Aesop Store by Tacklebox

In this video Jeremy Barbour of Tacklebox explains the approach to the design of the Nolita Aesop store.

See more of Aesop's Taxonomy of Design videos here.

Dutch Architects Dus: Large Scale 3D Printing

"Working on site for three weeks, the architects have so far produced a 3m-high sample corner of their future house, printed as a single piece weighing 180kg. It is one of the building blocks that will be stacked up like Lego bricks over the next three years to form a 13-room complex, modelled on a traditional Dutch gabled canal house, but with hand-laid bricks replaced by a faceted plastic facade, scripted by computer software."

From the Gaurdian.

The xx's Temporary Performance Space in the Park Avenue Armory

London-based band xx is doing a series of shows in a temporary installation in New York's Park Avenue Armory.  This video describes the design as well as past installations in the building.  It also describes the building itself, parts of which recently were renovated by Herzog and deMeuron.

David Rockwell's temporary bespoke theater for TED 2014

"TED, the nonprofit enthusiastic to ‘ideas worth spreading’, has invited the rockwell group to build the stage for the 30th anniversary of the conference, in vancouver. set in the vancouver convention centre, the portable and temporary theater is constructed with 600 pieces and assembled onsite for the five day festival. the intimacy of the space is realized by instilling a sense of community while having singularity in form. the individual and the collective are showcased in unison as the arena becomes a manifestation of the organization’s core principles. in addition to david rockwell’s observations, from being an attendee over the years, further inspiration for the theater was gathered from historic organizational spaces such as campfires and other non permanent commons. comprised mostly from locally harvested douglas fir wood sourced from the pacific northwest, the seating ‘bowl’ also includes a walkway along the perimeter with lattice-like platforms and handrails. 16 different seating options are present, and vary from lounge groupings, rows of benches, and beanbags. a standing room area in the back allows viewers to access personal electronic devices, without disturbing the rest of the audience. aided by an electronic cutting machine, the event construction company, nussli, fashioned the structure (along with the custom furniture and steelcase fabrication) to be easily disassembled back into 8’ x 10’ x 12’ boxes, and possibly reused for upcoming events."

from designboom

Alvar Aalto: Technology and Nature

Clay Thompson forwarded this link to a documentary on Alvar Aalto.

Watch it on Ubu Web.

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.)

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.

'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.

'Second Nature'

Second Nature is a 20-minute documentary on skater and budding landscape architect, Janne Saario of Finland. The short film allows a glimpse of Saario’s thoughts and dreams, which float between design, art and skateboarding. Though it also reveals the important concurrence of post-industrial areas, sustainable concepts and natural environments, and unfolds the demanding obligation, towards today’s generation and those to come, to create positive and inspiring, local communities.

Dwell says: "Saario started skating when he was six, eventually got sponsored, and through his experience riding around the world he developed an interest in designing landscapes. He's got his own firm now, with a specialty in skate parks."

HOUSE (AFTER 5 YEARS OF LIVING)

A film made by Charles and Ray Eames about their house, Case Study House #8.

from twbe

David Byrne on how architecture helped music evolve

The design genius of Charles + Ray Eames

The legendary design team Charles and Ray Eames made films, houses and classic midcentury modern furniture. Eames Demetrios, their grandson, shows rarely seen films and archival footage in a lively, loving tribute to their creative process. Demetrios also talks about how his own work has been influenced by his grandparents’ legacy.

From the TED blog.

The Secrets of Grand Central

Sam Roberts goes behind the scenes at Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal. The impressive interior space holds many intriguing and fantastic design elements.

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!

Theo Jansen's Strandbeests

Artist Theo Jansen makes self-propelled kinetic sculptures, primarily constructing them out of PVC pipes.

'Borderline' Installation

as part of 2010's international architecture biennale in venice, italy, the hungary pavilion 

explored the simplest and most fundamental act of the architect: drawing. 'borderline' 

defines the line as the origin of the architectural idea as opposed to the house or space. 

using the almost exclusively two-dimensional element as a focal point, the project utilized 

nearly one hundred kilometres of thread to physically illustrate how lines are translated 

into architecture. 

image © tamás bujnovszky

more at designboom

Japanese Architect Kumiko Inui on Sketching

Nendo Mimicry Chairs, London Design Festival 2012

This year as part of London Design Festival’s Landmark Projects Japanese design studioNendo have installed Mimicry Chairs, a series of sporadically placed chairs, in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Rising stars of Japanese design, Nendo have already exhibited in Madrid, Milan, Paris, Tokyo and New York. 

More about Nendo here.

Arthur Ganson's Kinetic Art

Sculptor and engineer Arthur Ganson talks about his kinetic art.

Berndnaut Smilde makes real clouds appear inside gallery

Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde makes real clouds form inside of empty rooms. He uses a fog machine and carefully adjusts the temperature and humidity to produce clouds just long enough to photograph.

Watch a video of Smilde creating a cloud at booooooom.com.