“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
“While observing the building, we realized that the internal void was really a great quality to reveal, and so our building is really an inversion of that,” [Kunlé Adeyemi] explained.
“In a way, it’s a rotated from of the temple that highlights the interior space and also creates the fundamental purpose of what we think a summer house is: a place for shade and relaxation."
— Archinect
Kunlé Adeyemi of NLÉ's Summer House for the Serpentine Galleries is constructed in prefabricated sandstone blocks, similar to the stone used in Queen Caroline's Temple, the 18th century summer house that served as its inspiration.While known for his modernist designs, Adeyemi focused on the form... View full entry
Only a few days left to submit your work to the anticipated World Architecture Festival 2016! Entries are due this Friday, June 10.After four successful years in Singapore, WAF is making its way back to Europe in Berlin. The festival will take place on November 16-18 inside the Arena Berlin, which... View full entry
A teetering stack of fibreglass blocks has landed in Kensington Gardens, rising above the Serpentine Gallery in a stepped wall, before billowing out to form a cave-like space within...
From one side, it looks like a wall that has enjoyed a good lunch. The blocks stretch outwards in a swollen bulge, like a snake devouring its gallery-going prey. From the other, it looks caught in a stiff breeze, a pixelated curtain rippling in the wind.
— the Guardian
"In keeping with the best-observed-from-a-distance nature of other BIG buildings, the detailing is also a bit clunky, with each fibreglass frame bolted and bracketed in rather heavy-handedly, due to time constraints," writes Oliver Wainwright. "Still, the interior remains a stunning space, a... View full entry
The scheme was designed by EMA Architecture + Design, a local practice specialising in commercial mixed-use masterplans and residential development.
The first phase will be followed by subsequent ones over 20 years, resulting in a £1bn ($1.4bn) “Garden District”. As well as the homes, there will be a school, shopping centre, sports facilities and parks.
A quarter of all the homes will be affordable housing, with the remainder split between private homes and apartments.
— globalconstructionreview.com
Related on Archinect:Edinburgh's own officials are mucking up the city's historic architecture, says former Daily Mail editorCelebrated Scottish architect Gareth Hoskins dies at 48 from heart attackRed Road towers, built to combat Glasgow's slums in the 1960s, now slated for demolition View full entry
The criticisms generated by productions as significant as the Venice Biennale reveal just as much—if not more—about the central ecology of the event as its official material. Evidenced by the gradient of oppositions representing the national pavilions (and even a handful of Aravena’s... View full entry
The Turkish word for Gated Community is site, from the French cité, and they generally resemble the French highrises of the same name, rather than American tract housing. Towers and slabs stand shoulder to shoulder, dancing in a circle around the gardens they surround. — failed architecture
How to Make an Enclosed Paradise:Raze a blighted industrial site or neighborhood close to the city center, preferably along a new highway or metro line.Build an access road around the perimeter. Like a castle moat, this isolates your project from context and gives distance for height... View full entry
Writer and BLDGBLOG founder Geoff Manaugh's latest book, A Burglar's Guide to the City, isn't just a set of case studies on bank vaults and getaway routes—it's a dialectic for public and private space. It’s definitely the first book I’ve come across classified jointly under... View full entry
my research shows that longtime residents aren’t more likely to move when their neighborhood gentrifies; sometimes they’re actually less likely to leave [...]
In a 2009 study, I found that gentrifying neighborhoods are more racially diverse than non-gentrifying ones. [...]
To be sure, market forces help change commerce in gentrifying neighborhoods. But often lurking behind the “invisible hand” are activists and policymakers who wish to nudge the market to produce certain outcomes.
— washingtonpost.com
Lance Freeman's research at GSAPP focuses on issues related to gentrification, affordable housing, and race. Watch the Washington Post's video below, summing up the myths:Related on Archinect:A tale of two parks: debate rages over a new plan for a "Maker Park" in BrooklynA telltale sign of... View full entry
The 2016 Venice Biennale challenged, through its theme, architects to engage with the pressing concerns of the world, issues that affect the majority of the world population, whether it is safety and security, the quality and quantity of housing or the cost and scarcity of materials. It raises the... View full entry
Hidden for decades until today, the extensive collection of Vitra—one of the most influential names in modern furniture design—is now on public display in a brand new building designed by Herzog & de Meuron: Schaudepot.As the latest addition to the Vitra campus, Schaudepot’s front yard... View full entry
“I set about programming algorithms to generate an imaginary city...One that I could populate with buildings and structures without having to draw or 3-D model.”
[Daniel] Brown begins by plugging random numbers into the program, which uses fractal mathematics to create unique shapes that resemble a 3-D graph. He spends several hours “exploring” the terrain until he finds an interesting form. Brown isolates the shape, and tweaks it until he arrives at something he likes.
— wired.com
You might also like:Console narratives: how games incorporate architectural storytellingFeast your eyes on these sci fi-inspired photos of Belgrade's Brutalist buildingsArtist creates real-life "Inception" style photographyArchitectural Photography without Architecture View full entry
[King Carl XVI Gustav] said the sprawling brass-clad structure, designed by the British architect David Chipperfield to house the Nobel Foundation and host its prestigious annual prize ceremony, would dominate Stockholm’s celebrated 19th-century waterfront...
‘The size of the building is determined by what is necessary for a Nobel Centre. It’s not exploiting the value of the land or something – it’s not a developer building, an office building or a hotel...’ [Chipperfield said.]
— The Guardian
King Carl XVI Gustav isn't favorable toward Chipperfield's dominating design plan for the Nobel Center, which inevitably has sparked opposition. But, supporters of the project beg to differ.Previously on Archinect:David Chipperfield wins Nobel Center architectural competitionNobel Center... View full entry
Heads up to all you job seekers and active employers. Archinect's Employer of the Day Weekly Round-Up is up and running once again. If you've been following the feature on Archinect's Facebook, Employer of the Day is where we highlight active employers and showcase a gallery of their work.In... View full entry
If perhaps you thought after last week's busy schedule at Clerkenwell Design Week you might get to have a rest this week, we are sorry to say (not that sorry), that will have to wait; this week marks the opening of the much celebrated annual event, the London Festival of Architecture.As always... View full entry
