Recently completed by Spirit of Space, the film above displays the cadence of morning rush hour reflecting the rhythm of the Chicago River, but how often do we allow the river to reflect a wandering glance from us? This “glance” aims to bring to light the potential of Chicago’s socially under utilized, aqueous artery.

‘Waterline’, commissioned by Phil Enquist (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) in junction with the eponymous studio at the Harvard GSD for Fall 2011 allows students to explore the realities of three sites along the South branch of the river and think of ways to make it more relevant to the public.

Zaha Hadid discusses the challenges she has faced throughout her life and career. She talks about the criticism that comes along with being an Arabic woman architect with “unconventional” designs and the unconditional support from her family. Hadid describes architecture as an exciting but painfully demanding field, stating, “All the arts are not respected enough.”

Duosegno Visual Design shared with us a video they put together for the Social Housing project by ZigZag Architects.

Architectural designer and historian, Rachel Preston Prinz, discusses ancient building methods and how they may be integrated into modern design in order to create sustainable architecture. Rachel Preston Prinz has studied cathedrals and villas in Europe, as well as alongside Americans specializing in religious architecture, historic preservation and ultra-high-end custom residential design.

This video is brought to you by TEDx.

Duosegno Visual Design, a project of architecture photos and videos, shared with us one of their videos for the Niemeyer Center designed by Oscar Niemeyer. In collaboration with the cultural center, they are shooting the interiors for the second part of the project.

Architectural photographer Cristobal Palma shared with us his latest video: The Nicanor Parra Library by Chilean architect Mathias Klotz. This new building will serve as the main library for the Diego Portales University, designed as a state of the art green facility awarded with the Green Good Design 2010 award.

This video is part of a series of recent productions by Cristobal Palma, a dynamic way to see the buildings in detail and while in use. You can see other videos by Palma previously featured at AD:

• El Porvenir Kindergarten (Giancarlo Mazzanti)
• Flor del Campo School (Giancarlo Mazzanti + Felipe Mesa)
• Sports Facilities (Giancarlo Mazzanti + Plan B)

Based in Santiago, Chile, Cristobal’s work spans architecture, urban and documentary photography. He studied at London’s Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA), and his work has been published in numerous titles internationally, with recent commissions by: The New York Times, Monocle, Wallpaper, Domus, Dwell and Architectural Digest. He lives in Santiago, Chile, and works both with architects in Chile and abroad.

Just recently, the author of architectural videos blog shared with us a video on OMA’s founding partner Rem Koolhaas‘ lecture which he gave at Cornell University on October 20th. His lecture was given on the occasion of opening Milstein Hall, the new extension to the faculty of Architecture, Art and Planning designed by OMA.

Vintage photos and a detailed narration by Peter Eisenman describes the life and work of the Cornell University graduate. The documentary was created in honor of Eisenman’s 50th Cornell Reunion back in 2006. Nine well-respected colleagues and friends, including Richard Meier and Kenneth Frampton, share their experiences and thoughts about Eisenman. Exclusive video of Eisenman teaching at Yale is also included.

Just in case you missed it, Cornell also produced a documentary featuring Richard Meier. Check it out here.

Ron Arad and Asa Bruno welcome BD to their studio for an exclusive view into the inner workings of their practice. In 1981, Ron Arad established his first design studio ‘one off ltd”. Over the years, the practice has evolved into Ron Arad Architects and has become known for their unique ethos that challenges the relationship between form and function.

You may have noticed Ron Arad’s unusual hat. He is also known for his eccentric hat designs that are undoubtedly consistent with his signature style.

Reference: BD

Museum of Architecture and Design has published the first film from the series of six Small and Smart – Expressions of Contemporary Slovenian Architecture in Film: Biotechnical Faculty, ARK arhitektura Krušec (Ljubljana, 2009-2010). Small and Smart consists of six short films, one of each of six built architectural projects. Each employs a simple story – a development, an exchange – to move through and relate the experience of the architecture. As the films move through and document the spaces and exchanges, certain key features of the architectures are revealed and emphasized. All architectures here are recent builds (2006 and later) and are of varied types, programs and scales: private house, row house, industrial facility, sacred, educational/institutional, public/sports. Together they reflect representative currents, developments and practices in the best of Slovenian architecture today.

In the next few weeks the following films will be presented online: House D, Bevk Perović arhitekti (Ljubljana 2007/2008); Stadium Stožice, Sadar + Vuga (Ljubljana 2010); Houses on Jurčkova Street, Jože Peterkoč (Ljubljana, 2009); Metal Recycling Plant, Dekleva Gregorič arhitekti (Pivka, 2007); Square and Open-Air Altar, Brezje, Maruša Zorec, Martina Tepina (Brezje, 2008). For more information on the films, please visit here.

Prefabricated concrete shells become emergency shelters for flood-ravaged communities in Pathum Thani. The concrete forms are intended to be used for the construction of Bangkok’s elevated skyway. The company that owns the shells has given the temporary residents permission to stay and access to electricity. Residents have expressed preference of the makeshift community over government shelters due to “familiar faces” and more space.

Reference: CNN

Nendo in Japanese means free forming clay almost like Play-Doh, founder Oki Sato goes on to further describe the meaning to represent in the end ‘flexibility’.  The company, which he established in Tokyo in 2002 after graduating with an architecture degree from Waseda University, has steadily gained momentum (they now have a second office in Milan) and recognition.  Focusing on small ideas that provide a strong impact, Sato shares, “we don’t specialize in anything it is the story that is important.”  Nendo‘s designs, are able to simultaneously remain clean and minimal while remaining friendly or as Sato describes it, “he doesn’t want to make them cold, it needs a pinch of humor.”

Take a look at nendo‘s work featured on ArchDaily.  The PUMA House design incorporated vine like staircases giving the space a unique character and key display stands for PUMA sneakers.  The resulting effect is in the words of the firm, “a strong reminder that we exercise our bodies daily going up and down stairs, and has a visual connection with stadium stairs and podiums too, to bring in PUMA’s important relationship with sports. The stairs bring a sense of movement to the interior, enabling a three-dimensional product display that fully uses its space and allows visitors to experience PUMA’s worldview.”

Pedro Kok recently shared with us a video he shot at the Metropol Parasol. We thought you would enjoy it. Check out our other articles on this design.

In Progress, Update, Opening,  Javier Orive’s Photographs

On October 19th Charlie Rose interviewed OMA founding partner Rem Koolhaas (his fifth appearance on the show).  The discussion ranges from Koolhaas’ current interest in the countryside, rather than the city, his firm’s newly completed Milestein Hall project at Cornell University, and the launch of the book Project Japan: Metabolism Talks written with Hans Ulrich Obrist and edited by Kayoko Ota.  Watch the interview here.

Open Source Ecology is a network of farmers, engineers, and supporters working to complete a DIY Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) – “a modular, DIY, low-cost, open source, high-performance platform that allows for the easy fabrication of the 50 different industrial machines that it takes to build a small, sustainable civilization with modern comforts.”

Continue reading for more information and videos. read more »

Opening in 2013, the Library of Birmingham will be a major new cultural destination, rewriting the book for 21st century public libraries. Designed by international architects Mecanoo, the Library of Birmingham will be located in the city’s Centenary Square. Recently, the author of the architectural videos blog shared with us his time lapse video of the building.

This short film by Pablo Casals-Aguirre captures the formal perfection and daily life within Louis Kahn’s architectural masterpiece, the Salk Institute. Kahn was commissioned in 1959 to design the inspiring facility for scientific research. The iconic facility became a designated San Diego Historical Landmark in 1991 and continues to attract daily admirers from all corners of the earth.

Review detailed information, images and drawings at AD Classics: Salk Institute / Louis Kahn.

The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames are widely regarded as America’s most important designers. Perhaps best remembered for their mid-century plywood and fiberglass furniture, the Eames Office also created a mind-bending variety of other products, from splints for wounded military during World War II, to photography, interiors, multi-media exhibits, graphics, games, films and toys. But their personal lives and influence on significant events in American life — from the development of modernism, to the rise of the computer age — has been less widely understood. Narrated by James Franco, Eames: The Architect and the Painter is the first film dedicated to these creative geniuses and their work opening November 18th at the IFC Center in New York City.

Norman Foster has launched proposals for the Thames Hub as “An Integrated Vision for Britain”. The self-funded collaboration between Foster + Partners, Halcrow and Volterra has produced a detailed, holistic vision for Britain’s future development of infrastructure.

The rapidly population growth and evolving global economy has put pressure on UK’s aged infrastructure. The study describes the Spine, which will combine rail, energy, communications and data throughout the entire length of the UK. The Spine is supported by the proposed Thames Hub, introducing a new river barrier and crossing, an international airport, and a shipping and rail complex.

The Thames Hub plans to maximize Britain trade links with the rest of world, stimulate job creation, and boost the economies of the Midlands and the North by providing direct connections to the cities and markets of Europe.

Continue reading for more detailed information and images.

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‘James Frazer Stirling: Notes from the Archive’ provides a rare glimpse into the works of James Stirling, renowned British architect, Pritzker Prize laureate (1981), and Yale School of Architecture professor, the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), Montréal and the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven have co-organized this impressive exhibit on display at Stirling’s own Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart until January 15th.

Featuring the exhibition curator, Anthony Vidler Dean and Professor of The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union, the video highlights Stirling’s works: the Engineering Building of Leicester University (1959-63), History Faculty Library in Cambridge (1964-67), Florey Building for Queen’s College at Oxford University (1966-71), along with the 1970 competition entry for the New Civic Centre in Derby, Nordhein-Westfallen Museum (1975), and Wallraf-Richartz Museum (1975).  The works ‘reveal Stirling’s wide ranging approach to architectural composition and language, as well as the fundamental importance of historical and modernist architecture to his work.’  On display are more than three hundred original architectural drawings, models and photographs.