Tag Archive | "Architecture Blogs"

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BackStory: Baltimore, place of Yes and Yes


- Via Archinect

” At a time when headlines are dominated by Dubai and disaster, it’s refreshing to see one of our own trying to unpack decidedly less glamorous parts of our world. In this love letter / propaganda / manifesto by Archinector Fred Scharmen, the outsider (that’s you) is given a glimpse into the fullness of the contemporary American city as exemplified by Baltimore, MD. Fred’s peripatetic tour of Baltimore is ultimately a plea for others to care about the places at hand. To be sure, Baltimore has its own specific cocktail of aspirations, afflictions, successes, and opportunities but more than a single mid-Atlantic city what’s at stake is a way of thinking about the world.

Starting from the material evidence of the city itself, captured here in Fred’s photographs, and blooming into a network of larger concerns, we find in Scharmen’s love letter to Baltimore an advertisement not only for his hometown but for the position of architects as a group who are uniquely able to link up- in thoughts and actions- the material to the abstract. This perspective, the architect’s perspective, is a way of thinking that retains the importance of the local without giving up the complexities of contemporary life.” Read the article here

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World Architecture Community


- Via WAC

” Invitation to all architects of the world: Contribute in the making of the future of architectural thought

World Architecture Community, launched on March 1, with 200 honorary members including Hans Hollein, Mario Botta, and Fumihiko Maki, is probably the first interactive database created to provide an opportunity for all local practices to become internationally recognized. Unique features of this portal enable all members to contribute in the making of the future of architectural thought by submitting, discussing, editing, rating, sharing their work.  While there are many channels that promote architecture, WA will probably be the first interactive database created to provide an opportunity for all local practices to present their work to the international audience and become internationally recognized.

It is evident that content capacity in printed media is very limited that only a few can access. Appearing in international or even local media is highly competitive and requires grand projects; therefore local practices rarely have the chance to be criticized and the agenda of architecture concentrates on a few names. On the other hand, there are many young, talented architects, passionately designing buildings in the different parts of the world. Unfortunately, as they cannot appear on the media, they are solely criticized by their customers. -Impetus for creativity, however, is criticism. WA realizes the dream of local practices to be discussed by prominent scholars and academicians from different countries via the platform offered by the internet . Architects and scholars from ALL countries of the world are invited to submit their buildings and writings freely. The aim of WA is to highlight the different quests of local practices in the global agenda and initiate a new definition for architectural media. WA Community Portal also aims to present the work of all contemporary masters of architecture in a concise form eventually with their support of the educational premises of the project.

Another unique feature of the portal is that Issue Pages can be created by all members as a collaborative effort to create connections across the individual resources on the internet. For instance, an architect being inspired from local culture, can create an issue page to define his theoretical discourse that has guided his design, and relate his buildings to this issue page so that theory and practice in architecture can -come together within the same context. This independent global forum and extensive database will be also a big occasion for theorists. They will be able to -access examples, works, and efforts from most diverse regions and cultures of the world and will have the chance to get in touch with practice at a global scale.

All members will be able to submit links, articles, projects (even unrealized or projects under construction can be submitted) to this completely free international portal. Contributions from all members will have equitable chances to be represented, promoted, reviewed and criticized at this international arena.” Join WAC


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The Living bridge in Ireland, by Wilkinson Eyre


- Via Dezeen

” Living Bridge

This bridge is a small component of the University of Limerick’s ambitious plans for expansion to the north of the River Shannon, yet assumes a strategic importance that transcends its physical presence.

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BITS & PIECES

    Architecture Film, The baby falling down the Odessa Steps.
    The scene is well-known: the sequence of the baby falling down the Odessa Steps in Sergei Eisenstein’s movie The Battleship Potyomkin (1925) is one of the most influential films in movie history (many films pay homage to the scene like Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables). [...] Read
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    The Basement Maze of Leavenworth, Kansas
    It was reported last week that an "underground city" had been discovered beneath the streets of Leavenworth, Kansas. [...] Read
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    Buildings That Can Breathe
    A green designer says we need to save energy by making our architecture more efficient. [...] Read
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    OMA / CCTV TV STATION AND HEADQUARTERS
    Building CCTV TV Station and Headquartes Arquitects OMA...[...] Watch
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    Bin Laden brother unveils £100bn plan for world's longest bridge

    It sounds like a joke. The brother of the world's most famous terrorist wants to build the world's longest suspension bridge, linking two continents across the world's most dangerous waters. As if that's not enough, he also plans to build two new cities – one at each end. [...] Read

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    Giant city tower would 'dwarf' the Four Courts
    A major row is looming after plans were submitted for a gargantuan tower that would dwarf the historic Four Courts. The capital's former motor taxation office is to be replaced by an 11-storey office tower that will rise up behind the Four Courts buildings. [...] Read
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    306090 call for submissions
    The 13th volume of 306090 investigates the contradictory yet potentially productive tension between our drive to develop and our growing knowledge and emerging concern that such unregulated growth [...] read
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    Cityspeed by Michael Young
    Industrial designer Michael Young has designed Cityspeed, an urban bike for Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer Giant. [...] Read
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    Wright’s Palmer House Put on the Market
    The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Palmer House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, acclaimed by historians as one of the architect’s best residential projects, has been put up for sale by the family of the original owners. The asking price is $1.5 million. [...] Read
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    Can anybody beat Beijing? Is the US ready to compete for the 2016 Olympic Games?
    Ambition? Vision? Economics? Arrogance? The amalgamated power of the society behind it? If you think it's all of the above, [...] Read
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    Parks department chooses Bike Republic for Yeon-designed waterfront building
    Cycling It's now official: the city's Parks department has selected Bike Republic as the new occupant of the waterfront Portland Visitors Information Center building designed by the great John Yeon. [...] Read
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    Dockside Green: The World’s First LEED Platinum Community
    Situated in Victoria, British Columbia, Dockside Green is a burgeoning community that has set its sights on becoming the first LEED Platinum community in the world. Its initial phase of development was recently completed, earning it an incredible 63 out of 70 points and qualifying it for LEED Platinum for New Construction. [...] Read
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    Chocolate Factory on West Broadway Revealed Unwrapped!
    Who knew that they used to make Tootsie Rolls down in Soho? The now-empty building at 325 West Broadway where the tasty treats were produced is about to become a bunch of sweet new condos. [...] Read
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    The World's Most Expensive House Sold To Russian Billionaire
    A month ago we heard rumors that Russian billionaire Roman Abarmovich had bought the world's most expensive house on the French Riviera. Turns out that the rumor was true but the buyer was false. [...] Read
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    Church of God, Inflationist
    Inflatable infrastructure for churchgoers has arrived on the sandy beaches of Sardinia, as a bouncy chapel has been installed for Christians on holiday. "Using compressed air it takes only five minutes to inflate," the Times reports, and it "comes complete with an altar, an apse and a confessional." [...] Read
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    Weighing the two finalists for Yeon-designed former McCall's site
    By the end of this month, the city Parks Bureau will make its recommendation to Commissioner Dan Saltzman on which of two finalists should be selected for redevelopment of the circa-1948 John Yeon-designed Portland Visitors Information Center (more recently McCall's restaurant). [...] Read
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    Developments and Trends — Supporting Dynamic Social Security
    In the light of our current PerfectCity poll it is time to focus on another factor. When we are talking about “Social security” we mean protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others – including public insurances, pensions and child allowances. [...] Read
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BOOKS

The Politics of the Piazza: The History and Meaning of the Italian Square (Design and the Built Environment)

By Eamonn Canniffe

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Town Spaces: Contemporary Interpretations in Traditional Urbanism

By Rob Krier

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Richard Ross: Architecture of Authority

By John MacArthur (Author), Richard Ross (Afterword, Photographer)

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The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War

By Robert Bevan

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A Critic Writes: Selected Essays by Reyner Banham (Centennial Books)

By Reyner Banham

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Regenerating Older Suburbs

By Richard B. Peiser

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The Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook, and Your Future

By Randal O'Toole

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Last Harvest: How a Cornfield Became New Daleville

By Witold Rybczynski

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Design Charrettes for Sustainable Communities

By Patrick M. Condon

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Built or Unbuilt: Architects Present Their Favorite Projects

By Ursula Schwitalla

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Frank Lloyd Wright in New York: The Plaza Years 1954-1959

By Jane King Hession & Debra Pickrel

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Toward an Architecture

By Le Corbusier

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Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)

By Eric Klinenberg

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Urban Fortunes: The Political Economy of Place

By John R. Logan & Harvey L. Molotch

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The Ecology of Commerce A Declaration of Sustainability

By Paul Hawken

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Urban Utopias in the Twentieth Century: Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier

By Robert Fishman

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The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History

By Spiro Kostof

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Zoned Out: Regulation, Markets, and Choices in Transportation and Metropolitan Land Use

By Jonathan Levine

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Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century

By Peter Hall

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How Much Is Enough?: The Consumer Society and the Future of the Earth (Worldwatch Environmental Alert Series)

By Alan Durning

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Zaha Hadid

By Gordana Fontana Giusti

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The Regional City: Planning for the End of Sprawl

by Peter Calthorpe & William Fulton

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Planet of Slums

By Mike Davis

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Foster 40: Projects / Themes

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The Production of Space

By Henri Lefebvre

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