Archinect - Features

Cross-Talk #2: Deborah Garcia on 'Pedagogy' Today

2017-07-30T09:00:00-04:00

It is with much trepidation that I responded to the prompt of pedagogy issued for this round of Cross-Talk. A bit of hesitation because having graduated less than two months ago the...wounds are fresh, shall we say. The hand that fed is not yet out of eyesight... The master is still very much near. Take your pick of idioms and metaphors; it is difficult to write on the subject within which one is so acutely implicated. I have been a product of it and continue to subject myself willingly to its current operators. What I have included as my response will react to the pieces written by fellow participants of this current Cross-Talk—participants who I also call my teachers, peers, and friends. Friends for now, I might add, for if these Cross-Talks are in any way successful they should at least shake these friendly foundations out of simple curiosity and mischievous delight—two things this writer is quite prone to.

Cross-Talk #2: JuneJuly on 'Pedagogy' Today

2017-07-29T09:00:00-04:00

When asking questions about how to teach architecture, we have to understand what architecture is as a profession. The profession, as the academy understands it, no longer exists. The service of architecture can largely be separated into two fields: design architecture and executive architecture. Design architecture is concerned with the design of space, and executive architecture with the delivery of that design. Pedagogy today attempts to prepare students for both of these roles, and in that way prepares them for neither. Contractors and fabricators are already comfortable executing architecture, and extra-disciplinary creative agencies (advertising, graphics, branding) take on the design of architecture without hesitation. This is indiscriminate to whether or not those who do the work were trained as architects. This will only continue.

Cross-Talk #2: Constance Vale on 'Pedagogy' Today

2017-07-28T09:00:00-04:00

Pedagogy is animated theory that transforms the discipline. It emerges from discussion, debate, and creation and involves the collaboration of instructors, students, and institutions. Essential to pedagogical development is the understanding that architecture is a cultural discipline, one that thrives on creative speculations that enter into tension with external issues.[1] Effective architectural pedagogy alters the world beyond the boundary of its originating institution, changing conformist ideologies and empowering the disenfranchised via the implications of aesthetics.[2] In the pursuit of disciplinary transformation that will destabilize the status quo, pedagogy must first address how to forget and how to fail.

Cross-Talk #2: Patrick Geske on 'Pedagogy' Today

2017-07-27T12:29:00-04:00

At its core, architecture is a personal pursuit that involves an itinerant and systematic questioning of everything one grows up to find in the world—pre-existing as it were, solid and opaque as if somehow natural.

Archinect's Summer Reading List: recommendations from Steven Holl, Kate Wagner, Diana Agrest, Katya Tylevich, Jenny Sabin and Samuel Bravo

2017-07-26T15:36:00-04:00

The summer months are the ideal time to peruse a book from your beach towel, airplane seat, hotel bed, or more likely, the coffee shop you are hiding away from your unconditioned apartment at. From a novel starring an architect-protagonist to one about the Russian Revolution to architectural theory and a biography of the gene, here are some books to dive into this summer.

Cross-Talk #2: Matthew Allen on 'Pedagogy' Today

2017-07-26T12:02:00-04:00

Not so long ago, not everyone would be expected to graduate from high school. (Graduation rates in the US: 1900: 6%; 1930: 55%; 2016: 83%.) Now college is more or less mandatory in many lines of work, and an advanced degree is almost a requirement to be an architect. But somehow an old idea persists: the idea of the architect as a generalist problem-solver, a gentleman amateur. This is a nineteenth century idea that fit, say, Frank Lloyd Wright, but, strangely enough, it also fits most contemporary architects that come to mind.

Cross-Talk #2: 'Pedagogy of The Present — Frederick L. Ackerman’s Unrealized Vision for Architectural Education' by Zachary Tate Porter

2017-07-25T12:18:00-04:00

In recent years, various social media platforms have reconfigured the distribution and consumption of architecture—a transformation that has reinvigorated the discipline and produced a wide array of provocative imagery. Yet, while architects can and should celebrate this exciting culture of exchange, there is also the risk of becoming too insulated from the problems and paradigms of larger culture. Ultimately, architectural schools bear the burden of navigating these forces and setting the tone for emerging professionals. As architectural educators chart the course for our discipline, they would be wise to revisit the pedagogical visions espoused by our predecessors.

Besler & Sons Tag-Team as They Wrestle with the Challenges of Starting a Small Practice

2017-07-24T12:00:00-04:00

Erin Besler is a trained architect with an undergraduate degree from Yale and an M.Arch I from SCI-Arc. Ian Besler is a graphic designer and arts writer with a B.S in journalism from the University of Illinois and an MFA from ArtCenter College of Design. Together, the two form the LA-based practice Besler & Sons.

They're known for taking common references, like a gutter, and repositioning it in a new framework, transforming the reference into something more conceptual. In 2015, they won the Architectural League Prize and were finalists in MoMA's PS1 Young Architects Program. They have participated in both the Chicago Architecture Biennial and the Schenzhen and Hong Kong Bi-City Biennial of Architecture/Urbanism. They recently released a line of terrazzo bookends and other "Props," as the line of home accessories is called.

The Open Workshop explores how housing density may have decided the U.S. 2016 Election

2017-07-21T13:11:00-04:00

Think about the American political landscape, and a highly partisan, Russian-government-colluding version may come to mind. But what about the literal American political landscape, as defined by housing density and building typology per acre? The project “Environment as Politics: From Identity to Density Politics” by The Open Workshop, originally presented on Places Journal, studied voting patterns in the 2016 election for the U.S. President and discovered that how closely people live together may be the soundest predictor of which candidate gets their vote.

Listen to 'Next Up: Arroyo Seco Weekend' Mini-Sessions

2017-07-20T14:38:00-04:00

Recently, Archinect teamed up with Bureau Spectacular for the Arroyo Seco Weekend festival. Jimenez Lai and Joanna Grant designed a pavilion for the event, while Archinect's Paul Petrunia and Nicholas Korody held a series of interviews within it. Conversations focused on temporary architecture, installations, festival design and planning, and the festival's host city of Pasadena, CA, the results of which can be listened to below.

We'd like to thank the Goldenvoice team, and in particular Raffi Lehrher, for recognizing the importance of architecture and urban issues, their interest in engaging the community, and inviting us to take part in this inaugural event.

Emergency Shelter: Housing for the Age of Mass Displacement

2017-07-20T11:30:00-04:00

Today, forced displacement affects more people than any crisis or conflict. According to the UN, 65.3 million people, or one person in every 113, is now internally or externally displaced. The average time families remain in emergency accommodation is now 17 years, longer than the average US house buyer will stay in their home. No longer temporary but not yet a city, these ‘camps’ are where millions of children will grow up. In this month’s feature we speak to architects working with the concept of emergency shelter to find out how they are approaching the issue. An overview will be provided by former UNHCR official Kilian Kleinschmidt, now director of Switxboard, who will discuss where and how input from the design disciplines would be most welcomed.

The Proust Questionnaire: Bernard Khoury

2017-07-18T09:28:00-04:00

Not many would cite a Home Depot in the Vatican building as a dream project, but it's precisely this attitude that has made Lebanese-architect Bernard Khoury known as an unpredictable visionary. For this installment of our Proust Questionnaire, the maverick talks pistachios, style, and the elegance of a pole dancer.

Neeraj Bhatia discusses his transcalar design-research practice, the Open Workshop

2017-07-17T11:39:00-04:00

The Open Workshop was founded in 2011 and is located across San Francisco and Toronto, Canada. It is a design-research office working at multiple scales to examine the negotiation between architecture and its territorial environment. Projects include consulting on the redesign of Bruce Mau's office and accolades include the Architectural League of New York's 2016 Young Architects Prize.

The founder, Neeraj Bhatia, discusses the studio's interdisciplinary approach and remaining undefined as a practice.

Recent Wheelwright recipient Samuel Bravo discusses unearthing the architectural vernaculars of the Amazonian region and beyond

2017-07-14T11:45:00-04:00

The Harvard University Graduate School of Design awarded its coveted 2017 Wheelwright Prize to Chilean architect Samuel Bravo for his proposal Projectless: Architecture of Informal Settlements. His work focuses on the traditional architectures and informal settlements of communities in Chile, Peru, and the Amazonian region. Past projects include organizing community-led rebuilding efforts in earthquake-damaged Chile and designing/constructing a lodge, shamanic center and school for the Shipibo people in the Peruvian Amazon.

From LA to Toronto, Batay-Csorba discusses relocating their architecture practice to Canada

2017-07-12T12:00:00-04:00

After working for Morphosis and Frank Gehry in Los Angeles, Jodi and Andrew packed up their bags and moved to Canada to start their own firm, Batay-Csorba Architects. The two discuss their decision to relocate and the process of establishing themselves as a young practice in Toronto.

A modernist city in Africa and Art Deco buildings in China, among others, get added to UNESCO"s World Heritage List

2017-07-11T19:51:00-04:00

The 41st session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee has been taking place in Kraków, Poland since July 2nd. As the meeting comes to a close, the week has resulted in the designation of 21 new sites and five site boundary changes have also been approved.

In Focus: David Cardelus

2017-07-11T12:00:00-04:00

In Focus is Archinect's series of features dedicated to profiling the photographers who help make the work of architects look that much better. What has attracted them to architecture? How do they work? What type of equipment do they use? What do they think about seeing their work in blogs?

In this feature, we talk to Barcelona-based photographer David Cardelus.

STITCH design shop embraces North Carolina's rich history of progressive architecture

2017-07-10T12:00:00-04:00

For this iteration of Small Studio Snapshots, we are venturing to North Carolina to talk with STITCH design shop about what it is like to grow an architectural practice in a small city. Read on to hear how the team of seven is making a name for themselves in Winston-Salem, the city of Art and Innovation.

After being destroyed in a fire, Canadian-firm Patkau Architects rebuilds the Temple of Light

2017-07-06T12:23:00-04:00

Construction is nearing completion on the Temple of Light at the Yasodhara Ashram in British Columbia, Canada. Located near Crawford Bay and a visible landmark from Kootenay Lake, the temple was the vision of Swami Radha, a pioneer in the North American yoga movement who completed the original center in 1992.