New book: 'Bathroom' by Barbara Penner

 

Bathroom charts the evolution of the bathroom and the habits and lifestyles to which it gave rise. It shows how and why the bathroom emerged and how it became an international symbol of key modern values, such as cleanliness, order and progress. The modern bathroom, its technologies and its customs have been exported globally through colonialism, the media, fashion, world expositions and tourism. Barbara Penner explores the conflicts this process has caused, as well as discussing more user-friendly and low-tech alternatives, which are set to become ever more relevant in our environmentally conscious age.

Abundantly illustrated, Bathroom examines examples from history and from across the globe. From squat to high-tech bidet toilets, and from cast-iron bathtubs to monsoon showers, this is an original and eye-opening study of a significant but often overlooked space.

from Reaktion.

cero9/AMID Exhibition 18 January- 15 February 2014

CRISTINA DIAZ MORENO + EFREN GARCÍA GRINDA

"THIRD NATURES"

18/1/2014 - 15/2/2014

Third Natures presents 15 years of speculations, projects and built proposals by the Madrid-based duo of Cristina Díaz Moreno and Efrén García Grinda and their collaborators, ranging from the beginnings of the practice in 1997 to their latest works, completed in 2013. In total, 26 projects are shown through drawings, models, objects and photographs. All this material is organised according to laws of affinity and connection, in an attempt to convey the vast range of the projects and their main field of operation – the space of mediation between people, objects, natural species and built environments. The title for this collection draws on a term first coined during the Renaissance to refer to a new type of garden that created a new and hitherto unknown reality – a ‘third nature’ – with a radical new materiality that was constructed through cultural connections. In the same way, the practice explores how cultural materials can be assimilated and then given back to the world in the form of proposals with strong links to contemporary society. Their approach, both critical and celebratory, is based on the emergence of new, extreme and unexpected forms of beauty.

The book Third Natures: A Micropedia, published by the AA, will accompany this exhibition.

at the AA Gallery

Exhibitions are open Monday to Friday 10:00–19:00, Saturday 10:00–15:00, unless otherwise stated.

"The City as a Loft" Adaptive Reuse Lecture by Kees Christiaanse 22 January 2014

'The City as a Loft'

Kees Christiaanse will present ideas and concepts from his book, The City as a Loft: Adaptive Reuse as a Resource for Sustainable Urban Development.

A desire for urbanity, identity and indentification has been a major factor during the last thirty years in stimulating the preservation and conversion of derelict structures dating from the industrial era. Buildings like this have their own specific features and a relationship to history and context, while at the same time being open to current and future needs. The buildings attract involvement by local people and stand out with their qualities of stability and openness. The word 'loft' is used to describe these urban qualities: adaptable, flexible and at the same time powerful and authentic spaces in which people can live and work.

The thirty portraits of reused industrial areas presented in the book show a wide variety of locations all around the globe in which reinterpretations of the legacy of the industrial age are releasing tremendous energy and creativity. The book examines the backgrounds, people and concepts involved and illustrates various strategies for reuse. In essays and interviews, specialists from both the theoretical and practical fields explain their findings and experiences.

18:30 - 20:00 22 January 2014

Location: Christopher Ingold Auditorium, UCL Chemistry Building, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ

Mariana Pestana 'Object as Measure' on 20th January 2014

Thanks to Julia Dwyer for mentioning this.

more here.

Alison and Peter Smithson: House for the Future, 1956

British architects Alison and Peter Smithsons’ moulded plastic House of the Future prototype for the 1956 Daily Mail Ideal Home Show embodied  pop principles for a technologically driven age.  Throughout its exhibition (sponsored by the Daily Mail in the Kensington Hall, London) models dressed in sportswear by designer Teddy Tinling cordially explained the operation of various electronic devices and technological advances in the house.

NOMADS Exhibition at Riflemaker

"Graham Fink’s debut exhibition NOMADS consists of twelve of the most insistent ‘pareidolia’, printed onto the purest white marble. The medium radiates life through the layers amalgamated in the printing process, one of the oldest known to man. The spirits take on another existence, becoming at one with the stone. As with the aeolian harp, the music in the air, they are always waiting. All we have to do is look."

NOMADS is at 

Riflemaker 79 BEAK STREET REGENT STREET LONDON W1F 9SU www.riflemaker.org 

9th – 22nd January 2014 Private view Wednesday 8th January 2014

Shown above: Green Rembrant Photography printed onto white marble from the quarries of Thassos

60 cm x 45cm x 1cm 2012

from FAD.

'Out of Ice' at P3 17 January - 9 February 2014

ElIZABETH OGILVIE
OUT OF ICE

17 January - 9 February 2014

Out of Ice portrays the psychological, physical and poetic dimensions of ice and water in a vast immersive installation in the subterranean spaces of Ambika P3, created by Scottish environmental artist Elizabeth Ogilvie.

Fusing art, architecture and science in an experiential artwork comprising ice, water, video projections and film, Out of Ice is a portal to the hidden extremes of our planet.

Visitor Information:
Ambika P3, University of Westminster,
35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS
Baker Street Station
Daily except Mondays
Tue – Fri, 11am – 7pm
Sat – Sun, 12pm – 6pm
Admission: Free
Information: 020 7911 5876

www.p3exhibitions.com

Arata Isozaki and Yoko Ono at Snow Show

"The Snow Show is an ephemeral construction festival intending to create a bridge between the world of contemporary art and architecture. 17 works have been constructed since 2000, when the Art Show was originally conceived by curator Lance Fung.

In 2004, a partnership was established by Yoko Ono and Arata Isozaki, and a work was conceived and built using ephemeral materials such as snow and ice.

Their pavillion used harvested ice from a frozen lake in the Sestriere. The blocks came from a lower layer of the lake, where the ice is blueish or turquoise depending on the minerals contained in the water. Once cut with a chainsaw, each block, measuring 1 metre in length by 0.6 metres in height by 0.6 metres in width was lifted by a logging crane and transported to the site.

The blocks were then positioned in order to fit together. Once each block was put into place, water was poured to fuse the ice together. Finally the material was finished using setaline torch and smoothing the surfaces, giving a translucent tone to the construction."

From SOCKS.