Slideshow> Organic Architecture Catches Fire in Coachella Valley
Ken Kellogg's GG's Island restaurant before the fire. (Keith Daly / Flickr)
Southern California critic Alan Hess tells us more about Ken Kellogg’s GG’s Island Restaurant (formerly the Chart House), which was ravaged by fire on Tuesday morning. The extent of the damage and the potential for repair have not yet been determined.
Palm Springs may be best known for sleek steel and glass Modern architecture, but the 1978 Chart House by San Diego architect Ken Kellogg (one of a series he designed for the restaurant chain) makes it impossible to ignore the fact that Organic Modernism is just as much a part of the Coachella Valley heritage. Set along Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage, Chart House’s low-slung, serpentine shape hugs the contours of a small, rocky butte.
Outside, it’s the image of protective desert shelter: the taut vaulted roof stretches down, like the fabric of an umbrella or the shell of a crab, almost to touch the landscape berms rising to meet it. Inside, however, the heavy timber columns, curving glu-lam roof ribs, and rubble stone walls wind their way through the restaurant like a well-designed forest. They create layers of space, naturally lighted by a skylight curving along the spine, with an appealing complexity. Kellogg’s fifty-five year career, including residences, churches, and commercial and institutional buildings, continues to show the vitality of organic design.
View a slideshow of the restaurant before and after the fire.
Pictorial> An Architect Paints a Softer Skyline
A watercolor by Gene Kohn included in a Hong Kong exhibition.
Are you on KPF’s holiday mailing list? If so, think twice before you toss their annual card into the recycling bin. You’re now the owner of a limited edition print by an artist who is represented by one of London’s poshest galleries, the Belgravia, and whose work was featured this fall in a one-man show in Hong Kong. The signature is in the bottom right corner: Kohn ’11.
Slideshow> Apple Takes Bite of Grand Central
Apple staff await customers on the balcony overlooking Grand Central (Stoelker/AN).
This morning Apple held a press preview of their new Grand Central store, which is set to open this Friday. The first impression of this glassless emporium, an anomaly for the company, is the respectful handling of the hallowed space. The store fills the space vacated by Metrazur restaurant, which wrapped around the Lexington Avenue side balcony. Apple’s showroom takes up half of the northern balcony as well. For Mac fans, the cleaned lined furnishings will be familiar, as are the various stations spread throughout the 23,000-square-foot space. The Genius Bar is still there, as are the iPad and iPod stations, laptops, accessories, and a professional yet casual staff of more than 300. Apple, aided by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, took sight lines into consideration, as the only real hint that the store is there from the concourse are small strips of table lighting, and, of course, the company’s ubiquitous apple which hangs from a grand arch centered on the balcony. It could be argued that logo competes a bit with the world famous clock at the center of the terminal. But otherwise, the interventions appear considerate and reversible.
Pictorial> CANstruction NYC Builds Awareness for Hunger
Root Against Hunger AN/Tyler Silvestro)
The 19th annual CANstruction NYC, a massive canned food drive in the form of an exhibit and design competition, is now on display at World Financial Center at 220 Vesey Street. Over 100,000 cans of food have been configured into 26 sculptures erected overnight (literally) by teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by designers and architects. This year’s designs ranged from video games, to city skylines, to bowling, and even three different pairs of shoes. The fanciful display will stand proud until November 21st when it will be toppled and donated to City Harvest, the world’s first food rescue organization, in order to feed thousands of hungry New Yorkers. The exhibition is open daily in the Winter Garden from 10:00am through 6:00pm.
Pictorial> A Nature-Dominated Office in Denver
"Natural Systems Domination" in Denver. (Courtesy Tres Birds Workshop)
It might be the latest trend in creative modern eco-office design or, more likely, it’s a tongue-in-cheek reminder to avoid letting work take over your life. In the typical modern office with row upon row of geometric cubicles, the closest a worker might get to nature is a small potted plant, a faraway glimpse out a window, or a rainforest background on his or her computer. But a new installation in downtown Denver quite literally breaks down this man-made environment in an effort to promote outdoor activity and a connection to nature during the workday.
Pictorial> Steven Holl′s New Oceanic Museum in Biarritz
(Photo: Iwan Baan)
Steven Holl’s new Cité de l’Océan et du Surf in Biarritz, France is at once rugged and ethereal. Designed in collaboration with the Brazilian artist Solange Fabiao, the building includes an accessible concave plaza roof covered in cobblestones, pierced by two milky “glass boulders,” or pavilions housing a restaurant and a “surfer’s kiosk.” The boulders offer views out to the ocean, while the plaza directs the eye to the sky above. The museum “explores both surf and sea and their role upon leisure, science, and ecology,” according to a statement from the firm.
The landscape beyond is scooped out to reflect the building’s concave form and create a new gathering place for the city. The museum opens to the public on June 25.
Pictorial> Modern Airport in an Ancient Town
A new airport by J. Mayer H. in Mestia (Courtesy J. Mayer H. Architects)
A small, twisting airport in Mestia, a medieval town in the Democratic Republic of Georgia manages to capture the essence of the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s ancient stone defensive towers while still standing on its own as a skyward-reaching modern structure.
Pictorial> Marc Jacobs Builds a Lantern in Tokyo
Marc Jacobs flagship Tokyo store by Stephan Jaklitsch Architects (Liao Yusheng)
New York firm Stephan Jaklitsch Architects (SJA) has completed the latest jewel box on Tokyo‘s premiere shopping street, the Omotesando-dori in the Aoyama shopping district. The richly textured Marc Jacobs flagship store is comprised of three masses each of glass, stone, and perforated metal, the latter two appearing to float above the sidewalk.
Pictorial> Gehry Down Under
Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building. West elevation. (Gehry Partners, LLP)
You better run, you’d better take cover! Frank Gehry‘s is heading down to Australia with a half twisted-brick, half glass-shard business school for the University of Technology, Sydney. The $150 million project draws its inspiration from a tree house, or as Frank puts it, “a trunk and core of activity and… branches for people to connect and do their private work.”
The Green Building′s Platinum Lining
An interior view of The Green Building’s street-facing café. (Ted Wathen/Quadrant)
Since opening in 2008, The Green Building in Louisville, Kentucky has been quietly awaiting the verdict on just how sustainable the three-story adaptive reuse project really is. As expected, the 115-year-old former dry goods store designed by California-based (fer) studio announced that the project received LEED Platinum certification, becoming the city’s first Platinum building.
Find out just how green platinum can be and see a slideshow after the jump!
Pictorial: Le Monolithe by MVRDV
Le Monolithe in Lyon, France (Courtesy MVRDV)
MVRDV just completed “Le Monolithe,” a mixed-use project in Lyon, France featuring social housing, apartments, disabled residences, offices, and retail organized along a central exterior axis of courtyards. The 350,000 square foot structure overlooks the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers and represents a collaboration of several architects and landscape architects.
I Saloni Kicks Off Street Walking Event
Italian Trade Commission President Umberto Vattani cuts ribbon with Cosmit President Carlo Gugliemi and Federlegno-Arredo President Rosario Messina.
A weeklong celebration of Italian art and design kicked off last night at Scavolini, the haute kitchen emporium in Soho. Italian officials, architects, designers, and a sprinkling of royalty in attendance gave the event a mixture of gravitas and glamour.
Titled “I Saloni Milano in New York,” the event will run through January 8. Several programs fill the calendar, including last night’s “Italian Design Street Walking”, which turned Soho and parts of the Upper East Side into a mini Milan for the night. Italian heels navigated the cobblestones of Greene and Wooster Streets to view 20 open showrooms, with cocktails and Italian food provided by Eataly (a self-guided version of the showroom tour will also continue through January 8).
Starting today, a video installation by Robert Wilson in collaboration with Italian ballet dancer Roberto Bolle can be seen at Center 548, on view through December 18. And on Friday, architect/filmmaker Peter Greenaway will launch the U.S. debut of his digital installation Leonardo’s Last Supper at the Park Avenue Armory, which will run from December 3 through January 6.
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