Rankings of the Best Architectural Firms

Now... I know that rankings are seen as being meaningless in the profession of architecture. But, if you were ever wondering which firms are seen as being the best in the world, check out this ever-changing list by the German magazine BauNetz.

Click here to see the International Rankings

This is My Kind of Paper Architecture

New Zealand Book Council: Going West from Kreatif360 on Vimeo.

Logan Arts Center - Tod William Billie Tsien

I thought it was necessary to post the most current work of Tod Williams and Billie Tsien as their work always represents extreme craft and detail. But I was equally impressed by their most recent representations of the project.

Integrating Art and Architecture

Soaring skyward from a luminous, light-filled core, the new Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts will be a catalyst for creativity at the University of Chicago. A cornerstone of south campus, the visually stunning glass and stone building design by award-winning architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, seamlessly bridges the space between art and architecture.

Minimalism

The elegant modernist design (a hallmark of the couple) features a striking eleven-story, 155-foot tower, punctuated with light, open air terraces, and roof top decks. The vertical tower, rising from the urban landscape like a silo, will offer unparalleled views of the Chicago skyline, as well as provide multi-levels for interdisciplinary experimentation: teaching and presentation spaces for cinema and media studies, music, theater and performance, dance, and visual arts are intentionally interwoven throughout. A café anchors the building, connecting to the “podium,” which houses visual arts studios and shops and is topped with a sawtooth roof angled for northern exposure.

New Resources for the Arts

The center will add significant space and resources to Chicago’s visual arts, theater and performance, music, and cinema and media studies programs—and inspire everything in between. The architects conceive the building as a “mixing bowl,” fusing spaces, weaving individual rehearsal rooms with artist studios, critical theory classrooms with shops, and media editing labs with a video production studio. Public spaces include ensemble rehearsal rooms, black-box and proscenium theaters, a performance auditorium with exceptional acoustics, a gallery, a state-of-the-art film screening venue, a café, and dynamic outdoor spaces.

text courtesy of UChicago Arts

Projection Mapping on Existing Architecture

Battle of Branchage from seeper on Vimeo.

Great Grasshopper Intro Video...for Beginners

click here or the image to be linked to the videos page.

This is a “quick” introduction to Grasshopper did for SHoP Construction’s fall studio at NJIT run by Jon Mallie and John Cerone. Most of the things in this video are covered in other videos on the site but it introduces a few new features added to Grasshopper. Toward the end of the tutorial we cover relationships between Grasshopper and Excel. If you want to skip ahead to that part it is near the 100min mark of the video. This tutorial skips over a lot of the basics regarding canvas navigation, component colors, etc. and dives right in to some examples.

via: designalyze

Peter Guthrie's Farnsworth House

I have said it once, and I will say it again. Peter Guthrie is one of the most talented 3d artists that I have ever come across.

Check out his latest renderings (yes renderings!!!) of the Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe.



Guthrie' s meticulous attention to detail, lighting, and materials are simply second to none. Keep up the amazing work...

You can check out more of Guthrie's work on this website and blog.

AJ Top 5 Comic Book Cities

AJ Top Five: Comic Book Cities from The Architects' Journal on Vimeo.

I know he wasn't a comic book illustrator, but if you like this 'comic' style of drawing check out Hugh Ferris's work.

Video of the Inner-Workings of Tronic Studio

Tronic Studio from Etapes on Vimeo.

Maya Lin’s 'What is Missing' at California Academy of Sciences

Watch the full lecture by clicking here

Zebra Imaging 3D Architectural Holograms

Zebra holograms dramatically reduce time to certainty. For architecture, engineering & construction (AEC) projects, it is important to attractively and accurately present 3D form and function over iterative reviews. Holograms can be rendered from the same 3D digital design and CAD models that most AEC clients already produce for 2D renderings and animated fly-throughs.

The turnaround production time is fast and the model size, color, quality, and potential for animation are user-controlled parameters. The cost of a hologram is comparable to physical models produced at the same size. They are robust, easy to handle, and easy to transport and send. Updates and multiple copies can be easily produced and sent out to stakeholders at a single location or multiple locations. Holograms can be easily archived as physical documentation.

The presentation of AEC plans and designs is often as important as the plans and designs themselves. An impressive and accurate model can make the difference between winning and losing a contract. Furthermore, a detailed and accurate model for review during the design phase can mean the difference between detecting or missing mistakes early in the process. The ease of comprehension also make holograms well-suited for presentations to the public.

Because Zebra holograms are true-3D, multiple viewers can see the model from their own viewpoints encircling 360° around the model. In other words, viewers can walk around a Zebra hologram to observe and comprehend the model in the same intuitive manner that they observe real objects in real life.

New Search Engine For Designers

The idea is simple: search for a term and the site will show results from a number of different search queries. This is not a new idea, but the creation of search engine that is specifically targeted for designers is. After entering a query, the site data mines results from Google Images, Google Blogsearch, Flickr, iTunes, YouTube, Twitter, Amazon and Wikipedia then displays them on a single page that is orderly and easy to use. There is also a Save/Share option that will send a permalink of your search to you via email or to others through a number of social networking sites.

Click Here to Try it...

Via: Core77

Eric Sanderson pictures New York -- Before the City

Via: TED

Colander Table by Daniel Rohr

I seem to be conflicted over this project by German designer Daniel Rohr. One side of me is amazed at the simple beauty of the piece, while the other side is revolted by the over excessive nature of carving a table out of a solid piece of aluminum.

I find myself asking the question if it is really necessary for something as primitive as a table to be designed and build with such advanced technical means. If you ask me, a table needs to serve a very simple purpose, and I don't feel that this evolution on its design is really doing anything other than over-complicating something that should not be over-complicated.

I would like to hear if any others share a different opinion.

Text from designboom:

the latest project by german designer daniel rohr is the 'colander' table. the futuristic table consists a bowl like form with 909 holes. the project is an experiment, to delete space and material. this opens for the observer an other point of view with a different sense. when objects are placed on top of the table it gives the illusion that they are floating.

via: designboom

Bjarke Ingels: 3 Warp-Speed Architecture Tales @ TED

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels rockets through photo/video-mingled stories of his eco-flashy designs. His buildings not only look like nature -- they act like nature: blocking the wind, collecting solar energy -- and creating stunning views.

Wired's Creative Director Scott Dadich on Design

Video Summary

Scott Dadich talks about designing Wired Magazine, developing a creative culture in magazine design, with three guiding ideas; that details matter, to design by evolution rather than revolution, and that constraint is freedom.

See the Full Lecture Below

Via: Fora.tv