May 8th marks the 70-year anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, when Germany’s Third Reich surrendered to the Allied forces. To commemorate the anniversary, Konstantin von zur Muehlen has released “Spirit of Berlin,” a short color film with historic footage showing everyday life in the German capital in July 1945 -- just two months after the end of the war.
Learn more after the break.
The medium of film has long been employed to visualise, document and narrate architectural and urban space. Since the advent of more accessible devices to capture and record these journeys and explorations it has been used more frequently by practices and students in an attempt to develop new ways of experiencing built designs. #donotsettle, a YouTube channel established by two architects and urban enthusiasts while studying at TUDelft in The Netherlands, seeks to reconcile the disparity between film as architectural representation and as an experiential medium. Although not high in production value, their films are exciting examples of how user-oriented architectural 'vlogging' can uncover an entirely new way of understanding the world around us, imbued with a refreshing level of enthusiasm and authenticity.
French architect and filmmaker Vincent Hecht recently revisited Sou Fujimoto's House N, seven years after its completion, as part of his ongoing Japanese Collection series. Nestled within a traditional Oita neighborhood, the renowned family home resembles "living among the clouds," as Fujimoto once described. A rich layering of space carefully eliminates the notion of distinct boundaries, allowing a subtle shift in program to place a heightened awareness on the spaces in-between.
Bjarke Ingels has built a reputation for formulating new urban hybrids. From merging power plants with ski slopes to reintroducing nature to the workspace, Ingels' well-respected practice BIG is missioned to realize the fictitious world we all dream to inhabit by redefining conventional building typologies. An example of this is the Danish practice's New York "courtscraper" - W57, a clever union of the courtyard building and skyscraper that guarantees sunlight to all its inhabitants. Watch the video above to learn more.
Building up to the May 9 opening of OMA's Fondazione Prada, Italian filmmakers Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine have released 15-video series that captures the rhythmic and somewhat "transient" nature of the project's last month of construction. Part of a long ongoing relationship between Prada and OMA, the highly anticipated venue will be an "unusually diverse environment" sculpted from a historic 20th-century distillery south of Milan's city center that will be used to exhibit art.
Since its creation in the first half of the 20th century, the LEGO brick has come to be used for much more than its original purpose as a children’s toy.
We’ve seen LEGOs used to create replicas of classic architecture, urban interventions, virtual games and even an entire house. Now, a new video highlights the bricks’ potential as a formwork for creating furniture. The bricks' ability to be easily assembled and disassembled makes for an efficient and easy-to-create formwork, which when filled with concrete and left to set creates these incredible, textured nesting tables.
Watch the video above for a tutorial on making the tables -- does anyone dare try it themselves?
Fernando Schapochnik’s 1 minute series – a set of four videos of iconic buildings in Europe – aims to create a sensory interaction with the spaces. Filmed using only a cellphone, the videos rely on textures, sounds, rhythms and varying speeds to narrate the viewer's relationship with the spaces, letting the senses guide the experience. Journey through Le Corbusier’s Ronchamp, Antoni Gaudí’s Park Guell, SANAA’s Rolex Learning Center and OMA’s Kunsthal after the break.
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"In architecture, in buildings, in a restaurant for instance, we extract the story."
In the latest from Crane.tv, New York City is examined through a miniseries highlighting the work of David Rockwell in celebration of the Rockwell Group’s 30th anniversary. The retrospective collection visits the original Nobu restaurant, industrial Shinola store, innovative Chef’s Club, and groundbreaking Imagination Playground, while Rockwell shares his approach to creating spaces that are responsive to their occupants.
Watch all four short films, after the break.
"I would say we're at the intersection of people, art, and technology..." In this latest Archiculture extras interview, Peter Bohlin, architect and president of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, sits down with Arbuckle Industries to discuss the nature of architecture. He addresses some of the design challenges he faced when developing the 5th Avenue Apple Store and how he ultimately overcame them. Additionally, he provides his perspective on the attributes of "good architects" and the mindset of these individuals. He goes on to discuss the role of architects, and the challenges he anticipates for this discipline in the future.
We teamed up with Building Pictures, Filipa Figueira and Tiago Vieira to feature weekly episodes of their video series “Arquitectura à Moda do Porto,” which highlights Porto’s most significant buildings over the last two decades.
The series launched in 2013 and is composed of 10 episodes, each focusing on a different theme: light, stairs, balconies, nature, textures, doors, windows, skylights, pavements and structures.
Last week we featured the series’ ninth episode about Porto’s pavements, and now we present Episode 10 – Structures. Read the producers’ description of the series' last episode after the break.
"What I love about architecture is it really is the art form that we all encounter, it's larger than life, it's what you can't avoid." In this installment of Arbuckle Industries' Archiculture interviews, author and urban design critic John King dissects the role of the public in architectural practice and the mindset of those who get involved. He goes on to discuss the defining characteristics of successful, seasoned architects, and compares their mentality to that of emerging architects. Additionally, King touches on the subject of architectural criticism and how the profession came about.
This installment of Vincent Hecht's "Classic Japan" series takes you through Kenzo Tange's 1958 Kagawa Prefectural Government Hall. Emulating traditional Japanese wood construction, the reinforced concrete structure forms an L-shape around a central courtyard with a connecting eight-story administrative office tower and low-rise assembly hall.
Sydney Opera House recently created a video exploring how Jørn Utzon was inspired by the form and function of nature. While Jørn Utzon may not have seen himself as a pioneer of sustainable techniques, sustainability was inherent in his design philosophy. Watch the video above to learn more.
"I think what you see visually in terms of how you live can definitely make a difference on how you view life."
Crafted from pure silver and standing at 40-centimeters-tall, the Loa and Vesu vases by Zaha Hadid Architects are as bold and dynamic as the firm's architecture. In this fascinating video, watch Austrian silversmiths Wiener Silber Manufactur handcraft the ornamental vases in their Viennese studio using a combination of traditional and modern techniques. Designed by Zaha Hadid, Patrik Schumacher, and a team of four designers, the vases reference "the volcanic forces of expansion and compression, subtle fluctuations and distortions of ripples", and are both as functional as they are sculptural.
Watch RNT Architects discuss The Quad, their new Business, Arts & Humanities building for San Diego City College in this short video from Breadtruck Films. The result of seven years of "doing the drawings...watching the construction... building the volumes and the spaces," The Quad brings together two faculties that are "different in purpose and function differently" to create a "place for learning and social interaction."
Tokyo-based French architect and filmmaker Vincent Hecht has captured the opening of Sou Fujimoto’s polyhedral Naoshima Pavilion on the Kagawa shoreline in Japan. The inhabitable, seven-meter, white stainless steel structure is part of the 2016 Setouchi Triennale. Watch the video above for a closer look.
Pritzker laureate Frei Otto was best known for his tensile structures. A prime example Otto’s ingenuity, the 1972 Olympic Stadium in Munich was a collaborative work with Gunther Behnisch that connected the park’s main programs - the natatorium, gymnasium and main stadium - with a whimsical, lightweight canopy structure that mimicked the “rhythmic protrusions” of the Swiss Alps. Watch the Spirit of Space short film above to see the project in its current state and learn more about the pioneering structure, here.
