Refurbishment of Deusto University by ACXT

The University of Duesto decided to renew its Central Building, known as “La Literaria” (The Literary). The main objective of the architectural design was to respect and enhance the spatial, aesthetical and functional qualities of the original building.

More at archdaily.

"All Singing, All Dancing Drawings"

Mike Guy has contributed a few very nice (perspectival and elevational) section drawings for your reference.  They were done by architecture students in the UK over the past few years.

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.

CRISISASCALLING design competition

DESIGNCIRCUIT + REVERSE are pleased to announce:

CRISISASCALLING........a design competition

Registration + Submission Deadline: 4.22.2013

 

CrisisasCalling.........design competition

Crisis as Calling is an international design competition open to the public that invites participates to reconsider, and respond to the universal condition of Crisis.Crisis as an event implies a breakdown, and the collective response is typified by the attempt to return to "normal." We see this as more than an opportunity for responsive design; we see this as a calling for an expanded role for the design community, and we seek to explore uncharted courses to reveal innovative models for relevant engagement.

Call for Entries

Communicate a proposal that re-contextualizes the space for design to address the definition of crisis. The details of crisis typology and the boundaries for intervention are open, and should be clearly defined by each unique proposal.As crisis is a universal phenomenon with no bias or preferential destination, there are no restrictions to the type of project one may submit (specific location, program, or range).

For instance submissions might, challenge urban activism in times of trauma, the nature of informal building practices as emergency response, resource allocation as recovery stimulation, or community dynamics that enable awareness at larger scales. What should be clear in each proposal is how a particular challenge that is common to a clearly defined crisis set can be addressed as a materialized solution to a global predicament.

 

Competition Website: www.crisisascalling.com

Submission deadline: Monday, April 22, 2013

RDM Innovation Dock by Groosman Partners I Architecten

In the heart of the ports of Rotterdam, Groosman Partners Architecten used a crane track in a former machine hall to suspend 1000 m2 of office space. The hall is situated on the terrain of RDM (Rotterdam Dry-dock Company), a former shipyard recently rebuilt into a campus for education and innovation.

more at archdaily.

123D Update for Mac and PC

	It's about time for an update We've just released an update to 123D Make for Mac and Windows, including a new construction method, and multiple improvements for CNC users.
	What's new in 123D Make 1.1 for Mac and Windows: Folded panels construction technique. Folded panels can be assembled in a variety of ways; tab and slot, stitching, and many more! Multiple improvements for CNC users, including the ability to automatically generate Dogbones and T-Bones on cut slices, and to define the cutter tool diameter in manufacturing settings. By popular demand: added export option to output your cut layouts in layered DXF format. And more… Get the 123D Make Update»
	Unsubscribe | Privacy | Terms of service. © 2013 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

if the links above don't work, click here.

Notations 21 Project

François Girardin stopped by the Second Year pin-up yesterday and gave a wonderful reference for any student attempting to use graphics and notation to describe sounds: Notation 21.




Drawing inspiration from John Cages Notations, Notations 21 features illustrated musical scores from more than 100 composers from every continent, all of whom are making amazing breakthroughs in the art of notation. These spectacularly beautiful and fascinatingly creative visual pieces not only make for exciting music, but inspiring visual art as well. Every score is accompanied by written contributions from the artists, which explain how the music manifested visually. Included in this anthology are famous composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Steve Reich, Yuji Takahashi and Kathleen St. John, as well as lesser-known but no less important composers whose compositions are also visually astounding and important. Notations 21 coincides with an exhibit and concert series that will open at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York City and then move across the globe. In the spirit of honoring John Cages book, while furthering it in a 21st century context, a portion of this books sales will be donated to the Foundation for Contemporary Performing Arts.



There is also an online resource found at http://notations21.net/. If you click on 'Scores' you can find examples of musical notation generated by the participants.

See the DS04 blog for more.  (Thanks, François!)

'Bastard Store' by studiometrico

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From archdaily: "Italian practice studiometrico shared with us how they converted an old cinema in Milan, into the new Bastard flagship store, which also includes a suspended bowl and offices for Comvert."

more here.

HITOSHI ABE - AOBA-TEI RESTAURANT (2004-05)

The restaurant, called Aoba-tei, which means “leafy place”, features perforated steel surfaces as a single continuous inner “skin”. This runs in an S-shape to contain both the reception area on the restaurant’s lower floor and the upper 30-seat dining area. “We made this steel plate as a seamless monocoque surface in order to create a seamless graphic surface for the images of zelkova trees, and to integrate the two floors smoothly,” he says.

The skin’s outer surface, made from 22mm-thick steel plate, performs 90û turns as the walls bend into the ceilings. The upper-floor ceiling height rises from just over 2m high at the front to 3.5m at the back. To achieve all the complex curves in the skin, a shipbuilding process was used in which key points are heated and chilled.

The spaces are lit with concealed downlights and by lighting behind the perforated skin. The overall effect is a golden gloom that evokes the ambience of a forest.

Abe also designed the chairs and tables – each is moulded from a single piece of birch plywood that references the curves of the inner loop – and the long walnut wood counter that runs down the back half of the upper floor of the restaurant.

Hitoshi Abe has his own practice, which he established in Sendai in 1992. Other projects of his include the 49,000-seater Miyagi Stadium, near Sendai, created for the 2002 World Cup, and the Miyagi Water Tower.

Aoba-tei is currently only open for special guests of the owner, who made his fortune in beef tongue, a local delicacy.

from Architecture and Interior blog and ICON magazine online

See the book The articulate surface ornament and technology in contemporary architecture by Ben Pell for more detailed description and drawings

Friday at Tate Britain: Performing Architecture

Alex Schweder and Ward Shelly, Stability, Seattle, 2009 Photos 
© Scott Lawrimore, edited by Ward Shelly & author.

What does performance have to do with architecture? 
How can a building perform, and how can we perform a building?

Come on a playful journey through the gallery in its current phase of spatial and structural transformation, taking a look at architectural and art practices that explore how our physical bodies interact with built form.

With talks, performance, a workshop, and sound and film from Alex Schwederand Lamis Bayar, Kreider + O’Leary, Effie Coe, Emptyset and The Architecture Foundation. 

*Late at Tate Britain: February 2013
Performing Architecture*
Friday 1 February, 18:00 - 22:00
Tate Britain

more details here.

How to Build Animated GIFs in Photoshop

Second Year Students working on your blog posts: Here is a simple tutorial on how to create animated GIFs in Photoshop,  with some example files you can download and try out: 

http://creativetechs.com/tipsblog/build-animated-gifs-in-photoshop/

Colònia Güell by Antoni Gaudí

Courtesy of Samuel Ludwig

Colònia Güell was a workers’ colony located in Santa Coloma de Cervelló, presently a town of around 7,000 inhabitants 20km outside Barcelona. The area was a manufacturing suburb that grew rapidly around the turn of the 20^th century. In 1898, Antoni Gaudi was commissioned by Count Eusebi de Güell, who wanted to provide a place of worship for the booming suburb, to build a Church.

Through the construction process of Colònia Güell, Gaudi is said to have experimented with an array of techniques and architectonic details, many of which would later be used in his famous tour-de-force, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

Courtesy of Samuel Ludwig

Brick and mosaics dominate the structure, used in an extraordinary way. The form of the building is anything but traditional, perhaps a by-product of the breath taking spaces, both interior and exterior. The crypt is magnificently articulated, changes in materiality carefully calculated and light sensitively controlled. Different bricks and stones are used for the structure, meeting at carefully detailed joints, and perhaps filling in different structural roles.

from archdaily