Showing posts with label Favorite Buildings. Show all posts
Museum of Middle East Modern Art
29 June 2008
Dutch firm UN Studio has recently designed a building set to house the first Museum of Middle Eastern Modern Art, as well as a host of other activities including housing, commercial, and retails zones. I have to admit, that I'm glad the this building is more than just a museum... when I first saw it, I was having trouble comprehending why a museum with such a narrow focus we need such a huge structure. .
To be honest, I'm not exactly in love with this building. Sure, its got some nice horizontal banding, consistent with a lot of UN's other work, but the symmetry and scale seem overly formal, which no really connection to the building's surroundings. I realize that much of the Dubai is under construction so there isn't necessarily a great deal of context, but this building seem to ignore the possibility of any interaction. And considering that this new building is being located in Dubai's historic district of Jadaf... I've just got to believe that the architects could have paid more attention to a sense of place. And to top it all off... whenever I look at the images, I just think 'Moby Dick'.
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Via Yatzer
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Rest in Peace
22 June 2008
EM2N's competition design for a moturary hall in Erlenbach, Switzerland is a very simple, yet very nice solution. The simple form provides an area of sanctuary where visitors can focus on their thoughts of loved ones and commune with the outdoors. The way in which the form has been pulled apart, providing slots of light gives it an even more ethereal quality. Instead of providing a place of refuge for saddened family members, EM2N has created a structure that will encourage visitors to reflect in a positive light.
Well done in my opinion...
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A Beauty in Bolzano
16 June 2008
The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Bolzano Italy has recently opened their new building by Krüger Schuberth Vandreike... I imagine the simple form allows the artwork to take center stage, even though I don't see any artwork in these photos!.
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St Hallvard Kirke & Kloster
13 June 2008
This 1960s brutalist church located in Oslo Norway, was designed by Kjell Lund og Nils Slaatto. I actually quite like the design... the dark and simple interior really helps create a peaceful sanctuary..
Via Arkifoto
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Howeler + Yoon
08 June 2008
Even though I grew up not far from Boston, I really don't know that much about the city's architecture... having studied and work entirely outside the Boston area... Most of what I know about the local vernacular, has to do with the historic architecture, rather than modern. So, its always exciting to me to learn about young and modern firms in the area....
I quite like all of these projects by Howeler + Yoon. Above is a landscape design - Switch - in which new and old techonologies, and soft and hard textures are braided together to created an integrated and interactive landscape. I really like the lit pavers... reminds me of the glass cobblestone project by 2b Architectes... mostly I like the attention paid to the bricks. Much of my memories of Boston are colored by the bricks of the city, so its nice to see a design that integrates this historic feature, with a thouroughly modern design.
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Architects are a bit obsessed by the mobius strip... this dress, the mobius dress, is just another example of using the strip as a design solution. The series of photographs makes the dress interesting, probably more interesting than it would be on its own...
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This design for the Davol Loft in Chinatown combines two lofts into one, with a pretty spectacular coutyard in the center. The simple forms and materials of the skylights, courtyard, and bathroom modules allow light to penetrate entire space. In my opinion, the courtyard is a particularly great feature. Courtyards are a fairly common feature in Chinatown - I remember a school field trip to Chinatown in middle school, where we visited a school with their playground on the roof - but, this courtyard offers privacy while still allowing the owners to enjoy the outdoors. Oh.. and just as a sidenote - I'd like to point out that once again, a Corbu chaise lounge is in the background of the top photo....
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Prefab Plus
02 June 2008
I really like Swedish design firm Claesson Koivisto Rune's body of work... Every product and piece of architecture they work on has a clear, yet delicate direction... nothing is too heavy handed..
The pre-fab house they designed for Arkitekthus is particularly nice. The simple 'Plus House' manages something that most pre-fab projects don't... it has roots. The proportion of the house is based on a traditional Swedish barn house, and the materials are consistent with both new and old building in the region. Its actually quite hard to imagine this house in any setting other than the one photographed... To me, this is particularly impressive for a pre-fab designs. In my opinion, many pre-fab modern projects are lovely aesthetically, but they seem like they could be plunked down in the middle of a field anywhere. And while I guess that's the point... I miss the locale specific design. This project on the other hand, really seems indigenous to the region, and I really love that about it.
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Studio 80: Shigeru Uchida
27 May 2008
Since we are working on the house, we've got all of my architecture books packed away... I just stumbled across Studio 80's website, and I realized that I actually have one of Shigeru Uchida's books in my collection. All of his work is nice, but the tea houses and furniture are particularly spectacular..
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DvG Architecten
21 May 2008
This project, the Nederlands Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by Dick van Gameren, was one of the most recent winners of the Aga Khan award... its a pretty interesting project. While the red concrete structure clearly has roots in the African dirt, its design and form is Dutch in every way.
This apartment complex is some serious adaptive reuse... the complex spreads across an Amsterdam site previously occupied by a sewage treatment plant, to the extent that it even pierces an old concrete sediment drum. I'm not sure if I could get over the idea of living in a sediment drum... but if someone can, more power to them!
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99K House
14 May 2008
A good friend of mine left my office about a year ago to work at a fairly new firm... Recently, they entered their first competition - the 99K House - and they were not only finalists, but they won the competition! ORA's design for a compact, adaptable home is sustainable too. For more info, check out the 99K House Competition..
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Wouldn't it be easier to build it on a mountain?
11 May 2008
Admittedly, I don't know anything about skiing, much less about ski jumps... but it just seems like Christensen Arkitekter would have had an easier time designing the ski jump if it was actually on the side of a mountain... Then again, it didn't stop Zaha..
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Angela Fritsch
05 May 2008
Angela Fritsch Architekten has got some really fabulous designs. Something about the colors and lines of the forms is subtly feminine without being overtly female. I've always like projects with a sharp edge quality... of which I think all three of these apply. While there are many projects with more organic qualities that I like and appreciate, I just really love embracing the man-made qualities of architecture, and I think Angela Fritsch does a great job with that..
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Minal + Sonal Design
04 May 2008
Based in Navi Mumbai India, Minal + Sonal Designs have got a wide body of work... I really like their simple forms and placeful use of color....
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Chamber Orchestra of Cascais
01 May 2008
I posted about a previous project by ARX... so I'm not surprised that I really like this recent project by the Lisbon based firm. The design is the result of Cascais competition and has recently opened to the public. If you've been to this site before, then you know that I've got a real appreciation for modern additions to older structures. This project is quite sensitive to the original building, just barely engaging it physically while keeping a similar palette of colors and textures. By doing this, instead of flagrantly disregarding the original intent, ARX manages to celebrate both the new and the old.
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For Photography and Architecture Buffs
27 April 2008
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Via Materialicious
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And now I'm off to Hawaii for work... I'll get back to posting once I return later this week...
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Centre Zamet Under Construction
26 April 2008
Almost a year ago, I blogged about the 3LHD's competition entry for the Centre Zamet... Its seems that they have won the competition and the building site is already open! There is a webcam if you're interested in following the construction. The building which is located in Rijeka, Croatia hopes to be a new hub for the city's population. It will be interesting to watch the progress...
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DRAW
24 April 2008
There are quite a few great projects in DRAW's (De Manincor Russell Architecture Workshop) portfolio... I like the qualities of both of these (Raw War Studio and Corner House). Its nice to see movable walls that are just as functional as aesthetic, and the quality of light in the corner house is really great....
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A New LEED Office
18 April 2008
Its great to see architectural firms actually following their own advice... GGLO has recently finished a new expansion to their Seattle office, and kept it green in the process! Their new expansion has achieved Silver LEED status, and looks like a healthy (in the non-toxic sense!) and fun place to work!.
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A Killer Pool
15 April 2008
I kind of feel like I'm done with infinity edge pools... everybody wants one and everybody has one... so they've lost a lot of the allure for me. But, in the right place, an infinity edge pool is really worth all the extra detailing. This pool (and house) by Corona y P. Amaral Arquitectos is phenomenal. You don't feel like you're perched on the cliff... you actually feel like you're floating in the sky. Amazing.
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Via Materialicious
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Perched on a Cliff
12 April 2008
Talk about an amazing home... and an amazing location. I'd love to spend just an hour or a day in this house... I can't imagine coming home to it everyday.
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The Holman House by Durbach Block Architects
Via Arkinetia
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