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    1.23.2010

    Marvel

    Wandering about the city, en route or just cause, there is so much to see, we may miss it, we may tune it out as to prevent being overwhelmed, but it seems to me we, on average, do not appreciate the many wonders we are surrounded by daily. if you woke tomorrow and the world had been reset, how much could you rebuild? lean-tos and fire pits or skyscrapers and transcontinental railways? I did not make these, you may have had little or much to do with the creation of these items - the closest thing to permanent we have is the collected knowledge to build. Why do we not marvel at our own creations?

    A collection of images from recent wanderings, as the winter light generally is the most beautiful. Sometimes we feel like we just found our eyes.













    1.05.2010

    Modern Organic - Minimal Plops


    The modern organic wave is quite a significant one, and seems rather popular of late, hence a second post on the same topic. This go'round, however, I'm illustrating the design mathematics of what I call Minimal Plops. I understand that "plops" is not the most graceful word, at first, but I think you'll come to see it as a playful onomatopoetic signifier of a growing field in design.

    Lots to make sense of, lets start with the basic variables that come into the design equation that begets minimal plops.

    First up is the external form of a plop. As it sounds it is curvaceous and in relative proximity to the ground. I present "hot fudo" by takeshi hosaka architects. The shape is clearly what one might label as "organic" which for many folks just means not rectilinear. This form has its own history as ancient as bark-covered sweat lodges, mud huts, and igloos. It is architecture which is a bubble formed in its surroundings, though the stark white clearly separates it from that surrounding as well.
    hoto fudo
    photo by koji fujii / nacasa & partners inc.
    image courtesy of takeshi hosaka architects via
    Designboom


    Next is the function of the plop. Plop is a small thing, it could be called a dollop. What use can such a small space serve the modern person? A residence, yes, but many folks in they overly developed world might consider this more a getaway space, perhaps a guest quarters or artists studio/office. I give you Polyhedron Habitable:

    Polyhedron Habitable via SweetStation


    Onwards to the interior form of the plop. This structure is practically a dream home for me, but it also takes "of the earth" vernacular architecture cues from the likes of the Anasazi cliff dwellings while incorporating modern steel & glass (and satellite dish). It responds to the almighty grid while being asymmetric and irregular - form following function from the looks of things. Yes I'm using an external shot as my evidence for interior form, but what begins on the outside is continued on the inside, shown in the second image of Villa Vals by SeARCH.
    Vila Vals by SeARCH via arch daily

    Finally we have the structure of the plop. There have been inovations in materiality of late, this also coinciding with many massive natural disasters which have brought considerable attention to the need for rapid shelter units. One of the most striking both in terms of material and rapid construction are the Concrete Canvas shelters. Delivered as a relatively small bundle, to which you add water, inflate, and allow to set, one person can set it up in 40 minutes and the concrete is set in 12 hours.

    Now the external form, function, internal form, and structure come together and we have the ultimate Minimal Plop: Blob (VB3) by dmvA. All of the above variables come together to create this little form and though not all literally represented - i.e. its a polyester over wood construction, not concrete embedded fabric - the allusions are there. This Blob is a coalescence of many of the architectural/material/structural ideas floating about these days which all speak to the Modern Organic aesthetic of our technological age. After you meet Blob, you will have a glimpse at the potential future of Miminal Plops.

    I will note, that Blob may make you think Airstream, or other such units - and that is a valid reference point, and I adore Airstream. However, I think those units aim to recreate the same "home" environment, just on wheels, where as the Minimal Plop re-imagines how people want to/could use space and removes the automotive necessity. We'll be carless in the future, remember?

    Via Designboom - meet Blob (VB3)

    'blob VB3' by dmvA
    photo by mick couwenbergh/rini van beek


    photo by vercruysse frederik

    photo by vercruysse frederik

    photo by vercruysse frederik

    image courtesy dmvA
    photo by mick couwenbergh/rini van beek

    photo by mick couwenbergh/rini van beek
    image courtesy dmvA


    plan of blob VB3
    image courtesy dmvA



    The future of the Minimal Plop - the plop skyscraper via
    Inhabitat This seems rather futuristic - in a Jetsons (optimistic) or Matrix (pessimistic) kind of way - depending on your preferred outlook.

    12.23.2009

    Modern Organic Architecture

    There have been a couple of tree/nature inspired architectural works completed recently. This striking form of modern organic aesthetic is a product of technology, and is certainly beautiful, but has been around for a while - if not in the same white form. Below are images from the historic preservation efforts at Koldinghus in Denmark followed by two of the most recent projects of this particular style. The Koldinghus project, which entails a system of structural columns which float a ceiling and curtain wall over the historic structure, was a much discussed "restoration" which started in the 1980s and was completed in 1991.

    I am a fan of this style for its navigation of the balance between man(-made) and nature(-inspired) though of course sometimes a building should reflect what it truly is, unnatural, allowing for the seeking our own balance between the world we create and the one we derive from.






    photos by KaraML Additional images




    Via DesignBoom
    serie architects / chris lee and kapil gupta: the tote, mumbai




    image courtesy serie architects
    photos by fram petit



    Via ArchDaily
    Leaf House / Undercurrent Architects: "
    © Hugh Rutherford

    © Hugh Rutherford

    © Hugh Rutherford

    © Hugh Rutherford

    12.22.2009

    Future Commute

    As the world moves towards a less wasteful approach to day to day life there is an attempt at making mobility friendlier as well. Not everyone can telecommute nor is everyone convenient to mass transit in terms of trains and trolleys, but buses may be the future of transit and not at all as you picture them now. Talk to the regular train commuter and one of their favorite reasons for the train is their ability to do work or catch up on personal reading while traveling. The bus of the future will do just that - it will provide work surface and cupholders for the office on-the-go vibe and with such city-wide wireless networks popping up like Clear and those provided by cell phone providers folks can get things done while getting to work. All this while using the existing infrastructure (roads) while reducing congestion (number of vehicles). Though the renderings below are suggestive of the future of the bus, I do think such a vehicle would have to be quite nuanced in its design to make for a comfortable workspace as well as aid in the destruction of the preconceived negative notions folks tend to have towards the mode. Bus is not a dirty word, and it may be the key to the future.

    From FastCompany:
    Commuter-Friendly Office on Wheels Puts Bus in Business:

    office Bus

    [Via Core 77]

    office Bus


    See also New York City Unveils New Silent Electric Bus

    12.21.2009

    Urban Abstraction

    Designboom recently featured the temporary wood structures of ryuichi ashizawa architects. One of the structures in particular was striking. The simplistic plywood in a short jagged accordion form creates a really unique sense of space (pictured below). The dynamism of the form coupled with the strictly controlled view framed by the opening really feels like an urban abstraction - to the extent that urban environments are full of movement and yet impossible to view more than small excerpts at a time. As you stroll down the streets as familiar or foreign as they may be - you cannot help but see a mixture of structures, skyscraper to rowhouse - commercial to residential, and your movement changes the ratio of types and the types of folks, therefore, that you would encounter. The location of this structure on an island surrounded by city furthers this removed abstraction of the urban environment.

    enjoy!



    image courtesy ryuichi ashizawa architects

    image courtesy ryuichi ashizawa architects

    image courtesy ryuichi ashizawa architects

    image courtesy ryuichi ashizawa architects

    12.14.2009

    Technacular Architecture

    Building to your local resources [vernacular architecture]...we used to do that exclusively. This is how "salt box" houses came about in New England and adobe homes in the southwest. Over time we could venture away from location-specific design because technology allowed for ease of building and artificial temperature control. Technology allowed us to ignore what previously dictated how it was to live in a certain area. However, our growing concern for waste has us reconsidering our local requirements and resources and now we're seeing that the future is blending the two - technology and vernacular.

    A recent excellent example of this hybrid model was recently covered on Inhabitat as welll as a write up on Malcom Wells from DesignBoom - which illustrates his approach to vernacular architecture and technology as expressed via his beautiful drawings (below):

    Deep-Seawater Air Conditioning System to Cool Honolulu: "

    sustainable design, green design, Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning, Honolulu, deep-sea system, air conditioning, green energy, Waikiki, underwater technology

    Frigid seawater pumped in from the ocean’s depths will soon help cool more than half of the buildings in Honolulu’s downtown. Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning LLC, which is undertaking the $240 million project, expects its technology to cut the Hawaiian city’s air conditioning electricity usage by up to 75 percent while slashing carbon emissions and the use of ozone-depleting refrigerants.

    Read the rest of Deep-Seawater Air Conditioning System to Cool Honolulu


    Malcolm Wells: passively heated underground buildings: "
    tree bridges





    explanation of underground architecture
    image courtesy of malcolm wells

    "

    12.04.2009

    Void as Connection

    Henderson Waves bridge is a beautiful example of a pedestrian bridge. This space is like a park in the sky of Singapore. If we stopped to think of a bridge as a place to stop and think - then perhaps we'd have more poetic bridges like these and fewer baldly utilitarian structures that ironically become voids between two places. Enjoy the beautiful images of this bridge by RSP Architects and below that images from other great "green" bridges from around the world.




    via DesignBoom


    Top 5 Most Innovative Green Bridges on the Planet via Inhabitat