Mark Magazine #19

Just got in the mail the latest issue (nº19, april-may) of Mark Magazine in the mail.  I have always praised the exquisite covers and graphic design of this magazine, but i´ve forgotten to tell you how nice is the packaging (see below).

The white cover comes with an amazing photo of the Ningbo Historic Museum, photographed by Iwan Baan with a phrase in bold gold letters  “The only true rival of architecture is the natural world” (Taira Nishizawa).

As usual, the section Notice Board showcases interesting fresh unbuilt projects from around the world: Zira Island by BIG, the Taipei Performing Arts Center by OMA, Villa Long (ORDOS 100) by RSVP and the Crematorium by Plan 01. Also projects by Zaha Hadid, Manuelle Gautrand, Piercy Conner, Architekten Cie, Baksvanwengerden, Ryuchi Ashizawa, Alberto Dueño X-TU, Fantastic, a cool beach house by Andreas Angelidakis, MAPT, Tasou, KLNB, Daniel Simmons, Steven Holl, Plaren, Ugis Senbergs, UN Studio, Dick van Gameren, Megan Panzano, Modo Studio, CCDP, Sofia Cattinario and Brenac Gonzalez.

Cover detail

Packaging

After this showcase of fresh projects, we head onto Cross Section, featuring recent finished buildings by Atelier Den, Taiji Kawano (an amazing structure for a new auditorium at the University of Tokio), Softroom, Local Architecture (CHURCH CHAPEL), X Architekten, AWP & Atelier Oslo, interiors by Tham & Videgard Hansson Arkitekter, UN Studio, Alejandro Muñoz Miranda (amazing building!), Kingma Roorda, Herzog & de Meuron (interesting building with pitched roof in Basel), a pavilion by Jeffrey Inaba, Makiko Tsukada, Yuko Nagayama,  GAD, FOA, Eduard Francois, Hiroshi Kawahito, Ferrater & Jimenez Brasas (AUDITORIO), Vector Architects (green Beijing Showroom), and Japanese architects TNA with an amazing house.

The section also includes a short article on the Ozymandias Antarctic retreat from Watchmen, video installations by German architects and artists over the Pompeia Tower by Lina Bo Bardi, the recent “moving” of a house by Venturi and another by Frank Ghery, and an interesting graphic article on Lost Cities, Lost Empires by Theo Deutinger.

Viewpoint section interviews Wang Shu (Amateur Architecture Studio), and shows his recent projects in China (Ningbo Historic Museum, Ceramic House, Five Scattered Houses). We also find an interview with Seattle based architect Tom Kundig, showcasing his experimental residential projects.

Long section takes us into how recent projects have been built in a very detailed way. In includes the Porsche Museum by Delugan Meissl (“This is purely a museum for men”, Hans Gunter Merz), the Burj Dubai structure as told by SOM engineer Bill Baker, two artists studios by Wang Hui (Limited Architecture), a house with an interesting shape and interior spatial relations by Junichi Sampei, Kazuyo Sejima on the Okurayama apartment block in Tokyo (her most complex project to date, according to her), a pixelated building with astonishing interiors by Splitterwerk, a weekend house by Atelier Bow-Wow, and the Sumika Project for Tokyo  Gas, including houses by Sou Fujimoto, Toyo Ito, Taira Nishizawa and Terunobu Fujimori – an interesting experiment on house typologies.

Section Dear Mark has a critic article by Jylian Russell, on the “boring” Canadian architecture.

This issue ends with Service Area, which includes a wide array of topics. It opens with an interview with italian architecture critic Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi, discussing the future of the architecture magazine. The we find a very interesting article on Designtoproduction, a consultancy firm behind buildings such as the EPFL Learning Centre by SANAA and the new Pompidou in Metz.

In my opinion this is a very good issue. I like the variety of the selection, both in terms of program and location (a bit too focused on Japan this time). My pick for this issue are the Chinese architects. They are doing a very interesting work in spatial terms, while experimenting with traditional materials. Worth checking out.