Dutch architectural publishers 010 seem to have released some full books to books.google.com, most of them seem to be out-of-print so that’s pretty darn nice of them. But where to start..
24.02.08 in bookshops
Studio of Pacific Architecture and Warren and Mahoney have designed the new extensions to Wellington’s boxy old airport. Architect elder, Russell Walden, isn’t pleased with the new look, variously described as rock-like, pumpkin-like, and Flintstones-like.
The vox pop is predictably anti. My snobby favourites on the first of 17 pages are, “Avant Guard naivety” and “it looks hence”.
21.02.08 in buildings
In Auckland, Matthew Bradbury thinks Queens Wharf’s mooted international passenger terminal is a Yokohama of an opportunity.
18.02.08 in urban-design
The New Zealand and Australian war memorials in Westminster, London, have been criticised as ugly, bristlingly unlovely, and in the case of the Australian one by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer and Janet Laurence, ‘a urinal’. It seems conservative Londoners have had quite enough of looking at depressing antipodean memorials. The New Zealand memorial was the work of Athfield Architects and sculptor Paul Dibble.
14.02.08 in architects
A detailed technological review of Melbourne’s 6 star Council House 2 (CH2), designed by the City of Melbourne in house Architectural design team in Association with Designinc and Mick Pearce.
14.02.08 in reviews sustainability
Architect / protaganist:
Here is a font set based on the typographical styles of Richard and Dion Neutra.
06.02.08 in random-debris
Lord Norman has just received planning approval for “Crystal Tower” in Moscow. The 500m tall building has a pretty wide base of 620m, and has been likened to a transparent wigwam. Some local architects weren’t too hot on it – Yuri Bocharov complained: “This idea of Foster’s has been wandering all over the world. Why does it have to settle on us?
05.01.08 in buildings
A panel of holidaying experts ponder what the blinkers to do with Sydney. Jan Gehl’s pricey 10 months-in-the-making report seems to have left locals a little down. They don’t seem to hate The Toaster as much as they used to, but they’d really like to blast the Cahill Expressway out of Circular Quay. DJ Adam Spencer would like to see Pitt St and King St become cycling streets, “the cars would just deal with it. Initial complaints from business would be allayed when they realised that trade boomed.” Hmm I think they tried that with Swanston “Walk” in Melbourne, not a great success. They also think the public transport’s crap and that cars are killing the city.
03.01.08 in urban-planning
Renowned designer of things colourful and plastic, Ettore Sotsass, died on Monday aged 90. As well as being an architect, he worked for Poltronova, Olivetti, Alessi and Artemide as a product designer. With Mario Bellini, he made the Olivetti typewriter in to something much sexier than the Microsoft keyboards we have to put up with today.
02.01.08 in architects profiles
The Americans are starting to discover who Marion Mahoney Griffin was. About time. This New York Times article reveals to its readership how to pronounce “Mahoney” before attributing a good chunk of Frank Lloyd Wright’s early fame to her renderings.
02.01.08 in architects urban-planning
Architect / protaganist:
Feeling like a spot of free education from MIT’s architecture school? Well here you go! All kinds of courses with massive downloads available as ZIP files.
01.01.08 in education
Oh dear, this is one of those articles that make you wonder. A Melbourne Pub, The Stork, was built in 1855 and given an art deco facelift in 1925. According to the owner the 82 year old facelift means the pub was ineligible for heritage protection. It closes tonight and will be demolished in the new year.
31.12.07 in heritage
The winners of the Architecture Australia Unbuilt Prize for 2007 can now be viewed online. The overall winner was A Clinic for the Exhausted, by RMIT student Michael Spooner. I don’t understand it, but as an exercise in drawing it is fairly mind-boggling.
13.12.07 in architects
Those nice people who dreamt up the Melbourne Design Guide last year, have dreamt up the Sydney Design Guide this year. I haven’t seen it for real, but I would think that if you are in Sydney you might find it in a shop.
06.12.07 in guides directories
SOH – The Guardian (UK) had a major feature on Sydney’s Opera House last week, as part of it’s Great Modern Buildings series. It includes Utzon’s first interview after his departure from the project, and a short homage by Thomas Keneally.
20.10.07 in buildings
Architect / protaganist:
A Guardian special, with an introduction by Jonathan Glancey. An unlikely bunch of famous names write about the buildings – Germaine Greer on Notre Dame du Haut:
13.10.07 in buildings
COMMENTS
by kdaveson @ 28.09.07 09:19 am
And that’s why he’s reviewing bars instead of architecture.
by anna @ 04.10.07 11:25 pm
she actually. she also works at RRR, hopefully The Architects can set her right.
07.09.07 in weird-wonderful
This caught my eye… “Shared Nothing Architecture”. I thought it was the name of a new and rather nasty architecture practice. Then I thought it was maybe the opposite of urban design. But no, it’s, “a distributed computing architecture where each node is independent and self-sufficient, and there is no single point of contention across the system.” Phew.
07.08.07 in weird-wonderful computing
COMMENTS
by yobitch @ 27.07.07 10:55 pm
Sad but true – but you do grow out of it don’t you ?
Or do people spend their adulthood smitten with ehro worshipping promoting “starchitects” that effectively oppress smaller but not lesser practitioners? Interested in comparing notes………
25.07.07 in architects weird-wonderful
Here’s one to churn your stomach… photographic evidence of the hazards of being an architecture student doing an all-nighter while making models with sharp knives.
23.07.07 in weird-wonderful