December 20, 2012
Renderings: Foster+Parnters
Yesterday, the press huddled in the Trustee’s Room of the New York Public Library—the “one with the lions”—to hear Norman Foster speak about Foster+Partners’ latest designs for the $300-million renovation and expansion, so to speak, of the storied Beaux Arts building. Foster’s design would move the circulation library, the “frumpy”wing located just across 5th Avenue, into the main building’s west hall, where the original cast-iron book stacks now stand; the stacks would stay, if rearranged, while the books themselves would be moved underground just beneath the Bryant Park lawn out back. With the help of a lucid PowerPoint presentation. the architect demonstrated just how seamlessly this swap would be, indicating how the 100-year-old structure most-precious spaces, like the Rose Main Reading Room, would be left undisturbed throughout construction. In the process, the building’s public spaces would be more than doubled, adding a “Writer’s Room” and restoring the children’s and teen’s library. The main addition would consist of a 300-person workspace with a large atrium facing the inside of the western facade, the first time it will have been seen in its entirety.
The presentation unfolded without hiccup. But, the question and answer round that followed was somewhat more eventful. Continue.
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September 20, 2011
This image of the American Standard Building (née the American Radiator Building) has been blazing through the internet (i.e. tumblr) of late, and it’s not hard to see why. Erected in 1924, the building, with its extensive application of bronze finishes and granite surfaces, is a perfect distillation of Twenties decadence, looming over Bryant Park in utter denial of rising economic troubles (past or present). More images after the jump!
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July 20, 2011
Those wunderkinds at the Bartlett School of Architecture are putting on an end of the year show, showcasing the fruits of their year-long studio. They have made a series of films to celebrate their work, which is, unsurprisingly zany, and always interesting. [via Designboom]
Fenix has developed a universal battery charger that when clipped onto any 3.7V Lithium battery and charges it using USB. [via Fast Co. Design]
Coolhunting has got their hands on “Patterns that Connect: Social Symbolism in Ancient & Tribal Art”, a comprehensive study of tribal art which explores our natural proclivity for art. With over 1,023 illustrations, the tome seeks to decode humanity’s complex iconography, its origin and development.
We bid farewell to The Daily Brew with this adorable video of a cute baby monkey playing with an iPhone. So long! [via Gizmodo]
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July 19, 2011
A new app MyBlockNYC allows people to upload videos–live and otherwise–of their favorite neighborhoods which are then pinned to a map of New York City. Anyone in the world can use the app and click on a location to see what’s going on. [via DesignObserver]
The UN Population Division has announced that the world’s population will reach 7 billion this year, on Halloween, no less (scary). That’s 1 billion new people in 12 years, and 4.5 billion over the last 60. Time to put on the brakes? [via Inhabitat]
Neil Armstrong might have gotten there first, but Buzz Aldrin was the first man to mark his territory on the moon. 42 years ago today, Aldrin became the first (and last?) human to urinate on the moon. Doing so stridently, in must be said, in front of millions of viewers. [via Gizmodo]
The Architizer-sponsored Pop-Up Chapel competition has landed on The New York Times! Remember, you’ve still got 2 days to enter your designs! Don’t delay! [via The New York Times]
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July 18, 2011
A significant number of Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings, including Fallingwater, Unity Temple in Oak Park and the Robie House in Chicago, could be nominated by the U.S. for the United Nations’ World Heritage List. Let’s hope they fair better than Le Corbusier. [via Chicago Tribune]
Have your 5-year old budding architect get accustomed to building materials with the new Lego concrete blocks! Each block exactly replicates a traditional Lego unit, but realized in concrete, which will add weight and a weathered look to any “structure”. [via Gizmodo]
Film is over, and the auteur is dead–or rather, smart phones enable all users to become auteurs in their own right. So says hallowed film director Jean-Luc Godard. Read the rest of his interview here.
Traditional Architecture Group (TAG) in London has crossed the pond and breached our borders. The group, which is affiliated with the RIBA and Prince Charles, has partnered with the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) in New York. The alliance hopes to promote their interests through public awareness and understanding of architecture, urbanism and allied arts. [via BDonline]
Miss your satellite television when you’re off on trips? Well, a company called GATR has developed a new inflatable satellite antenna for transport. When inflated, the device balloons to the size of a large beach ball with the actual satellite “hidden with its protective elements.” When deflated, the whole assemblage weighs less than 50 lbs. and can fit into a backpack. [via OhGizmo]
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July 15, 2011
Aaron Betsky ruminates on Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s 22 minutes of “silence,” and the nature of speculation on space in criminal litigation. [via Beyond Buildings]
An NYC census map analysis confirms the city’s “gayborhood” stereotypes (i.e. neighborhoods on the West side between Hell’s Kitchen and Greenwich Village are popular), but reveals inconsistencies in census data. [via Curbed]
OMA has won a competition to design a 33,000-square meter convention center in France. Their scheme deviates from the “conventional convention center,” in that it packs program volumes into a more compact “city, ” resisting the common urge in such projects towards sprawl. [via BD Online]
Of all the laser-cut-3d-printed-faceted-biomorphic-blah-blah-blah fashion projects we’ve seen as of late, this is probably the most elegant. [via Fast.Co Design]
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July 14, 2011
Architizer alumnus Kelsey Keith covered the Barbizon Hotel, now up for landmark status, over at Curbed. The hotel was once a fancy dormitory for wealthy New York career girls, whose worried parents installed them in the pink-marbles girl palace. Also, Sylvia Plath wrote about it. [via Curbed]
A report on the nearly-complete 9/11 memorial, which will open on the 10th anniversary of the attacks this September, details the design process and contentious history fo the project. [via Gotham Gazette]
With tomorrow’s release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2, Potter Mania has officially taken hold. You saw how we’ve been under its spell of late. But this is OOC: a huge crop circle/maze bearing a double portrait of the Boy-Who-Lived. [via Gizmodo]
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has accepted a position at Berlin University of the Arts. When he’ll be able to make the trip there is uncertain. The artist is currently barred from international travel and faces$2 million suit in tax fines, though he’s recently been granted a hearing to dispute the claims. [via UnBiege]
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July 13, 2011
Stock trader/Environmentalist (baller title, no?) Curtis Baffico proposes a program that would collect old cigarette butts from freeways and turn them into aggregate for concrete used to build other freeways. [via Infrastructurist]
A Daily Dose of Architecture ranks the top 66 architecture and design blogs on the ‘Nets – Architizer is #19. [via A Daily Dose]
This Sunday, the LA-based SUPERFRONT will make its triumphant return to Brooklyn, hosting its PUBLIC SUMMER BK launch with an installation by friends Naomi Ocko and Christina Ciardullo. [via SUPERFRONT]
Fast.Co’s John Pavlus interviews Chris Burden, the designer behind a 1,100-car toy city that’s been zinging around the ‘nets for a few months now. [via Fast.Co Design]
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July 12, 2011
When will Ourossoff throw in the towel? He’s presumably saved his favorite for last: Ourossoff/Koolhaas, delirious in Beijing. [via New York Times]
The European Space Agency will mount a billion-pixel camera onto its Gaia Spacecraft when it is launched in 2013. The camera, which will be the largest digital camera used in space, will map a billion stars in the Milky Way and other celestial bodies at the periphery of the observable universe. [via Gizmag]
“Design for Paul McCartney” has launched, a competition calling for “graphic art inspired by his critically acclaimed solo albums.” While we’re big of fans of “RAM” and “Band on the Run,” Macca’s solo career proves less fertile ground than others. The top ten designs will be featured on Saatchi & Saatchi‘s online gallery. [via Un Biege]
Frank Gehry’s designs for President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s memorial in Washington, D.C. have provoked a backlash among Washington’s more conservative design populace. The National Civic Art Society (NCAS) and the mid-Atlantic chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art launched a competition seeking design ideas more conducive to L’Enfant’s vision of the nation’s capital, and the winners were announced last month. The top prizes went to Beaux-Arts pastiches by graduates of Notre-Dame (duh). See them here.
Digitizing Hellenic art: empty juxtapositions or testament to the enduring beauty of the Venus de Milo? [via Rhizome]
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July 11, 2011
Photographer Abelardo Morell creates images on domestic interior walls using camera obscura techniques, transforming your New York coat closet-of-an-apartment into a piazza in Florence (or Williamsburg, for that matter). [via Design Crisis]
Bustler has the winning entries for the Olympic Port in Rio de Janeiro competition. The competition, which was sponsored City Government and supported by the Organizing Committee for the 2016 Olympic Games, asked participants to rebuild Rio’s Old Harbor in an effort to revitalize the area and spark urban renewal for the Olympic Games and beyond. (Images below) [via Bustler]
Finally. A new app called SMART-WAY will, hopefully, increase use of public transportation by telling you when and where to get off the train or which bus route to take. Got any more excuses? [via Gizmag]
Pondering the link between better designed classroom furniture and schoolchildren’s short-attention spans. [via GOOD]
A quick roundup of NASA’s technological innovations, and how they’ve ended up in, among other places, baby formula. [via PopSci]
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