AMNP


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24
Jul

NotM: Ludens + Aikido Architecture

[Double-click the movie above to play - if you don’t see anything, click anyways and the video should start]

I like to think of myself as a Japanese warrior, who moves so slowly that you do not see me coming.
~ Ivan Hernandez Quintela, Ludens

Our first featured ‘Ninja of the Month‘ is Ivan Hernandez Quintela, Mexico-City based founder [2002] of Ludens [which some of you should remember from this post], and self-proclaimed practitioner of Aikido Architecture - making him the perfect selection for this debut feature.

A graduate of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin [1999], Ivan founded Ludens in 2002 after working for a year with UN Studio and then 2 more years with his brother in Mexico.

Ivan named his practice Ludens as a direct reference to Huizinga and Homo Ludens - the idea of play in society - and the work of Constant NieuwenhuysNew Babylon project, with the idea that people would constantly be involved in constructing/manipulating their own space. Interest in the ideas put forth in these works has led Ivan to consider that ’space must be conquered and that friction is a constant condition’ - which he attempts to respond to through the creation of “tools for everyday living”, ‘mechanisms that become extensions of the body and if they do not try to solve the friction, they surely try to make it evident’.

This interest in how we interact with our physical and social environments drives Ivan to investigate many ‘everyday necessities’ - for instance: ‘How do you share a bed with your partner? How do you balance a conversation while sharing a meal with someone else? How do you share a room with someone else while maintaining some privacy?’. His solutions are often times ad-hoc, informal constructions. Interested in the power of the ’small gesture as a way of activating public space’, Ivan describes his work as ‘Aikido Architecture’ - where he ‘invades the public sphere with ‘Urban Prosthetics’, structures meant to help users ‘conquer’ public space through adaptation and reinvention.

Our next NotM post [this coming Monday] will get into Ivan’s work itself, beginning with his ‘Urban Prosthetics - small structures meant to promote the appropriation of public space’.

::all quotes from Ivan Hernandez Quintela::

24
Jul

Ninja of the Month

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We’re starting a new feature here on AMNP today - ‘Ninja of the Month’. For the time being we’re being loose about the ‘month’ business - but the idea is that we will chose an architect / designer who’s work will be featured for four or five weeks, with articles appearing on Monday mornings [and introduction posts the thursday before the new feature drops]. In theory, each selected designer will somehow be involved in the feature - either by selecting the work themselves, or [hopefully] hooking us with an interview, etc.

So if you have a suggestion of a firm or designer, or you yourself would like to be featured in an extended month-long free ad, please email us [architecture AT myninjaplease DOT com]!

23
Jul

Eye Candy: Ilovedust

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[Image: Illustration for Freshstripe Bikes and the magazine The Ride Journal]

Ilovedust is a multi disciplined design boutique located on the south coast of England. Five parts English, one part Icelandic one part South African and one part Chineses, Ilovedust is celebrating their 4th year in business this summer.

And their illustrations are siiick.

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[Image: Illustration for Spread Magazine based on the world of French high fashion boutique Colette Paris]

::Eye Candy is a weekly post on exactly what it sounds like - something cool to look at, whether because the project is ill or simply because it warrants a ‘my ninjas, please‘. If you come across something in these here internets that you think should be featured here as ‘Eye Candy’, hit us up! architecture AT myninjaplease dot com::

::Ilovedust - thanks to our ninja Hee for the link::

23
Jul

L’Arc d’Atlanta

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My ninjas - puh-lease

There’s only two reason I can think of to build some Napoleon-esque ridiculousness like this - and there are high-heeled shoes for one, and ‘herbal supplements’/little blue pills for the other. Otherwise you must just be trapped in the 18th century - or, apparently, the ATL.

So why then did ‘urban revivalist’ Rodney Cook Jr. [NOT a ninja] decide to build the ‘Millennium Gate’ - the first classical monument built in the US since the Jefferson Memorial in 1936? I’ll let him explain [watch the video].

Shouldn’t we have some kind of committees set up - maybe even at the Federal level - to stop this kind of shit from happening? This clown actually complains about public monuments being too modern and requiring competitions with contemporary-minded judges - and I mean, why would we want that. Here’s a question: what would he have been trying to build if he was working in the 1700’s? Bad 16th century copies of Greek houses?

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::via the CS Monitor::

23
Jul

Ninja Arithmetic XXXIX

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This week’s ninja math submitted by AMNP reader ‘griffshane’.
::Ninja Arithmetic is an AMNP original feature that you can find here every Wednesday. To submit an idea for some ninja math, email us at ARCHITECTURE[at]MYNINJAPLEASE[dot]COM. For past entries, click on any Wednesday in the calendar - or click on the ‘Ninja Arithmetic’ category under ‘archjutsu’::

22
Jul

GRID Architects: Amalia House

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At first glance, Amalia House’s form is striking enough to grab your attention - the angular walls, that cantilever, and the way it seems to grow up out of the hillside are all pretty impressive. Then you notice that that furry-looking green siding is grass. Crazy.

Then, upon further inspection, you notice that the grass isn’t even real. My ninjas - please.

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Designed by Austrian firm GRID Architects, Amalia House is really a small cottage [that can sleep 6] in the hills of Styria, Austria. The simple design splits the first level with 3 steps [responding to the grade changes on the site], which separates the living room space and the kitchen/dining area. While subtle, the elevation change makes the space feel larger - distinguishing them from one another, and providing views from the dining/kitchen area overlooking the living space and out through a high window to the hillside and town below.

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Moving up a spiral staircase to the second floor, one finds two compact bedrooms - one of which opens onto the faux-grass roof, while the other inhabits the cantilever.

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I’m not really sure that the cottage qualifies as ‘green’ - but I’m going to go ahead and argue that they’re saving h2o with this fake grass business. Imagine having to water every surface on your home? The artificial grass was apparently ‘chosen by the architects for its tactile qualities, as well as the way it helps the structure ‘nullify the optical differences between roof and wall,’ as well as make a connection between the building and the surrounding landscape [via]’. Regardless, between the overall form [and the cantilever], those kick-ass windows + doors in the living room, and the simplicity of the materials used, this cottage is pretty siiick - and I want one.

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::via Wallpaper*, where the cottage is featured as one of the ‘interactive floor plan‘ projects - also covered by arch daily::

22
Jul

Green Graffiti

::via Just Cool - Design::

22
Jul

Jetson Green: Green Blu Homes

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Preston, green ninja master over at Jetson Green, writes:

So I have some renderings and information on Blu Homes, and I’ve also spoken with the folks in charge of this company. They’re serious about building homes that are green, convenient, affordable, and also perfectly sized. The management team has considerable experience in this industry and I expect to see great things. Plus, with homes in development in both Utah and Massachusetts, you may be able to catch a live walk-through as early as this winter. So let’s get a small preview.

First, to get an idea of the philosophy behind BLU, make sure to watch this video of Bill Haney, Co-Founder and President of the company. I think you’ll agree with most everything he says — the company is certainly on to something:

Second, let’s look into what they’ll provide. BLU has several basic designs, including a one bedroom, two bedroom rural, two bedroom urban, flexible space, and a studio design. None of the homes are large in size. They’re just right for the occupants, featuring open floor plans that are smartly and passively designed.

Click here to read read the rest of this article [this is just an excerpt] over at Jetson Green.

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::article written by Preston, founder + editor of Jetson Green - original article entitled Blu Homes Launches Convenient, Green, Affordable Abodes. These articles from Jetson Green on MNP’s Green Tuesdays are part of a feature you can find here every week - just click any Tuesday in the calender and enjoy! And for more ‘green’ news + info, head on over to Green.MNP::

21
Jul

Ninjas on the ‘net

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Here are this week’s picks for Ninjas on the ‘net that you should be reading/checking out. If you have something you’d like to add, drop a link in the comments section - or toss us an email [architecture AT myninjaplease DOT com] and I’ll make sure it gets in next weeks post. Enjoy!

- The New York Times takes a look at prefab and MoMA’s new exhibit.

- NPR looks at the new modern China, and wireless cities - safety or surveillance?

- The New Yorker explains the possible history of the American lawn - and asks whether we can live without it
- Archidose, as always, brings the goodness - check out the Concurso Fiscalia.

- Architecture + Morality looks at the personality of the architect [for better or worse]

- Apartment Therapy has some upside-down architecture

- BLDGBLOG interviews Tom McCarthy, author of Remainder

- Andreas Angelidakis features the colorful work of Joe Colombo

- Eikongraphia tackles some boulders

- Artkrush interviews Olafur Eliasson

- I (heart) Public Space shares a tour of green roofs in the Bronx

- The Guardian explains why this year’s Stirling prize is cooler than ever

- Pruned shares a ‘coastal intervention

- Plataforma Arquitectura features the Edificio Caja Compensacion Los Heroes by Murtinho y Asociados Arquitectos

- Josh Spear interviews Method’s Danny Alexander

- And last but most definitely not least - don’t forget about the rest of the MNP [My Ninja Please!] crew: the parent site, MyNinjaPlease; MusicMNP; GreenMNP; PolitricksMNP; and RobotNinja.

20
Jul

Freezone - Conceptual Links: ‘New’ Mexico

“A lively young architectural scene that has made a name for itself with international competitions and direct commissions surrounds the architects Tatiana Bilbao, Fernando Romero and Michel Rojkind in Mexico City. Two other performers on this scene are the young practices Dellekamp Arquitectos and at103. The three Swiss architecture practices Buchner Bründler, Christ & Gantenbein and HHF Architekten are organizing a discussion evening with their Mexican colleagues, hoping to find out what parallels and what contradictions there are between architectural production in the two countries. The starting point for the friendly relationship between the Swiss practices and their Mexican counterparts was the Jinhua Architecture Park (2003) project, initiated by Herzog & de Meuron and the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, in which five of the eight practices involved this evening were able to construct a pavilion. This amicable link led to casual co-operation over a three year period. The economic reality of building in Mexico City is largely dominated by large groups of developers. What does this mean for the architects? Where does the architect stand between artistic demands and pragmatic service provision? What and whom do young architects relate to in New Mexico, where, unlike Switzerland, no previous generation has smoothed the way?”

::Video Sundays, or VS, is a weekly feature here on AMNP. For more architecture-related videos, click on any Sunday in the sidebar calendar - or on the ‘videos’ category in the ‘archjutsu’ section. Additional videos that have been featured on any of the MNP sites can be found here on our YouTube page::

18
Jul

2008 Architects Directory

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[Image: Shibuya Station, by Tadao Ando. Photo credit: Satoshi Minakawa]

Wallpaper* has launched the 2008 edition of it’s ‘Architects Directory‘, featuring 50+ of their ‘newly sanctioned’ firms+practices from all over the world. Check it out for info, photos, and links hippin’ you to great designers from all over. Don’t sleep.

Some of AMNP’s favs:

- Super Colossal from Australia [yeah, THAT Super Colossal]

- Issho Architects from Japan

- Gregory Katz Architect from South Africa

- Kmil Mrva Architects from the Czech Republic

My one complaint - where are the Irish firms? Leave it to a publication from the UK to forget about the Micks…
[Sorry, I couldn’t help myself]

::AMNP thanks to our ninja Kay from Wallpaper* for letting us know that the 2008 directory went up::

17
Jul

Third Ward TX [part 2]

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[Image: Third Ward’s Project Row Houses]

Art is life; Life is art…People are looking at themselves, really.

Now, as someone who has jumped on the Project Row Houses [PRH]/ Third Ward TX bandwagon only some time ago, I have to say that I didn’t know much about what was trying to be accomplished and what has become/ progressed from their initial beginnings in the early 90’s. This is what i did know.

First of all, go and buy the film. Throw in on the film with a friend or group of friends and hold a movie night. Whatever you do, just try and catch it. Third Ward TX is flat out a good film. The humor is light, often subdued by the seriousness of the situation, but ever apparent as the life force of the film grows throughout. Local third ward artists like Bert Long [quoted at top] and Jesse Lott [who have lived in the community their whole lives] grin and smile warmly as they invite the viewer into the area, its back stories, gains and downfalls, all while providing their own incites and perspectives on what PRH had truly done to save the community. For those of you who are still in school…maybe struggling with ideas for your thesis proposals, why not tackle the subject of community developments in low income areas? It’s a terrific model for what smart planning and what a little vision can do for any place in a similar condition. The uniqueness of the situation as compared to similar places in the United States is that the members of the community actively saved themselves in the long run.

I hesitantly used the word dilapidated to describe my first impressions of the homes of third ward [prior to PRH]. What I didn’t know until seeing the film is that my same POV of the homes could be used to describe the ever slighting community at the time as well. Drugs, prostitution and negativity were taking the pride of third ward’s citizens and it wasn’t until a group of artists [led by Rick Lowe] came in, bought the 20+ shotgun homes and began rebuilding them to provided the first stages of change, that ultimately helped restore the faith in the community and then the community itself.

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[Image: Jesse Lott & Rick Lowe]

However, it took more than just painting a portrait or taking a picture of a neglected area to bring about necessary change [even though that is where it evolved from]. As described in the film, the people could see the problems in third ward [they were living amongst it]. What they needed was someone or a group of someones to come in and physically start the evolutionary process. It was surprising that within a place where that sense of community is so highly held, that it took the initiative of someone outside the community [ingrained with the same beliefs as its residents] to start the ball rolling. In Third Ward, Rick felt the same feeling of community he was used to seeing growing up in the south with his own family of 12, and the community in turn saw another active family member who everyone connected to on some level.

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[Image: Director, ‘Third Ward TX’, Andy Garrison]

For myself and others who felt out of the loop and want more information on Houston’s third ward, there are those who have more knowledge of what PRH has represented to that community - like Mr. Andrew Garrison, director/ photographer of Third Ward TX:

…[migrating] between documentary and narrative filmmaking…[Garrison’s] films have been featured on PBS and in festivals worldwide, including the New York Film Festival, Sundance, Berlin, South by SouthWest, Rotterdam, Goteburg, Sydney and Atlanta. Garrison worked at Appalshop, the multi-disciplinary arts and education center in Kentucky for more than a dozen years, making his own films and shooting for other filmmakers. He also actively promotes media education and youth production. Garrison’s films have won several awards and earned him fellowships from the NEA, the AFI, and the Guggenheim Foundation…

Third Ward TX - a documentary that projects the hopes, flaws, learnings, teachings, and ultimate rebirth of a primarily black community in Houston - tells the story of how rebuilding shotgun houses in the third ward helped a community reclaim its sense of pride in itself again. I was contacted by Andy after my purchase of the film, thanking me for my interest and if i had any comments to fell free to leave them. I later asked him if AMNP could do a quick interview with him on TWTx - which he kindly agreed to [even though, my ninjas and ninjettes, the man was teaching study abroad in Prague and is now in Sardinia. Andy’s very much the man for finding any time in his busy schedule to hit me back]. So here is an interview with Third Ward TX director/ photographer Andrew Garrison:

ArchitectureMNP : Who is Andy Garrison? How long have you been creating documentaries & films?

Andrew Garrison : I started making documentary films with a group of friends right out of college that included two-time Academy Award nominees Jim Klein and Julia Reichert. We supported ourselves with various odd jobs and contributed resources to make films, videos, radio, photography, local and national audio-slide shows and other documentary media in Dayton, OH, calling ourselves the Dayton Community Media Workshop. This eventually lead me to work with the documentary film group, Appalshop, in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. I have always been interested in documentary and particularly in how art and media can help build community. I also like making fiction films. I often freelance as a D.P. or as a sound recordist for other documentary makers. I started teaching film and media production at The University of Texas at Austin in 1997.

AMNP : How did you become involved in filming the Third Ward/ Project RowHouses documentary?

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AG : My good friend Nancy Bless, whom I had known in the Ohio, now lives in Austin. She had written several articles for international art magazines about Project Row Houses. She felt a film needed to be made and she told me about it. Much as I trust her, I am always skeptical when someone says “You should make a film about ‘X.’” But I visited with Nancy one weekend and shot several hours of DV tape. I was knocked out by the work Project Row Houses was doing and the people I met. Nancy agreed to co-produce the film, and we started. Shortly after I invited another good friend, Noland Walker, with whom I had crewed on other projects. Noland and I had been talking about working together for years and this was a good opportunity.

AMNP : Do you remember being emotionally moved at all to act upon helping to show the state of the Third Ward through film?

AG : I have seen a lot of community organizing and a lot of art used toward social change goals. Usually the art is poor or not really connected to the community in which it is being made, or there is some fracture between the art and the other goals. Project Row Houses was the most moving, true, and exciting vision of art functioning as art AND as an engine for change that I have ever seen, with concrete outcomes and an amazing aesthetic.

AMNP : Did you develop closeness to the residents of Third Ward as shooting developed, or do you [while filming documentaries] have to keep your own emotions distant?

AG : With several people in the film in particular I felt very close. And it was reciprocated. But then there is also this other thing that happens where you get to know a film character so well in the editing room and you think you are close to them, but really you have been looking at the same material for weeks or months or years and only think you know them. And they have not been looking at you. That also happened.

AMNP : I [like most architects] am a visual person. So I enjoyed the terrific match of commentary overdubbed with film/photography. It makes it easy for viewers to understand what it’s like being in the third ward and downtown Houston without physically being there. Not having prior knowledge of your other work, did the architecture of third ward & Houston guide your filming & photographing?

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[Image: John Bigger’s ‘Four Seasons’]

AG : The little house, and the aesthetic of the row houses was always very very present–guiding our thinking and visual understanding. We interviewed historians, architects, and arts studies people about that style of house and its place in the U.S., the South, and Texas. [the late] John Biggers was definitely a guiding light for us.

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[Image: John Biggers]

The opening was always a problem to be solved for us. Editor Sandra Guardado and I, and my co-producers Nancy and Noland went round and round on this. How can we succinctly set up the place, the history, the relationship to downtown Houston and not lose everybody before the story starts? I was also trying not to use narration. We had decided from the beginning that we could always use narration if we needed to, so I always felt like we had a fall-back position. But that opening really evolved between a trailer I had cut early on, and a ton of work by Sandra. What you see took a lot of different tries. I have at least six other openings in my files.

The opening is a kind of foundation for the rest of the movie, but you don’t want it to be all exposition. It has to lead you in and give you enough to understand what is unfolding in front of you, but also tell you this is going to be good, a movie. We settled on a film structure that unfolded much the same way we felt we discovered aspects of Project Row Houses.

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[Image: Entry to Houston’s Third Ward]

AMNP : In chapters 10 & 11, there is this sort of irony that is created between Veralisa Hunter and Larry Davis. The first values the row house community and how the community is ‘not locked or has a boxed’ atmosphere. And though she describes the difficulties of not having much [monetarily] she still has beauty around her [and recognizes how fortunate she is to be able to wake up everyday and see that beauty]. Larry’s segment comes in and explains his views on loft-style housing [and later around the 40 to 41 minute mark we get a chance to see big metal boxes that seem a bit out of place for a residential area with brick and vinyl siding homes] and they’re targeting of single mothers to live there. Then I was like ‘whoa, wait a minute,’ and caught myself laughing at the irony – while constructing more ‘affordable’ housing units for women, Urban Lofts would also be extracting a very similar demographic group from houses they are already comfortable in. Was that juxtaposition thought out during filming or in editing? Or was it a happy mistake that came about through your process of interviewing different individuals on the same or similar subjects?

AG : It was very much a conscious choice. Larry Davis’ lofts are actually very interesting homes and buildings. And in reclaimed land without an existing neighborhood around them, they make sense. Particularly for people who are not looking for a neighborhood but only for the convenience of being central and having access to the city. The design of the lofts tends to isolate the residents. They drive in through a gate directly into their garage, enter the living area upstairs from the garage, and then look out from a picture window at the scene below them. They have no reason to interact with their next door neighbors or anyone outside of their space, unlike the little row houses with porches front and back and street level activities.

So when Mr. Davis talks about appealing to single women, he means single working women who can feel safe by driving into their property and having walls and locks between them and the street. Feeling safe is extremely important of course, but one design is based on a community of people interacting–safety created by the existence of the community– and the other design is about the feeling of safety through isolation. His prices are not what the single mothers going to college, living at PRH were looking for or could afford, even though they are a reasonable rate, based solely on the market.

We did not interview a lot of developers. In fact, when we started the film it was not about housing and development. But that is what was happening in front of us as we shot.

AMNP : My final question is an easier one. What’s next up for you, Andy?

AG : I have a feature fiction film that takes place on the Texas-Mexico border a screenwriter friend is writing now and I am trying to raise money to edit a film about a musician in the mountains of Virginia that I shot about 20 years ago.

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[Image: Lowe fronts new two-story row houses]

Okay, so as Andy has told me in emails we exchanged previous to the interview, PRH has undergone substantial growth since its early beginnings [despite the push of developments] and the community is bigger than ever before [he was back in Houston visiting in May, and a whole new row of new two-story row houses [seen above] had been completed and were already occupied, on PRH”s original campus block]. That friends, is what community action can translate into as long as there is enough support in it.

A very special Architecture.MNP thanks to Andy Garrison taking some time out of his teaching schedule abroad to talk with us [watch out for two new works - one feature a fiction film in writing stages at the moment; the other a documentary on a musician from Virginia]. All the best to him in the future. And watch out for another post on Andy’s work with Nancy Bless - a one-day conference in Austin, Texas in September on Art and community development and design

Previous post: Third Ward, TX [part 1]
::Article by Dubs::

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Lost in the New Beijing

24/07/08 0 comments
27ourospan.jpg HISTORICAL cycles that took a century to unfold in the West can be compressed into less than a decade in today’s China. And that’s as true of Beijing’s preservation movement as it is of the nation’s ferocious building boom. Click the title of this post to read a NY Times article on the old vs the new Beijing.

2008 Ho-Am Prize

24/07/08 0 comments
10140_ho2main.jpg Architect Kyu Sung Woo has been named the winner of the 2008 Ho-Am Prize in the Arts. The Ho-Am Prize in the Arts recognizes Koreans who have made outstanding contributions to the promotion of culture and the arts through their creative efforts and accomplishments. He is the first architect to receive this prestigious award, which is often considered to be the Korean equivalent to the Nobel Prize [click the title of this post for more].

stirling shortlist

23/07/08 0 comments
norparkcablerailway02h_c_rolandhalbeweb1.jpg The shortlist for the 2008 Stirling Prize has been announced. See the buildings and read BD's Buildings Editor Ellis Woodman's assessment of the key buildings on the shortlist [click the title of this post].

Banksy a role model?

23/07/08 0 comments
banksy_cctv_narrowweb__300x4590.jpg While this week the [British] government launched a scheme to find black role models as an alternative to the culture of “crime, drugs, guns and gangs”, RMJM has decided to go down a rather different route, targeting teenagers with a passion for graffiti. But is persuading kids that they would have a better, richer life designing buildings rather than spraying them really so wise? Click the title of this post to read the full article, via BD Online.

farming with the sea

22/07/08 0 comments
40833289.jpg Carl Hodges is growing salicornia, a crop nourished by ocean water that holds the potential to provide food and fuel to millions. Click the title of this post to find out more at the LA Times.

Parks and Wreck

22/07/08 0 comments
parkswreck.jpg Parks and Wreck: L.A.'s Fight for Public Green Space - and article from LA Weekly investigating LA's interconnected park structure - or lack thereof. Click the title of this post to read the article.

urban farming

22/07/08 0 comments
15farm02_650.jpg What if “eating local” in Shanghai or New York meant getting your fresh produce from five blocks away? And what if skyscrapers grew off the grid, as verdant, self-sustaining towers where city slickers cultivated their own food? Click the title of this post to read the full article, at the New York Times.

NEXT-GENE20

21/07/08 0 comments
19-sheng-yuan-huang-monsoon-and-the-earthworms.jpg NEXT-GENE20 is a project that challenges 20 architects from around the world to design villas along the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area in Taiwan - click the title of this post to see the projects!

koolhaas interview

20/07/08 0 comments

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Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas talks about new trends in architecture and urban development, the end of the European city, the rise of Dubai, Russia and China, the obsession with XXXL and the difference between the people who design buildings for a living and "star architects." [click the title of this post to read the interview]

revised Tate Modern

18/07/08 0 comments
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Herzog & de Meuron and the Tate today unveiled their substantially revised scheme, now in brick, for the £215 million extension to London's Tate Modern [click the title of this post to read the article, at bdonline].

arup’s new home

17/07/08 0 comments

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Check out Arup’s new MoreySmith designed offices in London over at WAN [click the title of this post to read the article].

City Lounge

16/07/08 0 comments
city-lounge3-2.jpg City Lounge is an outdoor space in the center of St. Gallen, Switzerland, that has been designed by Carlos Martinez in collaboration with Pipilotti Rist, - a red carpet flows all around the buildings, recreating places to relax, places to converse, places to park, fountains, even fake cars you can climb on [click the title of this post to view the full project at Coolboom].

corny plastic

15/07/08 0 comments
picture1.jpg Head on over to the CS Monitor for EarthTalk: How green is corn-based plastic? Pro: It’s compostable. Con: But only in an industrial composting facility [click the title of this post to read the article].

mao’s out…

14/07/08 0 comments
mob1995_1215846909.jpg ...and Herzog + de Meuron are in, apparently. "For the first time in nearly a decade China is issuing new banknotes without the image of Chairman Mao Zedong. The 10 yuan ($1.5; £0.75) notes instead feature Beijing's new Olympic stadium on the front, with an ancient Greek statue of a discus thrower on the back" [full story at the BBC - just click the title of this post].

mies + the nazis?

13/07/08 0 comments
mies_van_der_rohe.jpg Interesting - if not a few years old - article from the Guardian about Mies and Nazi Germany. "As head of Berlin's Bauhaus in the 1930s, Mies van der Rohe led the movement to change the world's attitude to buildings. Hitler had other ideas - yet, rather than flee, Mies chose to stay in Germany. Why?" [click the title of this post to read the article at the Guardian]

bilbao effect is bull$hit

11/07/08 0 comments
bilbao-1.jpg So says Frankie-boy, anyways - and who can argue with him on this? "...speaking in front of the temporary summer pavilion he has designed for the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park, Gehry, 79, said that the so-called “Bilbao Effect” had been misunderstood."[click the title of this post to read more, over at the TimesOnline]

paris growing

10/07/08 0 comments
eiffel-tower-paris.jpg The Parisian government had voted to 'consider' building towers in the city known for it's being nearly entirely low-rise. The new buildings being proposed on 6 different sites will still be shorter than the Eiffel Tower, of course [read the full article at NPR by clicking the title of this post].

chasing windmills

09/07/08 0 comments
080707_r17537_p465.jpg ...Just not quite in the Don Quixote way. Head on over the the New Yorker to peep Elizabeth Kolbert's 'The Island in the Wind' - an article about a [ninja] Danish community's victory over carbon emissions [click the title of this post].

pricey suburbs

08/07/08 0 comments
25exurbs600.jpg Suddenly, the economics of American suburban life are under assault as skyrocketing energy prices inflate the costs of reaching, heating and cooling homes on the distant edges of metropolitan areas [click the title of this post to read the article, at the NYT].

libeskind is impotent?

07/07/08 5 comments
milan_liebeskind_36963t.jpg So yes, I know I pick on poor old danny boy - but its just so easy! Newest ridiculousness? Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, described Libeskind's design for an art museum and office tower as 'impotent'. Hilarious! [click the title of this post to read the full article, over at The Independent]

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