We select here the best Articles relating to Architecture that we find around the blogosphere. Written by smart insightful bloggers, these articles are quite pleasant to read. We hope that you will enjoy them. 

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Humanur Bagli and panel on Legacy of Gordon Matta-Clark this weekend
Lynn Becker in ArchitectureChicago PLUS
Yeah, I'm behind in getting the monthly calendar up again. (It's a lot of work, ok, and the dog ate my keyboard.) So here's the listings for the first weekend in February. Humanur Bagli at UIC - 11:30 A.M., Friday, February 1st, at the City Design Conference Room, 820 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 330, UIC. A presentation and discussion from the City Design Center by the visiting scholar from Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Bagli will discuss her experiences as a designer and design consultant in Turkey. Her work has included many interdisciplinary projects with international and NGOs which illustrate the role of the designer as a socially responsible agent. Information here.

All about the Roof
Michelle Linden in Atelier A+D
Australian firm Stutchbury and Pape has created some great projects all with a consistent theme... the roof is the most important plane, delicately balanced on the structure below. Simple, clear, and lovely. Its interesting to see this firm developing and redeveloping the same concepts and schemes and to see how these themes change with time and scope...

January 31st, 2008

Book Series of the Moment
John in A Daily Dose of Architecture
Many book series that try to boil down complex ideas, facts, and knowledge into slim volumes end up calling the reader a beginner, a dummy, or worse, an idiot. Well, the fine folks at Routledge call their audience for these books just what they are: architects; as well as what they're apparently not: thinkers. To remedy this the Thinkers for Architects Series "offers quick, clear and accurate introductions to key thinkers who have written about architecture and whose work can yield insights for designers."

Preview of Eyebeam Eco-Vis Challenge finalists
Regine Debatty in WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
Michael Mandiberg and Brooke Singer are two wizards of eco-data visualization. Eyebeam alum. Brooke Singer is behind Area´s Immediate Reading and the Superfund 365, A Site-A-Day. Superfund 365 is probably my favourite project from 2007. Each day for a year, this online data visualization application visits one toxic site active in the Superfund program run by the U.S. The contaminant, the responsible party and the people involved with or impacted by Superfund are represented in the project.

Can Carbon Markets Keep the Planet from Heating Up?
WorldChanging Team in WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
Growing interest among national and regional governments in curbing carbon emissions has led to rapid expansion of the global carbon market. Policymakers worldwide are recognizing the true costs of carbon emissions for our economy and our environment. These markets could not have taken off without strong policy leadership. But while many U.S. states are taking action, the national government is falling notably behind by not setting a national cap on carbon emissions.

The Big Picture
Alex Steffen in WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
Yesterday, 10:18 PM
Jamais has a great piece up on the wider forces crafting our future: Climate Chaos: Twenty years is the outside limit of how long we have to make the global changes (in our energy grids, urban designs, transportation networks, agricultural processes, industrial processes, taxation policies, trade policies, etc.) required to avoid real disaster. It's also probably about right for figuring out which geoengineering strategies are the least likely to make things worse. We know what we need to do -- we simply need to do it.
holiday house in the alps, afgh
Justin in materialicious
Holiday House in Scheidegg, Switzerland. Size: 242 m². Built: 2002-2003.
I blogged another project a while back by Andreas Fuhrimann and Gabrielle Hächler (click the button for English), a renovation of an old Alpine Hut. These folks are gooooood. The views from this house are incredible, and the architects’ site has larger versions of the photos posted here, plus some great panoramic shots as well.

AIA's Latest Economic Survey Now Online
ASLA.org - The Dirt
Our friends at AIArchitect, the news publication of the AIA, have released their findings of their latest economic survey. The news? In the face of a troubled US economy and with factors like $100 barrels of oil and lowering consumer confidence clouding the horizon, it is difficult to imagine that the growth in construction that firms have enjoyed in the past six years will continue unabated. However, the survey notes that the industry is entering 2008 with "a lot of momentum."

Maison & Objet Paris 2008: Furniture
sabine7 in MoCo Loco
Out of the furniture offerings at Maison & Objet, we were most attracted by all manner of chair, especially the upholstery on the pieces by the Ateliers Philippe Coudray and the cosy knitted merino poufs and throws by Casalis, like little ottoman sweaters. Nicky D Essentials had some great group seating and Swala Line ‘s pieces varied between smooth and textured. Kenneth Cobonpue made a showing and Massant had a wide range of patterns to present, while the Crassevig chair came in different colours and finishes.

The Slat House | Private Residence | By Turner Castle
Mohammad Fahmi Tri Wahyudi,ST in Best House Design
The Flat House is a building Extension and refurbishment project that was designed by Turner in Blackheath, London. Expansion of a small semi-detached house on a large piece of land in Blackheath. The modular expansion wood wraps around the side of the semi-detached house, it peeps through the adjacent trees in the back garden and offers access to the terrace.

Entangling the Green Building Standards
Sarah Nagy in Green Options
LEED-H. FGBC. Energy Star. HERS. Fortified Home. EarthCraft. These are all names of green building standards used around the country for homes. And now NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) is due to unveil its own Green Building Standard at the upcoming International Building Show in Orlando, Feb 13-16.

Diagnosing Slum
Bryan Finoki in Subtopia
I recently posted this to Archinect but in case you missed it I am posting it here, too. Lebbeus Woods is continuing the conversation we had here in this thread over at his own blog with an excellent post surmising the geo-economic conditions that produce “slums.” Particularly striking to me was this statement: There is much that is admirable in the way that slum dwellers struggle against overwhelming adversity, but admiration must be tempered by the realization that they do not struggle because they choose to, out of principle, or in the service of high social or political ideals, but because of their desperation at the brutal limits of survival. It is a mistake—and a grave disservice to them—to imagine that their ingenuity, resourcefulness, and capacities for self-organization can in any way serve as models for our present global society. To believe so would be to endorse the dog-eat-dog ethics that rule their lives and, all too often, those occupying society’s more economically advantaged classes.

January 30th, 2008

New look for the Ritz-Carlton
Christopher DeWolf in Spacing Montreal
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, one of Sherbrooke Street’s most recognizable landmarks, will soon be transformed with a $100 million renovation and expansion. Over the next two years, the number of hotel rooms will be reduced and new condominium units added in an effort to modernize the hotel’s offering. What might interest Montrealers, however, are the changes planned for the hotel’s exterior, which will include the construction of a new glass wing on the building’s west side as well as the addition of two floors to its roof.

France v Britain: Who has the best ironmongery?
Crompton in CONTINUITY IN ARCHITECTURE
Locks in Musée Marmaton, Paris and a Northamptonshire cottage compared: precision gilded case and too cheap to have a case. Tags: cia, locks, ironmongery

Hubbell & Benes auditorium renovation completed at Shaker Heights High School
Steven Litt/Plain Dealer Architecture Critic in Architecture and the Urban Landscape with The Plain Dealer's Steven Litt
City Architecture An in-progress shot shows Shaker High's auditorium on the way to Saturday's reopening celebration. Shaker Heights takes historic preservation seriously. Example: At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Shaker Heights High School will celebrate the completion of a $2.4 million renovation...

casa 89, h arquitectes
Justin in materialicious
Casa 89, L’Ametlla del Vallès, Catalunya, Spain. Built: 2002-2005. I like this house by H Arquitectes - it’s a good example of how the firm dealt with designing for and building on a problematic site on a hillside. Plus, it just plain looks cool. Love those slats……

Architect Robert Corna surprised that partner Doug Price wants fresh talent for tower
Steven Litt/Plain Dealer Architecture Critic in Architecture and the Urban Landscape with The Plain Dealer's Steven Litt
Cleveland architect Robert Corna was taken aback today when asked to comment about statements by his development partner, Doug Price III, who said it was "not a foregone conclusion" that Corna would design a new office tower as part of...

Bear Fights Lumberjack At Brooklyn Architectural Smackdown
mediabistro.com: UnBeige
Architecture was fun for one night as LVHRD's ARCH DL IV pitted two teams of architects against each other in a live one-night mystery challenge. Last night's brief: Build an Alaskan Wildlife Research Facility using drinking straws - a...

spirit of place: students go global
Justin in materialicious
Eight-and-a-half days is barely enough time for most people to get over jet lag when traveling, but for a group of nine students from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., it’s a period of intense work in far-flung locations such as Nepal, Machu Pichu, or Ireland. Through a program called Spirit of Place/Spirit of Design, taught by architect Travis Price, the students come to these exotic settings ready to build a project they’ve spent the spring semester designing. The small structure they erect—whether a temple, a pilgrimage shelter, a sweat lodge, or an outhouse—does not just add to the startling beauty of its locale; it taps into and expresses the location’s culture through architecture’s symbolism. Read the article and interview by Diana Lind and see the slideshow at Architectural Record Online. Photos courtesy Spirit of Place.

glass house in christiania
Justin in materialicious
Christiania, Glass House, at the ever fascinating blog AdaptiveReuse.net, via Schwarz. See the Flickr slideshow and Wikipedia’s Christiania entry.

Design Green Project Announces Award Winners
mediabistro.com: UnBeige
It's awards season, and while there remains a paucity of events at which paparazzi-trailed designers, architects, photographers, and other creative types walk the red carpet (the precise red sponsored by Pantone, the carpet itself by Chilewich) and pick up...

liberty collection, recycled glass mosaic tile
Justin in materialicious
Trendgroup USA announces the launch the new handmade transparent glass tile collection, Liberty. It was designed by the Italian mosaicist Giulio Candussio and contains a minimum 25% post consumer recycled glass. It is available in 12 colorways for around $45 psf. Soon to be available at retailers everywhere, you can already get it at Stone Source (see more Trend products at their site). The green Morris colorway above was photographed by Arnaldo dal Bosco. It is a detail of the Neptune Throne Room at CASADECOR Miami by Doug and Gene Meyer.

Eye Candy: Mickey D’s
architecture.MNP
This week’s Eye Candy is a follow-up to a post from last week - ‘World’s Nicest KFC?‘. Some comments were left about McDonald’s, 9th Dan of fast food food chains, and then we received an email from our ninja Eric over at Eye Candy with some images and links showing off a number of fancy Mickey D’s designs. In order to avoid my ranting, I’ve decided NOT to comment at length on McDonald’s impact on the built environment. Really, you’d just think that something based on simplicity, coast effectiveness and mas production would come up with some kind of kick-ass streamlined prefab [not shitty 1970’s looking brick]. Plus, those giant yellow arches should lead to some serious craziness [and these 1950’s era throwback diners aren’t what I’m talking about].

Narrative Infrastructures
Geoff Manaugh in BLDGBLOG
For those of you in Los Angeles, 1) consider kidnapping me and driving me back there in a van full of architecture books and coffee, because I can't even believe how much I miss that place, and 2) consider stopping by the Apple Store tonight in Santa Monica to hear Tali Krakowsky, Director of Experience Design at Imaginary Forces, speak about "trends in the fusion of design, technology and architecture." It's the narrative infrastructure of built space: Transformations in design thinking, inspired by emerging technologies and a fascination with storytelling, are changing the entertainment, educational, corporate and retail environments of the 21st Century. In her session, Krakowsky will break down interactive environments into their components: re-imagining content in motion, re-imagining media delivery systems, and re-imagining smart, interactive spaces, [to] examine several key projects in terms of process and design methodology.

Sustainability and the Unimaginable City
Brendan in Where
A recent post at WorldChanging offered up for discussion a fantastic Bruce Sterling quote about sustainability: "The ruins of the unsustainable are the 21st century's frontier." That's a pretty profound statement. To think that the world around us, the things that we consider familiar and take for granted, will be to our great grandchildren what the Roman Aqueducts -- or even British colonial forts -- are to us: relics. Of course, much of our built environment (especially the unsustainable portions) are considerably less visually appealing than crumbling arches and turrets....

Architect Peter Eisenman: The New England Patriots Worst Nightmare?
mediabistro.com: UnBeige
While we were in Glendale a couple months back, checking out Pentagram's work at the Cardinals' stadium, we're thinking now that we should have also been looking for top secret chambers and valves and mysterious contraptions of all kinds....

Private Residential Refurbishment project on Opal House by Turner Castle
Mohammad Fahmi Tri Wahyudi,ST in Best House Design
This is the private residential refurbishment project on Opal House that was design and constructed by Turner Castle. Located in Primrose Hill, North London. This is the remodelling project of a 4-storey semi-detached Opal House. Open plan levels with a dramatic cantilevered side stair provide a more fluid and contemporary arrangement than the original Victorian cellular rooms with central stair. The main entertaining room is located in the double height lower ground floor that has an access to the rear garden.

Public Hearing tonight - Future of Fort Dearborn P.O. Site: Park or Megadevelopment?
Lynn Becker in ArchitectureChicago PLUS
According to a report in Crain's Chicago Business, the Postal Service, in the words of a quoted spokesman, is "beginning the process of exploring the options for leveraging the value of that property", that property being the Fort Dearborn Station post office facility, which takes up a full city block at Dearborn and Grand (and Clark and Ohio). One of the features of the Chicago Central Area Plan issued in 2002 was to turn that block into a public park. That was before the heavy densification of River North had reached full flower, and last year's destruction of the areas only park space, the private park south of the AMA Building.

Reliance in Photos
Lynn Becker in ArchitectureChicago PLUS
This past fall, ArcSpace editor Kirsten Kiser made a pilgrimage to Chicago to check out the city's progress, and posted this excellent article on Burnham, Atwood and Shankland's 1895 Reliance Building, and its reincarnation in 1999 as the Hotel Burnham, beautifully restored by Antunovich Associates and Gunny Harboe, when he was at McClier. There's a wealth of both historic and new photographs, both exterior and interior. An added bonus are more photo's of Kiser's visits to Millennium Park, the Spertus Center and IIT campus.