December 2009
18 posts
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Watchharvard economist and obama advisor, david cutler on the health care bill to cap off the year…
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link to audio video clip of the new yorker's john... →
hadid is a baghdad-born, london-based architect who has founded an entirely different approach to design, which remains unique from project to project. seabrook points to hadid’s upbringing in a male dominated society as the groundwork that prepared her for the challenges she has faced in this historically male dominated profession. she has ultimately placed herself front and center as a...
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arizona - day two: will bruder's scottsdale museum...
phoenix-based architect, will bruder, designed the scottsdale museum of contemporary art in old scottsdale, which is now mainly a feeding ground for tourists. the building has a lot of potential despite its modest (read insignificant) location.
had the building been located in a bustling city center, the james turrell enclosed by the curvilinear walls of the bruder structure would not be as...
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arizona - day one: todd williams and billie...
what i liked about the phoenix art museum was the balance of large gallery spaces, narrow corridors and staircases. it seemed that different floor levels were marked by the presense of glass which were balanced out by the rough rock cement walls, smoothed stone floors, and stainless steel railings. the big and small rooms, wide and narrow circulation, smooth and rough surfaces, sun-struck and...
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Watchon a moving subway… only in new york!
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link to nytimes article: re: a year of... →
ouroussoff writes about the triumphs in architecture in 2009, unavoidably picking those of similar typology. the quality of morphosis’ cooper union and hadid’s maxxi museum run juxtapose to the gehry and nouvel structures which rely on glitzy external perceptions. gehry’s “glistens,” and nouvels is “emblazoned with fragmented images of performers that float...
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re-post @reecepacheco: tiger woods voted "athlete"...
to be clear, i’m not griping about the fact that tiger is one of the biggest let-downs in history. furthermore, i’m not denying that tiger is really, really ridiculously good at golf. but it’s golf! it’s not a sport! golfers aren’t athletes! i mean really - at one point this guy was considered the best in the game: and who did tiger beat for this decade? lance armstrong - 6x tour de france...
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link to wsj article re: technological advancements... →
with architects’ growing “need” to be cutting edge, their lofty visions can be cut short due to what is able to be built at that time. in some instances, the technology used to build advanced forms, well… is not advanced enough. a building showing signs of age is absolutely normal and often adds character. but in i.m pei’s national gallery in washington d.c marble...
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link to bdonline article re: foreign office... →
foa’s founding partners, farshid moussavi and alejandro zaera-polo, which already seem to exist independently within the company - having their own clients and their projects - will be going their separate ways. i first learned about her work through a book she edited, the function of ornament.
foreign office architects
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washington post: clinton went for contemporary and... →
- well written article by kennicott… it alludes to bush’s commission of stern for the design of his presidential library in dallas as a continuation of his presidency - unimaginative. clinton replicated his “instant iconic status” by choosing polshek partners, and got a much more elegant building. plus, it’s leed platinum! i think obama will get mayne to do...
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link to new yorker article re: ten most positive... →
as much as i enjoy the the new cooper union building and the high line, the most deserving of these ten was the fiftieth anniversary of the guggenheim museum. it was launched by a complete restoration and a exhibition about frank lloyd wright. it included perhaps some of his most whacky yet prescient works… and lots of drawings too!
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link to boston globe article re: mit's new media... →
when i visited mit a few weeks ago, i came across this building by accident, fortunately. this building reinforces the perks of transparency. as the media lab director, frank moss puts it, “glass forces collaboration.” collaboration in this sense refers to the communication that can occur by merely being visually exposed to others and their work. open spaces can do wonders for the...
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link to ny times article re: architect malcolm... →
malcolm wells was an environmentally conscious man who believed that no man-made structure should disrupt the existing footprint. holding true to his belief, he created eco-friendly homes and buildings with green roofs. he took the site’s existing footprint, and relocated it to the top of the structure - unique but very pragmatic approach.
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link to domesticfuels article re: recycling CO2... →
“Big emitters of carbon dioxide are faced with a big problem. Industries and utilities will soon have to capture that CO2 and store it … somewhere. That where Carbon Sciences comes in. The California-based company has come up with a way that takes the captured greenhouse gas and turns it into gasoline and diesel … the exact same fuels that we put into our tanks today.”
- it seems like...
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link to wall street journal article calling to... →
eric felten makes an accurate account of modern architecture and its evolution toward purist and non-ornamental design, but his article is debased by his simpleton point of view. he argues that the “trademark glass-and-steel boxes of modern architecture” are still being built, but with little change or adaptation. perhaps that’s because no one can figure out how to master one, or...
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home by architect, anthony ames, featured in...
in roxbury, connecticut lies a great home on a sprawling property with rolling grassy hills. the modern home, designed by anthony ames in the late 80’s, was the site of a good portion of the movie “private lives of pippa lee,” starring robin wright penn, alan arkin, blake lively, keanu reeves, and winona rider. not only was part of the movie filmed in the house (interiors...
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link to paul goldberger's article in the new... →
paul goldberger claims that jean nouvel’s new building on the west side highway “hits you with razzle-dazzle but also backs it up by getting you to think about architecture in a more serious way.” yet, i do not find much that is serious or profound about 1100 eleventh avenue, nor was i enlightened about an intellectual approach to design. i live in close proximity, and witnessed...
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Watchlink to thom mayne’s floating house for brad pitt’s ‘make it right’ development in new orleans…