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Thom Mayne on Green Design"LEED should give performance requirements and let the architect solve the problem. The point system doesn't scale. A bike rack and air conditioning get you the same point. I'd much rather see BTU and CO2 requirements and let the professional community solve the problem. If you give proscriptive requirements, it stagnates new development and research. It's like taking a blue book test."
Brad Pitt’s Gifts to New Orleans"In 2007, frustrated by the slow pace of rebuilding in the Lower Ninth, Brad Pitt set up a foundation called Make It Right; the foundation then commissioned 13 architecture firms to design affordable, green houses. The organization plans to build 150 homes, all for returning Lower Ninth residents. So far, just 15 of them are occupied, but those 15 make a big impression..."
Ooooh Zahaaa!"Maxxi(the new museum of contemporary art designed by Zaha Hadid), which opens to the public on Saturday for a two-day “architectural preview,” jolts this city back to the present like a thunderclap. Its sensual lines seem to draw the energy of the city right up into its belly, making everything around it look timid..." And if Nicolai likes it...
Metropolitan Home, RIPBefore there was Dwell, there was Met Home. The December issue will be the last.
Meet the AckermansLOS ANGELES, Calif., October 29, 2009—Jerome and Evelyn Ackerman, influential mid-century Calfiornia artist/designers, today unveiled a new web site that will allow collectors, designers, historians, and others to learn more about the couple and their remarkable body of work.
Bereaving Las Vegas"The financial crisis has mauled Las Vegas like no other city. What was once the land of luxury and excess is now the home of empty houses and broken dreams. While the city and its investors keep hoping for a turnaround, others see long, lean years ahead." Now THAT is scary, Halloweenies!
The Bourne Constructability Review"The Architect" by Charles Bancroft "...Providing a rare insight into the world of architecture through the eyes of a modern day architect, the story weaves through the many layers and cultures of London, across Europe, to the Middle East and beyond, all viewed through a haze of alcohol and distorted by sexual intrigue..." Oh brotha! - Thanks, Alex!
InsulationSo it's been gettin' a bit chilly overnight, which has me looking into insulating my abode a wee bit more. The New York Times shares my concern and published the following very useful and informative tidbit and video about the topic of insulation.- Thanks, Lincoln!
Meeting Mike DavisCity of Quartz, The Ecology of Fear, Prisoners of the American Dream... Mike Davis is a very accomplished and fascinating author, artist, urban theorist, human being, who seems to look right into your soul with this intense gaze he gives you during a conversation. Orhan took a gander at El Cajon with the man...
"Hitler's little helpers""Visitors to the Bavarian town of Straubing will be startled at the sight of a mass of black gnomes standing in military formation and doing the Hitler salute this week. It is a temporary art installation by a German sculptor who wants to portray the little figures as "symptoms of a political disease."
3RD WARD Soloshow Competition"The Fall Solo Show is an international open call for dynamic, inventive and provocative work of all mediums - sculpture, photography, painting, printmaking, illustration, installation, graphic design, video, and more! The selected artist will receive: $1,000 cash grant, a solo exhibition in 3rd Ward’s gallery, complete with a massive opening reception, a 2-page spread in 3rd Ward’s quarterly publication, ..." Hurry, submissions must be in by October 22nd!
YAYA 2009 Shortlist AnnouncedThe Young Architect of the Year Award 2009 has announced this year five shortlisted architects' firms. Head over to BD Online to read the firms' submitted A1 boards of their work...
Who is (still) killing the Electric Car?"Germany's automakers are proudly showing off their concept electric cars at the Frankfurt motor show, which opens to the public Thursday. But the shiny new designs on display are just a pipe dream. It's still not clear when, or even if, viable electric cars will make it onto the mass market." ENERGIZER BUNNY, how could you?!
Santa Monica repeals landmark status of former architecture school"The Santa Monica City Council has voted to repeal the landmark designation of a building that once housed the progressive Southern California Institute of Architecture."
A Talking Head Dreams of a Perfect CityMusician and arm-chair--make that cycling--urbanist David Bryne weaves together a fantasy metropolis.
STABLE S.F.Architecture + Food= Mmmmmhhhh!!! "We thought it was such a neat idea that the architect was working next to his partner, the chef, who was growing vegetables right there between the two businesses." I hope neither give you indigestion...
What is a cheap alternative to the Herman Miller Eames lounge chair?This is the furniture equivalent of buying a Chrysler 300 and pimping it out to look like a Bentley.
Peter Zumthor by Helene Binet, CologneMs. Binet has been photographing Mr. Zumthor's work for the last ten years... Quite stunning.
Cool Fan!LA is burning up in several ways these days, one of which being hot hot heat breathing down on us. Some of us hate the AC though (let's discuss that on another occasion) and fans are normally very unsightly objects. NOT ANYMORE! Check out this Swiss thing of beauty and precision...
Zaha pitches a tentWell, not herself, of course. She has people to drop complex yet boring blobs in Chicago for her... "elegantly late, as new contractors struggled to keep her cutting-edge fabric architecture, stretched over 7,000 bent aluminum tubes, from toppling in Chicago’s famous winds." You mean Chicago is a windy city?! Now how could she ever have known that one...
Close Encounters......with the neighbors? "The structure created by the architect Wilfred J. O. Armster is no alien craft, ... but a condo! “Monstrous,” is how a few described the project in an article in The New Haven Register." Hats off to Mr. Armster!
Sustainable Urban Development Resource GuideThe ASLA has created a new online resource guide on sustainable urban development.
Formosa Pocket ParkA few photos of a new pocket park in West Hollywood, California designed by Katherine Spitz Associates adjacent to a new building by Lorcan O'Herlihy. Oh, and BTW if you don't know, Curbed isn't a design website... just setting up your expectations...
Architect Charles Gwathmey passes away at 71The Modernist architect is the second of the "New York Five" to die--he succumbed to cancer yesterday.
Mountainside housing in Copenhagen... huh?Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) went big making a mountain out of a... parking garage… with apartments stacked on the virtual mountainside. Apropos, the complex is called Mountain Dwellings.
Architect’s EyeArchitect’s Eye is a photography competition for qualified UK architects. It is split into two categories: 1) Architecture and Place, 2) Architecture and People. Submission deadline is Friday, September 11, 2009.
Video: Going, Going... WRONG!You gotta see this building implosion gone wrong in Turkey... someone's getting a pay cut.