Steven Holl: Light in the Kiasma Museum

An Excerpt from Steven Holl: The Body in Space where Holl describes the strategy for lighting the interior of the Kiasma Museum in Helsinki Finland; the client explaining her reaction to his watercolours. (One shown below.)

Françoise Bollack's 5 Adaptive Reuse Strategies

In her book Old Buildings, New Forms, Françoise Bollack divides adaptive reuse projects into five categories, and illustrates each with a diagram (from left to right): wraps, weavings, juxtapositions, parasites, and insertions.

Insertion for instance, is exemplified by a 2004 project by FNP Architekten.  A crane dropped a new shell of weather-resistant plywood inside a 200-year-old abandoned pigsty in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. The “house within a house” is now used as an occasional showroom and meeting place.

To see examples of the other strategies see the article in ARCHITECT.

Or buy the book.

Image Credits: Monacelli Press

Drawings by Daniel Castor

Castor "created twenty-two drawings of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange that, like x-ray photographs, enable us to look through the building's walls into its inner spaces in a way that one could neither achieve by means of photography nor by viewing the building in person."

The drawings are "magnificently beautiful," the Getty's guide opines. By "gradually peeling away more and more of the exterior wall, like an archaeologist digging through centuries of rubble... Castor shows that the facade is no more than a thin layer around a circulatory space circumscribing the main exchange halls."

From BLDGBLOG.

Sean Griffiths on the American Bar in Vienna by Adolf Loos

"The American Bar is an astonishing interior.

As well as being a very radical piece of early 20th century design, as Europe’s first ever cocktail bar (cocktails are an American invention) it brought a decadent New World experience to an old imperial Europe on the verge of catastrophic dissolution."

More from Sean Griffiths at BD.

Thanks to Níall McLaughlin for mentioning the article.

I-LANDS Installation

I-Lands is an interactive installation that incorporates sound, water, wax, and temperature to explore the chaotic and random individual influences constantly present in climate and landscape formations. Composed and generated by individual visitors that engage with strategically placed 'activators', it is a generator of topographies.  The work acknowledges that individual actions can generate unpredictable processes.

Part of Ines Dantas's *Emospheric Arch-I-pelagos series, it was performed in June 2012 at the Institute for Experimental Architecture, in Innsbruck, Austria.

Pamphlet Architecture 34: Fathoming the Unfathomable

Pamphlet Architecture 34 by architects and educators Perry Kulper and Nat Chard speculates on how architecture might discuss indeterminate conditions of production through a generative agency of representation. Kulper and Chard explore the indeterminacy of architectural research through drawings that exceed traditional drawing space. Located in two different countries, they communicate by shipping each drawing across geographical borders. As a result the drawing acts as a tactical and conversational medium, providing the architects with new opportunities for the confluence of the uncertain.

more at Princeton Architectural Press.

Urs Fischer – You, Gavin Brown’s enterprise (NYC) -2007

"The artist dug a crater on the gallery, removing its concrete level. The architecture of the gallery is altered by cutting, disruption, and destructive transformations. 'You simultaneously attacks and fetishizes the attributes of galleries, the qualities that the critic Brian O’Doherty has described as 'something of the sacredness of churches, the austerity of courtrooms, the mysteriousness of research laboratories, something that, together with stylish designs, makes them unique cultic places of the aesthetic' ', writes Jerry Saltz in the New York Magazine."

from SOCKS.

The work of artist Clay Ketter

"The former carpenter Clay Ketter constructs walls in the space between house-like interiors and modern abstract painting.

Ketter constructs flat sculptures, installations and three-dimensional paintings – or a compound of all three categories. His striking painting-cum-sculpture-cum-installations principally recall interior design. They capture moments in condemnation or rebuilding usually of limited duration but here freeze-framed in art. The walls exist in a permanent limbo between the presence of demolition and the eternity of art." from ARKEN

His earlier works included the Gulf Coast Slabs, a series of overhead photographs taken of structures after the passage of hurricane Katrina in 2006, one of which is shown above.

Thanks to Clay Thompson who spotted Ketter's work via SOCKS.

Carlo Scarpa Documentary

Carlo Scarpa (June 2, 1906 – November 28, 1978), was an Italian architect.

Scarpa refused to sit the pro forma professional exam administrated by the Italian Government after World War II. As a consequence, he was not permitted to practice architecture without associating with an architect. Hence, those who worked with him, his clients, associates, craftspersons, called him "Professor", rather than "architect".

His architecture is deeply sensitive to the changes of time, from seasons to history, rooted in a sensuous material imagination.

'Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined' at the Royal Academy

Concept image of environment by Li Xiaodong (detail), commissioned by the Royal Academy of Arts, London. © Li Xiaodong.

25 January — 6 April 2014
In the Main Galleries

Some of the most creative architectural minds from around the world are coming to the RA – and together they will give you an unforgettable experience. Read more

the Royal Academy is located at: Burlington House, Piccadilly London W1J 0BD

Section Detail; Old Folk’s Home, Morecambe by David Hart

from AR tumblr

more here.

Alvar Aalto Viipuri Library Lecture Hall

Alvar Aalto's section of the lecture hall in the Viipuri Library which worked out the trajectory of  sound.

more here.

The Left-Over-Space House by Cox Rayner Architects

"This narrow private house demonstrates what can be achieved on the myriad of ‘left-over’ spaces in inner cities, such as disused easements or parking lots. In this case, a 3 metre wide tiny caretaker’s cottage, adjoining a heritage hall has been recycled and linearly extended into a family house for parents and two children."

from DETAIL.

sophia chang piques suspense through cavernous installation

"...the piece consists of softened fabric geometries that blur the boundaries between its inside and outside. upon entering, both occupant and environment are estranged, creating greater awareness of one’s self, relation to others and surroundings. the expansive, curving walls form an immersive cave-like interior, framing both people and their context that piques the experience of interior and exterior, wall and room – both hiding and revealing places to be explored."

image © anita kan

"the installation is constructed from large pieces of lycra fabric that is suspended between rectangular frames. snatched glimpses of the original context are captured through breaks in the fabric, pulling them into the suspended space, while visitors occupy both sides of the frame, creating a playful interaction between its two sides. the re-captured everyday moments, a glimpse of brick, a stair, or out to the street appear distant and other. conceived as multiple layers of poché, which commonly refers to the space within walls, here it receives a more ambiguous reinterpretation: what could be understood as a wall or space from one vantage point, becomes an inhabitable room from another."

from designboom.

'Skinned' by KNOL Ontwerp features latex casts of derelict buildings

Shrouds of latex cast from derelict buildings hang in this installation by Amsterdam design studio KNOL Ontwerp, forming ghostly recreations of spaces.

from dezeen.

Paul Klee - Making Visible at Tate Modern 16 October 2013 – 9 March 2014

Paul Klee is a giant of twentieth-century art and one of the great creative innovators of the time. The heart of the exhibition will focus on the decade Klee spent teaching and working at the Bauhaus, the hotbed of modernist design.

Making Visible

Tate Modern: Exhibition

16 October 2013 – 9 March 2014

Adult £16.50 (without donation £15.00)

Concession £14.50 (without donation £13.10)

Daniel Silver: 'Dig' 12 September - 3 November 2013

"From a deep hole in a derelict site in central London, yards from the traffic of the Tottenham Court Road, evidence of an apparently ancient and peculiar civilisation has emerged: gods and philosophers, fertility goddesses with 12 breasts, smashed plaster torsos and a giant bearded head with its features almost washed away evidently by millennia of rain or sea water.On the upper level scores of pieces lie cleaned and sorted. Down below all is dank and dripping, and life-sized figures and heads on concrete plinths stand in pools of mud and water. All were made by the sculptor Daniel Silver, for Dig, an installation commissioned by Artangel..." from the Gaurdian

Daniel Silver: Dig
The Odeon Site
24 Grafton Way (off Tottenham Court Road)
London WC1E 6DB

12 September - 3 November 2013

11am - 6 pm, Tuesday - Sunday
Admission: free

+FARM 2014: Winter Studio at the Five Sisters Farm, NY, USA

Open Call: the Sweat Lodge in the Snow

The project for this 5 day intensive design, fabricate, and construction workshop is to build a Sweat Lodge for a weary farmer. The fabrication studio will focus, and participants will learn, digital practices that enhance work flow methods between design, metal fabrication, and installation by using the latest software + techniques.

Participants will warm up with a charrette to produce the design, then will quickly transition to digital techniques geared toward fabrication. Six applicants selected from an international open call will be invited to work with a metal fabrication shop including practicing professionals on site, developing practical, technological, and construction skills. Professional training will be provided in using a plasma cutter, press break, sheer, and basic welding techniques.

Applications Due Friday November 29th

For more information please visit: www.plusfarm.org

'Thinking With the Body' at the Wellcome Collection. Until October 27th.

Wayne McGregor is well known for his physically testing choreography and ground-breaking collaborations across dance, film, music, visual art, technology and science. In 2000, he and his company Wayne McGregor | Random Dance embarked on a series of projects investigating aspects of creativity in dance with researchers from other fields such as cognitive and social science.

This exhibition, staged during the run-up to the first performances of his new work for Wayne McGregor | Random Dance, 'Atomos' at Sadler's Wells, offers a glimpse into this interdisciplinary research process and the impact it has in the rehearsal studio. Find out more about the process of choreography and how mind, body and movement interact in each of us.

From Saturday 28 September to Sunday 13 October there will be opportunities to meet dancers who have experience of working with the ideas discussed in the exhibition. The dancers will offer a unique insight into and practical demonstration of physical thinking techniques. Sessions will run on Thursdays 18.00-21.00, Saturdays and Sundays 14.00-17.00.

Admission to Wellcome Collection is free

Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE

Richard Serra: 'Drawings for the Courtald' 19 September 2013 – 12 January 2014

Richard Serra: Drawings for The Courtauld presents twelve of Serra’s most recent drawings, created especially for this installation at The Courtauld Gallery.

Rising to prominence on the New York art scene more than forty years ago, Serra is now celebrated internationally, notably for his groundbreaking sculptures and for his radical approach to drawing.

Serra’s Drawings for The Courtauld are extraordinarily powerful works. Produced using dense black litho crayon on transparent plastic sheets, their forms only just seem to cohere, as if still in the process of creation. Serra’s innovative technique pushes the boundaries of drawing in new directions.

This is an opportunity to see radical new drawings by one of the most important and revered

artists working today.

at The Courtauld Institute of Art 
Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 0RN, UK

Happy Magic Water Cube waterpark in Beijing

"Since its opening last year, Happy Magic Water Cube waterpark (the best name for anything, ever?) has become Beijing's second most popular destination, enticing visitors with a lazy river, wave pool, and speed slides, among other attractions. Blatant representations of underwater life in the form of inflatable jellyfish and seaweed irreverently brush up against the more austere (read: "serious") architecture. It turns out that the much celebrated ETFE membrane is the ideal backdrop for the playful proceedings, providing plenty of daylight by day, and turning the perfect shade of ocean blue at night.

There may be some naysayers who protest at the "debasement" of an architectural landmark. But there are many more who question the motives and decisions behind the making of Olympic-scale projects. No one pays more for these projects than citizens of the host city, who not only fork over tax dollars, but also powerlessly forfeit tracts of their metropolis in the name of "urban renewal". Olympic stadiums never make good on their investments, so why do city planning boards continue to eagerly sign off on the whims of a starchitect? It's time to say "no" to the Pritzker laureates and "yes" to more waterparks."

from architizer.

(the host building in its first incarnation.)

'Paper' at the Saatchi Gallery, 18 June - 3 November

"The role of paper is in decline: paperless offices are encouraged, emails reign supreme, and monetary transactions are conducted via credit cards and transfers. In Paper at the Saatchi Gallery, thoughtful, technically impressive and engaging examples of work in which paper features heavily or exclusively, attempt 

to redress this imbalance."-John Patrick Egan

Opening hours:
10am-6pm, 7 days a week, last entry 5:30pm

Address:
Duke of York's HQ
King's Road
London
SW3 4RY

Admission is free.

Nick Van Woert

Nick van Woert is an artist based in New York. The material used in the pieces above for the 'drips' is polyurethane plastic.  The colorful components in the piece below are cast urethane rubber applied to a fiberglass statue.

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Jenny Sabin Studio

Pictured above: 'Branching Morphogenesis' installation, 2008

The studio investigates the intersections of architecture and science, and applies insights and theories from biology and mathematics to the design, fabrication and production of material structures. They collaborate with scientists and engineers and employ architects, designers and artists. Their applied projects are diverse and operate across multiple length scales including adaptive materials, tapestries, rugs, installations, pavilions and architectural interventions.

More here.

Technical Studies - Open Lectures

TECHNICAL STUDIES – OPEN LECTURES

The 'Technical Studies - Open Lectures' starts next week.

The lectures are organised for our architecture students, but everyone is welcome.

All lectures in room M421

Thursday 3rd October, 6.30pm - Stelarc - The Cyborg Artist

Thursday 10th October, 6.30pm - Graham Stevens - Desert Cloud and other Lightweight Wonders

Thursday 17th October, 6.30pm - Neil Thomas and Aran Chadwick (Atelier One) Liquid Threshold

Thursday 24th October, 6.30pm - Tim Lucas (Price & Myers) The Kew House Project

Thursday 31st October, 6.30pm - Daniel Ptacek (Kinnickkinnic) 'The Adjacent Possible'

Thursday 7th November, 6.30pm - Dr Henrik Schoenefeldt (University of Kent) Environmental Experimentation

Thursday 14th November, 6.30pm - Nick Crosbie (Inflate) Air Structures

Thursday 21st November, 6.30pm - Paul Bavister (UCL) Sound, Acoustics, Music and Architecture

Thursday 28th November, 6.30pm - TBC

Thursday 5th December, 6.30pm - Jaisha Reichardt - 'Our Dreams Change, We Don't'

Thursday 12th December, 6.30pm – TBC

The first lecture:

'Universal Everything & You' at the Media Space, September 21st 2013 - February 7th 2014

Universal Everything & You is a new digital installation of two artworks by art and design collective Universal Everything specially commissioned for the Virgin Media Studio.

The first work, 1000 Hands is created by contributions from the public through a smart phone app. In the gallery space it takes the form of a circular projection onto multiple screens, with each one showing an individual artwork generated by app users.

Presence, the second work, is a collaboration with the LA Dance Project and has been created by using motion captured performances of dancers which will be played back with evolving digital ‘costumes’.

Universal Everything, founded in 2004 by Matt Pyke (b.1975) are a UK based digital art and design collective who work with a global network of designers, artists, musicians, producers and programmers. For Universal Everything & You Matt Pyke has collaborated with composer Simon Pyke, Benjamin Millepied’s LA Dance Project and architect Irene Shamma.

Opening 21 September 2013 at the Media Space at the Science Museum, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2DD

Open seven days a week, 10.00-19.00 during the school holidays. Entry to the Museum is free.

Frieze Sculpture Park in Regents Park, 17 - 20 October 2013

Located in Regents Park, a two minute walk from the Marylebone Campus, The Sculpture Park is part of Frieze London. This year it will exhibit contemporary sculptures alongside historical pieces, with new works by both established and emerging artists.

Entry to the Sculpture Park is free to the public.

The Sculpture Park at Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2013 is selected by Clare Lilley, Director of Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Artists include
Joan Miró, David Shrigley , Rachel Whiteread and Judy Chicago

Where Design Meets Life With Alice Rawsthorn

01/10/2013 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Design is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. When deployed wisely, it can bring us pleasure, choice, strength, decency and much more. But if its power is abused, the outcome can be wasteful, confusing, humiliating, even dangerous. None of us can avoid being affected by design, whether or not we wish to. It is so ubiquitous that it determines how we feel and what we do, often without our noticing.

The International Herald Tribune’s Design Critic Alice Rawsthorn will discusses these issues in her new book, Hello World (Hamish Hamilton, 2013). Rawsthorn will be joined by curator, writer and editor Omar Kholeif for a conversation where they will discuss how warlords, scientists, farmers, hackers, activists and designers have used design to different ends throughout history.

Tuesday 1st October

at The White Building Unit 7, Queen's Yard White Post Lane London E9 5EN

Price: £4.50/3

///BOOK HERE///

Open House London – 21 & 22 September 2013

Open House London celebrates all that is best about the capital’s buildings, places and neighbourhoods. It gives a unique opportunity to get out and under the skin of London’s amazing architecture, with over 700 buildings of all kinds opening their doors to everyone – all for free.

more here: http://www.londonopenhouse.org/

Drawings by Perry Kulper

Perry Kulper is an architect and associate professor of architecture at the University of Michigan. Wai says "Each of Perry Kulper’s architectural drawings is a cosmos of information and possibilities that resist the banal and simplistic reductionism so typical of contemporary architectural representation. Series after series, his drawings display objects as background, and background as object in a constant visual journey of an architecture that doesn’t settle and always evolves: an architecture of ideas."

more at archimorph.