In particular, La Brea to Fairfax, which parallels Miracle Mile on Wilshire, was a hotbed of dispensaries with some areas having up to 3 on the same block, making it “the Green Mile.” [...]
I began noticing how the dispensaries branded themselves through signage and typography, and what these choices might convey to their prospective clientele. Second, the fleeting nature of these businesses was such that the green paint hardly dried before a “For Lease” sign would appear
— lataco.com
Related on Archinect:Architects Smoking Marijuana: Grown and Sexy? Immature and Repulsive?Unequal Scenes: drone images reveal Cape Town's "architecture of apartheid"Artist catalogs the drab architecture of America's megachurchesFeast your eyes on these sci fi-inspired photos of Belgrade's... View full entry
While architects and urbanists should definitely try to learn from the complex urban conditions behind these cases, this optimism surrounding their presentation is a tad naive. From Manila to Kumasi, these are all precarious places where life is exceptionally harsh, short and insecure. — Failed Architecture
"At the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale, Urban Think Tank presented Gran Horizonte, a ‘pop-up restaurant’ mimicking life in the infamous squatted Torre de David-skyscraper in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. This skyscraper was abandoned halfway through construction and subsequently... View full entry
In the glorious luxury of Venice, without discomfort or guilt, you are “slumming it,” setting the world to rights. What you miss, mostly, is art’s perversity, its eccentricity, even its sense for evil. Culture condemned to being morally elevating is culture with feet of clay. — art agenda
I must admit that I avoided the Biennale and its reportings as they have served to the conformity of the buzzwords and romancing with the rather superficial "care."Nick Currie for art agenda tears into the Venice Architecture Biennale vis a vis its older cousin, the art biennale. "What kind of... View full entry
‘David says I’m the ears and he’s the eyes,’ Peter says of their working relationship. ‘When I see architecture I hear sounds – I respond to the visual. David responds to sound – he creates with a soundtrack in his mind.’
The collaboration first started in 2003 with the Asymmetric Chamber – an architectural installation that Manchester’s CUBE gallery commissioned David to design. As part of the work, Peter composed a soundscape titled ‘Echoes’ to play in the space.
— thespaces.com
David's brother Peter Adjaye, aka AJ Kwame, is a composer, musician and DJ based in London. Their vinyl collaboration, Dialogues, will be released on July 8.Listen to one of Peter's pieces for architecture below:For more on David Adjaye, the "very artistic architect":David Adjaye is the best bet... View full entry
"For us it's a prototype. For us, a prototype means it will have another life,”
“Right now, our summer house operates at a scale of something maybe like furniture or something like a small building, but a prototype is something that has a resonance, it's something that lives beyond its four months here, that will occur on a different scale, in a different place.”
— Archinect
Barkow Leibinger's Summer House is constructed with four structural bands made from plywood and timber. The piece is grounded by a bench, then strengthened by three central curves with a double layered free flowing cantilevered roof. The duo known for their research-led process and playful... View full entry
Smithfield market will be the museum’s new home, but which architectural vision should shape its future: the eye-catching one, the ghostly one, the corporate one … or the one that rings alarm bells?
Little detail has been revealed about the shortlisted schemes, which will go on public exhibition from 10 June to 5 August with a winner chosen by an expert panel later this summer.
— theguardian.com
Curb your cultural curiosities with the articles below: Inside Asif Khan's Serpentine Pavilion Summer HouseLondon's Natural History Museum to create outdoor exhibition spacesShortlist for new Museum of London revealed View full entry
Architects Michael Fox (FoxLin) and Miles Kemp (Variate Labs and Series Design/Build) put together the first version of Interactive Architecture in 2009, as a "process-oriented guide" to creating spaces that, with the help of emerging technologies, could interact with inhabitants in a variety of... View full entry
The festival has been curated by Robert Mull, former dean of the Cass School of Art...
His journey then took him to the Calais camp, where he, too, was struck by how “vibrant” the makeshift town was. “Obviously that has to be caveated: it’s a hell of a place and utterly distressing in so many ways, but it was fascinating to see how different groups were establishing a kind of urbanism which felt very authentic, very deeply rooted in their cultures.”
— The Guardian
At his pithy yet nuanced best, the Guardian's Olivier Wainwright documents the formation of a makeshift town by refugees in Calais, and the subsequent decision to display some of their works in the London Festival of Architecture.For more on the architecture of transience and... View full entry
“I think when an artist exhibits in a gallery that is sometimes a white cube or a former power plant or warehouse, they have a lot of freedom to focus on the manifestation of their work. You can almost see the Serpentine Pavilion as exactly that: it’s a small pavilion in a gigantic park. The work becomes a pure manifestation of that architect.” — Bjarke Ingels – Archinect
Opening to the public tomorrow, BIG's Serpentine Pavilion has been likened to pixels, Minecraft, Gehry, and "a wall that has enjoyed a good lunch." Made from stacks of fiberglass boxes, the strikingly tall pavilion creates a light-filled canopy in its interior meeting space.The structure was... View full entry
Collective Architecture is branching out east with the official opening of a new Edinburgh office, necessitated by a growing portfolio of work across the UK stretching from the east coast to the north of England and London.
Director Jude Barber said ‘We are delighted that Collective Architecture continues to evolve and grow with our new studio in Edinburgh.”
— urbanrealm.com
Archinect's correspondent Robert Urquhart met with Collective Architecture earlier this year in Glasgow. Uniquly run as an employee-owned trust which so far no one has ever left; the firm already has an impressive body of work and has now been selected as one of three architects for the City of... View full entry
Last year, Greater Manchester’s economy outgrew that of inner-city London. Further devolution of powers from Whitehall are about to be realised, and the campaign for the title of first elected mayor of Greater Manchester has picked up pace.
However, Manchester is also about to contend with the capital in other ways. A major housing crisis lurks, and a growing deficit of office space needs to be dealt with. To make amends, Manchester’s skyline is heading for dramatic change.
— theguardian.com
Read more article concerning the housing crisis spreading across UK cities:To live in London you can't be a LondonerLondon fails to achieve any targets for affordable housingArchitects design ‘the house of tomorrow’ View full entry
The villas are naked concrete, baked in the sun like unpainted pottery. The swimming pool is a trough with light fixtures poking from the sides. There are no guests, many stray dogs, and one-full time member of staff—a watchman who spends much of his time tending a fruit orchard where mangoes, oranges and lemons grow.
If this were an isolated case, it would be mere misfortune. But the Seagull is just one ruin among dozens that line some 200 km of road on the southeastern Sinai coast.
— Quartz
"These ghost hotels are a product of the collapse of Egypt’s tourism industry after the revolution of 2011 and the political turmoil and terrorist attacks that followed."For more news from Egypt, check out these links:Giant "calligraffiti" mural unites community in Cairo slumDoes Foster +... View full entry
By living above 800 feet, Estis and Enkin are two members of an unexpectedly exclusive group in Manhattan. In my estimation, no more than 40 people currently live above that line, scattered among just three buildings...
As my elevator descended and my ears popped, it occurred to me that I would almost certainly never take in such a view again. And in fact, maybe nobody will, if these apartments wind up becoming empty investments.
— The New York Times
In this elegantly observed and exquisitely written piece, Jon Ronson not only takes in the view of Manhattan at 800+ feet with visits to Trump World Tower, One57, and 8 Spruce Street but looks toward the future of a nation divided by an increasingly intractable wealth gap. Real estate of the... View full entry
Early Land Art practices emerged as a protest against the commercialization of art at the end of the 1960’s and as a subsequent refusal of the museum or the gallery as a setting for artistic activity. (Oppenheim). — SOCKS
In addition to the examples in the article, my memory bank recalls one of my favorites, a 1986 Chris Burden piece at the inaugural show of then Temporary Contemporary, Exposing the Foundation of the Museum, 1986. MoCA-LA. View full entry
When a couple sets out to build their dream house, they enlist the services of a visionary modernist architect, whose soaring ideas are matched by only his ego. The woman is swept away by the uncompromising creative artist whose personality provides a stark contrast to her practical husband's. She is so taken she hardly notices the Architect is building HIS dream house. — the Architect
The latest film to satirize the profession, the Architect stars Parker Posey, James Frain, and Eric McCormack and was written and directed by Jonathan Parker.It's not immediately clear if the architect is modeled after anyone in particular. The character's appearance resembles a... View full entry