June 7, 2013
This week on Rendering Redux, the weekly humorous examination of architectural images, we’ve got some wonderful (and wonderfully bad) examples lined up. Some of these are not that bad, but some really are. See below for Herzog & de Meuron, Zaha, and more!
May 30, 2013
All images via
The reviews on the new SimCity have been plentiful, so there is not much one could add from a gaming perspective. There was the extremely bungled launch, when players could not access servers for at least a week. There is the always-online aspect of the game, which prevents access in internet-remote locations. And there is the not-completely-fixed AI that runs the Sims (the inhabitants of SimCity) as well of their vehicles. All of this has left many older players, who often grew up playing previous versions of SimCity, feeling betrayed.
Beyond these issues, there is a stunningly realistic simulation of complex urban issues. Which is why we thought it time to look at one previously unexplored aspect of SimCity: its architecture. The game has had a tremendous impact on the fields of architecture, design, and urbanism, from bringing young players into these professions to prompting architecture students to dream up studio projects within the simulation. Some fans have gone so far as to use the game to accurately model real-world traffic set-ups. Read more below!
May 30, 2013
Tori Tori Restaurant in Mexico. Photo: Paúl Rivera
Is it just us, or do a lot of projects have lava-lamp oil running through their walls? We’re not sure if architects are getting ready to move beyond the purity of black and white or if they were inspired by neon colors, but the trend seems undeniable. Almost every rendering or finished project you can shake a glow stick at seems to be fluorescing before our eyes. We’ve rounded up 10 recent examples of these blinding, groovy buildings, so keep your sunglasses handy and read more below!
March 5, 2013
What is going on here? Curves, lots of curves. The ludicrously bowed walls of this “building” look to be at the breaking point, and their extreme curvature should give you an idea of the project’s architect. But that isn’t the question at hand. What we’re asking you is: real or rendering? Given the angle and selected vantage point, it could go either way. The sky looks authentic, but that could have easily been added in post-production. On the other hand, the mysterious, homogeneous white building stuff looks straight out of rendering engine. Let us know what you think!
February 19, 2013
The latest in our “Real or Fake” feature is yet another amazing image of Central Park. And no, they never get old. This new photo actually isn’t new at all, but (re-)surfaced online earlier today. Near the center of the image is the the Mandarin Oriental hotel at 80 Columbus Circle, and it’s here that make us question the authenticity of the “photograph.” It doesn’t take too sophisticated eye to pick up on how Columbus Circle’s twin towers look like computer renderings convincingly photoshopped into a spectacular panorama of Manhattan at sundown. We wouldn’t be surprised if there were further touch-ups and edits that we haven’t spotted yet. Still, despite these, the gridded array of skyscrapers and historic housing buildings that hug the western perimeter of the lush, green park make for great web fodder. Click on the photo for high-res!
[via Gizmodo]
November 29, 2012
Architizer is hosting the world’s definitive architectural awards program, with 50+ categories and 200+ jurors. As part of an ongoing series, we’re spotlighting projects that fit into “Plus” categories, including “Modeling,” that tap into topical and culturally relevant themes. To see a full list of categories and learn more about the awards, visit architizerawards.com.
It was just a century ago that architects were heralding the splined wall and its integration into the architectural cannon of forms. A new world of space was opened up by new building technologies and the novelty of forms they spawned, and yet, despite these advances, drafting methods remained relatively unchanged. A full revolution in drawing and architectural representation would have to wait till the end of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st. With the rise of 3D modeling programs like Rhino, Maya, and Grasshopper and their rendering engines, architecture infinitely multiplied its ability to generate new interactive forms, the likes of which were unimaginable even just a few years ago.
Today, nearly anything and everything, however crazy or complex, can be realized. That doesn’t mean they should all should be built, of course, but that’s beside the point. The development of 3D modeling, coupled with rapid prototyping technologies, can lead to new forms of space and methods of fabrication capable of tackling the pressing issues of our time. See 10 great examples!
Oh, speaking of modeling, make sure to enter our Gingerbread House Competition. The winner will take home a new iPad mini!
August 27, 2012
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, 12% of the images Swedish retailer IKEA uses for marketing purposes are not photographs, but rather, 3D renderings. And by next year, the company hopes to up that to 25%. The reason? Cost savings. Read more.
August 10, 2012
All images: The Port Authority and the Durst Organization
New renderings of One World Trade Center were released earlier this week, the first to be made available to the public in five years. The images depict David Child’s 104-story tall tower soaring above the Lower Manhattan skyline, its glass-and-steel trunk incandescent with the hues of late-summer sunsets. But wait, there are some conspicuous changes afoot: namely, the skyscraper–officially the city’s tallest–is flanked by a series of erstwhile stone predecessors and not the ring of glass-clad structures originally offered six years ago. Foster + Partners’ 2 World Trade Center and Richard Rogers’ 3 World Trade Center have been excised from the plans, with only Fumihiko Maki’s 4 World Trade Center surviving the digital erasure.
Less obvious is the removal of the sculptural spire that crowned 1WTC in all design iterations up until this past May, when developers Durst Organization and the Port Authority announced its deletion citing feasibility concerns. The alteration, which removed the fiberglass cocoon that would have sheathed the tower’s antenna, would probably have gone unnoticed by both the press and public at large had it not undermined the project’s symbolic (and much-tooted) 1,776-foot height and, in so doing, jeopardized the project’s title as tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
Further changes include the modification to the structure’s 185-foot-tall base, whose original saw-tooth glass panels have been replaced with glass fins. The new facade is broken up into 13-foot high segments, each striated with horizontal louvers embedded with LEDs.
One World Trade Center is expected to be completed in early 2014 with 3-million-square-feet of office space–55% of which has already been spoken for. Condé Nast has leased 25 floors (1.2 million square feet) to serve as its headquarters, while Vantone China Center and the federal General Services Administration have collectively leased 460,000 square-feet. Click through for all of the renderings.
July 10, 2012
The “Wave Pier” by Mesh Architects; Renderings courtesy of the architects via mymodernmet
The “Wave Pier”features a dynamic, twisting form that swoops up effortlessly out of the water and curves back gracefully like a trained dolphin or roller coaster. Designed by Mesh Architects in collaboration with BIG, among others (Martha Schwarz Partners, Thornton Thomasetti, Parsons Brinchkerhoff, HR&A and CC&A), the “Wave” combines all manner of recreation and program in one daring loop that juts over Tampa Bay.
The proposal is meant to house a new cultural center for the new St. Petersburg Pier. Sandwiched between the curving concrete surfaces and behind whirling bands of glass are a pavilion, exhibition and event spaces, and banquet hall to host galas, parties, and fundraisers. The acrobatic structure spirals over an open air performance/concert space (forming a rock-climbing wall in the process), before gently sloping downward into the water to create an artificial, ”pseudo”-beach on which visitors may recline or tan. The main artery connecting the complex to the shore becomes a vast boardwalk surreally bounded on all sides by the deepening waters with magnificent vistas of the bay and the city skyline beyond.
Initial concept for the “Wave”, as filtered through ‘Inception’
[via mymodernmet]
June 26, 2012
Top prize: ‘H. Ferriss’s Paris Visit’ by Francisco Villeda
The results are in for Reality Cues‘ !!!!!!!!!!! Competition, which asked the internet to show the Librarian just what the “Architecture of OMG” looks like. Contestants were given eight images to modify and manipulate beyond all logic and decency so as to create new virtual architectures of their own. A flood of entries (nearly 100) came pouring in, each one fantastic, phantasmagoric, nihilistic, and slightly demented in its own way. Ultimately, victory would go to Francisco Villeda, whose entry (pictured above) depicted a clone stamp city of ubiquitous infrastructural Tours St. Jacques stretching out into space. For his efforts, he’ll be taking home a Reality Cues’ hacked version of Hasbro’s ‘Operation’ game (entitled “Keep off the Grass!!!”), while the best in each category will be receiving a Lego Cube!!!! with secrets inside.
So what did the jury have to say? The sheer number and zaniness of the entries drove some to grand pronouncements, with Chris Barley, the Future—Predictor himself, claiming that The !!!!!!!!!!!! competition threw down “the digital gauntlet and reclaims architecture’s position as the mother of all arts.” Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan offered some wise words, calling for a reprieve from an internet design culture “gripped by mediocrity of a single overriding style diktat”. Still, it all proved a bit scary for Juergen Mayer H. (“Spooky”) and more than a little despairing for others. Oh, and consider Archistophanes pwned.
