January 15, 2013
Photo: courtesy of LEAPFactory
Nothing beats the great outdoors — except when they involve below-freezing temps, blinding blizzards, murky fogs, and perilously rugged terrain. (Look for a story later this week on A+ juror and eco-explorer David de Rothschild, who has weathered some of the harshest conditions on his expeditions around the globe.) That’s why we love these cozy abodes — shacks, bunkers, and other shelters that provide stunning views as well as refuge when Mother Nature gets a little too wild. Click through to see our favorite remote structures — as well as a couple totally awesome plans that have yet to see the light of day.
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January 10, 2013
Protocell Mesh, details. Images courtesy of Philip Beesley
While printing your own house may soon become possible, the “Prototyping Architecture” exhibition at The Building Centre in London shows that, when it comes to innovation, the prototype remains a vital part of design development. Blurring the boundaries between engineering and art, the event showcases the importance of prototypes in the study of beauty, utility, and stability — the eternal concerns of architecture as defined by Vitruvius millennia ago. The exhibition, which runs from January 11 to March 20, includes both highly conceptual models and full-scale sample productions from around the world. Find out more!
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January 9, 2013
Children grow up knowing the names of famous sports players, pop singers, and cartoon characters. But what about notable architects? Where’s the respect? Architecture is rarely part of formal education (within and without scholastic settings), but things could be helped if the names of Le Corbusier, Arata Isozaki, or, yes, Frank Lloyd Wright were introduced to younglings in their early years. “The ABC of Architects” seems ideally suited for such a purpose, functioning as an introduction for budding students of architecture. The abecedary operates visually through a clever animation in which each canonical project flows seamlessly to the next. The horizontal planes of (M) Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion morph effortlessly into the space-age forms of (N) Niemeyer’s National Congress of Brazil. Watch the video after the break.
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January 9, 2013
Project: Cubierta de El Molinete
Architect: Amann, Cánovas y Maruri
Location: Cartagena, Spain
Function: This soaring steel canopy protects the sensitive excavations of the Roman ruins of Cartagena, which include public baths, a forum, and houses. The canopy’s folding planes are in part defined by the varying heights of the exposed ruins, mirroring the topography of the archaeological dig. By using perforated metal screens lined with polycarbonate sheets, light is allowed to filter through the extensive roof, maintaining the park-like feel of the site. Read more about this project in the Architizer database.
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January 8, 2013
Is it a building or is it fashion? Well, in the case of The BagStage building, it’s both. The five-story building was designed by Korean architects UAD and Charlie Smith Design to house the Simone Handbag Museum, featuring a collection of over 300 handbags, some of which date all the way back to the 16th century. The purse-shaped structure, complete with monumental loop handles perched on its summit, also includes a flagship store and designated studio space for up-and-coming designers. Read more.
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January 7, 2013
You thought the New York Public Library was cool? Well, North Carolina State University has just opened its James B. Hunt Jr. Library, which is not only pretty snazzy but also—wait for it—powered by robots. But this book-room-of-the-future, designed by Snøhetta, isn’t the only far-out library we’ve seen recently. From mobile centers of learning to ultra-sleek glass pyramids to even a pastel-colored Easter egg (pictured above, by Foster + Partners), here are 10 utterly modern libraries that will blow your mind. Click through to see them all!
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January 4, 2013
Zaha Hadid isn’t new to celebrity or celebrities. News of her design for Naomi Campbell’s vacation home just outside Moscow quickly went viral only hours after it hit the web. Glamour Magazine came calling in November when the publication named the architect their “Woman of the Year“. And lest we forget, Zaha already reigns queen over architects, for now and, probably, forever. Now, there comes “confirmation” of a collaboration between Zaha and rapper, author, and designer(?) Pharrell Williams. Speaking to Hypebeast in an interview published yesterday, Pharrell, who was last spotted opining on the state of aesthetics at last month’s Design Miami, mentioned that he was in talks with Zaha about a joint project between them. “We’re touring around with the idea of a prefab for a house,” he said, alluding to an idea that was briefly touched upon his book, Pharrell: The Places and Spaces I’ve Been.
When pressed about the nature of the talks, and if they were any time schedule attached to the project, Pharrell simply answered that “we’re going to see something through.” The architectural collaboration wouldn’t be the first for Pharrell, who has previously worked with Chad Oppenheim on two separate occasions. Nor does his partnership with Hadid come as a surprise, given that the idea was discussed in Places and Spaces I’ve Been. Still, this new interview seems to suggest that the two are in the beginning stages of a collaboration that might, in Pharrell’s words, produce a “really fun” and “next-level” project that “could change the game.”
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January 4, 2013
Office Building in Lazika by Architects of Invention
Frank Lloyd Wright famously derided the Villa Savoye as a “box on stilts”, evidence of Le Corbusier’s “childish attempts” at making architecture. Of course, Wright was wrong, and his dismissal of the house—probably the 20th century’s most famous, along with Fallingwater—was as much competitive banter as critique. Though not as universally applicable as Corbu claimed, the stilts, or “pilotis”, did in fact revolutionize architecture and continue to be implemented today at all building scales. We were reminded of the fact by this office building in Lazika, Georgia by Architects of Invention (really).
The project consists of several geometric volumes pierced and held aloft by thin angled columns, whose breezy sway are a nice foil to the more rigid boxes. The building has an acrobatic air about it, as the columns seem far too skinny to support the load(s) that has been thrust upon them. Push too much on one side, and the whole precarious assemblage might come tumbling down. It’s a fun game to play, so much so that we thought we’d find some more buildings on stilts that’ll make you laugh and anxious at the same. Click through to see them all.
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January 4, 2013
As any seasoned traveler can tell you, finding a pharmacy while abroad can be a challenge, and that’s putting it mildly. Unless, that is, you’re in Vila Real in Portugal, where you won’t have any trouble finding the Lordelo Pharmacy. Designed by José Carlos Cruz Arquitecto, the oval-shaped building is branded with an glowing green pharmacy symbol so big you can’t miss it. Read more.
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January 3, 2013
Ryugyong Hotel
It’s Day Two in which we predict the future. Or just what we think what architecture will be good in 2013. You saw the first half of our roundup yesterday, and today we bring you the rest of our list. We’re confident our forecast is accurate enough that, at some point this year, we’ll actually see the world’s first underwater hotel happen or perhaps even rent a room in North Korea’s long-waited Ryugyong Hotel (only in your autocratic dreams). Click on through!
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