Category: Landscape
Posted by James on 9/30/2005 1:24:00 PM
Three firms selected as finalists for the former El Toro Marine
Corps Air Station
 The field of seven firms selected from the original thirty-eight has now been narrowed to three finalists for the design of what would be one of California's largest urban parks. The finalists are EMBT from Barcelona, Spain, Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey from Mill Valley, California, and Ken Smith Landscape Architect from New York, New York.
Closed in 1999, El Toro was originally slated to be the site for a new international airport. After voters killed the highly contentious airport proposal in favor of parkland, the City of Irvine spearheaded the effort to create "one of the finest metropolitan parks in America."
The Navy recently sold the property to Miami based Lennar Communities who will develop 10% of the seven square mile property and contribute money towards the development and maintenance of the Great Park.
Larry Agran, Chair of the Orange County Great Park Corporation:
Fredrick Law Olmstead designed New York’s Central Park in the mid 19th Century and inspired the creation of great metropolitan parks throughout the United States. We are conducting an international search for the Fredrick Law Olmstead of the 21st Century, and are confident that we will find a designer of his caliber for the Great Park.
Link: Orange County Great Park
Link: EMBT Arquitectes Presentation (pdf)
Link: Ken Smith Presentation Doc 1 Doc 2 (pdf)
Link: RHAA Presentation (pdf)
Link: Video of public presentations
Via: Archinect
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Category: Architecture
Posted by James on 9/29/2005 10:24:00 AM
A modern rammed earth house rooted in rural Australian vernacular
 Designed by Melbourne-based John Wardle Architects, this house is located on the Mornington Peninsula outside of Melbourne.
Designed as an exploration between the site and the lives of the owners, the house embraces the site and surrounding landscape. Built primarily of rammed earth with elements of timber framing and steelwork, the elements recall Australian rural vernacular structures. While the design is decidedly modern, there is an almost arts and crafts attention to detailing and use of material.
Firm: John Wardle Architects (Site not Firefox friendly)
Article: Architecture Australia - July/August 2004 - Grafts and Crafts
Via: Earth Architecture
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Category: Materials
Posted by Deborah on 9/29/2005 8:31:00 AM
Bonded Logic harnesses the warmth of denim
You might not think of denim as a suitable building material, but its rugged fibers have been the choice of labourers since the 16th century given that its durable, comfortable and warm. Bonded Logic recognized denim's primary benefits and used it to create a sustainable and effective insulation.
UltraTouch is a natural cotton-based fiber insulation made from 85% post-industrial recycled fibers that harnesses the warmth and woven density of denim. It does not emit VOCs and is resistant to fungi. It also meets the highest ASTM testing standards, and contains no chemical irritants. Furthermore, UltraTouch's unique manufacturing process creates a three dimensional infrastructure that traps, isolates and controls sound waves reducing sound from traffic, airplanes, radios, television, and conversation.
Link: UltraTouch
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Category: Events
Posted by James on 9/28/2005 4:50:00 PM
An Exhibit of seventeen original landscapes
 This exhibition for gardens designed to be part of the proposed 3rd floor addition to USC's architecture building is now showing at USC Verle L. Annis Architecture Gallery in Harris Hall through Saturday, October 1, 2005.
The School of Architecture's 21,000 square foot 3rd floor expansion of Watt Hall will house the School's four graduate programs. Alternating gardens and office spaces will form a ten-foot perimeter around the building. Each of the 17 gardens will be an original landscape design by an internationally renowned landscape architect. With the use of drought-tolerant and sustainable plants, the gardens will serve as a valuable tool for landscape studies and will act as the lungs for the building - allowing air to flow through the office, studio and gallery spaces.
Link: USC - Visions of Sky Gardens
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Category: Floor - Wall
Posted by James on 9/28/2005 10:10:00 AM
Limited edition rugs designed by Akira Isogawa
 Australian fashion designer Akira Isogawa has designed a limited edition collection of rugs with bold graphic patterns with a decidedly Eastern influence.
The rugs are hand-knotted cut and loop pile of 100% New Zeland Wool or New Zealand Wool & Viscose. Naturally, the rugs come with a designer price tag starting at $4990 Australian (approx. $3,800 US).
Link: Designer Rugs - Akira Range
Designer: Akira Isogawa
Via: The Age - Rugging up
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Category: Books
Posted by James on 9/27/2005 9:00:00 AM
Building On An Elevated Surface
 Excerpted from the publisher:
The land in big cities has be used more intensively, but the possibilities are limited. One of the leading options for the future is the use of the flat roofs of residential buildings and office blocks as a building site.
This book analyses and describes the opportunities for realizing projects of this kind, as well as the potential difficulties, using interesting examples of construction on top of existing buildings in the Netherlands and abroad. It will therefore be influential in establishing a benchmark for architecture and urban planning that is a necessity if rooftop architecture is to have a serious future.
Editor: Eric Vreedenburgh
Link: NAi Publishers
Link: Amazon
Via: Things
Related:
Up on the rooftop (L+L)
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Category: Kitchen
Posted by Deborah on 9/27/2005 8:30:00 AM
Simplicity x function = popularity
A funny thing happened while browsing though the many aisles of Hot Property, a mecca for things Modern in the city of Toronto, I spied some glass containers that were in a locked cabinet. I have been on the hunt for glass containers, with plastic getting so much bad press these days, and inquired as to their price. The shop-keep told me that while he wasn't sure of their exact price, they were in fact "thousands, and thousands of dollars". It turns out that they were original Wilhelm Wagenfeld Kubus stacking containers from ca. 1935.
Wagenfeld studied at the Bauhaus school and produced these simple containers after he left. They were manufactured as sets of seven, with interchangeable lids that were meant to be used as both storing and serving pieces. In true Bauhaus style serial repetition and function led to their extreme popularity, hence the myriad of replicas available on the market today.
Link: Metropolitan Museum
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Category: Architecture
Posted by Deborah on 9/26/2005 8:57:00 AM
Contemporary reinterpretations of treehouses
Treehouses have grown-up and are winning awards for excellence in design and innovation. If the idea of treehouse as family dwelling conjures up images of the Swiss Family Robinson, then prepare yourself for the following reinterpretations.
In 2003 Lukasz Kos, a masters student at the University of Toronto's School of Architecture & Design, took honourable mention at the OAA awards for his Muskoka, ON. treehouse, an elegant slatted structure that scales the trees and lets light radiate down it's core.
More recently, Joel Sherman of jls Design produced his AIA award-winning Steel Tree House in Lake Tahoe, CA, a sprawling residence that is cleverly engineered to work with snow loads and sloping terrain. Then there is Marcio Kogan's BR House in Araras, RJ that was built up to the canopy, and allows trees to puncture through the roof at points creating a contemporary elevated living space.
Link: Lukasz Kos
Link: Marcio Kogan
Via: Nelson Kon fotografias
Link: jls Design
Via: Dexigner
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Category: Materials
Posted by James on 9/24/2005 11:55:00 AM
Tinted particleboard and fiberboard interior finish panels
 Made by Columbia Forest Products, these eco-friendly composite panels are suitable for cabinetry, furniture, tabletops and wall paneling.
There are two products in the line, each with their own aesthetic textural qualities: either FSC-certified M3-grade particleboard or WOODSTALK® wheat straw agrifiber panels. There is
no added formaldehyde and the panels are finished with a durable, zero-emissions UV cured acrylic finish.
The material has been used by architect
Todd Saunders for the design of the BlueSkyMod prefabricated housing unit recently written up in The Globe and Mail.
Link: Columbia Forest Products
(The product is not listed on website, but they still make it
Link: EcoColors Brochure (pdf)
Via: Treehugger
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Category: Architecture
Posted by Deborah on 9/23/2005 5:15:00 AM
Le Corbusier series of DVDs now available
Can't get enough Corbusier? The Fondation Le Corbusier and Codex Images International - Birkhäuser are offering a series of DVDs that chronicle the work of Le Corbusier from 1905-1964. Broken into series of 4 sets, October heralds the arrival of the second set of 5 DVDs covering the years 1930-1945. The complete set features roughly 300 projects that will no doubt serve as an important archive for researchers, students and enthusiasts.
Each project is accompanied by expert commentary and fully printable images. Fortunately for us they were not shy about including shreds of plans either. Series one: 1905-1930, a 4 DVD set, is currently available, but at the rather steep price of € 1600 or € 5800 for the series (approximately $1300 and $7000 US), it's probably best to harass your local library or university into making the purchase.
Link: Order Form
Link: Codex Images (Japanese/English Site)
Link: Fondation Le Corbusier
Via: arcspace
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