A Glowing Moonscape in France is Skateable Art
Otro, a glow-in-the-dark skate park in France. (Courtesy L’Escaut Architectures)
In the middle of a lightly populated island in the middle of a French reservoir—the Ile de Vassivière—an eerie green glow rises from the crest of a hill at dusk, indicating that you’ve found OTRO, a phosphorescent skate park of sinuous bowls and tunnels. Designed by artist Koo Jeong-A, L’Escaut Architectures, and skateboard consultants Brusk and Barricade, the project is described as “skateable artwork” and located near a large chateau housing the International Center of Art and Landscape, a light house designed by Aldo Rossi, and a humanoid piece of land art only visible from high above.
Slideshow> High Time for the High Bridge Pedestrian Bridge
Construction is about to start on High Bridge. (Courtesy New Yorkers for Parks)
There’s a scene in Edith Wharton’s 1913 novel Custom of the Country, where the wicked vixen Undine Spragg insists on speeding across the High Bridge in a “horseless carriage” before making her grand entrance at a party so as to rouge her cheeks with a cold snap of air whipping up from the Harlem River. The romantic fascination accorded the then-65-year-old bridge quietly slipped from New York’s consciousness as bigger engineering marvels usurped its quiet dignity.
Now approaching 165 years, renovations are about to get underway to finally restore the bridge to its former glory as a 1,200-foot-long pedestrian bridge, uniting neighborhoods of High Bridge and Washington Heights in the Bronx and Manhattan. New Yorkers for Parks stopped by the span Monday afternoon to document current conditions before construction is in full swing, giving us a hint of Undine’s views. Though controversial netting integrated into the design might mildly disrupt the vista, Monday’s photos show it the way it was, albeit slightly overgrown.
Following Leak, Official High Line Renderings Hit the Street
Two slightly arched sections along 30th Street will provide a brief river vista before giving way to the sweeping views of the interim section.
Everyone loves a fresh High Line rendering, prompting a leak of the latest batch—complete with giant “Not for reproduction” text scrawled across the images—last week via DNAinfo. Now that the cat is out of the bag, the High Line released officially approved renderings yesterday that are crystal clear and text free.
Changes from the designs released in March predominantly show refined detailing by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The delightful rubberized I-beam section for the kids has more planting and the final wrap-around interim section features a few new set of scalies, but the temporary solution remains much the same, with a lean walkway overlooking the self-seeded rail bed.
National Building Museum Redefines “Green” Architecture
Confluence (Courtesy National Building Museum/Alison Dunn Photography)
The National Building Museum‘s latest exhibit presents a new way to beat the summer heat—12 holes of mini-golf designed by prominent local architects, landscape architects, and developers. But if it’s windmills and castles you’re after, tee off elsewhere. While the course is a challenge, it offers an intriguing (and very engaging) look at Washington’s architectural history and future.
Rem’s Next New York Commission is in the Bag
OMA to design Coach display in New York and Tokyo.
High-design fashion label Coach has been pursuing big-name architects, recently announcing its corporate headquarters will be the anchor tenant for a new Kohn Pederson Fox tower at Hudson Yards with James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s High Line running underneath. Next up, Rem Koolhaas’ OMA will design the brand’s new flagship shop-in-shop at Macy’s in Herald Square.
Bjarke Ingels Offers A Surreal Reflection of War at a Danish Bunker Museum
(Courtesy BIG)
Denmark has chosen one of their own, the Copenhagen and New York-based Bjark Ingels Group (BIG) to design the Blåvand Bunker Museum, a structure to be located—or more specifically embedded—in a historic seaside site where German forces occupied Denmark during World War II. Ingels slices into the landscape and builds lightly out of glass atop the ruin of a massive concrete bunker, all of which will be recreated to serve a completely different purpose.
Slideshow> Hollywood Hills Construction Defies Gravity
(All images courtesy Yves Lefay)
On Friday we revealed Francois Perrin’s precariously-situated house, a sleek stack of glass boxes embedded into the Hollywood Hills on a concrete base. Terrain aside, the project is stunning for its views of the city, for its glassy connection between indoor and outdoor space, and for its minimal lines. Perhaps even more amazing, though, is how the house was built in the first place, requiring crews to literally move mountains and dangle from cables off the side of a ravine. To reveal the process beneath the building, AN compiled a slideshow of the work in action.
Speaking at a recent literary festival in London, writer Will Self reproached the architects who helped set the stage for this summer’s games. “If you are an architect and involved in this obscenity then you should go home and consider retraining as a dentist… You might be able to use your creativity in a form that doesn’t do so much damage,” said Self, comparing the buildings to snake oil used to veneer over “people’s looming sense of the inequalities in society.” In a follow-up interview with Building Design, Self questioned why the profession’s most critical thinkers, like Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, and Richard Rogers, continue to work for socially unjust clients. “It’s not because they can’t afford to pay their heating bills,” said Self.
Design Trust Brings the Urban Farm to New York’s Planning Table
Phoenix Community Garden in Brownsville, Brooklyn. (Rob Stephenson/Courtesy Design Trust for Public Space)
New York City is home to over 700 food-producing farms and gardens spread over 50 acres of reclaimed lots, rooftops, schoolyards, and public housing grounds. This week at a launch and press event, the Design Trust for Public Space (in partnership with the Brooklyn-based non-profit community farming project Added Value) debuted the most comprehensive survey yet of the city’s urban agricultural infrastructure, Five Borough Farm: Seeding the Future of Urban Agriculture in New York City.
TUFTIT Teaches Materials A New Language
 |
Brought to you by: |
A new modeling program can give any material a makeover.
TUFTIT is a fabrication program developed by Alexander Josephson and Pooya Baktash, two students who put their studies at the Architectural Association in London on hold to found Partisans, a research-based architectural platform they started in Toronto following the financial meltdown in 2010. What seemed like a risky venture at the time might just be Josephson and Baktash’s best career move, especially if TUFTIT is an indication of the kind of technologically innovative projects they’re executing.
The modeling program was born from a desire to reinterpret popular traditional styles, like “Edwardian tufted leather furniture” featured in a Restoration Hardware catalogue, for a contemporary audience. “To us, this was an apt example of where innovation and reinvention could occur, especially with the use of parametric modeling,” said Josephson. “The goal was to create a radical new interpretation of that model, one that was completely organic and free in its scale and use.”
Architects to Chicago Mayor: Save Prentice!
Early scheme for Prentice Women’s Hospital. (Courtesy AIC)
More than 60 architects flocked to the side of Bertrand Goldberg’s embattled Prentice Women’s Hospital Wednesday, calling on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to ensure the concrete cloverleaf’s permanent place in Chicago’s skyline.
“The legacy of Bertrand Goldberg’s Prentice Women’s Hospital is unmistakable. It stands as a testament to the Chicago-led architectural innovation that sets this city apart,” reads the open letter, whose cosigners include Frank Gehry, Jeanne Gang and the partners of SOM. “Chicago’s global reputation as a nurturer of bold and innovative architecture will wither if the city cannot preserve its most important achievements.”
A New Canvas for the Design Community: The Garage
Thursday, July 26, 2012
| Brought to you by:
|
In an economic environment in which competition amongst homes for sale is fierce, homeowners, architects and designers are turning to the garage. According to the National Association of Home Builders House Price Estimator, adding a garage to an average single family detached house can increase the value of the home by tens of thousands of dollars, depending on location.
For the enterprising architect or interior designer, garages represent a blank canvas. It’s an area of the home that often collects clutter (and rarely sees aesthetic effort), but the garage acts as the main entrance of the home for many people. Improvements in this space are easily recognizable (and thus, proposable) to prospective clients, especially with the right garage-specific features.
When it comes to choosing those features, Gladiator® GarageWorks, a Whirlpool Corporation brand (yes, of home appliance fame), suggests utilizing functional products designed specifically for the garage environment. Which, as it turns out, is important: broad temperature and humidity fluctuations can ruin many products. They even make an ENERGY STAR® qualified garage-specific refrigerator for clients with home offices, shops, or entertaining areas in their garages.
Yet, as functional as these products are, they do not leave much to be desired when it comes to aesthetics. Take the Gladiator® Storage Bench, pictured here, for example. How many features in your garage have a beautiful bamboo top? It’s a great spot to sit and remove your shoes in the garage, but also looks nice in the mudroom or in the living room as an entertainment center. And it has plenty of space for various items to keep inside.
When it comes to areas of the home ripe for the architect’s or designer’s touch, don’t overlook the garage. Gladiator® brand even offers an interactive design tool on its website, allowing designers to visualize their ideas in different layouts. The space is there, as are the garage-specific products. What garages need, and are now getting, is attention.
Advertise on The Architect's Newspaper.
Archives
Categories
Architecture
Design
East Coast
Midwest
National
Planning
Shft+Alt+Del
Sustainability
Transportation
West Coast
