New Architecture Series on the Sundance Channel

The six-part series from creators Michael Selditch and Stan Bertheaud follows a group of students at Tulane University's prestigious School of Architecture as they submit competing designs for an affordable home in Katrina-battered New Orleans. The stakes are high: the winning model will be built during the course of the school year and put up for sale, enabling one fledgling architect to begin his or her career with a high-profile splash.

ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL opens a window onto the art and science of architecture while telling a unique and uplifting story about the literal rebuilding of New Orleans. Filmed during the 2007-2008 school year, the series follows the construction of the third home in Tulane University's URBANbuild program, which offers fourth-year architecture students the opportunity to design and build a low-cost single-family home over the course of the school year. Founded in 2005, URBANbuild is a partnership between Tulane's School of Architecture and Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans (N.H.S.), a nonprofit agency that works to restore urban neighborhoods.

Show times:

Wednesday, Aug 20, 10pm e/p
Thursday, Aug 21, 2am e/p
Saturday, Aug 23, 3pm e/p
Sunday, Aug 24, 7pm e/p
Tuesday, Aug 26, 12am e/p
Wednesday, Aug 27, 9pm e/p

P.s. Sorry for being a bit late on this...

via: Sundance Channel

Aalto Reinterpretation by Jan Čtvrtník

Some of you may have already seen Jan Ctvrtnik's reinterpretation of Aalto's vase on the web. Being that I am the proud owner of an original Aalto vase, and a huge fan of the Finnish architect's work; I just could not help but post this, belated but, brilliant iteration for all of you to see... I want one.

Visitors of the Droog website have chosen ‘Droog Aalto’, a vase design by Jan Čtvrtník, with 32% of all votes as the winning proposal for the Climate Competition.

Designer Rachel Hevic reached up to the second-favourite with her proposal of ‘Large red switch’ (23% of the votes). Third place comes for Jenny Bergström with ‘This is the air we breathe...’ (15% of all votes). Droog initiated the competition for which anyone could submit any idea in any possible form, as long as it concerned the ‘climate’ theme.

Jan Ctvrtnik: ‘I realised that climate changes are visualised mostly by numbers and scientific measurements. In order to show changes, it is good to have a reference point.’ And so the Aalto vase became that reference point with its shape originating from the shape of a Finnish lake. The ‘Droog’ part of the title can be translated as ‘Dry’, obviously relating to global warming.



Originally Czechoslovakian, Jan Ctvrtnik currently lives and works in Pordenone, Italy. After studying design in Prague and at IKDC in Lund (Sweden), he is now working as an industrial designer for Electrolux. New experiences trigger his inspiration: ‘I am trying to think different. Quite often I propose strange, odd and crazy ideas. After that I cut the “wings of imagination” and step by step refine something new but reasonable. I love doing something what I have never done before. I love the process of learning and exploring connections between subjects and surrounding space.’




text & images via: bustler

Promontorio Architecture - Mora River Aquarium

Echoing the rural barns of the Evora District, in the Alentejo region of Portugal, this building was conceived as a single monolithic pitched room shed of white pre-cast concrete trusses with single spans fo 33 meters. Inside, the elusive hut shelters a complex sanctuary of water moving through diverse fresh water habitats of more than 500 specimens. This project has been done with collaboration with Boston Architectural and Marine Biology fimr Cosestudi, a studio with whom PROMONTORIO has teamed up for various international aquarium proposals.

An extremely well done blend of vernacular building typology and modern construction techniques, in addition to the opportunity to have education mix with industrial architecture.

www.promontorio.net

Eames-inspired Prosthetic Leg by Jonna M Hawley

Text & Images from JOANNA M HAWLEY

"Prosthetics generally lack humanity, style and grace. Often, they look much like landing gear and make the wearer uncomfortable, self aware, and sometimes depressed. By channeling the Eames' use materials and iconic style, we designed a leg with Steve McQueen in mind. We sought to convey a creative use of positive and negative space, a balance of materials and a reflection of the wearer."


"This project taught me to expand my use of research materials. We interviewed several amputees in varying stages of acceptance, met with Sephora color specialists to discuss skin tones, and 3D laser scanned actual legs to translate the proportions of the human body into CAD. Through a wide range of techniques, I explored the challenge of designing something with the body in mind."

team member : Kayhan Haj-Ali-Ahmadi (a pre-med student with whom I worked to gain further knowledge about the body)

via: Yanko Design

Home Delivery Exhibition at the MoMA

This Saturday I went to see the new exhibition at the MoMA named "Home Delivery" and I am sad to say that I was fairly underwhelmed. It appears that the curators in charge of designing the installation seemed to be more interested in the pre-fab technologies of the 1950's rather than those being designed in the modern era. There were however some modern pre-fab homes and technologies that I found more interesting. Take a look at the video to see five full scale examples of modern pre-fab technologies.

Architecture & The Environment by Shigreu Ban

Shigeru Ban from Architectural League of New York on Vimeo.

The Franzen Lecture on Architecture and the Environment is an annual invited lecture by an international figure whose work has significant implications for understanding and reconceiving the relationship between architecture and the environment, created in honor of long-time League trustee Ulrich Franzen. The 2007-08 Franzen Lecture was given by Shigeru Ban on January 22, 2008 at the Great Hall of Cooper Union in New York City. Click above to view the entire lecture, with introduction by League President Calvin Tsao.

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban’s innovative work tests the limits of structure and form. Often based on elements derived from traditional Japanese architecture, his firm’s designs are ecologically sensitive and flexibly programmed, from quickly constructed temporary paper structures to modular, reconfigurable galleries and pavilions to permanent urban structures. Recent and current work includes the Nomadic Museum; the Seikei Library; Papertainer Museum, Seoul; Nicolas G. Hayek Center, Tokyo; the Metal Shutter Houses; and the Pompidou Center – Metz.

The Franzen Lecture on Archiecture and the Environment is made possible by contributions from the Riggio Foundation, Juliana Curran Terian, and Elise Jaffe + Jeffrey Brown.

Running time: 1 hour, 19 minutes, 9 seconds

via: The Architecture League of New York

Planar House by Steven Holl

Sited in Paradise Valley with a direct vista to Camelback Mountain, this house is to be a part of, and vessel for, a large contemporary art collection. Great 20th-century works by Bruce Nauman, Robert Ryman, Jeff Koons and Jannis Kounellis are part of the collection, which includes important video artworks.


Constructed of tilt-up concrete, the flat and rotated nature of the walls merges with the simple orthogonal requirements for displaying art. Shape extensions and light and air chimneys connected to cooling pools articulate the planar geometry. From a courtyard experienced at the entry of sequence, a ramp leads to a rooftop sculpture garden-a place of silence and reflection.


via: Arch Daily

7th of July Memorial by Carmondy Groarke

Plans have been unveiled for a permanent memorial designed by architects Carmody Groarke to commemorate the London bombings of 7 July 2005.

The memorial will be situated in London’s Hyde Park.

The design consists of 52 cast stainless steel pillars in four clusters, representing the 52 victims of the four incidents. Each three-meter pillar will be inscribed with the date and location of the incident. Above image by Carmody Groark.

Work is expected to begin on site this autumn, with an official unveiling on 7 July 2009.

Images by Imaging Atelier, except where stated otherwise.

The following information is from Carmody Groark:

–

7 July Permanent Memorial design unveiled

The final design for the permanent Memorial to the 52 innocent victims killed in the London bombings on 7 July 2005 was unveiled today.

The design comprises 52 pillars (stelae), each representing one of the victims. They are grouped together in four inter-linking clusters reflecting the four incidents, with each stele bearing an inscription of the date and location of the particular incident that its cluster represents. It will be situated in the North-east corner of Hyde Park, close to Park Lane and Lover’s Walk.

A plaque, listing the names of the murdered victims, will be sited in the grass bank at the far eastern end of the Memorial.

The Memorial has been created by a Design Team which has worked in close consultation with representatives of the bereaved families and advisor's from The Royal Parks.

The Design Team chosen to create the Memorial is made up of Ove Arup and Partners Ltd(lead consultant and engineering services), Carmody Groarke (architect) and Colvin and Moggridge Ltd (landscape architect).

A representative of the bereaved families group said: “This Memorial is a fitting tribute, honoring the 52 lives lost on 7 July 2005, ensuring that the world will never forget them. It represents the enormity of our loss, both on a personal and public level. We hope this Memorial will speak to visitors, so they can understand the impact of these horrific events.

“We would like to thank the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and The Royal Parks for their support throughout this project.”

Architect and Director of Carmody Groarke, Kevin Carmody, said:”We are proud to have had the opportunity to help the bereaved families of the 7 July London bombings create a fitting Memorial to their loved ones. By working in close and constant consultation with them and the wider design team, we have designed something that fulfils their brief to us: to create a Memorial that allows for a collective experience as well as being a place of relative quiet for contemplation for the families and the wider public.”

Antony Gormley has acted as an independent artistic advisor to the project in line with the client brief, on a pro-bono basis. He has been consulted by Carmody Groarke to critique the design at key stages in the development of the design, and said: “Using the language of architecture to make order out of chaos, this monument is an opportunity for lost victims to be in contact with the living through a process of discovery, where the memorial’s structure becomes complete through the presence and body language of
a curious visitor.”

Each stele will be three meters (approx. 10 feet) tall and 15-18 cms (6-7.28 inches) square. They will be constructed from cast stainless steel, a robust material that is very long lasting. The casting process of these stelae means that whilst they are all cast from the same mold, each one will be unique.

A planning application for the construction of the Memorial has been submitted to
Westminster City Council. The Memorial will be sited in the South East corner of Hyde Park, between Lover’s Walk and Park Lane.

Subject to planning permission, work on the Memorial is expected to begin on the site in the autumn, with an official unveiling on 7 July 2009.

via: dezeen