James
Not Your Grandma's Garden Festival
Inspired by the famous garden festival at Chaumont in France, Chris Hougie teamed with Peter Walker to create an American avant-garde garden show. The Cornerstone Festival of gardens is located in Sonoma Valley, California, about a 40 minute drive north of San Francisco.
The show features well known landscape architects and designers such as: Peter Walker; Lutsko Associates; Mark Rios; Ken Smith; Walter Hood; Martha Schwartz; Andy Cao; Mario Schjetnan; and Pamela Burton.
Link: Cornerstone Festival of Gardens
Via: ASLA Landscape Architecture News Digest
Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain to be dedicated next week
The delayed and (naturally) controversial memorial to Princess Diana has been completed and will be officially dedicated July 6th by Queen Elizabeth. The design by American landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson was selected by the memorial committee in a design competition. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has described the memorial as such: "Like the Princess herself, the fountain is open and approachable. In some areas it offers a welcoming space for families and paddling children, in others a shady spot for quiet contemplation."
Link: BBC News
Link: The Guardian
Link: Royal Parks Press Room (detailed description of design and construction process)
Firm: Gustafson Porter
Master of complexity and spaciality in the landscape
Well known and broadly published landscape architect Ron Herman has designed gardens for celebrities such as Joe Montana and Neil Young and for corporations and institutions such as Oracle and the National Gallery in Washington D.C. He studied with California landscape greats Garret Eckbo and Lawrence Halprin at Berkeley and went on to graduate school in Japan. These influences can easily be seen in his creative, expansive and dynamic landscapes.
We respect his attention to detail as well as his ability to manipulate space and layer a landscape in such a way that it feels larger than it actually is.
Firm: Ron Herman Landscape Architect
...they may actually create significant buildings. Neutra's Cyclorama Center slated for demolition
According to John Latschar, superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park, the architects hired during the Mission 66 program "ran amok." The Mission 66 program implemented under Eisenhower produced, in addition to Neutra's Cyclorama Center, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis by Eero Saarinen.
The LA Times ran an article yesterday by Mark Rozzo entitled Who Chooses History?
The National Park Service Has Decided That L.A. Architect Richard Neutra's Landmark Cyclorama Center--Which Has Stood at the Gettysburg Battlefield for More Than 40 Years--Now Detracts From the History.
Richard Neutra's son Dion, who is also an architect, is fighting the impending demolition of the "Abraham Lincoln Shrine of the Nation." Besides running amok, the other great quote from the LA Times article is this one from Mr. Latschar, "Mr. Neutra had the idea that this would be his monument to Lincoln and freedom and all that stuff." Yeah, why bother with all that stuff?
Article: LA Times
Link: Richard and Dion Neutra Architecture
Link: Mission 66: Mid Century Modern Architecture in the National Parks
Translucent furniture by architect Jeanne Scandura
The Tread line of funky translucent chairs and cubes stands in contrast to the sculptural and graceful Wave line of furniture also by Float that we featured a while back. That's what we like about Float, they design furniture that shares a common spirit, but a that has a completely different feel and look. Both the Tread chair and cube come in a variety of translucent cast rubber colors.
Link: Float
A sustainable urban dwelling in Minneapolis
Locus Architecture has created an updated bungalow style home constructed in a manner that reduces the waste and negative environmental impact inherent in standard construction practices. And... it's for sale!
It’s a synthesis of fanciful urban loft and practical family basecamp. Kaleidoscopic art and green design. Radical new techniques and reused materials. Welcome to nowhaus 01: the first in a series of singular homes that celebrate modern, sustainable city living—conceived and built by LOCUS Architecture. This dramatic rebirth of a 1950s rambler near Cedar Lake manifests our core principles—and some of our most intriguing ideas.
Link: NowHaus
Firm: Locus Architecture
Chicago-based photographer/designer
When we saw the work of this young photographer, we felt as if we had found a kindred spirit... though one who is truly a photographer and not just someone who loves to document everything with photographs as we do. Some of his work made us think of the photographs we love by Charles and Ray Eames. We truly admire Pete's eye for capturing the extraordinary, humorous, and sublime in the ordinary environments that surround us.
In addition to his own very nicely designed online portfolio, some of his work is featured on fStopImages.
Peter Baker is disarming. The youngest contributor to the fStop collection, his work is a synthesis of studied professionalism and youthful exuberance.
Link: Peter Baker Photography
Link: fStopImages
Exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York: June 24 - October 30, 2004
To follow up on yesterday's post, more modern alpine architecture. This time an exhibit which runs from today through the end of October in New York, and then moves to Helskinki.
The first American showcase of the varied and energetic architectural scene flourishing in Austria's two exquisite, westernmost mountain provinces of Tirol and Vorarlberg. Featuring the work of 26 individual architects and firms, Austria West presents an array of models, drawings, photographs, and other documentation, revealing the ways in which architects in these two very different regional cultures have together forged a new Alpine modernism of international relevance.
Link: Austrian Cultural Forum
Link: Austria West
Do-it-yourself lamp shade made from your old slides: "Linked slides create a colorful indoor escape"
Check out this little project from ReadyMade magazine for an inexpensive and personalized lamp. We haven't tried it ourselves, but we think it looks pretty cool... and plus, we were looking for a weekend project.
Link: ReadyMade
Competition for a mountain resort in Östersund, Sweden
As snow sport enthusiasts, we are always intrigued by modern alpine architecture since the vast majority of mountain architecture is heavy timbered and rustic. This competition seeks to put a Swedish resort on the map with an enormous mountaintop complex featuring a hotel, 3500 seat auditorium, restaurants, spa, ski facilities, etc.
The winning entry called Biesse-Baenie by Swedish firm Wingårdh Arkitektkontor is a stunning topographic design that extends the slopes and ski lifts up onto an artificial roof landscape punctuated by organic crystalline mounds forming sky lights and the hotel building. The gondola sweeps from the town square at the foot of the mountain and up into the main lobby space of the new building.
The other proposals are also very interesting, but we agree with the jury; the Biesse-Baenie proposal is outstanding.
Link: Breath of Life
Firm: Wingårdh Arkitektkontor
Modern housing "community without comformity" in Southampton, New York
The first group of houses is under construction and "Sagaponac House-43" by Hariri & Hariri has just been completed.
The Houses at Sagaponac is a residential development in the Hamptons on Long Island, New York. It is a sort of who's who gallery of starchitects all building in the same neighborhood. The idea is to create something in contrast to the recent proliferation of shingle style "McMansions" inspired by another starchitect with a more historicist bent, Robert A. M. Stern.
The houses themselves are all designed to create modest, functional, single-family living spaces from 2,000 to 4,500 square feet that are environmentally conscious without compromising artistic vision.
Apparently $1.4 - 2.9 million for a house is modest in the Hamptons... anyway, there are some cool designs to be built and we applaud the landscape plan for the development which emphasizes indigenous vegetation and eschews planting of vast ornamental lawns.
Via: Architectural Record
Link: Houses at Sagaponac
Firm: Hariri and Hariri Architecture
An exhibition of Europe's worst interiors of 1974
So bad it's good. Yeah, there is some bad stuff in here, but then again, we kind of dig some of the ideas. It begs to be said... totally groovy. Can we help it if we are children of the ´70's? Just wait until we are looking back at 2004 in thirty years. Seriously.
Link: EUROBAD '74
Via: Things Magazine
Architects and students challenged to design the seminal single-family home of the 21st century
This competition sponsored by the AIA Committee on Design produced some interesting results. Entrants were asked to "explore the impact of their designs relative to sustainability, economics, and social issues." First place (design shown at right) was awarded to a team composed of Jeffrey S. Lee, AIA; David Hill, Assoc. AIA; Matthew Konar; Jennifer Olson; Nelson Tang; Marni Vinton, and Holly Williams.
Link: AIArchitect
The ability to get from point A to point B makes a "Great City"
More on urban planning issues... if you live in an urban area, then you most likely know how bad traffic can be (and how it is getting worse) and how it impacts your quality of life. We certainly make decisions about where to go, and where NOT to go based on the ease of travel and the congestion we will encounter. We ran across this article about the future of Houston based upon planning decisions the city is facing today. It is an interesting look at a typical American city and the issues of sprawl, increasing population and quality of life.
Looking back, the critical turning point was when people realized mobility investments were crucial enablers of quality of life, not detractors. Mobility is the lifeblood of our city. When it deteriorates and going places becomes just too much of a hassle, the loss is subtle but significant: the lunch with a friend not taken, the handshake business deal not made, the romantic dinner forgone, the family outing canceled, the volunteer or charity event missed, or that great little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that slowly dies because customers can't get to it. Real quality of life is when people can make connections to other people the true essence of any city. Great cities — world-class cities — are not a closed collection of isolated islands. They are open cities. Connected cities.
Via: Houston Chronicle
Modern Tokyo urban development designed by Fumihiko Maki unfolded over the course of 3 decades
This complex of apartments, shops and offices has all the elements of so many "mixed-use" developments which are cropping up in the United States recently, but with a few key differences. First and foremost, the complex has been built over the course of three decades, expanding and adapting with time. In addition the design is modern, the scale is intimate and the result is brilliant.
The basic idea is intelligently urban (an early modern New Urbanism) with much attention paid to the "interaction of facade and street space, understanding the sidewalk as a place of activity." The development also features a network of paths and stairways which connect the various levels of the hillside complex and provide pedestrian circulation through the site.
What is remarkable is that the complex blends so well into its context without resorting to pseudo-historicism. If only more American cities and developers would learn this lesson of incremental development and detailed place making.
Firm: Maki and Associates
Link: Hillside Terrace
LA Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff reviews Daly Genik's new Art Center building
Unfortunately the Calendar Live section of the LA Times not only requires a password, but it is a separate registration from the regular LA Times sections. Anyway... today's Calendar section features a review of the new Art Center College of Design South Campus in Pasadena, California designed by Daly Genik which we featured last week. The article is articulate and wonderfully descriptive, and the print edition features some nice photographs.
Art Center's new South Campus in Pasadena transforms a site of industrial desolation into a metaphor for our times.
The design proves that desolation and decay can be virtues. A subtle balance of grit and elegance, the building draws on the wonderful moodiness of its setting. Old forms are carved up with surgical precision; new forms are imbued with palpable energy. The result is a building that is both emotionally raw and marvelously unpretentious.
Link: LA Times Calendar Live (registration required)
Reference: The Wind Tunnel
Textile patterns designed by Bruce Mau
"Bruce Mau Designs collaborates with some of the world's leading architects, artists, writers, curators, academics, entrepreneurs, businesses and institutions." Just a couple of his well known designs are the font commissioned for the Walt Disney Conert Hall in Los Angeles (yes, a Frank Gehry connection) and the design for Rem Koolhaus's book S, M, L, XL. How about a little Bruce Mau on your couch? He has created several panel fabric patterns for Maharam.
MegaNano by Bruce Mau challenges the predictably static appearance of panel fabric in the corporate office environment with the introduction of two series of patterns, each centered on a singular theme presented in macro (Mega), micro (Nano) and mixed (MegaNano) scales. Constructed with 100% post-industrial recycled polyester, MegaNano Structure, Mega Structure and Nano Structure depict an elemental organic grid, while MegaNano Point, Mega Point, Nano Point and the over-scale Giga Point are based on perforated punch cards that recall the origins of our computerized society.
Maharam also produces textile patterns by such designers as Charles and Ray Eames, Hella Jongerius, George Nelson and Verner Panton just to name a few.
Link: Maharam
Designer: Bruce Mau Design, Inc.
The Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts
Sam Maloof is well known as a master craftsman and designer of contemporary furniture. His works are featured in the permanent collections of many of museums, including, the Smithsonian, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Art Museum, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Now through the Maloof Foundation, the Maloof's home in Alta Loma, California (east of Los Angeles), is open to the public. The home evolved over many years and was crafted by Sam Maloof as if it were a giant piece of furniture.
Link: Maloof Foundation
Book: Amazon
Kohler and the arts: the Arts/Industry program
We think that Kohler makes some pretty nicely designed products, but this just leaves us speechless.
Link: Kohler
A great home with an unfortunate name by Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects
We really like this cabin... despite its name... and we are not alone as it was granted with an honor award by the American Institute of Architects this year. This resembles no "cabin" we have ever seen, but with the elemental form and use of simple materials, the moniker seems very appropriate. The design is certainly bold, but we think that it fits nicely within its surroundings. And check out that view... we can conceive of no finer picture frame. Plus, we just want to play with that door.
Firm: Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects
Link: 2004 AIA Honor Award
As "Gehry-ish" as we wanna be
An LA Weekly article by Gloria Ohland entitled "Brave New Cityscape" makes an urban critique of icon buildings and their designers.
This is "starchitecture" that pushes the aesthetic frontier but also evidences the self-indulgence that can result from the cult of celebrity and genius. And there’s a strain of machismo running through these trophy buildings, as cocky and detached as they are from the surrounding neighborhoods.
While starchitecture has certainly given L.A. an edge, it’s those who look back as well as forward who will show us the way to a brave new world.
Article: LA Weekly
Handmade plexiglass lamp
Designed by Berlin design studio Double Standards, this light fixture caught our eye for its use of color and material, and its object nature. Clearly this is not a reading lamp.
Double Standards is a multidisciplinary design studio producing a wide range of designs: lamps, interiors, print, film, etc.
Link: Double Standards
Panels and tiles made from recycled paper
Developed by architect, Eric Rosen, and furniture maker, Joel Stearns, Terraboard is a product made from recycled papers bonded together with glues and hardeners to form durable tiles and panels for a variety of applications. Three basic product lines provide a rand of color and texture options. Custom panels can be made to incorporate graphics, special papers, etc.
Link: Terraboard
Australian landscape architecture firm headed by Richard Weller and Vladimir Sitta
An impressive portfolio of bold landscape designs, theoretical writings, and sketches. Their website is a bit cumbersome and layered, but well worth the effort.
Whilst Room 4.1.3's central expertise is landscape architecture it specifically encourages and supports interdisciplinary and diverse modes of production and discourse. Room 4.1.3 is concerned with translating ecological and poetic readings of places into urbane, innovative, built forms which are intellectually labyrinthine. Therefore, the work is both monstrous and joyous, both popular and personal.
Firm: Room 4.1.3.
Daly Genik's new building for Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA
Speaking of roof gardens (we always end up with some kind of theme running through our posts) the newly opened building at the Art Center College of Design South Campus features a planted roofscape designed by Nancy Goslee Power. We made a visit a couple weeks ago and took some pictures... should've charged the battery... but oh well...
The first major exhibition to be held in The Wind Tunnel is happening right now: a region-wide exhibition of all the artists graduating the MFA programs at Art Center, CalArts, Claremont Graduate University, Otis, UCI, UCLA, UCSD and USC.
Also see the article in Metropolis about Art Center's long range campus plans... which, we are relieved to know... include work by Frank Gehry. Too bad he doesn't build much.
Architect: Daly Genik
Landscape Architect: Nancy Goslee Power & Associates
Link: Article in Metropolis
Show: Supersonic Jun 12 - Aug 21, 2004
Engineered wood panel product with excellent thermal and mechanical performance levels.
Parklex panels are manufactured from 100% natural wood fibres and treated with durable resins to create a high performance wood surface product. Different grades and treatments are availble for various applications; exterior cladding, floors, interior wall panels, countertops, etc. The panels are also available in a wide range of colors and finishes.
Link: Parklex
US Distributor: Finland Color Plywood Corporation
Visit this Usonian house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1939
"The Pope-Leighey House is a "Usonian" house which represented Wright's vision of affordable, well-designed housing in a democratic America. The low cost was attempted, in part, by the conventional means of reduction in size, and the use of four basic materials-- wood, brick, concrete, and glass. The reverse board-and-batten "sandwich" walls were an attempt to simplify construction by fabricating the exterior and interior walls as a complete unit. Wright designed the floor plan on a 2' x 4' grid which saved on costly on-site estimation."
Visit: Frank Lloyd Wright's Pope-Leighey House
Designers of landscapes and interior plantscapes
Bay Area designers Davis Dalbok and Tim O'Shea collaborate on landscape designs for gardens and interiors with "a fusion of unique Pacific Rim-styled sensibilities." While we don't necessarily have a problem with the rustic Asian touches used in a sort of interior-design-mode of display, that is not the aspect of Living Green that appeals to us. Rather it is the arrangement, juxtaposition and layering of textures, and colors of their plant material choices that we admire.
Living Green
Midcentury designs reissued by Dunbar Furniture
"In 1931, destiny brought Edward J Wormley, a young twenty three year old furniture designer with a fresh new perspective, to the doors of DUNBAR. A gifted designer and student of furniture history, Wormley inspired a global perspective and was instrumental in the introduction of world-class design philosophies into the American interior landscape. With a passion for quality and an eye for detail, Wormley found a perfect partner for his talent in DUNBAR, and remained with the company as Design Director for over three decades."
Now the designs of Edward J. Wormley are available for the first time in over 50 years.
Dubar Furniture
Ball chain curtains... very groovy, baby.
We saw this at a new restaurant recently... like Greg Brady's attic bedroom that we were always so jealous of, but way more sexy. It's just a chain of metal balls, nothing new here, but the application... ah the application of the system. It can be used for a wide variety of effects and purposes as demonstrated on their website, and is available in a range of sizes, colors, textures, finishes and track configurations. Does it make you randy, baby?
Link: ShimmerScreen
