AD Round Up: Interviews Part VI

For today’s AD Round Up we’ve compiled a few previously featured ArchDaily Interviews. It’s never too late to watch these interviews, which offer various points of view from these outstanding architects. You must watch the interview of winner, Richard Meier. Don’t miss the Thomas Phifer interview, a closer look at one of the winners of the 2010 ArchDaily building of the year. You can also watch an interview with Mark Sexton from Krueck & Sexton firm or an interview with Stephan Jaklitsch and Mark Gardner from Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects, who have made a name for themselves by designing buildings that engage their users and respond to their culture. Last but not least in today’s AD Round Up, you can see the double interview of Eugene Kohn and William Pedersen from Kohn Pendersen Fox.

Lessons from Stanley Tigerman

In April, Black Spectacles filmed a discussion with Stanley Tigerman and the AIA Chicago Education Knowledge Committee revealing an intimate look at Tigerman’s 60+ years in the profession in his own words. The discussion is guided by a series of questions from the audience that send Tigerman into stories from his experiences, his attitude towards the profession today, technology and ethics.

Read on for key points from the interview after the break. (more…)

What’s the Best Country for Architects to Find Work?

From upper left: "Chicago Thaws Into Spring," "Bustling Beijing," "Approaching London" © Flickr User CC Stuck in Commons

Where in the world, as a young architect, would be the best country to find a job in an architecture firm?

In Europe and the , The Recession has placed Architecture – and Architects – in crisis. However, none have been more affected than young graduates: a report in January reported that, at just under 14%, Architecture Majors can “boast” the highest unemployment rate in the nation.

But surely there is somewhere in the world where the situation isn’t so grim? This is where you come in. When we crowd-sourced the question: “How Much Does an Architect Make An Hour?” the response from hundreds of ArchDaily readers across the globe provoked fascinating conversation and debate. So, as phrased by Rafael Berges, a concerned Architecture student pondering his fate come graduation day:

Where in the world, as a young architect, would be the best country to find a job in an architecture firm?

Keep in mind:

1. The highest salaries for beginning architects
2. Low unemployment for architects
3. High demand for architecture
4. Great design culture

And let us know in the comments below.

Video: Gehry Residence, 2012 AIA Twenty-five Year Award Recipient

The AIA sat down with famed architect Frank Gehry - recipient of the 2012 Twenty-five Year Award - to discuss his eccentric Santa Monica home that has enormously influenced both theory and practice over the last 25 to 35 years. In the late 1970s, transformed an existing Dutch colonial home in a quiet Southern neighborhood into a controversial symbol of deconstructivism by surrounding it with an unconventional new addition. As the AIA describes, “The exposed structure, chaotic fusion of disparate materials, and aggressive juxtaposition of old and new communicate a sense of real-time formal evolution and conflict, as if the building were dynamically, violently creating itself with found objects.”

Towards the end of the video, Gehry advises students to “learn to be yourself and be curious about what is going on around you and respond to it.”

Learn more about the Gehry Residence here on ArchDaily!

via AIA National

ArchDaily Interviews: The role of the Architect at the Audi Urban Future Initiative

Last week we went to Ingolstadt, Germany, to attend the launch of the Audi Urban Future Initiative. The program, now in its second version, invited a group of six architecture offices from different regions of the world, all with big urban populations, to think about the future of mobility. During this stage, the architects presented their initial research and diagnosis of their respective regions. In October, the architects will present their projects and an overall winner will be announced.

During the event, we had the chance to talk with the architects and ask them about the role of the Architect in our contemporary society.

The first edition of this program took place in 2010, and included Alison Brooks Architects, BIG, Cloud 9, J. MAYER H. and standardarchitecture. You can see J. Mayer’s winning entry previously featured at ArchDaily. More info about the program after the break:

AIA 2012: Architects of Healing

Architects of Healing © ArchDaily

After three days of inspirational keynote sessions, informative seminars, exclusive tours, invaluable networking opportunities and an impressive expo, the American Institute of Architects concluded the with a special tribute to the architects responsible for the post- memorials and rebuilding efforts. These “Architects of Healing” tirelessly worked together to transform the darkness of grief brought on by the attacks into the triumph of hope in the wounded areas of Shanksville, Pennsylvania; the Pentagon; and the World Trade Center site.  (more…)

AIA 2012: Opening Discussions

© ArchDaily

Thousands of architects crammed into the grand ballroom of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center this morning to kick-off the hosted by the American Institute of Architects. Invigorating speeches, led by President Jeff Potter, urged architects to re-envision the profession and question the role of today’s architect. Although the economic downturn has caused many hardships, it presents a unique opportunity for architects to reshape the profession.

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Design Icon: Michael Graves / Gary Nadeau

Our friends at Dwell have shared with us their short film featuring the legendary inside his beautiful home in which he created out of a disused warehouse. In the film, Graves shares the discoveries he made when renovating his house and thoughts about his career, his practice and universal design.

The film was directed and edited by Gary Nadeau. Continue after the break for the complete list of credits. (more…)

Syracuse University Unveils First Phase of Marcel Breuer Digital Archive

Whitney Museum of American Art / Architect: and Hamilton Smith, Architects; Michael H. Irving, Consulting Architect

Marcel Breuer, born in Hungary in 1902, was educated under the Bauhaus manifesto of “total construction”; this is likely why Breuer is well known for both his furniture designs as well as his numerous works of architecture, which ranged from small residences to monumental architecture and governmental buildings. His career flourished during the Modernist period in conjunction with architects and designers such as founder of Bauhaus Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe.

In 2009, Syracuse University’s Special Collection Research Center recieved a National Endowment for the Humanities grant with which it began creating the Marcel Breuer Digital Archive. The digital archive, available online, is a collaborative effort headed by the library and includes institutions such as the Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Harvard University, the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, the University of East Anglia, and the Vitra Design Museum. It is in the first phase, which includes Breuer work up until 1955, of digitzing over 30,000 drawings, photographs, letters and other related material of his work.

More about Marcel Breuer’s career and the archive after the break. (more…)

TED Talk: Daniel Libeskind’s 17 words of architectural inspiration

Filmed back in 2009, this TED Talk by Daniel Libeskind has yet to diminish in popularity. Once a free-verse poet, an opera set designer and a virtuoso musician, Libeskind has evolved into an internationally-renowned architect with an illustrious style that has been praised and criticized by many. In just seventeen words, Libeskind describes what inspires his unique approach to architecture. Believing that optimism is what drives architecture forward, he begins by stating, “Architecture is not based on concrete and steel and the elements of the soil. It’s based on wonder.”

Enjoy the talk and continue after the break to review Libeskind’s seventeen words of architectural inspiration. (more…)

Video: Bjarke Ingels Exposes His Roots

As we have shared with you earlier, ’s The Next List has profiled the young, Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. Originally aspired to be a cartoonist or graphic novelist, Ingels quickly became fascinated with architecture when a Fall storm rolled through his hometown in North Copenhagen, knocking over trees and leaving him a surplus of lumber. It was then that he was inspired to design his first project, the ultimate childhood “fantasy fort” with a moat, drawbridge and all.  In Ingels first experience with value engineering, he quickly learned that “unless you really begin with the perimeters of reality you’ll end up sort of amputating your ambitions quite quickly.” Enjoy the video and be sure to check out CNN’s recent video focusing on the bold ideas behind BIG.

Additionally, Ingels contributed an essay entitled “Rethinking social infrastructure” on CNN’s What’s Next blog. You can check it out here.

Reference: CNN, Archinect

AD Interviews: Winy Maas / MVRDV

We had the incredible opportunity to interview Winy Maas, the M in MVRDV, one the most influential contemporary practices, which has been able to push the boundaries of our field in different scales, from buildings to master plan, from construction to theory. In this interview Winy shares interesting thoughts on the role of the architect and how he runs this design/research practice.

Upon graduating in 1984 from the RHSLT Boskoop in landscape architecture, Winy Maas (Schijndel, 1959) resumed his education at Delft University of Technology where he completed his degrees in architecture and urbanism, graduating in 1990 with honors. Shortly after and together with Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries, Maas founded MVRDV in 1991.

Since then, the Rotterdam-based practice has earned a leading role in international architecture. ’s first commissions, both located in the Netherlands, included the television center Villa VPRO and the housing estate for elderly WoZoCo. Maas lectures and teaches throughout the world and actively takes part in international juries. Currently, Maas is a visiting professor of architectural design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is professor in architecture and urban design at the faculty of architecture, Delft University of Technology. Prior to this, he served as professor at Berlage Institute, Ohio State and Yale University. In 2008, Maas founded The Why Factory (t?f), a thinktank on future cities at Delft University of Technology where he remains director. You can see an example on the Urban Farming In Numbers video.

Maas is also a member of the research board of Berlage Institute Rotterdam, president of the spatial quality board of Rotterdam, supervisor of the Bjorvika urban development in Oslo and advisor to the city of Almere. To add to his ever-growing list of achievements, Maas has been made honorary member of the , received the international fellowship of the RIBA and the French Legion d’Honneur. In addition to being an architect, he designs stage sets, objects and was curator of Indesem 2007.

MVRDV projects previously featured at ArchDaily:

The Modern Architecture Game / NEXT Architects

YouTube Preview Image

Here at ArchDaily, we are desperate to get our hands on the newly launched, second edition of The Modern Architecture Game. In 1999, NEXT Architects created the board game as the first project collaboration involving their four partners. Now, this revised version includes questions that “range across the breadth of modern world history”, allowing a broad and international group of architecture enthusiasts to test their knowledge of the greatest architects, their famous buildings and legendary quotes.

You can purchase it online here.

Its time to plan an office game night, I call the Koolhaas’ CCTV Headquarters!

Reference: NEXT Architects, mediabistro UnBeige

Happy 126th birthday Mies van der Rohe!

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Today we celebrate the 126th birthday anniversary of Mies van der Rohe! The German-born American architect and educator convinced us all with his glass-and-steel buildings that “less is more“. Mies helped defined modern architecture and is known as one of the 20th century’s greatest architects.

To celebrate we have changed our logo to a Mies doodle, inspired by the Google doodle which is also honoring Mies today.

ArchDaily logo, 860-880 Lake Shore Drive © ArchDaily
Mies Google Doodle, Crown Hall © Google

In honor of Mies, revisit his work at ArchDaily:

For more information you can also visit the Mies Society website.

You can also check this great infographic on his work.

Video: Wang Shu Interviewed in St. Louis

Two days before lecturing at ’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Wang Shu was announced as the recipient of the 2012 Pritzker Prize. In this interview, discusses his work with architectural historian Robert McCarter, the Sam Fox School’s Ruth and Norman Moore Professor of Architecture, and Seng Kuan, assistant professor of architecture. The interview takes place in the University’s Mildred Land Kemper Art Museum, designed by Pritzker laureate and former WUSTL professor, Fumihiko Maki.

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Studio Banana TV Interview with Ma Yansong / MAD architects

Beijing-born architect has become an important, emerging voice to a new generation of architects. Shortly after establishing MAD architects in 2004, his practice earned worldwide attention (2006) by winning an international competition to design a residential tower near Toronto, expected to be completed in the summer of 2012. In this interview with Studio Banana TV, Yansong discusses a few of his latest works, including MAD’s first museum completed last year in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. Continue reading for more information. (more…)

Women in Architecture: Toshiko Mori presents her work

, FAIA, founder and principal of Toshiko Mori Architect, discusses her work, including the Darwin D. Martin House Visitors Center. The lecture begins with a 15 minute documentary “A Girl is a Fellow Here: 100 Women Architects in the Studio of ”, produced by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.

“Toshiko Mori: Role Models and Paradigm Shift: Frank, Paul, Marcel and Me,” part of the Women of Architecture series, is a collaboration between the National Building Museum and the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation to celebrate Women’s History Month.

Reference: DI, National Building Museum 

Alturas de Macchu Picchu: Martín Chambi – Álvaro Siza at work

Siza sketching at Macchu Picchu, , 1995. © Andreia Soutinho

In 1995, Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza packed a few changes of clothes, some poetry books and a single sketchbook as he set forth to Peru. These few items were all he needed to record and interpret his voyage, allowing him to integrate his investigations into his architecture. More than a half a century earlier, Peruvian photographer Martín Chambi ventured into the peaks of Macchu Picchu were he captured a famous series of portraits of the ancient Inca ruins. His project was more political, it acted as a re-appropriation of the site by its locals, but the tools of Chambi and Siza are the same: the production of images to define a reality.

The Canadian Center for Architecture (CCA) presents Alturas de Macchu Picchu: Martín Chambi – Álvaro Siza at work – an exhibit featuring thirty-five original sketches by Álvaro Siza alongside the historic 1920s photographs by Martín Chambi, now on view at in the CCA’s Octagonal Gallery until April 22, 2012. Continue reading for more information.

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Pratt Institute presents two Public Exhbitions on the Work of Theoharis David

Allegra GSP Sport Center © Charalambos Artemis

Tonight in , New York – Architect, alumnus and longtime Pratt Architecture Professor Theoharis David, FAIA, will deliver a lecture which will be introduced by visionary architect Lebbeus Woods reflecting on David’s 43 years as a teacher through the work of his former students, many of whom have gone on to become accomplished architects and teachers. The lecture will be followed by an opening reception for “Built Ideas: A Life of Teaching, Learning, and Action,” an exhibition of models, photos, and concept drawings by David that will be on view at The School of Architecture through March 30. The Pratt’s Department of Exhibitions are also presenting “An Architect Drawing,” an exhibition of drawings and texts from David’s architectural experiences through September 28.

Tonight’s lecture is open to the public; however please note that seating priority is reserved for members of the Pratt community at 5:30PM and members of the public will be admitted at 5:50PM. Continue reading for more information.

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Wang Shu by Alejandro Aravena

Ningbo Museum of History, photo © Iwan Baan

We had the exclusive opportunity to interview Jury Alejandro Aravena about Wang Shu’s work and the reasons of his selection as the 2012 Pritzker Prize laureate, where he cites extracts of conversations with the Chinese architect.

Wang Shu’s outstanding architecture may be the consequence of being able to combine talent and intelligence. This combination allows him to produce masterpieces when a monument is needed, but also very careful and contained architecture when a monument is not the case. The intensity of his work may be a consequence of his relative youth, but the precision and appropriateness of his operations talk of great maturity.

Consider Ningbo Museum of History: it is so powerful, so overwhelming that it deserves to be called a masterpiece. You don’t visit the building; you are hit by the building. I remember having felt the same only a few times in my life, like when visiting Kahn’s Parliament in Bangladesh or his Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. Being “hit” by a building happens very rarely in architecture, because that kind of impact tends to belong more to music or film, where the experience of a piece can be extremely moving and touching to the point of altering the mood in a deep positive way. Unfortunately this cannot be transmitted by photographs.
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Frank Lloyd Wright appears on “What’s My Line?” in 1956

This June 3, 1956 clip of the Long-running CBS game show What’s My Line? has been making its rounds on the internet for quite sometime now. As it just recently popped up on Dwell’s twitter feed, we knew it must be featured on ArchDaily for our readers who may have not seen it yet, as it is a classic and features the 89-year-old “World Famous Architect” . Just as any good architect would do, Wright critiques the poor acoustical qualities of the space as a blindfolded all-star panel (such as Arlene Francis and Peter Lawford) attempts to guess his professional title.

Reference: Mediabistro