Archinect - Features

Curating Development: Carson Chan on Forming Community Through Building Groups

2020-03-01T07:00:00-05:00

Although trained as an architect, Carson Chan is mostly known for his work as a curator and writer. In 2006, after working for Barkow Leibinger Architects and the Neue Nationalgalerie's architecture exhibitions department in Berlin, he founded PROGRAM, a non-commercial initiative for art and architecture collaborations. Since then, he has worked on more than thirty international exhibitions of contemporary art and architecture, notably including the 4th Marrakech Biennale in 2012 and the Biennial of the Americas in Denver in 2013. Meanwhile, Chan has written for a wide range of publications across the fields of art, architecture, and contemporary culture, and serves as the Editor-at-Large of 032c—all while pursuing his doctorate in architecture at Princeton University, researching the rise of environmentalism and aquarium architecture in postwar United States.

With 'Ways of Life,' 19 Architects Reimagine What It Means to Live and Work in Nature

2017-06-21T12:30:00-04:00

According to research from 2015, between 35-38% of people do some, if not all, work from home. And, even back in 2009, a study found that 1 in 5 spent two to ten hours working from bed. In short, the way we work and live is changing, as many ditch (or have to ditch) the commuter express for their bedrooms. While Walter Benjamin said of the 19th century, “for the private citizen, for the first time the living-space became distinguished from the place of work,” in the 21st, that distinction is blurring once more. Alongside this, the split between the urban, as loci of labor, and the rural or suburban, as retreat, is complicated.

‘Friedrich Kiesler: Architect, Artist, Visionary’ at Martin-Gropius-Bau tells, rather than shows, the architect's oeuvre

2017-03-31T12:08:00-04:00

"Factual communicability is privileged over the immersive experience, and architecture is presented as a set of instances—shown through models, drawings, photographs—rather than a process," the Canadian curator Carson Chan told me in a recent conversation. "Exhibited through representation, the architectural work more easily assumes the mantle of single authorship, where in situ, the same thought is almost impossible. In this sense, estrangement is built into the exhibition of architecture."

The Ulm Synagogue Mixes Modern Design with Memory

2017-01-06T12:00:00-05:00

On the night of November 9, 1938, members of the Sturmabteilung, the Nazi paramilitary force, and German citizens took to the streets, smashing the windows of Jewish-owned businesses and destroying over 1,000 synagogues. At least 91 people were murdered and some 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps. One of the synagogues destroyed that night, now known as Kristallnacht, was in the city of Ulm, along the River Danube. Just over 70 years later, the architecture studio kister scheithauer gross architects and urban planners (ksg) was tasked with building a new synagogue on the site, which would both enshrine its history and look towards the future. We got in touch with ksg to hear more about the project.

The Short Life and Bitter End to Munich's 'Yellow Submarine'

2016-11-26T12:26:00-05:00

Made of 16 bathtubs with specially installed portholes, 'Yellow Submarine' was a hotel room/political housing statement, and one of the 24-winning designs in the 2015 Shabbyshabby Apartments competition. Created by the Glasgow-based and Lithuanian-staffed collective Urban Restart along with Kurt Cleary, the design is purposefully referred to in the past tense: only two days after it was erected in Munich, it was destroyed. This prompted speculation that vandals, or right-wing extremists opposed to refugees, were responsible.

Showcase: Sparrenburg Visitor Center by Max Dudler

2014-11-26T12:41:00-05:00

Max Dudler's brutalist beauty falls serenely in line with Sparrenburg Fortress's 800-year history in Bielefeld, Germany.

Working out of the Box: Anne Dérian, Architect turned Mosaic Artist

2014-10-15T11:16:00-04:00

Working out of the Box is a series of features presenting architects who have applied their architecture backgrounds to alternative career paths.

In this installment, we're talking with French-born Berlin-based mosaic artist and pattern designer Anne Dérian.

Are you an architect working out of the box? Do you know of someone that has changed careers and has an interesting story to share? If you would like to suggest an (ex-)architect, please send us a message.

Showcase: Stadthaus M1 by Barkow Leibinger

2014-09-11T11:17:00-04:00

The subtle strength of Barkow Leibinger's Stadthaus M1 derives from its passive house standards and connection to local environment. The basic polygonal form of the overall structure, which includes a hotel and street-level shops separate from apartments, is jointed by a “pocket park” that serves as a serene connector between the complex’s private-public areas as well as a transition space to nearby streets. Located in the “sustainable model district” of Vauban in the already so-called “green city” of Freiburg, Germany, Stadthaus M1 is right at home aesthetically and ideologically.

ShowCase: Residence in Weinheim by Wannenmacher-Möller Architekten

2014-03-25T19:05:00-04:00

While designed as a private residence, the shape of Wannenmacher-Möller's Weinheim Residence has inklings of cultural and industrial institutions. The home's stretched linearity is a sleek version of the stacked shipping container aesthetic, made of aluminum and glass on the ground floor, and light-colored stone on the upper. Inside, surfaces are similarly light and clean, resembling a bright and airy white-cube gallery. Built for a family of five, the house morphs neatly from two stories into three, as the steep plot slopes downwards from the street-facing front into the back garden.

Screen/Print #7: Horizonte

2014-02-18T11:46:00-05:00

Screen/Print is an experiment in translation across media, featuring a close-up digital look at printed architectural writing. Divorcing content from the physical page, the series lends a new perspective to nuanced architectural thought.

For this issue, we’re featuring Horizonte's Ausgabe 08.

Do you run an architectural publication? If you’d like to submit a piece of writing to Screen/Print, please send us a message.

ShowCase: Archaeological Pavilion by kadawittfeldarchitektur

2014-02-07T09:39:00-05:00

ShowCase is an on-going feature series on Archinect, presenting exciting new work from designers representing all creative fields and all geographies.

We are always accepting nominations for upcoming ShowCase features - if you would like to suggest a project, please send us a message.

ShowCase: Folkwang Library by Max Dudler

2012-12-07T17:44:00-05:00

ShowCase is an on-going feature series on Archinect, presenting exciting new work from designers representing all creative fields and all geographies.

We are always accepting nominations for upcoming ShowCase features - if you would like to suggest a project, please send us a message.

Student Works: DRX 2012 – Minimal Surface Highrise Structures

2012-11-02T20:04:00-04:00

The Design Research Exchange (DRX) is a non-profit residency program for researchers hosted by HENN Architekten. The DRX, initiated by Moritz Fleischmann (HENN Research Director) and Martin Henn (HENN Design Director), provides an open platform to unite experts from various fields. By exploring architectural topics of shared interest, the DRX promotes a multi-disciplinary discussion between academics and professionals.

ShowCase: House KE12

2012-08-14T19:53:00-04:00

ShowCase is an on-going feature series on Archinect, presenting exciting new work from designers representing all creative fields and all geographies.

We are always accepting nominations for upcoming ShowCase features - if you would like to suggest a project, please send us a message.