October 2005
An Austrian supermarket spree
My September (2005) journey, through Tyrol - Austria, allowed me to explore about 15 MPreis supermarket stores; driving through towns along a 100 km route, west and east of Innsbruck.
The following images and text describe some of the MPreis locations I visited and my overall impression of the chain and it's unconventionally designed stores.
Link: MPreis
Reference: MPreis: Seriously sexy supermarkets (L+L)
New contributor at Land+Living
In L+L's teething months, an architecture student contacted us to inquire further about one of our posts. We stayed in touch sporadically, and just two months ago we posted one of her student projects on L+L.
And now, because of that email about that early post, we have invited her to join us as a contributor; please welcome Lorenza Casini! Her inaugural post is related, of course, to that first email contact.
Panel Discussion: Small Lot Subdivisions and New Housing Typologies
A panel discussion with City Planning officials, architects, and developers will be held on Saturday, November 5, 2005 from 11am-3pm.
cityworksLosAngeles is staging a panel discussion on the subject of the Small Lot Subdivision Ordinance and its potential to allow new models of affordable housing. Join a lively discussion moderated by Mark Surdam of Enterprise Home Ownership Partners and Frances Anderton of KCRW's DnA in advance of an upcoming design competition intended to probe opportunities afforded by the ordinance.
Link: cityworksLosAngeles
RSVP: workinprogres@earthlink.net (by 11/2)
A festival of Architecture and Music in Toronto
In June 2006, New Music Arts Projects presents soundaXis, a city-wide festival celebrating architecture, music and acoustics that will transform Toronto into a playground of sound and space exploration. For two weeks, the city will be alive with concerts, interdisciplinary installations, symposia, screenings and site-specific musical events. Events will be held across the city, presented and hosted by many of Toronto’s most innovative arts organizations.
June 1-11, 2006
Link: SoundaXis
Link: Iannis Xenakis
The Australians tap the Danes again - this time for a barbeque
Now this is by far the best barbeque design I have seen: clean, sleek, and simple. Designed by architect Jeppe Utzon (grandson of Jorn) as a simple table, the grill is constructed from Corian and stainless steel. The grill cover panels extend to create extra bench space when the grill is in use and feature a lock to prevent from being closed while in operation.
It is a beauty, but beauty comes at a price: $7,999 AUD, that's about $6,000 USD. I guess it costs a lot to look this good.
Link: Electrolux
Firm: Utzon Architects
Via: gravestmor
An alternative to Portland Cement
Lithistone is an environmentally friendly alternative to Portland Cement that Ryan Waxman and Brett Fitzgerald use to fabricate countertops, sinks and decorative products. Lithistone will not contribute to indoor air pollution through off-gassing because it uses natural organic high colorfast pigments from Bioshield earth pigments, and non-toxic sealers and glosses. Lithistone is made from a variety of aggregates including crushed slate, granite, quartz, sea shells, marble and limestone. Furthermore, it can be carved, cast or sculpted. Lithistone provides natural contrast to a contemporary interior.
Link: Lithistone
Creative conversions of underused buildings
LoftyHeights is a new project started by Oliver Bollmann that looks at adaptive reuse and green building practices in the San Francisco Bay area that aspires to become a clearinghouse where architects, city officials, investors, home owners and real estate agents come together to post and learn about local, and potentially sustainable, building opportunities. The focus of the project is the existing urban environment, often underused or abandoned, the message is the idea that urban density is more sustainable. The site has been in existence since July 2005.
What we're committed to at LoftyHeights is to bring forth the creative conversions of underused buildings, buildings that sit idle after the dot.com crash or others, including warehouses, industrial, R&D and offices, into living homes that create community while remaining kind to our dwindling resources. Creating a quality of space for the owners out of an everyday structure, using green practices, encouraging proximity and density.
Link: LoftyHeights
Designing for the 24-hour environment
Designing for the 24-hour environment requires that the designer have an understanding of the materials that can be used to illuminate spaces shadowed by darkness. Convention points us towards traditional forms of lighting like halogen, solar, LED etc... but what of the luminescent properties of the materials themselves? Properties that include: transparency, reflectivity, retro-reflectivity, photo-luminescence, thermo-luminescence, screening, fiber-optical luminescence and fluorescence? This was the focus of a project lead by Pierre Bélanger, Assistant Professor Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design, University of Toronto that used night as the point of departure for a rooftop landscape architecture plan.
Link: AL&D
Wallpaper and paint for the eco-stylish
Farrow and Ball wallpapers and paints are beautiful, tactile and unparalleled in quality and finish. Think of them as hand-crafted products that use time-tested palettes for their line of paints, and employ a 19th century method of dragging and stripping for their papers. Sound old-fashioned? Maybe, but Farrow and Ball wallpapers, Emulsions, Exterior Masonry and Eggshell paints are environmentally preferable with low VOC emissions; the same goes for their papers.
As a user (ok, F&B addict) I can testify to the fact that there is little to no smell after an application, and the matt finishes allow light to blend with the colour rather than reflect off of it. There are over 100 Farrow and Ball colours to choose from, most of them with unconventional names and descriptions like Dead Salmon and Pigeon, but they do not custom blend, which can be a downside for some. On the plus side, Farrow and Ball paints are to be stirred not shaken and they don't separate when left to stand. Furthermore, most distributors offer free (with purchase) in-home consultation. Sample pots are available, and recommended, before committing to a colour.
Link: Farrow and Ball
A green promontory overlooking the harbor for all New Yorkers to enjoy
Redesigned by Rogers Marvel Architects and Ken Smith Landscape Architecture, this one acre elevated plaza at 55 Water Street in Manhattan is to be reopened today. Elevated plazas are always something of a challenge, and the previous life of this space was less than stellar despite its riverfront location with generous open sky. Indeed the original plaza with its unwelcoming street access was only built to gain a density bonus when the double-tower complex was originally built in 1972.
The Municipal Art Society and the property landlord (New Water Street Corp.) held a design competition in 2002 to revitalize the space. The design by Rogers Marvel and Ken Smith starts by marking the site with a 50-foot-high LED illuminated translucent glass beacon at the northeast corner of the site, which also serves as an additional park entrance via elevator. The primary entrance is a multilevel assent of escalators, stairs and overlooks rising from street level. Above the park unfurls as a broad events lawn of artificial grass surrounded by a stepped amphitheater, and a gently sloping landscaped "Dune," inspired by regional topography, which rises up to a "Boardwalk" terrace overlooking New York Harbor.
Visit: 55 Water Street
Landscape Architect: Ken Smith Landscape Architecture
Architect: Rogers Marvel Architects
Article: NY Times - An Elevated Plaza Finally Worth Going Up to See
Images: 55 Water Street
Images: Municipal Art Society
More: Tropolism
Landscape — October 17, 2005
Posted by Deborah
An early American Modernist landscape
John Fletcher Steele was a one of the first American Modernists of landscape architecture. In 1907 Steele attended Harvard's Graduate School of Landscape Architecture where he was taught by none other than Frederick Law Olmstead Jr. in the Beaux Arts tradition, but later became greatly influenced by the French Modernist of his time; the Vera brothers and Gabriel Guevrekian in particular.
While his style in his professional practice remained relatively rooted in Beaux Arts principles, his writings and exhibition work showcased his Modern gleanings. During his career, Steele made a friend out of heiress Mabel Choate, daughter of Joseph Choate the prominent New York attorney, who's love of travel fed Steele's creativity and together they conspired to create his signature gardens at Naumkeag in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Link: Naumkeag Trustees
Link: Naumkeag Projects
Via: Garden Visit
Reference: Modern Landscape Architecture - A Critical Review (L+L)
Art — October 16, 2005
Posted by James
A naked eye observatory outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico
Last December we were inspired by an article in The Guardian to make a post about various earthworks including Star Axis by Charles Ross. And we ran across a nice piece on Star Axis posted today by BLDGBLOG. After poking around a bit more, we found several good links regarding Star Axis for your browsing pleasure.
Charles Ross conceived of Star Axis in 1971, and the Chupinas Mesa site in New Mexico was obtained in 1975.
Star Axis is an architectonic earth/star sculpture constructed with the geometry of the stars; earth-to-star alignments built to human scale. It offers an intimate experience of how the earth's environment extends into the space of the stars.
Link: Star Axis
Coords: N35°15.862, W105°05.217 (13E 492090 3902362N) [via]
Via: BLDGBLOG - Roadhenge
More links:
Link: Eyestorm - Charles Ross Star Axis
Link: Exploratorium - Light and Landscape (Real and Quicktime movies)
Link: Collector's Guide - Star Axis – A Theatre in the Sky
Reference: Earthworks revealed (L+L)
Reference: Satell(s)iteseeing (L+L)
Rediscovered 11 years ago, one of the world's oldest and rarest trees on display
A public exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, is currently running through October 22, and will culminate in an international Sotheby's auction of the Collectors Edition trees on October 23, 2005.
The installation at Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens will replicate the secret grove where the Pines were first discovered.The auction will feature fewer than 300 first generation Pines grown from cuttings taken from the wild population. Each Collectors Edition tree can be traced back to its parent tree in the wild. Proceeds will benefit conservation efforts of the Wollemi Pine and other rare species. In addition, six groves of five trees each will be dedicated to conservation organizations in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Germany and Japan.
The general release of smaller Wollemi Pine pot plants will take place internationally in April 2006.
Wollemi Pine International
When Maurice Calka went plastic
In 1969, the renowned French sculptor Maurice Calka issued something different: the Boomerang desk. A sexy molded fiberglass and plastic desk. The largest version, the PDG, came with a matching molded chair and personalized control panel was enough to impress President Pompidou who owned one in white and placed it in the Elysée Palace; the contrasting Baroque and 70's plastic fantastic raised a few eyebrows back then. Manufactured by Leleu-Deshays they are highly sought after, but only 35 were produced as a limited edition piece. Recently, a Boomerang desk came up for auction and was sold for 29,300 Euro (roughly 35,000 USD).
Link: Maurice Calka
Via: A.D.
W.S. Tyler Wire Cloth for Architecture and Design
Facade, screen, ceiling, shelter, sound and fire barrier are just some the things that the architectural wire cloth series from Haver & Böecker can be. A thoroughly versatile steel mesh, it can take on harsh weather and pollution, and is often used along highways and in industry as a filter. The aesthetic qualities of architectural wire cloth make it ideal as a skin allowing subtle changes of colour and light at different angles. It also offers a myriad of options for interior application as ceilings and screens. Haver & Böecker have been producing woven wire cloth since 1887 with their first operation in Hohenlimburg, Germany and are distributed worldwide by their parent company W.S. Tyler.
Link: W.S. Tyler
Link: Haver & Böecker
A massive urban sculpture envisaged by Isamu Noguchi
Seventeen years after Isamu Noguchi's death, his last work has been realized in the northeastern part of Sapporo as part of the city's annular greenbelt. Moerenuma Park was sculpted out of a 198 hectare waste disposal site which Noguchi specifically selected during his visit in March 1988. Noguchi completed the master plan of the park before his death later in 1988.
Noguchi believed that art and sculpture should be useful. His proposals for large-scale sculptures in the public realm date back to the 1930's, and he was especially drawn to the notion of play sculpture, though only one of his playgrounds was completed during his lifetime. Many of Noguchi's unrealized concepts were integrated into the design for Moerenuma.
The park was completed in July of 2005 under the guidance of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation, architects Shoji Sadao and Junichi Kawamura (longtime Noguchi collaborators), Kitaba Landscape Planning, Park Director Hitoshi Yamamoto and city officials.
Link: Moerenuma Park (Japanese)
Link: Green City Sapporo (Japanese)
Link: Sapporo City - Moerenuma Park and Isamu Noguchi
Link: Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum Japan
Article: Japan Times - Filling an emptiness with public play
Article: Asahi Shimbun - Ingenious Vision/Moerenuma a sculpture that doubles as playground
Related: California Scenario (L+L)
Related: The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum (L+L)
Water-retentive paving blocks
It looks like your run-of-the-mill paving block, the same kind you can pick up at your local home improvement store. But these "Eco-Pavers" manufactured by Matsuo Corp. of Ibaraki, Japan can actually retain water and, used en-mass, greatly reduce the heat island effect of large areas of paving.
Made of recycled construction materials, Eco-Pavers are specially cast to wick up water through capillary action. The pavers actually mimic plant transpiration to provide natural cooling; surface temperatures of the blocks can be lower than the air temperature by 2° - 3° C (3.5° - 5.5° F) and lower than the surface temperature of ordinary blocks by 10° C (18° F) or more.
Link: Matsuo Corp (Japanese)
Article: Daily Yomiuri
Via: Treehugger - Matsuo Corp's "Eco-Paver", Water Retentive Blocks
Exhibition on the work of Barragan shows his vision for blending architecture with nature
An Exhibition on the work of the Pritzker Prize winning architect Luis Barragan is now showing through November 6, 2005 in Athens, Greece at the Benaki Museum in the Pireaus Street Annexe.
The exhibition presents approximately 70 large-scale photographs by Japanese architect Yutaka Saito, wooden models (approximately 1.0-1.5 sq.m. apiece), as well as a series of the corresponding designs (floor plans - designs) of works by Barragan. In tandem with the exhibition, there is a video installation, with a 15-minute film on the forms of the Barragan oeuvre.
Link: Benkai Museum
Article: Kathimerini
Art, Events — October 11, 2005
Posted by James
Photography exhibition
The Getty Research Institute has acquired the complete photography archive of Julius Shulman and will be exhibiting some of the collection in the Research Institute Exhibition Gallery at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Opening today and running through January 22, 2006.
This exhibition will confirm Julius Shulman's place as one of the 20th century's most influential visual historians of modern architecture and the Los Angeles region. Shulman is world renowned for creating iconic images of Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House (1947) in Palm Springs and Pierre Koenig's Case Study House (1960) in the Hollywood Hills.
Exhibit: Julius Shulman, Modernity and the Metropolis
Link: Getty Research Library - Julius Shulman Resources
Planar landscape phenomena
This installation by Griffin Enright Architects featured at SCI-Arc (12/03 - 2/04) consisted of over 1,000 square feet of sod laid on an hovering armature.
The concept resonates with me on a variety of levels, not the least of which is that it reminds me of a project by Nicolas and me from SCI-Arc where we created a warped landscape plane called the "Berm-Bender" which was lifted and sliced to create openings to the parking structure below... hmmmm... were they on that jury, Nico? ;-)
The ubiquitous lawn is the subject of a heuristic exercise about our cultural relationship to that thin plane of suburban carpet... exploring the tectonic nature of this plane by emphasizing its tissue-like thinness, flexibility, and texture, while commenting on its negative impacts on our larger environment.
Link: Griffin Enright Architects
Link: SCI-Arc
Misc — October 11, 2005
Posted by Deborah
Giant Bucket Wheel Excavators: the next generation
If you're a civil engineer this picture is probably on your desktop, but for the rest of us the Giant Bucket Wheel Excavator from ThyssenKrupp Fördertechnik is enough to make us rub our eyes in disbelief. The Giant Bucket Wheel Excavator is the largest of it's kind used for mining. The mining capacity of giant excavators makes them desirable despite the cost and length of time needed to build and transport them.
It takes 5 years to put a Giant Bucket Wheel Excavator together, so taking it apart when it needs to change sites is out of the question. Instead, it is driven to the next site traveling at approximately 1 mile every 3 hours, and everything in its path i.e. telephone wires, needs to be removed or risk being destroyed. Again, the production rates justify the coordinated efforts needed for its transportation.
Link: ThyssenKrupp Fördertechnik
Parks, landscape, water, urban design...
European Landscape Architecture is the latest Topos publication representing the best in open-space architecture including parks and squares, waterfront promenades and memorials across Europe.
All of the projects featured were completed between 2000 and 2005, making it an extremely relevant resource for professionals and students. The entries included in European Landscape Architecure were chosen from the Topos special edition International Review of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design. The book highlights work from a broad range of landscape architects, providing a good cross-section from both well-known and lesser-known firms.
Link: Topos
British Columbian modernism
The work of Vancouver based D'Arcy Jones Design is modern yet warm, simple yet intricately detailed. There is that sensibility and materiality associated with contemporary American North-Western design as exemplified by architects such as James Cutler and Miller Hull, yet with a spatiality and form reminiscent of Rudolph Schindler, Richard Neutra and Ray Kappe.
While their built work has been primarily residential homes, the firm designs buildings of any type and scope and has designed a product line of furniture and hardware introduced in 2004. Their designs integrate with the natural and built landscape with skillful attention to detail.
Link: D'Arcy Jones Design Inc
Via: Architechnophilia
Designers — October 7, 2005
Posted by Deborah
Understanding the desire for meaningful design
Is it like me? Does it like me? Can it make me more? These are the questions that are at the heart of Ravi K. Sawhney's (Ph. D., President & CEO, RKS Design Inc.) theory of Psycho-aesthetics® that looks to bring deeper meaning to product design. The basic principle stems from a desire to express a product's function through its design, coupled with the need to understand how we engage stimuli. Using precedent, Sawhney takes Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and the parable of the Hero's Journey, and creates a model for design that addresses innate core desires, the goal of which is ultimately fulfillment.
Simply put, Psycho-Aesthetics is not about the best design – it’s about meaningful design. Taken a step further, it’s not about the design at all – it’s about our undeniable need for positive affirmation and how we fulfill this need.
Link: RKS Psycho-Aesthetics®
Link: The Psycho-Aesthetics Martini (pdf)
In-situ soil analysis
Brownfield reclamation is on the rise, and soil analysis and remediation is becoming an art form of its own. The ability to analyze soil in-situ means considerable time and cost savings, and Niton's new XRF Analyzer series is designed to do just that. Armed with the technology to analyse soils for levels of lead, lead paint and heavy metals, it is a valuable tool that happens to be extremely portable at only 3lbs. It also has the added option of being fitted with Bluetooth wireless connection. Niton was recently awarded the IDEA (Industrial Design Excellence Award) Gold medal award for its XRF Analyzer family.
Link: Niton XRF Analyzer
Link: IDEA Awards
Midcentury and Danish Modern furniture seller
Do you eBay?
If so, check out the vintage mid-century and danish modern offerings listed by Kollection. Based in Chicago (and St. Louis), they offer many of their peices for sale online under the eBay seller name yramtac71.
Link: Kollektion
Via: Design*Sponge
