On Monday, August 24, the Harvard Graduate School of Design opened its main Fall 2015 exhibition Living Anatomy: An Exhibition About Housing. Focusing on the past 50 years, the mixed-media exhibition features both built and academic work and showcases innovative approaches and solutions to housing in contexts around the world.
SarasotaMOD is an architectural festival, this year celebrating Paul Rudolph and the opening of SAF's Walker Guest House Replica at The Ringling Museum of Art. The Guest House was designed by Rudolph in 1952 and the original still stands on Sanibel Island, Florida, USA.
What moves us humans, physically and emotionally? This is the theme explored by the protagonist of modern architecture Le Corbusier (1887-1965) as well as by the great Danish artist Asger Jorn (1914-1973) in their architecture, art and writings. With the exhibition What moves us? Le Corbusier & Asger Jorn, Museum Jorn brings the two artists and thinkers who both wanted to change the world together again.
What will workshop participants learn?
We are happy to announce that Building Trust will be working with a community in Kuakata, Barishal, Bangladesh and local Architects to design and build a cyclone resistance low cost house for a family in need. Bangladesh is a river-based country whose coastal areas are frequently affected by natural disasters such as cyclones.1000's of houses are destroyed annually; entire villages are eradicated during such disasters. It is due to this problem that our team has been requested to organise a workshop to find a new housing solution.
Frustrated with the congestion of panhandlers, Mayor Bill de Blasio has shocked New York City dwellers by threatening to remove their beloved Times Square. As New York Times' architecture critic Michael Kimmelman reports, this comes at a time when dwellers fear that quality of life is declining in the city: "Entertaining the demolition of the plazas, the mayor sends a message that New York can’t support the sort of great pedestrian hubs that thrive in competing cities around the globe." Blasio said he will look into the "pros and cons" of returning Times Square to traffic. Read Kimmelman's full report on Blasio's threats, here.
Beijing-born architect Ma Yansong, founder and principal of MAD Architects, will be delivering a lecture at LACMA on September 15th at 7:30pm. He will discuss his work and his concept of "Shanshui City," which is his vision to create a new balance between society, the city, and the environment through new forms of architecture. Ma is recognized as an important voice in the new generation of architects with projects in Asia, Europe, Canada, and the US. Works include Absolute Towers; Beijing 2050; China Wood Sculpture Museum; Harbin Cultural Island; Hutong Bubble 32; Ordos Museum; and Pingtan Art Museum.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Rahul Mehrotra—conservationist, architect and author of Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral MEGACITY—talks to Shiny Varghese about his belief that the current notion of a 'smart city' is about "blanket replication, [which] will result in gated communities and flattening of the city, driven by infrastructure and investment." He argues that this approach "will create a form of exclusion."
Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Daniel Libeskind, Nieto Sobejano, Denise Scott Brown and Philip Treacy reveal the childhood recollections that have shaped their outstanding visions and work.
For a recent article in The New York Times, Derek Watkins examines "what China has been building in the South China Sea." Employing high resolution satellite imagery and diagrams, his article investigates why—and how—China have been dredging and dumping sand in a bid to construct inhabitable artificial islands. Political and diplomatic concerns aside, the article also touches upon the technical requirements necessary to reclaim land from the oceans.
On the 25th and 26th September The Gallery on the Corner in Battersea is opening its doors for the first solo exhibition of the Architectural Artist Minty Sainsbury.
Studying Architecture at Cambridge has not only influenced her choice of subject matter but has also taught her to draw with an eye for detail and a spatial understanding of composition.
Part of the exhibition will be a series of street views in which the building in focus is drawn in rich detail and the contextual surroundings are left as silhouettes. By concealing the focal building behind the faceless structures, Sainsbury references a visual experience that you would experience yourself walking in the city streets.
With no end in sight to the current residential building boom in New York City, 2016 looks to be another busy year for the A/E/C industry. Join Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) and a slate of industry experts to discuss current trends in new residential design and construction, as well as opportunities for investigation and rehabilitation/adaptive reuse of existing buildings.
Research grants of up to $15,000 will be awarded to one or two mid-career professionals who have an academic background, professional experience and an established identity in one or more of the following fields: historic preservation, architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, environmental planning, architectural history and the decorative arts. The James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation will consider proposals for the research and/or the execution of the preservation-related projects in any of these fields. Applications for 2016 funding are now being accepted. Applications must be submitted by October 15, 2015, 11PM EST. More information here.
The International Architectural Education Summit (IAES) will take place during September 9-11, 2015. The 4th IAES summit will take place at The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Centre in Singapore. The registration for this upcoming event is now open.
It's no secret that most architects who are also parents want their children to follow in their footsteps. But how can we encourage our children to think like architects – critically, spatially and creatively? For parents in Manhattan, for the past five years Rockwell Group's Imagination Playground has provided an answer. The educational play system consists of large-scale blocks of varying sizes and uses, allowing children to build whatever they can imagine – without the long hours and deadlines. Now, with the release of Imagination Playground 3D Builder, the creative platform is now available digitally, for free.
You have until September 1 to apply for the American Institute of Architect's (AIA) Upjohn Research Initiative. The Upjohn program funds up to six research grants of $15,000-$30,000 per recipient annually for projects completed in a six to 18 month period. Proposals should address the value of design, practice issues, or novel materials and methods of construction. The research should relate to architectural knowledge that can readily be applied/transferred within the discipline. Read on for 2015's preferred themes.
Update: The competition deadline has been extended to September 11, 2015.
London-based architects Aukett Swanke, in partnership with the Royal Exchange and Oxford Properties, has announced its new competition for recent graduates to design six new market barrows located at The Royal Exchange in London:
Panelists: Sou Fujimoto, Japanese architect, renowned for his synthesis of nature and architecture & Walter Hood, landscape architect, specializing in the public realm and urban environment
Moderator: Reed Kroloff, architect and urban designer, former director of Cranbrook Academy of Art
Exhibition, “Anthony Ames: Object-Type Landscapes” is presented and curated by New York-based non-profit Curatorial Project in collaboration with Anthony Ames Architect of Atlanta, Georgia. The exhibition focuses on Ames’s unique work, which is deeply inspired by modern vocabulary of Le Corbusier. Ames’s work is a continuation and adaptation of Le Corbusier’s visual and spatial discoveries, and design strategies. In addition to primarily built residential works the architect experiments with reductive poetic paintings, three-dimensional sculptural compositions, rugs, as well as furniture and porcelain pieces, exploring infinite possibilities in the aesthetics of modern domestic architecture. While it is often the objective of ambitious contemporary architects to define their signature style in architecture, the work of Ames focuses on such important issues as continuity, traditions, and creating a sense of balance and comfort by operating within the familiar. The exhibition gathers his paintings, sculptural compositions, and porcelain pieces within the entire setting of Le Corbusier-designed Casa Curutchet (La Plata, Buenos Aires, 1948-53) that itself can be described as an exploded purist painting. The exhibition will coincide with the XV Buenos Aires Architecture Bienal; it is part of the official program of the Bienal.