Author: Evan Pavka | ArchDaily

The Politics of Vacancy: The History, and Future, of Toronto's Condo Euphoria

Evan Pavka — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 07:00:00 +0000

This article was originally published on ArchDaily on 13 February 2018.

How Surrealism Has Shaped Contemporary Architecture

Evan Pavka — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 09:30:00 +0000

In 1924 writer André Breton penned the Surrealist Manifesto, which called to destabilize the divides between dreams and reality, between objectivity and subjectivity. For many architects who had been—and continue to be—interested in the fundamental role of the built environment, Breton’s surrealist thinking provided a rich resource to examine the role architecture plays in forming reality. Since then, from Salvador Dali and Frederick Kiesler to Frank Gehry, Surrealism has profoundly shaped architecture in the 20th century.

10 Exuberant Will Alsop Works

Evan Pavka — Sat, 26 May 2018 08:00:00 +0000

The late British architect Will Alsop was noted for his exuberant and irreverent attitude that took material form in his expressive, painterly portfolio of educational, civic, and residential works. At the ripe age of 23, he was awarded second place in the 1971 Centre Georges Pompidou. From there, he went on to work for the ever humorous Cedric Price before establishing his practice with John Lyall, and eventually many others, in the early 1980s. With a career spanning almost fifty years, here are ten iconic works from an architect who never missed an opportunity to play.

Love in Las Vegas: 99% Invisible Illuminates Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown’s Postmodern Romance

Evan Pavka — Thu, 24 May 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Which building is better, the duck or the ornamented shed? More importantly, what kind of architecture does the average American prefer? In their landmark 1972 publication Learning From Las Vegas, Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi probed these questions by turning their back on paternalistic modernism in favor of the glowing, overtly kitsch, and symbolic Mecca of the Las Vegas strip. From a chance encounter during a meeting in the Library of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania and shared trips to the strip to critically shaping a new generation of architects, discover the hidden details of the romance and city that defined postmodernism in this latest episode from 99% Invisible.

This Instagram Account Uses Paper Cut-Outs to Turn Architecture Into Surreal Scenes

Evan Pavka — Tue, 01 May 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Have you ever thought a building looked suspiciously similar to a futuristic tank? Or, perhaps a gothic spire was eerily reminiscent of a matchstick? You’re not alone. Rich McCor, aka paperboy, has been traveling the world since 2015 filling his Instagram account with whimsical photographs of black paper cut-outs that transform often serious works of architecture into playful cartoon-like images.

Somali Architecture Students Digitally Preserve Their Country's Heritage—Before It's Too Late

Evan Pavka — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 09:30:00 +0000

Since the start of civil war in 1991, the political and architectural landscapes of the East African country of Somalia have been unstable. While the country’s urban centers, such as the capital city Mogadishu, boast a diverse fabric of historic mosques, citadels, and monuments alongside modernist civic structures, the decades of conflict have resulted in the destruction of many important structures. And, while the fighting has substantially subsided in recent years, the future of the country's architectural heritage is still far from secure.

Why Are Architects So Obsessed With Piet Mondrian?

Evan Pavka — Sun, 01 Apr 2018 09:30:00 +0000

In the 1920s, Dutch-born artist Piet Mondrian began painting his iconic black grids populated with shifting planes of primary colors. By moving beyond references to the world around him, his simplified language of lines and rectangles known as Neo Plasticism explored the dynamics of movement through color and form alone. Though his red, yellow and blue color-blocked canvases were important elements of the De Stijl movement in the early 1900s, almost a century later Mondrian’s abstractions still inspire architects across the globe.

City of Los Angeles Appoints Inaugural Chief Design Officer

Evan Pavka — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 16:00:00 +0000

Recently, long-standing architecture critic for the LA Times Christopher Hawthorne announced that he was stepping down to take up the position of chief design officer for the City of Los Angeles in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s administration. According to Hawthorne, the role will involve raising “the quality of public architecture and urban design across the city — and the level of civic conversation about those subjects.” This dramatic shift from the question: what is the role of the critic and architecture criticism in shaping civic architecture?

Moshe Safdie Discusses His Unbuilt Work and Timeless Meaning In Architecture

Evan Pavka — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 14:00:00 +0000

While Moshe Safdie may be more well known for the bold forms defining his portfolio of built projects—ranging from the National Gallery of Canada and the horizontal Raffles City Chongqing to the iconic Habitat 67—the architect considers his unbuilt works as important, if not more. Safdie ponders the role of these projects and more in PLANE-SITE’s latest addition to the series Time-Space-Existence.

Modular Installation Provides Temporary Housing For Refugees Beneath Paris Bridge

Evan Pavka — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 12:00:00 +0000

As hundreds of refugees continue to arrive in Paris, France, the city faces an ongoing struggle to find safe and suitable housing for the influx of migrants. As a result, many end up sleeping in underused urban spaces or on the side of the road with almost no access to water, sanitation, and food.

This Instagram Account Collects Hilarious Construction Fails and Home Improvement Disasters

Evan Pavka — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 08:00:00 +0000

We’ve all seen them: cringeworthy designs and abysmal construction fails. For architects and designers, it's difficult not to hone in on the details of every space we encounter. And, it’s even harder not to laugh at doors incapable of opening, plaster jobs that could have been completed by a 4-year old, and an overly liberal use of caulking to solve any construction mishap.

Amanda Levete Architects Unveil Oxford University Addition

Evan Pavka — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 06:00:00 +0000

London-based AL_A, spearheaded by Amanda Levete, have revealed their design for two new buildings at the Wadham College site of the historic Oxford University in England. The Dr. Lee Shau Kee Building and William Doo Undergraduate Centre will provide much-needed space for undergraduate services to support the University's access programs as well as new gathering places for the student body. The firm has been developing the expansion since securing the project after an invited design competition in the summer of 2016.

99% Invisible Investigates the Utopian and Dystopian Histories of the Bijlmermeer

Evan Pavka — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 14:00:00 +0000

How can we plan a better city? The answer has confounded architects and urban planners since the birth of the industrial city. One attempt at answering came in the form of a spectacular modernist proposal outside of Amsterdam called the Bijlmermeer. And, as a new two-part episode by 99% Invisible reveals, it failed miserably. But, like all histories, the story is not as simple as it first appears.

Sou Fujimoto and Coldefy & Associés Propose a Sweeping Canopy for French Court House

Evan Pavka — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Sou Fujimoto and Coldefy & Associés Architects Urban Planners’ proposal for a pale sweeping canopy enclosing a stacked glazed volume was among the four finalists for the new Palais de justice in Lille, France organized by the Public Agency for Justice’s Real Estate (APIJ). Though the competition drew 139 international proposals, from which OMA was ultimately selected, Fujimoto and Coldefy & Associés' graceful structure was designed to house the high and district courts as well as public spaces within a facility in dialogue with its natural surroundings.

UAE Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale to Explore Human-scale Landscapes and Social Spaces

Evan Pavka — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 06:00:00 +0000

As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage we present the proposal for the UAE Pavilion. Below, the participants describe their contribution in their own words.

Ice Breakers Exhibition Brings Interactive Public Art to Toronto's Waterfront

Evan Pavka — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:00:00 +0000

An “Ice Breaker” is a colloquial term used to connote something that relieves inhibitions or breaks the tension between people. In Toronto, Ice Breakers is an annual international design competition for innovative public works that break up the dreary, seemingly endless winter with engaging, colorful, and humorous installations along the city’s waterfront that encourage spontaneous interaction.

Sustainable Proposal Envisions Krakow's New Science Center as a Tiered Garden

Evan Pavka — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 06:00:00 +0000

OVO Grąbczewscy Architekci's stacked garden-like proposal has been awarded third place in a competition for the new Małopolska Science Center in Krakow, Poland. The competition brief asked for the design of an innovative cultural institution with an iconic architectural form that would represent creativity, openness and independent thinking. As a reflection of both the city and the region, the center is also intended to provide a model for sustainable construction, energy efficiency, and education that inspires immersive visitor engagement.

This Medieval Town is Built Inside a Crater and Composed of Millions of Diamonds

Evan Pavka — Sun, 18 Feb 2018 16:00:00 +0000

From the greystone of Montreal to the limestone of Jerusalem, every city has its own iconic identity read through the city’s urban fabric. Scanning the architecture of the 1,110-year-old German town of Nördlingen, the timber frame homes, red pitched roofs, and winding streets appear identical in almost every regard to many quaint medieval communities populating the European countryside.