Real Time Sharing is POWER. And EFFICIENCY. And PRODUCTIVITY: The Open Collaboration Webcast
The originator of the virtual building concept, GRAPHISOFT hosts a free one-hour webcast – “Real Time Sharing is POWER. And EFFICIENCY. And PRODUCTIVITY: The Open Collaboration Webcast” on October 21st.
The webinar will show that Open Design Collaboration with ArchiCAD enables the AEC industry to work like they want to right now. It is Interoperability Redefined, so that architecture and engineering teams can collaborate using their own BIM models in a dynamic IFC based workflow. Come see ArchiCAD engage intelligent data exchange with Revit Structure, Tekla Structure, Autodesk MEP, Revit MEP and more.
To register for the event click here. More information after the break. (more…)
Iwan Baan receives Julius Shulman Photography Award
Photographer Iwan Baan received the inaugural Julius Shulman Photography Award in Los Angeles on October 10th. The Julius Shulman Institute at Woodbury University will honor the legacy of the renowned photographer during a series of events that coincide with the 100th anniversary of the day of his birth. The image.architecture.now exhibit is currently featuring Iwan Baan along with 9 photographers all whose work illuminates a range of explorations into documenting the experience of space. This exhibit is at Ahmanson Main Space at Woodbury University until October 23rd.
Update: V&A at Dundee shortlist designs
Last month we shared with you the six designs from the shortlisted group for the future Victoria & Albert Museum in Scotland:
Delugan Meissl Associated Architects / Kengo Kuma & Associates / REX / Snøhetta / Steven Holl Architects / Sutherland Hussey Architects
The six designs are now on exhibition at the library of Abertay University on Bell Street in Dundee until November 4th.
We now have more photographs and a short description of each proposal plus a video after the break.
Antilia / World’s Most Expensive House
We’ve featured quite elaborate projects on AD where project budgets that reach the millions seem almost normal. Yet, this is something we haven’t seen: a house – yes, one house – priced at $1 billion dollars. With a price tag like that, India’s richest man, and Forbes’s fourth richest man, Mukesh Ambani, along with his wife and three childen, will be calling the world’s most expensive residence “home.”
More about the house after the break. (more…)
Peter Zumthor for the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011
A few days before Jean Nouvel’s Serpentine Pavilion is closed and dismantled, AJ has leaked the name of the architect selected to design the 2011 Pavilion: Priztker-laureate Peter Zumthor.
AJ reports that “It is understood Zumthor has been in the frame for the pavilion for some time and initial proposals resemble ‘a big concrete block with a garden in it’ – though the design is expected to evolve over the coming months.”
Currently Zumthor is still working on his first project in the UK, A Secular Retreat, part of the Living Architecture initiative.
We are very curious about what will Zumthor do for the Serpentine Gallery. As usual, we’ll keep you updated as more details are revealed.
BC Hyrdo Energy Experiment
To promote their Power Smart month of October, BC Hydro has launched an interesting public campaign for energy efficiency by converting two shipping containers into live experimental spaces in Vancouver. For fours day, actors will live in the 3×6 meter containers “to showcase how – and how not – to live and work in an energy-efficient manner.” The two containers are meant to depict the extreme opposites of energy consumption and show the simple steps people can take to increase their efficiency. As the containers are fully glazed on one side, passersby can see how the actors go about their daily routines – one completely wasteful with a constantly blasting television and all the lights on, while the other actor uses natural daylight for illumination and adds extra layers of clothing for warmth. Displays are fixed to the exterior of each container to provide simulated consumption readings, allowing the public to see the difference in the energy use when comparing energy-efficient living to inefficient and wasteful behavior.
More about the experiment after the break. (more…)
Architecture and Design Film Festival
If you find yourself in Manhattan for the weekend of October 14-17, be sure to check out the Architecture and Design Film Festival on Varick Street in Tribeca. Films running anywhere from a quick 2 minutes to 80 minutes will feature popular pieces such as Citizen Architect about Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio, to a film about the Kimbell Museum, an interview with Oscar Niemeyer and even a film about dumpster pools. The event will also include discussions with some of the filmmakers and architects about the design process. As this will be the first film festival celebrating the creative spirit of architecture and design in the United States, be sure not to miss it!
For more ticket information, visit the Architecture and Design Film Festival website.
Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award 2011 Call for Nominations
IFLA is soliciting nominations for its Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award, the highest honour that the International Federation of Landscape Architects can bestow upon a landscape architect. The award is bestowed annually on an academic, public or private practitioner whose work and achievements are respected internationally.
Candidates may be nominated by IFLA Member Associations, delegates, individual members and allied organizations, as well as independent sources.
Nominations for the 2011 IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award must be submitted by November 10, 2010. Refer to the IFLA website for the complete Call for Nominations and submission requirements.
BMW Guggenheim Lab
In the next six years, a new collaboration between the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the BMW Group is seeking to explore various issues of urban life. Three labs, which will be assigned a theme, an architect, and a graphic designer, will be placed in major cities that will engage the public, bringing people together to discuss and experiment with new ideas. Traveling across the globe, the labs will interact with people from all different backgrounds and cultures with the intention to shed light upon a broad spectrum of issues.
More about the exhibition after the break. (more…)
A+D Museum presents Stephen H. Kanner FAIA: A Retrospective 1955-2010
The Architecture and Design Museum, Los Angeles and Kanner Architects (see their projects here) present a retrospective and official public memorial service for Stephen Kanner, FAIA, on November 4, 2010, from 7-10 pm. The show continues until Jan 16, 2011.
With his passing on July 2, after a short battle with pancreatic cancer, the Los Angeles architectural and design community loses one of its most prominent advocates. A thirdgeneration architect and principal of Kanner Architects, Stephen was a native Angelino known for his reinterpretation of Southern Californian modernism and for his unique imprint on LA’s urban landscape.
His contributions to the Los Angeles built environment reach from Santa Monica to East Los Angeles, as his firm completed more than 150 projects throughout the city. In addition, Kanner earned national and international stature with residential projects across the US and, most notably, PUMA retail stores worldwide.
Full press release after the break. (more…)
Media Architecture Biennale in Vienna
Media density is not congruent with urban density. Moreover it relentlessly expands seamlessly into suburban, rural, and rurban areas. Media Territories are describing the effects of independent densities with a surprising variety of stratifications hence challenging traditional categories. Features of public space like activism, consumerism, leisure, surveillance, to name just a few of the possible behaviors and plots are increasingly transforming Media Architecture.
The Media Architecture Biennale 2010 will link stakeholders willing to shape the evolution of Media Territories in Economy, Urbanism, Design, Arts and Architecture.
Media Architecture Biennale 2010 comprises an exhibition, a conference and workshops, which are closely coordinated. Some of the projects on exhibit are discussed in the context of the conference. Topics of the conference are illustrated by objects on exhibition. Events are planned so that they offer the best possible framework for the discussion of current topics, for getting to know each other and for the development of project ideas. It is planed to hold the event bi-annually in Vienna in the future.
For more information, click here.
AutoCAD WS: AutoCAD’s mobile app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
As we told you a few weeks ago, Autodesk has launched an iOS based mobile app for iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. AutoCAD WS will be available soon for free, and you will be able to view, edit, and share DWG files on your mobile devices. More about it after the break. (more…)
Problems for Piano’s Modern Wing
A $10 million lawsuit has been filed against Arup for flaws in Renzo Piano’s addition to the Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing (check out our previous coverage of the museum). The museum claims that certain documents made by Arup were flawed and have resulted in serious problems for the museum. Although most of the problems were addressed before the 264,000 sqf wing opened in 2009, the Institute still states that errors have led to condensation in the vestibule and incorrectly sized temperature and humidity controls. Determined to maintain their highly esteemed reputation as a world-class museum, the Art Institute has clarified that although the building has experienced problems, no artwork was ever in jeopardy of being harmed.
More about the lawsuit after the break. (more…)
Latest ABI News
Over the past few months, we’ve been keeping you up to date on the latest reportings of the Architecture Billings Index as our profession, among others, seems to be stuck in a frustrating cycle of huge drops and struggling gains. As Jeff Byles reported for the Architect’s Newspaper, the Billings Index slowly climbed upward from 47.9 in July to 48.2 in August. Although this does mark some progress, we still are not where we would all like to be as a profession. Yet, could this finally be the end of the decline? Are we on the path toward recovery? We are certainly optimistic, even if the Billings continue to slowly inch upward. Kermit Baker, the chief economist for the AIA told the AN, “I expect it to continue to move up, but move up fairly slowly in the months ahead…We’ve had a pretty strong year of business investment on the software and equipment side, and that usually leads to a recovery on the building side. We’re in the early stages of that.”
More about the Billings Index after the break.
BRACKET [goes soft] Issue #2: Call for Submissions
Bracket 2 invites the submission of critical articles and unpublished design projects that investigate physical and virtual soft systems, as they pertain to infrastructure, ecologies, landscapes, environments, and networks.
In an era of declared crises—economic, ecological and climatic amongst others– the notion of soft systems has gained increasing traction as a counterpoint to permanent, static and hard systems.
The submission deadline is December 10, and the selection will take place on February 2011.
For more information on requirements, go to Bracket’s official website.
Alternative to Piano’s Whitney Museum / Axis Mundi
Axis Mundi … remember that firm? Back when controversy surrounded Jean Nouvel’s proposed tower for the MoMA’s expansion, the firm offered an alternative stacked design highly different from Nouvel’s metallic creation. It seems Axis Mundi is back for the shock value as the firm has just released images for their version of the new Whitney Museum of American Art. The current design, led by Renzo Piano, utilizes his characteristically light and technical aesthetics (check out his Shard which is under construction) to create an elegant addition critics have challenge may be too “timid” – Axis Mundi’s design is anything but. Their proposal incorporates a loud exoskeleton that not only seems completely out of scale, but also fights with its neighborhood for attention rather than settling into its context. The geometry, which has been shaped by the sight lines and street grid of the city, intends to reference Breuer’s Whitney on Madison Avenue. As The Architect’s Newspaper Blog noted, the proposal mentions nothing of cost – one of the biggest obstacles Piano is facing.
Check out more images of Axis Mundi’s proposal after the break. (more…)
Progress on Four Freedoms Park / Louis Kahn
Although the field of architecture continually changes with advances in technology and shifts in society and culture, there rest a few names that seem frozen in time, as their ideas will continually influence generations of architects to come. Of them, Louis Kahn has been revered as a master of the 20th century and soon, his memorial park design of the 1970s will finally be completed in New York. The memorial is named after FDR’s Four Freedoms speech from 1941 where he declares that “In the future days,….we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression–everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way–everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want–which, translated into universal terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants–everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear–which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor–anywhere in the world.”
More about Kahn’s design after the break. (more…)
Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement
New York’s MoMA will be featuring a new exhibition that focuses on architects’ social responsibility. The exhibition, entitled Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement, which will open at the beginning of October and run through January, will showcase 11 projects on five continents that “respond to localized needs in under-served communities.” These pragmatic solutions demonstrate how architecture can serve the greater needs of society. From a handmade school in Bangladesh, to a cable car that connects a single hillside barrio in Caracas to the city, these realized projects are infused with passion and a strong drive to uplift society through architecture. “Together, these undertakings not only offer practical solutions to known needs, but also aim to have a broader effect on the communities in which they work, using design as a tool,” explained the MoMA.
A list of the projects that will be included in the exhibition after the break. (more…)
Toyo Ito named 2010 Praemium Imperiale Laureate
The Japan Art Association just named Toyo Ito its 2010 Praemium Imperiale Laureate for Architecture. The annual global arts prize is regarded as one of the highest honors for those in the arts. Ito was joined by Sophia Loren for Theater/Film, Enrico Castellani for Painting, Rebecca Horn for Sculpture, and Maurizio Pollini for Music. Practicing architecture for decades, Ito continually brings a sense of sophisticated elegance to his projects with “a deep concern for the relationships between architecture, nature and the environment,” explained the jury. We have featured several projects by Ito previously on AD, and whether it be a residence, a public theater, or a library, Ito consistently pushes the boundary of architectural expression by testing the limits of structure, using a modern material palette and bringing his ideas of transparency to each project.
More about the award after the break. (more…)
Vote for your favorite Sukkah!
With 600 participants from 43 countries, the Sukkah City competition has challenged designers across the globe to try their hand at making a temporary structure fusing a traditional religious festival with contemporary architectural strategies. We’ve shared several different proposals for the competition with you, but don’t forget that your vote at NYMag.com will determine which structure will be displayed until October 2, in Union Square. (more…)
Lincoln Center Installation / DS + R
This just in from Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The firm has recently completed an installation at Lincoln Center that will serve as the primary entrance for over seventy fashion events taking place this week . The dramatically hovering volume of 50 ft seems to float without support above the Lincoln Center plaza. Constructed to mirror the travertine cladding of the Center, the canopy is a fabric structure that wraps about a structural support system. Yet, the effect of walking under a seemingly travertine volume is completely breath-taking and leaves people marveling at its construction. Only when the viewer sees the fabric gently cascading about the bottom of the installation does its flexibility become apparent.
More images from our friend, architectural photographer Iwan Baan. (more…)
