Quick Clicks> On Decq, Walkup, Toxic Town, Pei OK
Shanghai Information Center by Odile Decq (Courtesy Odile Decq)
Odile Speaks. French architect Odile Decq, designer of the recently completed Macro Museum in Rome, will be delivering a lecture at Hunter College in New York on Friday, March 4. The event takes place on the second floor of the MFA building (450 West 41st Street) at 6:00 PM.
Walk-way-up. At 45 stories, a skyscraper in Caracas, Venezuela could be the world’s tallest walk-up. The New York Times has the story of the stalled tower that’s now home to some 2,500 squatters. While the building lacks amenities like an elevator, proper bathrooms, or guardrails, it’s said to offer a commanding view of the surrounding city.
Toxic Town. Forbes ranks the ten most toxic cities in America and Philadelphia rises up as champion – toxic champion. Based on air and water quality, Superfund sites, and data from the EPA, the list generalizes that the west coast suffers from morbid air quality while New York, 4th worst, could improve its water quality.
Pei Okay. The Wall Street Journal reviews I.M. Pei’s Manhattan Centurion apartment building and finds that it “embodies an unfussy, functional, and elegant ethos that elevates it well above the schlocky residential construction now omnipresent in New York City.” Pei collaborated with his son on the project, which might not be their last.
Event> Architecture-Made Music
Diagram of Blake Carrington's Cathedral Scan (Courtesy Blake Carrington)
Architecture is often referred to as frozen music, but with a little digital technology, artist Blake Carrington has learned to capture the “diverse rhythms, drones and textures” from the stone walls of cathedrals. In his aural performances called Cathedral Scan, Carrington uses a church’s floor plan combined with the space’s unique acoustics to create to generate his his unique architectural sounds. Here’s more from the artist:
Groups of scanners filling the sonic spectrum may act in synch, forming a single harmonically-dense rhythm, or they may scan the plans at different speeds, resulting in complex polyrhythms. Each plan is treated as a modular score, with a distinct rhythm and timbre of its own. Also, by varying the speed and intensity of each scanning group, drone-like sounds may emerge based on the “resonant frequency” of the black and white plan.
This Thursday, March 3, Carrington will reveal the hidden sound of New York’s Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral for a CD release concert. He will be joined by audiovisual artists Mark Cetilia (of Mem1) and Kamran Sadeghi. More information on the AN events diary. (Via BldgBlog.)
Quick Clicks> Wren, Denver, Pike, & Livability
London Skyline with Wren's cathedral at right (Courtesy James Cridland/flickr)
Wren’s Dome. Some 300 years ago, Christopher Wren completed St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Now with today’s modern icons transforming the city’s skyline, the Telegraph pays homage to his lasting landmark amongst the new “Shards, Gherkins and distorted walkie-talkie-shaped skyscrapers.”
Green Mile High. The Editor-at-Large brings news that the USGBC has named Denver the “greenest” city in the United States with about 230 LEED registered or certified buildings. Two have earned LEED Platinum since 2010.
Pike Park. StreetsBlog reports that construction has begun on permanent Pike Street pedestrian improvements to be completed this fall in Manhattan. The project replaces temporary materials DOT installed in 2009 to calm traffic along Pike and Allen streets.
Shut Out. Reuter’s has the list of the world’s most (and least) livable cities ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Vancouver topped the list (Harare, Zimbabwe came in last). No city in the United States managed to break into the top ten.
Revealing A City′s Hidden Digital Landscapes
Immaterials: Light painting WiFi (Courtesy yourban.no)
Ever hit a WiFi dead spot when moving about the city? A new visualization project called Immaterials: Light painting WiFi by Timo Arnall, Jørn Knutsen and Einar Sneve Martinussen reveals the hidden landscape of digital signals though long-exposure photography and a stick equiped with a WiFi sensor and LED lights. Here’s more from YOUrban.no:
The city is filled with an invisible landscape of networks that is becoming an interwoven part of daily life. WiFi networks and increasingly sophisticated mobile phones are starting to influence how urban environments are experienced and understood. We want to explore and reveal what the immaterial terrain of WiFi looks like and how it relates to the city.
Looks like this project could feel right at home with the upcoming MoMA exhibition, Talk to Me, exploring the feedback of our environments. (Via information aesthetics.)
Space Available on the High Line
Space Available by Kim Beck, 2008 (Courtesy High Line)
This Friday, three massive billboards will debut along the High Line, but instead of blasting consumerism, the art installation by Kim Beck hopes to provoke visitors to think of public space. From the High Line: “Kim’s work will encourage park visitors to reconsider the water towers, exhaust pipes, HVAC systems, roof decks, green roofs, and other building elements that are integral components of the cityscape views along the High Line.”
Called Space Available, Beck will install three “skeletal” blank billboards. Experiencing the signs from different angles can provide the illusion of three dimensionality, when in fact each sign is really flat.
Video> Pick Up The Pace, New York
Still from Josh Owens' NYC - Mindrelic Timelapse
If you thought the pace of life in Manhattan couldn’t get any more hectic, think again. Photographer Josh Owens has compiled a stunning collection of time lapse scenes from around New York. Despite its fast pace, there’s something distinctly calming about the hustle. (Via swissmiss.)
Quick Clicks> Legos, Towers, Loop, Rich Zip
Towering Ambition at the National Building Museum (Courtesy Andrew Bossi/flickr)
Towering Ambition. An amazing exhibition that recreates some of the world’s most iconic buildings in miniature is ongoing at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C through September 5th. Design Quarterly has more info on the Lego structures by Adam Reed Tucker (via Notcot) and the NBM has an interview. (There’s also a lecture on architectural toys planned this Thursday.)
High Hopes. The Atlantic features an Ed Glaeser article on the benefits of building up, detailing the benefits of the skyscraper and acknowledging the “misplaced fear” that planners and preservationists harbor toward the tower.
Loop the Loop. In St. Louis, a proposed streetcar line connecting Forest Park with the Delmar Loop is right on track. With an Environmental Impact Study expected any day now, the St. Louis Business Journal says $3 million of a $25 million federal grant will push the project forward.
Rich Zip. New York’s bronze-clad Seagram Building by Mies van der Rohe has long been a symbol of wealth, but now the Wall Street Journal reports that the 38-story tower, with its own zip code (10152 if you were wondering), is also home to the wealthiest per capita income in the U.S. at $13.9 mil. The General Motors building came in second with an average income of $9.9M.
Quick Clicks> Cooper, Dharavi, Evolution, Charts
35 Cooper Square in 1917 (Courtesy Bowery Alliance)
Keeping Cooper. There’s a fight brewing over the demolition of the 186-year-old 35 Cooper Square. A demolition permit had been issued and subsequent stop work orders and candlelight vigils. The small federal style structure was once home to descendants of Peter Stuyvesant and beatnik Diane DiPrima. Keep tabs on the little building at EV Grieve and the Bowery Alliance (And in other Cooper Square preservation news, what’s going to happen to the Astor Place mosaics under the planned pedestrian plaza upgrades?)
Slum for Sale. In the heart of Mumbai, India, the Dharavi settlement is under pressure to redevlop. Polis has a review of a new documentary on the struggles of a “city tearing at the seams” trying to balance capital growth and the needs of its inhabitants.
Urban Evolution. Cities are constantly changing, but we rarely take the big step back and look at how an area has evolved over, say, the past 500 years. Aid Watch put together a visual history of one block in New York’s Soho neighborhood, from wilderness, to brothel central, to home of high-end retail. (Via Economix.)
Infographic. Gothamist uncovers an interesting chart comparing Chicago and New York by the statistics. Categories include miles of transit track, cost of living, and even who has better pizza.
Check out an even older view of 35 Cooper Square after the jump.
Quick Clicks> Drawing, Green, Aerial, Plans
Rivington Street, All the Buildings in New York, by James Gulliver Hancock
Block by Block. Brooklyn-based illustrator James Gulliver Hancock is attempting to draw All the Buildings in New York in quite beautiful pen and ink sketches like the one above. Watch a video of the artist explaining his inspirations, style, and how a chained up wheelchair is architecture after the jump. (via Gothamist.)
Leeders. Blair Kamin discusses the competitive race to build green among major cities today. Chicago is still number one for the most LEED-certified buildings, but the self-proclaimed “greenest city in America” faces some stiff competition.
Aerial. Building Design is running a new series of aerial photos showing progress at the 2012 Olympics site in London. 12,000 workers are reportedly on site working on the main stadium, aquatics center, and arena.
Master Plan. Now that South Sudan’s national independence has been approved, Sudan Votes reports that the government has revealed a model of a planned new capital city to replace the chaotic regional capital Juba, but not everyone is happy with the move. (via Planetizen.)
Video> Rubik′s Cube House
Rubik's Cube House by Kenneth Brandon
Last Friday, our friends at Curbed spotted this amazing Rubik’s Cube by and puzzle connoisseur Kenneth Brandon and artist Heather Kent. The custom-made creation actually works, as demonstrated in a video after the jump (we imagine things can get pretty surreal inside the house when the twisting gets going). Named House Cube, the puzzle was made with painted stickers, complete with a basement plumbing system.
Quick Clicks> River Metro, Byrne, Reskinned, Jane
Mississippi Metro Map via Something About Maps
Mississippi Metro. Strange Maps pointed out a clever reinterpretation of the Mississippi River basin as a subway system. Check out a bigger version at Something About Maps. (You may also be interested in the Sustainable City Collective’s list of top five urban infographics.)
Byrne-ing Down the House. David Byrne waxes poetic on the arts-and-crafts bungalows of Berkeley after taking a recent bike ride through the city’s early 20th century neighborhoods.
Reskinning. Solve Climate News spotlights Toronto entrepreneur Ron Dembo who is tackling insufficiently skinned buildings to increase energy efficiency. (Via Planetizen.)
Janie’s got a Walk. With warm weather closer on the horizon (despite a fresh blanket of snow across parts of the country), Shareable recommends planning a Jane’s Walk in your city, after the famous urbanist Jane Jacobs, to explore the history, ecology, and social issues in your neighborhood.
Quick Clicks> Safe, Cuts, Drawing, Rage
Manufacturer’s Trust Company, Fifth Avenue, NY (Courtesy Landmarks Preservation Commission via DNAinfo)
Safe. DNAinfo has a story on the newly landmarked interior of Gordon Bunshaft’s Manufacturer’s Trust Company building in New York including a 30-ton circular vault visible from the street. The exterior has been a landmark since 2007. Previous AN coverage here and here.
Cutting History. Preservation magazine reports that President Obama’s proposed 2012 budget sends the wrecking ball after two federal grant programs supporting historic preservation across the country: Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America. Needless to say, the National Trust president was “profoundly disappointed.”
Pin Up. Architect Roger K. Lewis penned a piece for the Washington Post lamenting the downfall of hand drawing in architectural production. He warns that we should avoid the seductive “I can, therefore I shall” approach that computers can sometimes produce.
Sidewalk Rage. Researchers at the University of Hawaii have identified key traits of Pedestrian Aggressiveness Syndrome. Richard Layman has the list of behaviors on Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space, which is readily on display on the sidewalks of major cities everywhere.
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