September 17, 2012
Building: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center
Architect: WEISS / MANFREDI
Location: Brooklyn, United States
Why We Like This:
Including everything from an elliptical events space, gift shop, and information lobby and more, the new visitor center at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden serves as a threshold between the city and the garden. Acting as an extension of the landscape, the visitor center is nestled into the existing shelf creating framed views of both the garden and the street. An unobstructed view courtesy of floor-to-ceiling windows help to bring the outside in, while providing the space with sunlight that is further emphasized by the neutral palette of white and light-colored woods. Read the complete project description here.
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September 6, 2012
Building: Peres Peace House
Architect: Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Why We Like This:
Completed in 2009, the Peres Peace House serves as a focal point for the community of Jaffa, an ancient district of Tel Aviv. Situated in the midst of a hillside cemetery facing the ocean, the structure stands at the center of a region fraught with a history of military conflict. Housing historical archives, a peace library, and even offices, the building is home to Israel’s leading non-profit organization working to promote peace between the nation and its Arab neighbors. The facade is composed of alternating bands of concrete and light that, according to the architecture, represent “TIME and PATIENCE in strata of alternating materials representing places that have suffered heavily.” Read the complete project description here.
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September 4, 2012
Building: Hill’s House
Architect: Ignacio Correa Arquitecto
Location: Tagua, Chile
Why We Like This:
Located in San Vincente de Tagua Tagua in Chile, Hill’s House was designed to emphasize the different programming requirements that define the space between the building and the hill. The ‘gaze’ of the project has been divided into multiple views, highlighting both the valley and the sky, while projecting a greater sense of height throughout the interior landscape. The home’s interiors are interestingly configured so as to lock into the exterior site features, thus establishing an architectural link from the house to its natural surroundings. Read the complete project description here.
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September 1, 2012
Building: Private House
Architect: Strom Architects
Location: Suffolk, United Kingdom
Why We Like This:
Located by the beautiful Suffolk Coast, this private residence was designed to be an oasis in the woods. With an existing foundation—ruins and low walls from a house that burned down eight years ago—the philosophy behind the design was to respect the site’s history while creating a retreat worthy of relaxation. Located in a flood plain, the floor of the house had to be elevated. This requirement raises the house above the ruins, successfully dealing with both the flood risk and the initial design intent. Read the complete project description here.
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August 31, 2012
An amusement park constructed of plastic water bottles. Crowdsourced maps documenting quiet spaces in urban areas. A website meant to make it easy for anyone to download and build affordable housing. These are just a few of the projects that TED has already funded through its City 2.0 awards program. Want to get it on the action? Applications are currently being accepted for future prizes. Read more!
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November 10, 2011
Do architect’s business cards matter more than other professions’? We argue they do: as creative thinkers, architects are beholden to showcase their design instincts at every turn. Freshome has gathered up the business cards of forty architects. Tell us what you think – which are brilliant, and which are boorish? Our money is on the pop-up card, above, but you can decide for yourself.
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November 10, 2011
There’s no other room in the home that says more about “how we live” than the kitchen. It was the kitchen, after World War II, that defined the new suburban model of living. It was the kitchen, in the seventies, that dissolved into the “open plan” of postmodern home design. MoMA even curated a massive show addressing kitchen design, “Counter Space: Design and the Modern Kitchen,” last year.
Sub-Zero and Wolf, makers of some of the most high-tech kitchen appliances available today – asked us to visualize how two essential objects of the kitchen have evolved since their inventions. Take a look at the resulting infographic. To view it full size, right click on the image and select “open image in a new tab.”
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November 9, 2011
British architecture publication Building Design Online has a great little interview with Architizer’s founder, Marc Kushner, today!
A different Marc — founder of UK think tank Pidgin Perfect, Marc Cairns — stopped by our office last month to chat with Marc Kushner about about how the profession is changing, the mission of Architizer, and why he hates British people (jk). On the subject of Architizer’s core mission, Marc says “we can make people hire architects and know that they can hire architects, which people think is somehow reserved for the realms of institutions and really wealthy people.” Go check out the full interview over here.
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November 7, 2011
Scandinavian capital cities pioneered mass transit-serviced suburban planning in the post-War years. Copenhagen, for example, was famous for its “five finger” plan, which wove together an expansive number of suburban areas with amazing efficiency. These days, as suburban development slows to a halt and young people cluster in the inner-cities, even Scandinavia is dealing with the fallout of post-suburbia: out-of-date train stations, decaying infrastructure, and dwindling investments in public space.
Malmi, the largest suburb of Helsinki, has launched Bullhorn: Cembrit Design Competition to address these problems through design. Together with Helsinki Design Capital 2012 and fibre cement manufacturers Cembrit, Malmi is asking for proposals to redesign Malmi’s train station and the area immediately surrounding it. The winners of this ideas competition will receive awards of up to 10,000 euros, be part of an exhibition on display throughout the year, and attend Helsinki Design Capital 2012. Read on for more information about how to enter.
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November 3, 2011
Images (c) Kelsey Keith.
The Design Trust for Public Space held its annual benefit fundraiser last night at Center 548 in Chelsea. Over 500 attendees ate, drank, and attempted to outbid each other on some of the 80 art and design objects in a silent auction. This year’s benefit marked a decade since the Trust published their study, “Reclaiming the High Line,” which lent crucial support to the project of turning the elevated railway into the success it is today.
Details on the event’s auction, plus an ongoing sale to benefit the Trust, after the jump.
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