Videos: The Latest Architecture and News

3LHD Architects shared with us their video for one of their recent projects, Hotel Lone, the first design hotel in Croatia. The hotel’s identity is recognized through the external design of the building, with a facade that is defined by dominant horizontal lines – terrace guards designed to evoke the image of slanted boat decks. The site’s complex terrain with dramatic altitude changes determined the locations of internal facility spaces through a dynamic interweaving of public areas and guest suites at all levels. More information on their project can be viewed here.

Googie Architecture, shared with us by Sunny & Mild Media, is part one of a series that encapsulates the futuristic design found prevalent in the post-war sprawl of Los Angeles during the 1950s. Popular among coffee shops, motels and gas stations, the ultramodern style originated from the Sunset Boulevard coffee shop, designed by John Lautner, named Googies. A Googie building was a symbol that a business was with the times, which in turn brought traffic and attention to its doors. Form followed function, and it’s function was advertisement.

For more, read Googie Architecture: Futurism through Modernism.

With industrialization came unchecked suburbia and car-centric lifestyles. But now, in the rapidly approaching age of the super city, our current standards of living will not suffice. According to MIT Research Scientist Kent Larson, 21st century cities will account for 90% of global population growth, 80% of all global CO2, and 75% of all global energy use.

Understanding that the global population faces serious issues of overcrowding, affordability and overall quality of life, Larson presents new technologies that intend to make future cities function like the small village of the past. Folding cars and quick-change apartments with robotic walls are just a some of the fascinating innovations he and his colleagues are currently developing.

Breadtruck Films shared with us their seven minute documentary on architect Jonathan Segal‘s ‘the charmer’. The project consists of a 19 unit residential complex in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood and recently won a 2012 project of the year award. By building on the tradition of the California courtyard apartments, he shows how architecture can create community and add a little charm to the neighborhood. The outdoor spaces at complex carry just as much importance with Segal as the buildings themselves. He believes that beauty and livability are crucial, and often overlooked, components of environmental design.

In this video, JA+U interviews minimalist Japanese architect Shinichi Ogawa of Shinichi Ogawa and Associates. Ogawa describes the “austerity” and “organization” of minimalist design in regard to different projects. In residences, where flexibility and options are important, he says that the minimalistic approach grants a wide range of possibilities, providing open and flexible spaces that connect with the site. Ogawa describes the a range of projects that use simple forms and expressions to interact with the environment and accentuate the surroundings.

Written and directed by Caroline Bâcle and produced by Katarina Soukup of Catbird Films, Inc., the official trailer for ‘Lost Rivers’ focuses on why rivers have disappeared throughout the course of time and the possibility of them coming back. The documentary tries to find answers by meeting visionary urban thinkers, activists and artists from around the world.

Norman Foster is undoubtedly one of the most influential architects of our time. Since establishing his award-winning practice in 1967 – originally titled Foster Associates – the Pritzker Prize laureate has grown Foster + Partners into an international powerhouse, with project offices in more than twenty countries.

The British band Muse has just released the video clip for the single “Isolated System” from their latest album “The Second Law” alluding to the thermodynamic theory.

The New York-based branding and creative agency dbox has won an Emmy for its CGI and Branding work on the Discovery Channel’s six part mini-series Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero. From executive producer by Steven Spielberg, the series chronicles the activity of the Ground Zero site and the personal stories of the construction workers, engineers and architects who have made the rebuilding vision a reality.

Ensamble Studio

SPAINLab, the name of the exhibit, looks to expose the research process behind the works of contemporary Spanish Architects:

• RCR Arquitectes (Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, Ramón Vilalta)
• Selgascano (Lucía Cano, José Selgas)
• Urban Habitat / Barcelona City Council (Vicente Guallart)
• SMAO — Sancho-Madridejos Archiecture Office (Sol Madridejos, Juan Carlos Sancho)
• Menis Arquitectos (Fernando Menis)
• Cloud 9 (Enric Ruiz-Geli)
• Ecosistema Urbano (Belinda Tato, José Luis Vallejo)

More photos about the pavilion and description from Anton and Débora after the break:

A huge creative and technical challenge was recently undertaken by Moment Factory. They were invited by the City of Barcelona and the City of Montreal to create the first sound and light spectacle to be projected on the complex façade of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. This 15 minute-long multimedia show, using video mapping techniques and their X-Agora playback system, was presented within La Mercè Festival in Barcelona this weekend. The inspiration: to realize Antonio Gaudi’s dream. The architect wished for the façade to be full of colors.

In architecture we talk about space and form. We talk about experience and meaning. All of these qualities are inextricably the sensory experience of light, touch, smell and sound. Sound expert Julian Treasure asks architects to consider designing for our ears, citing that the quality of the acoustics of a space affect us physiologically, socially, psychologically and behaviorally.

More after the break.