This weekend begins “Warm Up” at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, Queens. This is a fantastic summer event which includes live music, DJ’s and avant-garde art. Each year, MOMA / P.S.1 hosts the Young Architect’s Program. This year, the winners of the competition , Los Angeles firm Ball-Nogues, have created the backdrop for Warm Up which is entitled Liquid Sky.
Barry Bergdoll, Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art said, “Low-tech assembly is joined with experiment in the latest cutting and fabrication techniques gleaned from the sailing industry. They posit a project whose research will hold resonance and application long after this summer’s Warm Up series. Liquid Sky is a rich palette of atmospheric effects and brilliant color with an undertone of the ephemeral circus spectacle.”
Principals, Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues, describe the experience they have created, “When you step into Liquid Sky, you’ve set your mind and body free from the weight of the urban environment and are submerged into an atmosphere of soothing exhilaration, subtle stimulation, and inspirational calm. As the installation changes from day-to-day, even hour-to-hour, your expectations create your own unique experience.”
The P.S.1 press release states:
Liquid Sky will immerse the viewer in kaleidoscopic patterns of color created by sunlight filtering through an array of translucent, tinted Mylar petals that resemble blossoming flowers of stained glass. Together, the petals form a tensioned surface that reconfigures the horizon, cresting above the walls of the P.S.1 courtyard. Six towers constructed from untreated utility poles support the surface while providing discrete spaces at their base for relaxing on enormous community hammocks made of brightly colored netting. For the adjacent outdoor gallery, the team has designed the Droopscape, a slack catenary belly that shifts and flows in the wind, supported by drench towers that periodically soak visitors below with their gravity-induced tip buckets. The winning proposal was designed in collaboration with Paul Endres of Endres Ware Architects/Engineers and the Product Architecture Lab at Stevens Institute.
Fashion Designer, Silvia Venturini Fendi, presented the Fendi Menswear Spring ‘08 collection on Tuesday at Milan fashion week. Tone-on-tone sheer layering was a strong concept, using techno-voile knits worn over shirst and ties. She combines sportswear and formal wear by pairing a grey suit jacket with hidden elastic storm cuff and raglan-sleeved shirts that resembled baseball tops. She used words like ’steam’, ‘chlorine’, ‘ice’ and ‘aerosol’.
Image: Catwalking.com
SHoP Architects teamed up with 14 students from Parsons The New School for Design to design and construct two structures over the course of seven months in a relief effort for Katrina victims who lost their home and a sense of place. One building serves as a place for residents to come for advice on how to collect funds from the federal and local governments, the other, a 2,000 square foot laundromat. A large front porch and sprawling lawn were essential vernacular elements of the design. The open southern entrance of the community building readily welcomes visitors in. The two structures compliment each other due to the use of local cedar wood.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19379105/site/newsweek/page/0/
This is a fantastic article by Cathleen Mcguigan at Newsweek international about getaway architecture for high-profile clients. Definitely worth the read!
Discouraged with your choices of baseboard radiators? Industrial designer Marco Dessi has solved the boring radiator dilemma! His inspiration for RADIATOR was the raw expression of functional industrial radiators. While maintaining this raw strength, the object was transformed for living spaces.
The rotation of the individual element reminds us of the sheet metal spirals of old- fashioned radiators
The villa is a conceptual automobile design by Bertone, based on the Cadillac SRX. The Villa has curved glass doors that silde open at unexpected angles, an expanse of windows and no chance of seeing production. The dash is replaced by a giant screen, displaying information relating to driving and entertainment. ‘I find it strange that we all accept sitting behind a huge chunk of plastic when we get into a car,’ says Bertone’s interior design director David Wilkie. The Villa has a reclined environment in a small container, yet feels spacious – almost like a piece of mobile architecture. It almost looks happy to be on the road and the large amounts of glass really could get you involved in the motoring experience, not just ‘along for the ride!’
To check out a video of this concept car, visit:
http://testing.alicubi.it/www.bertone.it/villa_video.htm
Industrial designer Matthew Kroeker designed a beautiful peice for indoors or out called the ‘Splinter’. The Splinter is two chairs that mate neatly along a broken line of shifted Teak wood slats to form a bench, or if broken, a set of 2 chairs. Recently the design was signed on by Chicago company, Jane Hamley Wells.
http://www.matthewkroeker.com/
My friend and innovative architect, Carmen McKee, was mentioned in Interior Design Magazine this month for her project management skills in the design of the Disney Store Headquarters (see below for the credits). Carmen works for the Los Angeles firm of Clive Wilkinson Architects, who always bring a playful sense of color and a dynamic use of space to every project. This client requested a space where the entire company could meet. The solution was to create conference room walls that were built from large blocks of lightweight foam in red, orange, yellow, and ocher. Over 200 staff members can take the blocks from the wall and turn them into seats. When the meeting is over, they reconstruct the walls to form a conference room for 30 people of which the focus is a signature CWA custom table made of surfboard resin in the shape of a jigsaw puzzle.
Capitalizing on the Southern California climate, CWA utilized outdoor elements. In addition to the original building clerestories, eight new skylights lessen the need for lighting in the daytime. Wilkinson enlarged an existing courtyard as well. In front, landscaping includes a 12-foot-tall mouse-ear topiary. Signage not required.
See June issue INTERIOR DESIGN MAGAZINE for full story
PROJECT MANAGERS: JOHN MEACHEM; ALEXIS RAPPAPORT. PROJECT DESIGNERS: JENNIFER WU; RICHARD HAMMOND; NINA VOGLER. PROJECT TEAM: CHRISTOPHER MORIMOTO; NEIL MUNTZEL; CARMEN MCKEE; JEREMY FLETCHER. HONEYCOMB UNITS (HALL, REAR CONFERENCE ROOM), SEATING (BRAINSTORMING ROOM), BLOCKS (FRONT CONFERENCE ROOM): QUINZE & MILAN. DESK COUNTER PANELS (RECEPTION): MB WELLINGTON STUDIO. HANGING CHAIRS (CAFÉ): ADELTA INTERNATIONAL. CARPET TILE: INTERFACEFLOR COMMERCIAL. STOOLS (CAFÉ, MEZZANINE LOUNGE): MAGIS. DESKS, CHAIRS, FILE CABINETS (OFFICE AREA): VITRA. TASK LAMPS: TOBIAS GRAU. CUSTOM WINDOW (MEETING ROOM), CUSTOM GLASS FRONTS: PULP STUDIO. TABLETOP MATERIAL (REAR CONFERENCE ROOM): PANELITE. LOUNGE SEATING (REAR CONFERENCE ROOM, CAFÉ): MODERNICA. CHAIRS (CONFERENCE ROOMS): HERMAN MILLER. CUSTOM TABLES: ILAN DEI STUDIO. FLOORING (BRAINSTORMING ROOM): CARLISLE WIDE PLANK FLOORS. STOOLS: PARRI DESIGN. OTTOMANS: BALERI ITALIA. FURNITURE DEALER: WESTERN OFFICE INTERIORS. MILLWORK: RMI MILLWORK. LIGHTING CONSULTANT: KGM ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING. LANDSCAPING CONSULTANT: ABHE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS. STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: KPFF. MECHANICAL ENGINEER: MDC ENGINEERING. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: RETAIL PLANNING & CONSTRUCTION.
http://www.clivewilkinson.com/
Elliot +Associates Architects is renovating a system of tunnels & bridges connecting buildings in downtown Oklahoma City. The Underground project will improve the quality and public perception of the Concourse. Brightly colored “Portals” and “Panels will indicate tunnel inseresctions and incorporate signage to help pededstrians find a destination. The first tunnel was constructed in 1931 with the majority of the Conncourse being built between 1972 and 1984. The downtown area is undergoing a renaissance period with the passage of a sales tax to build a new ballpark, arena, and growth of the tourist industry. Inside the passageways are photographs and art that provide opportunities to learn about the history of Oklahoma City.
http://www.e-a-a.com/Community/undrgrnd.html
to take a virtual tour of the underground: http://newsok.com/video/15697/
After a few years working in the lighting design industry, I have returned to work for Francis Cauffman only to find out that a project I worked on is published and in fact, is on the cover of Corporate Interiors No. 7!! Francis Cauffman was awarded this project following an invited ideas competition to renovate the existing building lobby. Our design responded to Astra Zeneca’s request for a multi-use space that expresses the company’s culture. The space was designed to address multiple uses, including informal meetings, touchdown areas and vendor display. A retractable partition enables a section of the lobby to be more secluded from the pedestrian traffic through the building.
http://www.franciscauffman.com
On June 21, 2007, Philip Johnson’s classic example of modern architecture, his own glass house, will open to the public. Johnson, who died in 2005 at 98 years old, donated the house and its estate in New Canaan, CT to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Two events will serve as the official opening of the Glass House to the general public. A civic opening and ribbon-cutting with state and local officials and leaders from the National Trust will be held at the Glass House on Thursday, June 21. Then, on Saturday, June 23, a Gala Picnic will be held at the site to inaugurate the Glass House’s full capacity operation.
Guided tours will be offered to groups of ten people. Tours will begin at the Glass House Visitors Center in downtown New Canaan, Conn., and guests will travel to the Glass House by shuttle. Tickets are available online.
http://www.philipjohnsonglasshouse.org/
Last night I attended the 2007 Lumen Awards, hosted by the Illuminating Engineers Society New York Chapter. To continue yesterday’s blog entry about the illumination of the Coney Island Parachute Jump, I wanted to share the news that the project was awarded a Lumen Citation!
Lighting design magician, Leni Schwendinger has transformed the Coney Island Parachute Jump into a magical light sculpture.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz calls it “a luminous leap for Brooklyn” he also said , “The Parachute Jump will be a beacon of light for this and future generations, harking and heralding Coney Island as a place where legends are made and dreams come true.” The initial “light performance” previewed six different electronically programmed sequences themed to the season (on-season weekday and weekend, off-season), special occasion (“Americana” and “Kaleidoscope”) and lunar cycle (full moon, waxing and waning moon).
In her own words she describes the project, “For me one of the premises about the nighttime environment is fluidity and change and I think lighting of the future will reflect that. It’s important to me that my work is not a one glimpse project. What we’re doing is activating a structure that’s absolutely inert and trying to evoke different rhythms, times, colors, periods of the year, ways people live, the occasions, the moon. Maybe this goes against the grain of the popular imagination, but I just think it’s great if it looks different on different nights. But it’s also not cheap to do. You need certain kinds of equipment to do that.”
Steven Holl’s latest architectural masterpeice, The Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Musuemof Art, is opening today, June 9th 2007. The architect won the competition for the addition to this Kansas City, Mo museum by creating five interconnected structures as opposed to one single large building. He calls the new structures “lenses” that form new angles of vision. The lenses create vistas and light openings which formulate fresh experiences for the visitors.
For anyone who is a small apartment dweller (like myself) you know, there have been many times you wished for a balcony to enjoy those warm evenings outside or a cup of coffee in the morning. Now, thanks to Dutch architects Hofman Dujardin who have created a pop-out balcony called the Bloomframe that’s easily installed wherever there’s a structurally sound wall; anyone can add a little bit of the outdoors to their apartment. At the push of a button, a pneumatic device lowers the balcony from it’s window frame and in fifteen seconds there’s a small outdoor space dangling outside your apartment. 
www.hofmandujardin.nl/index2.html
To watch Bloomframe opening:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMXcUqGj0U4
To watch Bloomframe closing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh-uRpOsXFk&mode=related&search
iglooplay Tea Pods are an organic, growing system of furniture in various organic forms by brooklyn designer, Lisa Albin, who created the furniture based on how her 2 daughters play. When the sculptural pieces are moved into different positions, the pods and tray can become a stool, side table, bench, ottoman, lounger or play object (they are all foam and have no interior wooden frame) and the accompanying tray is great for kids’ snacks as well as for parents to entertain. It’s furniture design that can be used by the whole family. The materials eco-friendlly and the color palette is sophisticated and playful.
