Sorry Blogpsphere

I haven't been this sick in years. New posts once my fever breaks and I can properly function.

Thoughts about town

Take a look around you and you can see where design exists and where it has been compromised and where it is not much more than aesthetics. Below is a little exploration of a view places around town. A snippet of some of the things that catch my eye.

The day this was taken was a beautiful sunny day, you can get a glimpse of this in a small portion of the above photograph (reflected on the building facade). What this image shows is that there is a dead civic zone. A public space was built into this city block as it is in the heart of the city. What this picture doesn't tell you is that the buildings we're intended to run North-South, not the East-West of their present layout. They were turned to maximize the rentable floor space within each building. The trade-off - blocking all but the briefest amount of sun from this public space thus rendering it cold, windy and otherwise unpleasant, and hence unoccupied. If you do view the space between the two buildings it does frame city hall - which glows brightly in the warm sunshine.

The above office building was gutted some time ago, and they systematically replaced all the windows - to the effect of reinforcing the true "curtain" nature of them (non-structural) as well as showcasing the structure by glazing in front of all of the buildings exterior columns. I'm waiting to see how they develop this exposure and how they plan on interacting with the sidewalk, as the removed the existing portico.

This is a bathroom, not many people take pictures in bathrooms, but you would be surprised how much design can be (or not be) in such a small and very utilitarian space. This particular one has a special layout - the camera is facing the entry point, a window to its back. The stalls are all to the left and there is a fair sized open space to the right with a full length mirror on the wall facing the entry point. The tile is rather bold in its horizontal stripes and the sink area is a bright area with pale blue-green counter top (this same color is repeated in some of the chips in the floor). The question is, why the diagonal path from the door to the sinks? Why is the natural light cubby-holed to the sink area? As you might be able to tell, this diagonal also means the stalls are in a someone stepped formation, also somewhat awkward.

Underground pedestrian concourses are not always the most popular spaces, and although I would agree that this once could use a good cleaning, I think this is a beautiful space. Light pours in from the street above and bounces around off the metallic tiles and back-lit glass block. There is the curve in the ceiling that has a fixture beneath that uplights the round and complements the form. This is part of a much bigger network of tunnels, but this particular portion runs over 3 blocks long under the core street of center city and connects to three transit lines, a shopping center, and the convention center complex all without having you wait to cross a street. I think my bias is showing.

oscar niemeyer - watch the video interview (11 min total)

Excerpted from: DesignBoom



oscar niemeyer
image © camilla maia


oscar niemeyer was born on dec. 15, 1907, in rio de janeiro and, despite his advanced age,
continues to practice his profession. by continuing to explore the modernist aesthetic and
refusing to depart from formalism and purity, niemeyer has turned himself into an eccentric humanist.
he works from his office in rio and always cites his long-standing fear of flying that allows
him to politely decline every invite for traveling.

'curves make up the entire universe, the curved universe of einstein.' he adds.






niterói contemporary art museum, rio de janeiro, brazil 1991-96
'a central pillar, with the architecture floating free in space, like a flower' he said.
image © kalle anka






the niterói museum shows the most the extensive collection of contemporary brazilian art
see more contemporary images by gorka lejarcegi




museum oscar niemeyer (novo museu) in curitiba, brazil 2001-02


the museum by night

Shipping Containers and Building Reuse

There has been much published about the use of shipping containers for architecture - be it the single unit or the multistacked construction:

[Browse a selection of such creations here via Treehugger and here via SFGate]

What makes shipping containers ideal is their portability - and I think their ideal use would be to turn larger empty spaces into smaller more manageable units - sort of a reinterpretation of the factory to lofts idea. Transforming a warehouse into offices, as illustrated in the Inhabitat post on 9.29.09, shows the potential of the idea. One could take the remaining rust-belt infrastructure and transform it into a small business commune - shared facilities for kitchens and break-out space, and then smaller units for private offices and secure file storage/server space. This could also be used in defunct big-box retailer spaces in suburban areas. It sort of is an american scaled version (we do like things bigger) of the ideas of the LynFabrik in Aarhus, Denmark. LynFabrik is a shared space for creative professionals - the building houses office and studio/workshop space, as well as a cafe all of which are designed to allow the intermingling of solo or small group creative practitioners - and the cafe is open to the public (though it is located on the roof, so it isn't overwhelmed, though it does stay busy).

I suggest you check out the Inhabitat article on MVP using shipping containers for its office, and think about all of the possibilities...

Some images from the project:

Nika Zupanc

Nika Zupanc is a designer out of Slovenia whos aesthetic walks the line between Hollywood Glamour and Tim Burton-esque - at least to my eyes. Her take on the feminine and objects attributed thereto is done with a strong powerful stroke and a sense of whimsy and/or cynical wit, which is to say - i adore it. Her most recent exhibition was titled I Will Buy Flowers Myself.

I also enjoy the vaguely Secretary styling of her public image:

Some examples:

A hot plate

A love seat & toy car

A graceful and beautiful space for children

Designed for its climate

designed for inspiring awe

successful

enjoy!

Ecological Children Activity and Education Center / 24H > architecture: "

Architects: 24H > architecture
Location: Koh Kood Island, Thailand
Client: Six Senses Bangkok
Architects in Charge: Boris Zeisser, Maartje Lammers
Program: Auditorium/Cinema, Libary, Art room, Music room, Fashion room, Chill balcony and slide
Local Architect: Habita architects
Constructed area: 165 sqm
Design year:2006-2007
Construction year:2008-2009
Photographs: Kiattipong Panchee & Boris Zeisser

The 6 star hotel resort Soneva Kiri is located on Koh Kood, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. At this unique site, 24H-architecture designed a series of ecological icons to contribute to Six Senses’ high ambitions in design and ecology. Most prominent is The Children Activity and Learning Centre, which will provide visiting children a wide range of entertaining activities as well as raise the level of ecological awareness with them. This Den provides an Auditorium/Cinema for films, lectures and plays, a library with books on permaculture and local traditions, an Art room, a Music room and Fashion room, thus giving children both creative and ecological education while playing.

roof plan

The Den is located at a rocky slope close to the sea. With its Manta-ray inspired bamboo dome, perched in an elevated position so as to offer magnificent views, it seems to launch itself into the bay. The structure and roof are made from local Thai bamboo, thus contributing further to the ecological approach of the resort. The interior is made from local plantation River Red Gum wood and rattan structural elements for the inner domes.

Next to the Den, the site provides a sleeping pod for toddlers, and a toilet building as well as a cooking cave with vegetable garden for the children to prepare their own lunch with a special cook.

The design adopts all bioclimatic aspects to suits its humid tropical environment. The roof cantilevers up to 8m acting like a big umbrella providing shade and protection from the heavy rains. The open design with the translucent elevated rooftop and setback floors allow a natural airflow inside and the use of natural daylight, limiting the building’s energy consumption.

"

Using all our created spaces

Oobject compiled 12 stunning roof gardens and I concur. The roof isn't just the top of a building - it is an implied space - thus it should be maximized for not only the function of the building but for the occupant/user's experience of the building. Such gardens offer reduced heating/cooling bills for the building as well as boosting the aesthetic and postive environmental impact of such a structure.