With Nuit Blanche New York absorbed — even if temporarily — into the rebranding of the Lower East Side, it's instructive to recall an earlier era and another light projection. I'm thinking of the November 1984 projection by artist Krzysztof Wodiczko of Ronald Reagan’s hand onto the elevation of the AT&T Long Lines Building just before the election that made Reagan a two-term president. This past November Wodiczko's act of spectacle and protest would inspire Occupy Wall Street's "Bat Signal." — Places Journal
In the latest installment of her ongoing series on Places, Mimi Zeiger surveys some of the events and exhibitions organized in New York City last year and inspired by Occupy Wall Street. Along the way she analyzes the unfolding dynamic between the grassroots tactics of activist artists and... View full entry
A strong international team wins Carlsberg’s design and architecture competition to create a new Brand & Experience Centre in the Carlsberg District located in Copenhagen It may not be a new Little Mermaid like the one Carl Jacobsen donated to Copenhagen in 1913 but Carlsberg is now... View full entry
Lawrence Cheek explored the trend of open office design, amongst recent commercial/institutional architecture in Seattle. George Showman found fault "This is a weird article because one of the examples is an absolute palace (the Gates Foundation) and the others seem a little miserable...I have worked in an open office for years, but it was small enough that there were many moments of productive silence, and poor enough that I didn't expect more."
Orhan Ayyüce cites Reyner Banham, the systems man, in his latest NEXT SERIES: FASTER PUSSYCAT CITY feature. Quoting from Bricologues A La Lanterne, wherein Banham wrote "People who can believe that mass bricolage is a sovereign remedy...should think again, carefully", Orhan... View full entry
Though the setting of the [Trayvon Martin] tragedy may not have much bearing on the criminal investigation, the issue of place is something that should not evade public scrutiny. Martin was deemed “suspicious” while walking in a gated community. — Next American City
For Archinect’s latest Working out of the Box feature, Paul Petrunia interviewed Pinterest Co-Founder Evan Sharp. Will Galloway asked "say shouldn't someone interview paul for this feature too?" to which Paul responded "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain".
For Archinect’s latest Working out of the Box feature, Paul Petrunia interviewed Pinterest Co-Founder Evan Sharp. Will Galloway asked "say shouldn't someone interview paul for this feature too?" to which Paul responded "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain"... View full entry
This compilation of texts written since 1986 reveals a parallel activity to Alejandro Zaera-Polo’s professional life. The book is like a sniper’s log, a register of events and accumulated experience, for the purpose of identifying tendencies and assessing performance, rather than to establish truths. — AA Website
This looks like an interesting book. View full entry
More visibly, this shift means that the familiar security architecture of airports and international borders – checkpoints, scanners, ID cars, cordons, security zones – start to materialise in the hearts of cities. What this amounts to, in practice, is an effort to roll out the well-established architecture and surveillance of the airport to parts of the wider, open city. — The Guardian
Amidst news of the austere, lean venues and reviews of the architectural highlights constructed, Stephen Graham professor of cities and society at Newcastle University and author of Cities Under Siege, reminds us that London 2012 will see the UK's biggest mobilisation of military... View full entry
We may perhaps have been preconditioned to search out irony, but this, like most of our preconceptions, quickly began to fade. Eight years and thousands of miles later, this view has shifted into a multiplicity of facets describing a place that is far more difficult to define. Our once hermetic view of the supposedly hermetic suburban world has taken on a prismatic new form — and with it a far greater sense of omnipresence. — The Design Observer Group
Also, The Book Discussion: In 2002, Jason Griffiths and Alex Gino set out to explore the American suburbs. Over 178 days they drove 22,383 miles, made 134 suburban house calls, and took 2,593 photographs. In Manifest Destiny, Griffiths reveals the results of this exploration. Structured through... View full entry
Berlin-based Barkow Leibinger Architects have shared with us "Loom-Hyperbolic," the architects' installation at the 2012 Marrakech Biennale "Higher Atlas" in Morocco which commenced earlier this week (the installation however is still on view until June 3rd at the ruins of the Koutoubia Mosque). This year's Moroccan biennale of contemporary international culture was curated by Carson Chan and Nadim Samman. — bustler.net
On Saturday, June 2 at 1:30PM, 197 graduate and 448 undergraduate students from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) will receive their diplomas during RISD’s 2012 Commencement celebration. — risd.edu
At the ceremony, RISD will present honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees on to several special guests at its 2012 Commencement ceremony. The honorary degree recipients who are being recognized for creating groundbreaking work and making a profound impact on contemporary culture are: architect and... View full entry
Chinese architect Wang Shu was this week named the 2012 Pritzker Prize winner. Will Galloway commented "unexpected but very coolio. i met wang shu last year at conference held by my uni her in tokyo. nice guy and very impressive presentation. love his work and his approach. i like that pritzker is not going after the usual suspects, personally."
Woody Evans a librarian living on the south side of Dubai., recently interviewed Sophia Vyzoviti an assistant professor of architectural design methodology at the Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly Greece, about Building Between Dimensions. They discussed augmented reality... View full entry
As if Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s giant inflatable balloon set to rise (sometime) from its roof, Up-style, weren’t a sufficiently kinetic addition to the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., the institution announced in a press release yesterday that artist Doug Aitken will turn the building’s circular facade into an enormous 360-degreen screen for nearly two months this spring. — blogs.artinfo.com
Foreclosed, a new exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, shows ways of radically rethinking suburbia, homeownership and housing. But are such drastic measures what the suburbs really need? — Next American City
Also, see on Archinect: The CRIT: Thoughts on MoMA's Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream View full entry
Here's a hot event for you New Yorkers this week: CLOG is officially launching its anticipated second issue, titled CLOG : APPLE, at Van Alen Books this Friday, February 17, 7pm. — bustler.net
CLOG : APPLE showcases over 50 international contributors, including architects, designers, cartoonists, comedians, engineers and other industry leaders. Highlights include an examination of Steve Jobs's Eichler-designed childhood home; the evolution of Apple's store designs; its leading role in... View full entry
WAI Architecture Think Tank founders Nathalie Frankowski and Cruz Garcia were in the University of Puerto Rico for the opening of the solo exhibition “What About It?: WAI Architecture Think Tank en la UPR”. As part of the event, Cruz presented to a full auditorium a lecture... View full entry