GRAFT is a full service architectural firm located in Los Angeles, Berlin, and Beijing. They’ve designed an immaculate structure for Wuensdorf Church in Wuensdorf, Germany. Located in a previously contaminated area of the former East Germany, it was occupied by the Russian Army until Germany re-united.
The design team said of their winning competiton design:
We focused instead on a Church design that would provide a new framework for increasingly complex forms of belief systems and we approached the competition with the conviction of positive change and faith in inclusion over the exclusionary practices of traditional religious establishments. A diamond-shaped crystal ‘envelope’ was developed from three different geometric prefigures that fuse into one another. This crystal envelope protects the visitor, but does not cut him/her off from the surrounding landscape. As a mental space for prayer rather than a real enclosure…
To me, it looks like the structure itself is not of this earth and is striving, bending, and twisting in aspiration of reaching the sky.
Photos from: http://archinect.com/features/article.php?id=74491_0_23_0_C
www.graftlab.com/
Light Paul Cocksedge has launched his POLE light for Established & Sons at Milan 08. It’s a table or floor light that works on the same principal as fiber optic lighting.
The light source is in the concrete base and travels about 3 feet in the acyrlic pole before emitting at the end of the pole. POLE provides a focused beam of light that can be dimmed. It’s a simple design that attempts something very complex: bending light.
Photos: http://www.dezeen.com/2008/04/25/pole-by-paul-cocksedge/
http://www.establishedandsons.com/
http://www.paulcocksedge.co.uk/
Winka Dubbeldam and her architectural firm archi-tectonics, continually seeks to redefine architecture for the digital age. The Dutch born, Columbia University trained architect brings the sensibilities of Dutch architecture into her New York based studio.
She and her forward-thinking firm of associates, are bringing the Unknot Tower to 12th and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, PA. The 27 story boutique hotel, Unknot, will hold retail, a restaurant, and condos making it arguably the best highly accessible new building in Philadelphia in decades.
It rises to its highest point as it moves back from Chestnut Street toward Sansom Street. The 145-room hotel will be operated by GHM Hotels. The International premier brand of hotels - currently managing 14 ultra-luxurious properties around the world — are located in places like Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Phuket, and Milan. Yet, there is only one other location in the U.S, the Setai in South Beach. The hotel selected has already selected a five-star restaurant by L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon.
Photos: http://theilladelph.blogspot.com/2008/03/breaking-center-city-to-finally-get-its.html
http://www.archi-tectonics.com/
Industrial Designer, Jonas Samson has invented a line of super chic light-emitting wallpaper. The Netherlands based designer created this high-tech wallpaper as a two-dimensional flat surface of light as a surprise twist, forcing you to re-think how to light a room. As long as the wallpaper is turned ‘off’, it is indistinguishable as a source of light. Instead, it is just what it appears to be: wallpaper.
There is a buzz about the 100% electric Roadster by Tesla Motors. This is no surprise considering it boasts 0 to 60 miles per hour 3.9 seconds and has a red hot design. Tesla is on the forefront and proving wrong all the myths that stereotype electric car building and performance. Tesla’s groundbreaking distinction is under its carbon-fiber skin. The pricetag for this high performance and innovation is $98,000. But it is redeemed in that it only costs 2 cents per mile to drive. It is powered entirely by electricity, a plug-in that will never use a drop of gasoline. And it’s billed as being able to travel 221 miles in mixed city/highway driving on a full battery charge.
The industrial designers at deepdesign have taken on the mundane and simplified and stylized it. Hairdryers don’t usuually spark excitement and creativity, when it comes to design.
However, considering that’s it an integral part of many people’s dialy ritual, one would think it would. Rafaella Mangiarottie and Matteo Bazzicalupo, the designers who are deepdesign, have developed a sleek prototype for a dryer called ‘Winds’.
‘Winds’ is a standalone, auto-switching machine with a revolutionary double airflow and an unusual L-shaped body. After studying the movements hair stylist made with traditional hairdryers, they realized the T-shape was not ideal.
Winds is designed to be the most efficient, ergonomic, and aesthetically sound hairdryer in the product’s short history. It is still in pre-production stages, so you can’t run out and buy one just yet. The designers developed it without a client, using their own money and time because they truely believe in this product.
Tadao Ando never ceases to amaze me. His expressions of space, texture, and light are visceral. Ando is one of Japan’s most celebrated architects, yet he has no formal training in architecture.
“Within an empty concrete space, there’s not just emptiness but a space that can be full of natural light and nature, sometimes with sensations of deepness and darkness, a variety of elements both physical and imagined.”
For his latest work, the Yu-un house, he designed an exterior facade wall of vertical laminated-glass panes with no visible doors, just an enticing opening.
Behind the wall is an enclosed corridor with doors at both ends. One door leads to the living area and the other opens to a stair decending into a private art gallery.
This is purposeful gap between the inside and outside body of the house, where daylight streams in the create a kaleidescope of light and material interplay. The client wanted this space to be a collaborative effort between artists and architect, and he commissioned works by several talents, including Danish-born light artist Olafur Eliasson, Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka and Japanese lighting architect Shozo Toyohisa.
It was Eliasson’s idea to use platinum-glazed ceramic tiles. The result is dynamic, “Small changes in light make the tiles appear different, and it changes the light in the interior, as well,” says Eliasson. “You really get the feeling of a temporal or ephemeral component to the house and the constitution of its space.”
Photography by Robert McLeod
Welcome Spring! And I’m celebrating in grand company!
In particular, April is recognized by Global and National communities as World Landscape Architecture Month by the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) and National Landscape Architecture Month by the American Society for Landscape Architecture (ASLA.) April is the month we also celebrate Earth Day (April 22) and the birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26) Founder of American Landscape Architecture.
Worldwide there are 61 landscape architecture associations. Nationally, the ASLA represents 18,200 landscape architects in 48 professional chapters and 68 student chapters.
This year, the international theme is Landscape and Diversity. The two largest chapters, the Landscape Institute (LI) of Great Britian and ASLA will focus activities on broadening the profession. The ASLA is connecting with educators and students from kindergarten through grade 12 guiding them to “Discover Careers in Landscape Architecture.”
According to Perry Howard, FASLA, President of ASLA:
“Landscape architecture is a very distinguished, rewarding, and lucrative career, and National Landscape Architecture Month will allow us to introduce the profession to many who never realized the possibilities it offers. With demand projected to grow at an astonishing rate in the coming years, the profession offers tremendous creative and financial fulfillment for anyone considering landscape architecture as a career.”
Landscape Architecture addresses everything environmental; from repairing and rehabilitating landscapes after natural disasters, such as the Asian Tsunami, to designing city plazas and neighborhood parks, to creating a backyard oasis.
And, my celebration of National Landscape Architecture Month? As a member of Cadwalader Park Alliance, I’m coordinating a community discussion in Trenton, NJ on the importance of public / private partnerships in the design and managment of public spaces.
Landscape Architect Tim Marshall, Principal of ETM Associates and former VP of Central Park Conservancy (NY), will speak April 4 at historic
Check out the ASLA events in your state and listen to a podcast with ASLA Executive VP & CEO Nancy Somerville.
Join the Celebrations! And, Welcome Spring!
Cadwalader Park, Trenton, NJ
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Tidewater Residence, Virginia Beach, VA
American culture has become fast-paced, temporary, and entertainment driven. As consumers, our attention span is short and when we have the choice to buy products anywhere, how does one choose where to shop?
The design of retail interiors and architecture is changing. It is beyond a space, it is an experience and it begs the question, “If new products can come and go, why can’t the stores that display them do the same?” These temporary retail installations have been dubbed POP-UP RETAIL, as they tend to pop up unannounced, quickly draw in the crowds, and then disappear or morph into something else, giving retail exclusivity and surprise.
Japanese fashion house, Comme des Garcons opened the first of their ‘Guerilla’ stores in 2004 in Berlin. The objective for the store is to only be open for 1 year and to spend a minimal amount of money on the interiors. The stores are also to be located away from fashionable hubs and districts of a city.
Another example is Storefront for Art and Architecture. Founded in 1982, Storefront for Art and Architecture is a nonprofit organization committed to the advancement of innovation in architecture, art and design. Storefront is one of New York’s only alternative platforms focusing primarily on architecture and the built environment. It is located on a major downtown thoroughfare between three radically different cultural sectors, Storefront attracts a diverse audience.
In 1993, Storefront commissioned a collaborative building project by artist Vito Acconci and architect Steven Holl. The project replaced the existing facade with a series of twelve panels that pivot vertically or horizontally to open the entire length of the gallery directly onto the street. The project blurs the boundary between interior and exterior and, by placing the panels in different configurations, creates a multitude of different possible facades. Now, it’s regarded as a contemporary architectural landmark. Their latest initiative is a Pop Up Storefront Los Angeles - CCCP opening April 11 2008 - May 17 2008 - at Paperchase Printing 7176 Sunset Blvd.
In the empty shell of a former Hard Rock Café in midtown New York, the food magazine Bon Appetit created, in its own words, a ‘pop-up supper club’. Open for just over a week last October, the guerrilla restaurant boasted a number of high profile guest chefs. Michael Mina, Giada Delaurentiis, Will Farb, and Emeril Lagasse each took over the kitchen for just a night.
By day, the space was open to the public for light meals, and by night the space is transformed into an invitation-only venue hosting of private events. The interior was designed by famed hospitality interior designers, the Rockwell Group. The space transformed from a leafy glade in the daytime, to an enchanted forest by night using a combination of candles, hanging mirrors, webs of bungee cords deep blue paint. The design has been described as, daring, dramatic, and spectacular!
Even the music industry has taken it to the streets with the release of Radiohead’s album, In Rainbows, in January this year. Marketing on the grassroots level is achievable by anyone. Bands are now consulting and recruiting active fans in online communities. They created a sensationalized buzz by distributing the album from a website before retailers could sell the hard copies. And what’s more, they let the consumer decide the value. Buying music is now a more green, personalized, and a unique experience.
What will pop-up next?
For more in-depth interviews and commentary, listen to Frances Anderton’s podcast Design and Architecture (DNA) part of LA radio station KCRW: http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/de/de080318guerrilla_stores_edi