Archinect - News

Editor's Picks #308

2013-03-26T16:23:00-04:00

Archinect published work from Beyond Prototype, an advanced digital fabrication seminar developed at Columbia University...Nicholas Cecchi was impressed but also offered some criticism "This is amazing student work...However, I would like architecture schools to stop pushing students to contextualize this kind of research-based exploration. Showing these as enclosures (or the one as a gondola) only undermines the amazing generative capacity of this kind of design"

For the latest edition of the Student Works feature, Archinect published work from Beyond Prototype, an advanced digital fabrication seminar developed at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation by Jason Ivaliotis and Nicholas Kothari. In the course "Students develop parametrically controlled tessellations and transform them into building component systems that can be built using conventional sheet stock materials. These tessellated systems are extracted from the digital realm and built at full scale".

Nicholas Cecchi was impressed but also offered some criticism "This is amazing student work. The craft and quality is great, and the theory behind it is impressive. However, I would like architecture schools to stop pushing students to contextualize this kind of research-based exploration. Showing these as enclosures (or the one as a gondola) only undermines the amazing generative capacity of this kind of design. These should not be taken liter...

Editor's Picks #305

2013-03-05T11:42:00-05:00

vado retro summed up the design "a box within a box and one box the one inside, the inside box is at an angle. oh and there are trees" but Alex Gomez added "Although the facade is superficial, I feel it will succeed in attracting ‘qualitative and quantitative tourist flows in the area,’

News
Over at Bustler.net, Bernard Tschumi Architects unveiled the schematic design for the firm's first work in Italy: ANIMA, a new cultural center in the city of Grottammare. The project has been commissioned by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno and the Municipality of Grottammare and is expected to be completed by 2016.

In the description of the project, it states: “Could one design a facade without resorting to formal composition? Could one design a facade that would be neither abstract nor figurative, but formless, so to speak? Our motivation in raising these questions was both economic and cultural: At a time of economic crisis, to indulge in formal geometries made out of complex volumetric curves did not seem a responsible option. The time of ‘Iconism’ seemed to be over".

vado retro summed up the design "a box within a box and one box the one inside, the inside box is at an angle. oh and there are trees" but Alex Gomez added "Although the facade is s...

Some thoughts on international architectural competitions in the 21st century

2012-06-20T19:22:00-04:00

There is, however, a problem: the good intentions McEwan's column irradiates with almost blinding intensity conceal a series of assumptions that struggle to stand up under closer scrutiny.

A few days ago in an essay published by klat magazine Mitch McEwen, reflecting on the Bab al Bahrain Open Ideas Competition, contended that Urban Design Serves as Tool of Repression in Bahrain. Joseph Grima provided an immediate response via Twitter suggesting that Mitch's article was a "Well-written, well-intentioned but simplistic and self-righteous critique of Bab El Bahrain competition". Today Mr. Grima took the opportunity to publish a more in depth response in an op-ed for domus, in which he concluded "There is value in this debate around the moral duties of the architectural profession in a globalised 21st century, so long as we recognise that the issue is a complex one: we won't find the answers in silver bullets or blacklists, but in dialogue and gradual reform".