16:05:20-04:00

Fallingwater was as handmade as any of the early Modern experimental structures that, while earnestly seeking the hallowed label of prefabrication, were largely handmade, with lumpy (handcrafted!) white stucco that was smooth only if you were two miles away. Like finally seeing a real Mondrian, with all of its beautiful “imperfections,” much of building today still remains “handmade” even when it means the final connections that make a building sing.

Author, preservationist and historian Barbara Lamprecht takes on an earlier WSJ article called, "What's So Great About Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater?" Read her response to second question in the article: Is Fallingwater a work of modernism?

Church invests in modern architecture

2011-08-11T11:37:31-04:00

The Chapel of St. Lawrence in Vantaa and the famous Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki are both results of architectural competitions. The competition system has brought around a hundred church buildings to Finland.

The conversation: Architecture – modernism v traditionalism

2011-08-05T19:26:23-04:00

Is there an establishment bias against traditional architecture? Modernist Michael Taylor talks pastiche and passion with traditionalist Robert Adam

The house that built Los Angeles?

2011-07-16T23:55:06-04:00

"The Dodge House in West Hollywood was considered one of the most architecturally significant American houses of the 20th century. Designed in 1914 and completed in 1916, the masterwork by architect Irving Gill made a profound break from the traditional pitched-roof, symmetrical house design ...

... Gill had the radical notion to elevate reinforced concrete to the "architectural importance of stone," but perhaps more important than the house's form — a horizontal box lacking roof overhangs, surface details or other ornaments — was a revolutionary vision of what a modern Southern California house could, and would, be."

Modern Architecture... not always photogenic

2011-05-17T12:32:21-04:00

There is beautiful architecture but it was bombed down by the allies in the war. This is a nice city but I cannot shoot in modern architecture, my camera don't like it. My camera wants to kill your mama.

"Badyboy filmaker" Aki Kaurismaki in Cannes, discussing his latest film "Le Havre".

Modern Associates for Bin Laden

2011-05-10T13:20:56-04:00

Junaid Younis, Modern Associates principal told Mr. Buncombe that his father, Mohammad, made the drawing, “Lots of people come to us,” Younis said. “We are more interested in making money rather than the individual.”

Miller House Open

2011-04-22T17:22:41-04:00

Designed by legendary architect Eero Saarinen, the J. Irwin & Xenia Miller House ranks (...) as a hallmark of Modernist design, (...) surrounded by some of the most beautiful Modernist gardens in the United States, created by landscape architect Dan Kiley. The interiors, a carnival of opulent colors and graphic patterns, are the work of Mad Men–era architect and textile designer Alexander Girard.

This comes via modernista and docomomoist Jon, @jbuono