In the exteriors of the Arsenale we found Radix, the installation designed by Portuguese office Aires Mateus (Francisco and Manuel Aires Mateus), an elegant contemporary response to the architectural setting of the Biennale.
The installation recognises the nearby docks of the Arsenale designed by Jacopo Sansovino between 1568 and 1573, which is flanked by arched walkways that inspire this structure. Radix is an arch supported on three points with the fourth corner hanging over the water, turning the otherwise massive steel structure into a lightweight balanced volume.
Curated by Toshiko Mori. All architecture must inevitably contend with history and gravity. These two forces are both fundamental and universal; to confront them is accordingly not only to take the crucial step in any attempt to reinvent the contemporary language of architect but to connect to a vast lineage of historical precedents, creating a platform for developing the discipline’s future as well as reflecting on its past. In Toshiko Mori’s case a series of dialogues with five American masters transpired from projects that required her to work next to, in addition to, or in reference to their creations.
Through these projects they discovered that close studies at the level of the detail create moments of complex interchange, both literal and historical, disciplinary and existential. The details presented here are wall sections, the interface between interior and exterior. This minimal one has always been contested: the twentieth century strove for a transparent boundary that could expose interior through psychoanalysis, while the twenty-first century attempts to erase that boundary through virtual space. And so these five pairs of “totems” express common technical and tectonic concerns even as they mark the historical transition of architecture from the pas, through the present, into the future.
The exhibit consists of 10 detailed sections of major architects such as: Frank Lloyd wright, Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson, Marcel Breuer, and Paul Rudolph.
Although our digital age allows us to peruse the latest in fashion, furniture and leisure all digitally, sometimes, there’s nothing quite like mindlessly flipping through the pages of a catalogue. Yet, the digital world is quickly penetrating even the tangible pages of furniture magazines, such as IKEA’s latest 200+ million print copies which are replacing labor intensive sets with digital renditions of furniture layouts and color combinations.
As architects who are constantly bombarded with renderings and spend hours perfecting that chosen perspective, can we spot what’s real and what’s not in the catalgoue pages below? Does that glossy kitchen countertop or fluffy blue couch really exist? Or, did IKEA’s digital modelers work their magic and fool us with the renderings – a move that saves IKEA money and still maintains the desired effect.
Dealing with existing infrastructure has become the most important task facing German architects today. The greatest, most problematic challenge that lies ahead is the downsizing and conversion of postwar buildings, erected from 1950s to the 1970s, which are described as “too unsuitable, too slipshod, too inefficient to serve as housing in the future”. A complete reevaluation of not only of the structures themselves but also the social and historical implications of their unbuilt energy and resources is necessary in order to improve the urban fabric and achieve climatic goals.
In response, the German contribution to the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale, Reduce/Reuse/Recycle, presents sixteen strategies that demonstrate the high degree of creative and architectural potential inherent in an affirmative approach to built architecture.
The Danish Pavilion for the 2012 Venice Biennale will feature a collaboration between Greenlandic and Danish Architects called “Possible Greenland”. The exhibition will address the current development of the Arctic Region as Greenland undergoes a shift towards political independence and business development in the midst of dramatic climate changes. “Possible Greenland” attempts to look optimistically at the climate changes that are causing ice melts throughout Greenland. The shifting planes result in the exposure of vast mineral resources that can kickstart new industries and allow new urban cultures to emerge.
It is interesting to see how global warming is making Greeland a new center, as water around can now be navigable. But we have been warned. While 38 billions worth of oil can be exploted in the area, a disaster can cost way higher (the Deepwater Horizon spill costed 60 billion). The exhibitions approaches every angle to think about the possible future of Greenland. Visitors are exposed to all this facts in a series of diagrams, projects and videos, including a traditional Greenland house with smoked fishes which give the exhibit a particular atmosphere.
The pavilion aspires to shed new light onto the status of Korean Architecture allowing the outside world to acquire a deeper and more in-depth understanding of what is currently relevant in the field of architecture in the country. “Walk in Architecture” expresses an idea and at the same time its paradox; it treats architecture as a place or a subject, like “Walk in Venice” or “Walk in a forest”. Walk is a collective action which combines associations: when you walk you think, you meditate, you observe, you dream, you wonder.
The exhibit is is supported by thin wooden supports, holding drawings, diagrams and video displays. Great examples from a country where pedestrians are taking more space than cars. This takes place at the Korean Pavilion at the Giardini, designed by Seok Chul Kim and Franco Mancuso in 1995.
We visited “Migrating Landscapes”, the installation at the Canada pavilion for the 13th Venice Biennale. This exhibit has been organized and curated by Winnipeg- based 5468796 Architecture and Jae-Sung Chon, who joined together for this project to form the Migrating Landscapes Organizer (MLO). MLO invited, through a national competition, young Canadian architects and designers from a wide range of cultural and educational backgrounds to create scale models of ‘dwellings’ and accompanying videos that draw on cultural memories.
The installation uses pieces of unfinished wood in different sizes, a wooden landscape, where each of the participants “fit” their projects and a panel with a short video. A mix between the roughness of the wood, and the precision you can achieve with this material. My favorite? The Pickle House.
You can find more details about this exhibit in our previous article. More photos by ArchDaily after the break, and soon an interview with the curators!
The life of a city-funded project is a tumultuous one. After winning a design competition early this year and receiving public support to move forward, Diller, Scofidio + Renfro’s “Granite Web” design for the redevelopment of the nineteenth-century Terrace Gardens in Aberdeen, Scotland was recently rejected by the city council in a 22-20 vote. The project promised to bring a revived pulse to the heart of the city centre with a public space that would bring a year-round civic garden onto the “unattractive” Denburn dual carriageway and railway line.
As we shared earlier, the world’s 28-year old creative technological master will team with 83-year-old starachitect for Facebook’s newest addition to their Menlo Park campus. The two, although worlds apart in terms of forte, find common ground in the never ending creative process, and the desire to continually push boundaries of the expected and the ordinary. As we noted in our previous piece, the building will offer a equalized sense of status – no private cubicles or showy corner offices – and encourage a collaborative work environment, admix a warm splash of colors, textures and natural lighting.
Gone from the building will be Gehry’s flashy ways of manipulating sheets of metal, and the resulting superfluous sense of affluence often emitted from these grand structures. Rather, Gehry’s work for Facebook will offer an ”equalizier”, a massive one story warehouse measuring 420,000 sqf, to house the company’s future 2,800 engineers with the underlying intention of fostering a comfortable environment to allow Facebook to keep getting better.
More about the newest headquarters after the break.
In continuing our coverage of the Architecture Billings Index, we share this past month’s score of 48.7 While such a mark still falls in negative territory (any score under 50 indicates a decline in billings), July’s activity was a considerable jump from June’s meager 45.9. And, even better, July’s new projects inquiry index moved up almost two full points to 56.3. Regionally, the South is surprisingly leading the averages with 52.7, followed by the Midwest with 46.7, the West with 45.3, and lastly, the Northeast region capping out at 44.3. In terms of the sector breakdown, multi-family residential remains strong with 51.4 followed by commercial/industrial projects and institutional projects. AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA, explained, “Even though architecture firm billings nationally were down again in July, the downturn moderated substantially. As long as overall economic conditions continue to show improvement, modest declines should shift over to growth in design activity over the coming months.”
While any Frank Lloyd Wright deserves to be preserved in our opinion, this quirky house, which Neil Levine, architectural historian and Harvard professor, went so far as to describe as “one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most innovative, unusual and personal works of architecture” offers us an important glimpse into Wright’s development. Because of its circular spiral plan (completed six years before the Guggenheim), concrete-block detailing, and interior design, the house was (and still is) considered to be one of Wright’s most “remarkable and praiseworthy” efforts since Fallingwater.
Although the situation is dire, work done by the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy has awarded a temporary demo delay while the City of Phoenix decides whether to bestow historic preservation and landmark designation upon the house. This is where you come in. An online petition to the City of Phoenix has been set-up; as of right now, they’re 360 signatures short of their 1,000 person goal.
For almost 40 years no intact Wright building has been intentionally demolished.Let’s make sure we don’t start with this one. Sign the online petition (and then share it on Facebook, twitter, etc.), now!
For more information or to get involved, check out the SAVE WRIGHT page. For more images (including sketches) of the David Wright House, check out the gallery after the break…
UPDATE: This post originally stated that Villa Asserbo was 3D Printed, when in fact its pieces were printed using rapid prototyping technology (a subtractive, rather than additive process).
But today we heard a story about an alternative to 3D Printing‘s capabilities in the here and now - and its implications are pretty exciting.
In a small town outside of Copenhagen, Danish architects Eentileen joined forces with London-based digital fabrication and architecture specialists, Facit Homes, to create Villa Asserbo: a 1,250 square foot, sustainable home made from Nordic plywood fabricated via CNC miller and easily “snapped” together.
No heavy machinery, no cranes, no large labor force. Just a couple of guys, a few easily printed pieces, and six weeks.
Get more details about this sustainable, printed House, after the break…
As previously announced, the Portuguese architects behind “OCO – Ocean & Coastline Observatory” have won Habitat for Humanity’s Open Architecture Challenge: RESTRICTED ACCESS 2011. Over 500 teams from 74 countries submitted innovative solutions for the recovery and reuse of disabled and abandoned military sites. These submissions were filtered down to 13 finalists by a jury of 33 esteemed professionals. The Lisbon-based architects of OCO claimed grand prized with their vision to redevelop a desolate military site, that once defended the coast of Trafaria in Portugal, into a civic space that promotes coastal preservation.
Staten Island, arguably New York’s most often forgotten borough, may finally be getting its moment in the spotlight. Talks are in the works of creating a giant 600 ft Ferris wheel near the Staten Island Ferry Terminal to generate activity for the waterfront. To put 600 feet in perspective, think bigger than the Singapore Flyer at 451 feet and the London Eye’s 450 ft marker, and much bigger than Coney Island’s Wonder Wheel at 150 feet. While millions enjoy the free trip across the harbor on the ferry every year, few venture far from the boat. The Ferris Wheel is intended to capitalize on the Island’s amazing views of Manhattan and build up the Island’s visitor flow. “It’s the greatest thing that has been proposed for Staten Island, especially on the waterfront. This could landmark us. We have 2 million tourists a year on the ferry, so we have a built-in audience to use it, and it’s a different audience every day. Once you can attract them off that boat, you got them here,” James Molinaro, the borough president, stated.
BoomSPDesign is at it again! Now in its fifth addition, the creative design, architecture and art forum has quickly become known for attracting elite creatives from around the globe to share their passions in this unique, Sao Paulo forum. Centered around all things creative, the three day event will commence on August 22nd at the Centro Universitario Belas Artes de Sao Paulo.
Curator and cultural promoter Roberto Cocenza stated: “This year we are connecting, via Sao Paulo, two continents, Old World with the New World: We have the German Juergen Mayer H. bringing the sophistication of European thought and sensibility, with his intricate architectural patterns, and then we have Fernando Romero, a young talent from Mexico that with his rambunctious Sumaya Museum quickly entered the pantheon of iconic contemporary architecture.”
The American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC) has announced the 2012 Design Award Recipients. Since 1982, AIACC has recognized excellence in architecture and design through the AIACC Design Awards Program. An esteemed Design Awards jury has selected these award winners out of 300 submittals. Continue after the break to review the projects!
At a time when sustainability is high on the agenda and construction costs continue to soar, many Cambridge residents are questioning a proposal to demolish a sound and respected school building to replace it with a new school one that will strive to be a “green facility”. The Martin Luther King Elementary School (1968-1971) was designed by Catalan architect Josep Lluis Sert (Sert, Jackson and Associate). As it stands today, the school compliments the many other buildings in Cambridge that Sert worked on while also teaching at Harvard University, including the Peabody Terrace Graduate Housing complex just across the street.
Read on to find out what the community is doing to save the building from demolition and why it can prove to be a more sustainable option for the city.
Alred Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980), who would have turned 113 today, is often known as the “Master of Suspense.” But we here at ArchDaily would like to tweak that moniker slightly, to the Master Architect of Suspense.
Hitchcock, who actually worked as a set designer in the 1920s, not only maintained meticulous control over his film sets as a director (many of which were mounted in studio), but incorporated many architectural themes into the narratives themselves.
More on Hitchcock’s use of Architecture, after the break…
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