Eastern Bloc meet Eastern BLOCK

Architectural thought, New Buildings No Responses »
Aug 102008

The Times Online has an interesting article on the new CCTV building in Beijing. I’m sure everyone has seen this new iconic building by now, it rises like a wracked square casting an imposing shadow over the city below.

It is no surprise to me that the co-architect of OMA’s CCTV building, Ole Scheeren, is an impossibly young (35 years old) German Architect who was lived through the unification of Communist and Capitalist Germany. In the shape of the building it is easy to see the fingerprints of earlier experiments in modernism, in both the stark oppressive communist variety and the lofty grasping skyscrapers of New York and Chicago. And yet it has been distorted and made more complex. It is almost as if someone took the Arche de La Defense and twisted it until not only did the building distort, but the skin was also skewed.

Posted by spencer at 8:55 am Tagged with: , , ,

Its the global economic paradigm, stupid!

Architectural thought, Concerning the Professional, News No Responses »
Aug 092008

As anyone who has been even remotely cognizant of the news can tell you, the US is facing some bad times. We are having credit failures, banking collapses, increased food costs, increased energy costs, a craptacular housing market, and a general retail slump. The last one is worrisome to me, the incessant purchasing of the American middle class has been the economic engine keeping this boat afloat and paddling upstream. With the recent closing of national chains such as Steve and Barry and the downsizing of Starbucks I have to wonder how this is affecting the independent merchant, and then I stop and realize that except for the high-end boutiques and artists and artisans there really are no more mom and pop shops in this country. But that chilling thought aside, the area most visibly harmed in this country has been the housing market.

Posted by spencer at 11:05 pm Tagged with: , ,

Bang Zoom, To the Moon Greg Lynn

Architectural thought, New Buildings, News No Responses »
Jul 292008

[Image via Life Without Buildings via io9.] In his blog Life Without Buildings, my fellow Tulane Alum, Jimmy Stamp, discusses the latest proposed moon habitat from NASA. Like most of the other articles I’ve seen he discusses the igloo-like shape and inflatable (gas-itechture) structure, yet this discourse is really lacking. What we are seeing here is not just another exploratory vehicle that will double as a place for astronauts to sleep. Consider Voyager for a second Ann Druyan recorded all sorts of sounds emblematic of the human race, to act as a time capsule, a display of who we are; this is the first piece of human architecture to be built on another celestial body, and I have to ask, where’s the outrage? Of all the structures in all of human history, this is what we build, an inflatable breast? It looks like something Greg Lynn would create, but instead it was designed by engineers? In addition, since when do we allow engineers to create the first lunar human dwelling? Where is the discussion of the space it makes, the space within and the views out? Are there views out? How does it interact with its environment? All of these [...]

Posted by spencer at 7:42 am Tagged with: , , ,

A pebble bubble fountain?

Architectural thought No Responses »
Jul 292008

ASLA.org has an interesting postulation about fountain features called “The Dirt: Fountain-Dread?” This article made me think of the episode of AB FAB where Saffy wants to put a water feature in their backyard, and the landscape architect spends the whole time poo-pooing it. Though its just a sit come there is a real kernel of truth there, fountains structured gardens and other hallmarks of the 19th century landed gentry estates have become a fixture in suburban tract house development. One has to wonder, in 50 years will mini zoo’s and amusement parks find their way into the American backyard?

Posted by spencer at 1:55 am Tagged with: , ,

Better Red than ... an intern-architect?

Architectural thought, Concerning the Professional, News No Responses »
Jun 232008

The Washington Post ran an article by Philip Kennicott in this Sunday’s Style & Arts section about the massive building boom and its affect on the culture of architecture in china. The article goes into depth about how the western concept of permanency and a national architectural identity is in direct contrast to the Chinese (and very eastern) concept of impermanence and intellectual assimilation. This article paints a very interesting picture of how the “Star-chitect” designed buildings fit into the context of the awakening Beijing and compares them to the temporary workers housing. What intrigued me about this article is how it describes architectural education and the path of current and recent architecture students. The author describes that many students and recent graduates have portfolio’s filled with built projects, whereas here it may be years before a young architect (such as myself) can see any of their work built. This is all too true of an observation, and just like our falling math and language test scores this is an indication of our inability to keep up with world markets. It is common here to reserve “design” work for those who are already licensed and who have a thorough understanding [...]

Posted by spencer at 11:44 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Absence makes the blog grow quiet

Architectural thought No Responses »
May 302008

I’ve been out of town for the past two weeks and had nary a moment to read architecture stories, let alone compose a post of my own criticism or comments. Sometimes the real world seems to not want to let me get back to the virtual one. So instead, as my welcome back post, I thought I would post a link to Eikongraphia’s Most Popular Architecture Blogs of 2008. This is really a best of the best list, look for future articles to be sourced from these blogs (and their coming addition to my links list). Maybe one of these days I can make this little side project into a top 25 worthy entry.

Posted by spencer at 1:18 am Tagged with: , ,

Urban Parkland

Architectural thought, Urban Planning No Responses »
May 142008

So I’ve been digging through the archive of articles that I have meant to write about, but have not had the chance and came across this article from boston.com which discusses Green Roofs, specifically the the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in Washington DC, and discusses their popularity in Europe and compares them to standard roofs. Green roofs are one of the areas where building design in the US lags behind the rest of the developed world. In Europe, green roofs are more ingrained in the culture, for lack of space and in the northern climates, as a pre-modern cultural adaption. It has only been recently that this urban parkland has been identified as a environmental boon, and not just a social one. In the US contractors balk at putting dirt, substrate, plants and a drainage method on a roof, complaining that ti will be too costly, need more structural reinforcement that the design calls for, and pose greater chances for leaks. Yet rooftop gardens have been a fixture in NY for years and not just in skyscrapers. But green roofs should not just be urban elements. The suburban strip mall is perfect for green roofs or PV panels. [...]

Posted by spencer at 12:13 am Tagged with: , ,

Organic Planning?

Architectural thought, Urban Planning No Responses »
May 012008

Recently I have made a number of posts regarding green buildings and the paradigm shift which will be necessary if we are even going to have a truly green architecture (see posts here and here). I bring this up again because i recently read two different articles online from two different architectural professionals from two different cultures, Martha Schwartz – a Boston & London based landscape architect and Harald Bodenschatz – a professor of Sociology and Planning in at the Technische Universität in Berlin and they both discuss similar goals for a more environmentally friendly development. Schwartz focuses on the urban landscape and its development (or lack thereof) currently as opposed to in a truly green environment, and Bodenscahtz focuses on the development of inner cities and suburbia as sustainable growth tactics and in such a way to help the European city thrive. While neither of these articles explicitly states my previously argued hypothesis (that in order to be a truly sustainably designed society we need to increase our population densities and thus maximize our transportation schemes), both provide intellectual support to my arguments. Without a new 21st century version of urban renewal – one which is culturally, environmentally and [...]

Posted by spencer at 1:14 am Tagged with: ,

Article: Gehry goes Geometric!

Architectural thought, New Buildings, News No Responses »
Apr 242008

Frank O. Gehry’s new building at Princeton University – the Lewis Library – is nearing completion. Princeton’s website has an article describing the new building and giving us a sneak peak inside.

I hate to prejudge this building, but from the pictures, I worry that this is going to be even worse of an occupant experience than MIT’s Stata Center. The bright contrasting colors of the interior and the sharp dramatic angles seem to go one step beyond the Stata, which looked like it was falling down, instead, the exterior of the Lewis Library looks like a jumble of child’s block swept under a rug and the inside looks like something from a medieval view of hell.

Posted by spencer at 11:14 pm Tagged with: ,

Article: Green Architecture is HOUSES!

Architectural thought, News No Responses »
Apr 212008

This past week, the New York Times ran an interesting article about building green, not just in urban environments, but in suburbia too. The article deals with renovations as well as new construction and outlines some of the trials and tribulations home owners, architects, and builders can face when trying to build “green.” In light of tuesday being earth day I wanted to take a moment and discuss Green Residential Building (I wouldn’t go so far as to say architecture). Lately we’ve been plagued with ads telling us that all we need to do to save the planet is: change a lightbulb drive less use different soap insulate our windows switch to low flow faucets use cloth bags instead of paper or plastic etc But in reality these are just stop gap measures. Yes, they help. Yes, they are better than not doing anything. But without creating a real paradigm shift, that is to say the way we eat, work and live, we will always be playing catchup. Not only do we need to eat foods grown locally, but we also need to eat seasonally and organically. We need to work closer to home and in buildings that do not [...]

Posted by spencer at 2:13 am Tagged with: , , , ,
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