Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Yokohama Apartments by ON design partners

Yokohama apartment is a residential complex consisting of semi public courtyard canopied by four one-room units for young artists. The semi public courtyard is a place for exhibition and work. 





photos © Koichi Torimura

more at archdaily

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Antony Gormley: 'Model' at White Cube



28 November 2012 – 10 February 2013

White Cube Bermondsey
144 – 152 Bermondsey Street
London SE1 3TQ


White Cube Bermondsey is pleased to present ‘Model’, an exhibition of major new works by Antony Gormley. Challenging the physical possibilities of the gallery space, this ambitious exhibition investigates our experience of architecture through the body and of the body through architecture.




Interior Urbanism Florence 2013 Poster

more information on this summer's workshop can be found here.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Alex Cox's references

A critic on the panel of the recent Level 5 Final Crit, Alex Cox, sent along some references that he thought would be helpful.


For those with pendant-like instalations relating to the hanging easels (at Elms Lesters Painting Rooms, current site for the Level 5 project),

London Stock Exchange installation:


For those interested in the 'behind the scenes' areas of theatres,

The Marx Brothers A Night At The Opera (Final Scene):


For those interested in vertical movement/habitation,

Maison Bordeaux lift:


For those interested in preservation of the existing and subtle interventions,

Neues Museum, Berlin:


For those interested in dramatic natural lighting,

Stanley Kubricks Barry Lyndon:


For those interested in the drama of the old theatre:  an image that captures the feeling of a theater opening night in a rainy Rotterdam, 

Bolles & Wilson, New Luxor Theatre (Image by them):


Thanks, Alex!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

School of American Ballet by Diller Scofidio + Renfro




At first blush, it seems that the architect and the dancer have little in common. Deal­ing with structures and edifices, architects strive for permanence of form; dancers work with gestures and movements, resulting in fleeting moments of beauty. But when architect Elizabeth Diller began redesigning the School of American Ballet (SAB), in collaboration with its artistic director, Peter Martins, she was struck by the affinities between the two disciplines. “We kind of do the same thing,” she says. “We’re interested in bodies and space, and we’re interested in overcoming laws of gravity.”


A couple of years ago, Martins decided he wanted to halve one of SAB’s more spacious studios. Hav­ing another one running would mean more classes, more students, and more flexibility for his pupils, most of whom study dance part-time in addition to taking a full load of academic classes. The fifth-floor space of the Samuel B. and David Rose Building at Lincoln Center was double-height, so Martins hoped to divide it horizontally, stacking the volumes “like pancakes.”


Before Diller took on the job, the architecture firm Davis Brody Bond suggested dividing the space with a conventional floor. Unfortunately that would have blocked the natural light from the windows, leaving the upper studio dark and cramped. Hoping for a more creative solution, Martins and his colleague Marjorie Van Der­cook, executive director of SAB, approached Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which was already overseeing an ambitious $700 million renovation of Lincoln Center. About five minutes after Dil­ler saw the space, she told Martins that it was certainly possible to stack a studio on top of another in a way that allowed for plenty of room and light. “You could suspend it,” she told him. “It would float.” Martins and Van Dercook were so enthusiastic that they asked Diller to draw up plans for a similar space next door. Eight months and $7.2 million later, there were two split-level studios separated by a lounge where donors and parents can observe classes.


From Metropolis Magazine 'Bodies and Spaces' by By Belinda Lanks