I can’t believe I’ve written this blog for over a year and never bothered to define Architecture. A glaring ommission to be sure. Perhaps I could get some help on this one? What’s a good definition of “Architecture” ?

Architecture is often considered a social art of function adjustment that seeks an implicit idea of permanence and formal consistency. This usually results in a demand for a creation that sustains the progress of time in an attitude of survival and maturation. However, on this intervention by architecture firms FREE and OODA, the building’s integration and urban landscape was based on the awareness of the direct relationship that the site has with works by internationally renowned architects (SANAA and Alcino Soutinho) and in compliance with the heterogeneity of the surrounding urban fabric. Thus, the building assumes its identity but deliberately quiet and in continuity with the pre-existence. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The plan CHAINREACTION created by a multi-disciplinary team led by Joep van der Veen and Tom Bokkers recently won the bi-annual Ymere Nai prize. CHAINREACTION gives an answer to how the city of Haarlem can develop itself as an essential part of the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam and carefully delineates East Haarlem’s (Haarlem-Oost) role in this scenario. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The “Urban Interventions” civic association, in collaboration with the Vallo Sadovský Architects studio, have prepared an instant urban intervention under a bridge. The situation in regard to quality of the environment at the bus terminal under the New Bridge in Bratislava has been bad for a long time. People have to wait for their bus connections in a totally unsuitable area, and we consider it a disgrace that the city of Bratislava leaves its citizens and tax-payers to function in such an inadequate environment. More images and architects’ description after the break.

NAUTA Architecture & Research, in collaboration with P.B.A. Architectural Design Ltd. shared with us their design for the Yunlong Digital and Technology Park. Sustainability in a fast urbanization calls for simplicity, sobriety, pragmatism and elegance. The most efficient way to emerge in a screaming parade is silence. The design for the business park provides R&D offices and facilities for innovation industry, which focuses on mid-high level of the market. More images and architects’ description after the break.

A metallic Los Angeles dawn. The streets are dry [Unlike film shoots where they spray them down for that surreal reflective quality. Or maybe that was only in the eighties and nineties when they did this, but he thinks the history of the street location wet-down must have started much earlier, peaking at the height of the drought specter--but there is perpetual drought here. When the citizens of the realm were asked to let their lawns die and bathe quickly the preponderance of wet streets on film increased dramatically. He's almost positive of this. At which point it also becomes a sort of trope for car ads. A study of aforementioned car ads will reveal that 65% were shot in various abandoned and decrepit late-night downtown post-industrial locations. A significant subset of these were staged with moistened blacktop. He’s not certain what the ads were trying to insinuate. The figure driving was always opaqued behind dark windows and the cars were always speeding through the empty streets, though much of that could have just been CGI.] but his windscreen is still streaking with the dew that started out on his car at his point of departure. He thinks it’s really too early to be down here.

For our 8th selection of previously featured retail projects we have five great buildings from Europe, all published in 2009. Check them all after the break.

Esseker Center / Produkcija 004 In 2002 we won an urban architectural competition for one of the rare not built plots in the historical center of Osijek. Urban part has to give a solution that will connect the main city square and the promenade along Drava River. The building has to put together: public garage, shopping center, offices and the housing on one side and to fit into the existing urban tissue on the other side (read more…)

“So no, I don’t accept that the future is over-sold : it’s productised an as a result it’s over constrained by our current ways of thinking and immediate practices …”

- Rachel Armstrong, letter to ARUP

Have you ever wondered how a single cell can finally transform in a complex organism? And how the survival of this organism depends on the key relations set with its species and the environment. The same questions could be applied when talking about our cities. If we see humankind as the top of evolution, the obvious consequence is to see nature as a resource to achieve all of our goals. The adoption of “Sustainable Development” concept is just another way to name the same behaviour adding a green make-up.

But what if we perceive humankind and its manifestations as part of nature? In this case, natural and technological systems should coexist, and their survival depends on reaching an equilibrium in their exchanges of matter and energy. Some forward thinkers have been spreading this message. Now we can found compiled some of them in the new issue of KERB magazine: Paradigms of Nature. Post Natural Futures.

Jenn Kennedy, author of Success by Design and AD collaborator, shared with us this interesting video in which she asked an influential group of architects about their business direction. These testimonials by Dan Meis, Art Gensler, Lauren Rottet and Steven Ehrlich give us valuable insights on running a successful firm.

Within the location from which the project for the sick childcare home is designed, considering the delicate topic, the basic concept of AVP_arhitekti‘s design is site. All other concepts (space, building, construction, physical production, form design) are subject to that basic concept and are obliged to support it. Attention is directed to the welfare of children. Spaces, materials, and organizational schemes are designed to support the general atmosphere of tranquility, security, comfort, safe internal communication, linked external and internal spaces and intimate courtyards.

The project thus possesses a modest significance of the preferred construction system, unusual geometry and coerced approach to plot which at the end are those (heavy, external) factors on which the concept is tested and detailed to a mathematical precision. More images and project description after the break.

The AIA just reported September’s Architecture Billings Index measuring 46.9, a sharp drop since August’s 51.4. Such a low index reflects a decrease in demand for design services, and the new projects inquiry index was 54.3, down from a reading of 56.9 the previous month. “It appears that the positive conditions seen last month were more of an aberration,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “The economy is weak enough at present that design activity is bouncing around more than usual; one strong month can be followed by a weak one. The economy needs to be stronger to generate sustained growth in design activity.” Regional averages place the Midwest first with as score of 51.0, with the Northeast following at 50.8, South at 47.3 and West at 46.7. As we’ve been seeing, the commercial/industrial sector is leading with 52.4.

Solid Objectives – Idenburg Liu (SO – IL), the architectural practice of Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu in New York, was awarded the first prize in an open call by the Flemish Government Architect to design an 500 m2 community center for a small village in Flemish-speaking Belgium. Out of 5 designs, SO – IL’s solution was considered the most appropriate. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Melbourne-based architectural practice Lyons has brought together a panel of leading architects and designers to discuss the central theme of this year’s Melbourne Architecture Annual, What makes a home?

The panel discussion, “Talking Homes”, will take place at Lyons’ Bourke Street office on October 25th from 5-6pm and will feature; Jill Garner, Victoria’s Associate Government Architect; Dr Karen Burns, from the Faculty of Art and Design at Monash University; and Rachael Nolan, of the award winning Melbourne architectural practice Kennedy Nolan. More information on the event after the break.

Our projects from the archives this week include a 15 meter cantilevered vernacular house, a bamboo sustainable campus, and two projects – a house and a cultural center – that both utilize perforated metal as an exterior facade. We couldn’t help but include the hundred foot house, a gallery with a rain skin of natural cedar, a guest house that was assembled in just one day, and a museum and house that both incorporate polycarbonate as a main material in the design.  Featured after the break are these projects and their highlights along with a link to their original project feature on ArchDaily.

Bystrup’s innovative T-Pylon design has been unanimously agreed by the judging panel as the winner of the Pylon Design competition run by the Department of Energy & Climate Change, National Grid, and the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Update: The AIA has expressed their support for Gehry Technologies’ strategic alliance (reported last night on ArchDaily).  “We applaud this enterprise by Gehry Technologies and the Board who are comprised of many AIA members because it is estimated that as much as 30% to as much as 50% of all time, money, materials and resources that go into a construction project do not add value to the final product,” said AIA President, Clark Manus, FAIA. “The AIA has long been advocating for tools such as Business Information Modeling and methodologies like Integrated Project Delivery that can help reduce the inefficiencies in construction projects. We are anxious to see the progress though this effort that will be beneficial for both the industry and clients.”

Today Frank Gehry, co-founder and chairman of Gehry Technologies (GT), announced plans to further his vision to ‘transform the building industry and the practice of design’. In an effort to redirect the profession back to solving both clients’ and communities’ problems Gehry has gathered together some of the world’s most prominent designers: David Childs, Massimo Colomban, Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn, Laurie Olin, Wolf D. Prix, David Rockwell, Moshe Safdie, Matthias Schuler, Patrik Schumacher, Ben van Berkel, and Richard Saul Wurman to serve on Gehry Technologies’ board of advisors.

“I am dedicated to giving architects better control of the process so they can deliver the fruits of their imagination, which is what our clients expect. I have gathered a group of my friends together who believe in this mission as much as I do and who can help me find the solutions that will ultimately lead to better buildings throughout the world,” stated Gehry.

GRAPHISOFT recently released an innovative, interactive BIM communication tool for architects. The add-on for ArchiCAD 15, BIMx, is an easy-to-use mobile design demonstration tool for exploring, communicating and sharing building concepts.

Through BIMx, ArchiCAD 15 users gain unprecedented ability to share entire BIM models with anyone through an interactive community on Facebook or through iOS devices. BIMx demonstrations can be executed on a desktop computer or laptop as well. More information and some images after the break.

The BMW Guggenheim Lab recently dismantled its mobile laboratory in New York City, and after two exciting months it is vital to reflect on the conversations and ideas that were sparked by its discussions, lectures, workshops and screenings. This impromptu laboratory / forum / classroom, free and open to the public, was situated on the corner of Houston Street and 2nd Avenue in a sliver of a lot in First Park in the Lower East Side of Downtown Manhattan. Since August 3rd it has hosted charged discussions focused on architecture, urban studies, environmental concerns and community participation.

On October 5th, the lab hosted the screening of The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream (2004), directed by Gregory Greene and produced by Barry Silverthorn. With brutal honesty it presents the threats of our current lifestyle, particularly the suburban lifestyle, and the displacement of the long established tradition of “American Dream” by way of its ecological ramifications.

Read on for more on the documentary!

What do we know about designing for individuals with autism? Those concerned with sensory issues are split on some issues. Some say we should limit daylight and exterior views, keep ceiling heights low and spatial volumes small, use restrained details, subdued colors, and reduce acoustical levels. Others advocate for high ceiling heights, large spatial volumes, and high levels of daylight with plenty of views to the outside. Still others disagree with catering to sensory needs altogether. They point out that individuals with autism struggle generalizing skills, and designing sensory heavens can do more harm than good. Thus they argue for autism classrooms, schools, and homes that mimic all the colors, sounds, lighting, and spatial volumes of “neuro-typical” environments. So who is right?

Pritzker Prize architect Frank Gehry’s designs are not shy to controversy, however the monumental significance of this design has raised the Gehry debate to an even higher level. The winning design of the GSA Design Excellence Program competition that began in 2008, Gehry Partners were chosen from forty-four design firms, then narrowed down to four finalists at which time the panel evaluated previous work, conducted interviews, and responses to the memorial’s pre-design program.

Upon selection Gehry Partners provided 3 options for the Eisenhower Memorial Commission to choose from and the final design was unanimously selected in March 2010 and featured here on ArchDaily. However since the initial design was revealed it has been met with debate, including a competition hosted by the National Civic Art Society this past spring inviting classical architects to submit alternative designs for the Eisenhower Memorial.

Update: Eisenhower’s grandson David, a commissioner for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, has not publicly voiced support for or against the Gehry/Wilson design.

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An Open Call for five temporary urban interventions has just been launched for Guimarães 2012 – European Capital of Culture. Performance Architecture is an international ideas competition curated by Pedro Gadanho. It will offer kick-start prizes of 12.000€ to promote the appropriation of controversial public spaces by city inhabitants. The competition invites multidisciplinary teams of artists, architects, designers, and others to reactivate performance art strategies and participative architectures within the urban realm. Members of the juri include Santiago Cirugeda, Didier Fiuza Faustino, A77, Raumlabor, and Office for Subversive Architecture. Proposals may be submitted online until the 6th January 2012. More info and regulation available here.

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Architecture has taken over the month of October (or, should we say Archtober) in New York as the city’s Architecture and Design Month provides scores of activities, programs and exhibitions throughout the month. The program, which runs out of The Center for Architecture, seeks to raise awareness about the important role of design in our daily lives, and to celebrate New York’s richness of such a built environment. This week on Archtober’s calendar of events, we are looking forward to the beginning of the Architecture & Design Film Festival at Tribeca Cinema (featuring 31 varied films!) and Architecture for Humanity’s Design Like You Give a Damn lecture later in the week. National Design week starts up on Sunday and there’s an interesting lecture about the history of urban waterfronts next Thursday. Plus, be sure to check out a walking tour of the September 11 and Irish Hunger Memorials on Sunday, the 30, and to round out the month, how about a Halloween parade at the Center for Architecture. In addition to the events, every day of the month has an associated “Building of the Day”. We spotted some ArchDaily favorites on the list that you may want to tour such as 41 Cooper Square (October 20); The Highline (October 22); New Amsterdam Pavilion (October 23); Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center (October 25); and The Standard Hotel (October 28).

The New Taipei City Museum of Art proposal by Volkan Alkanoglu | DESIGN seeks to educate and motivate lifestyles through art and culture; thus promoting artistic creations as a moment in a time greater than none. The design incorporates a well planned program distribution emphasizing the important relationship of art as lifestyle and lifestyle as art. More images and architects’ description after the break.