Today's archidose #562

Here are some photos of the Haus Stupp in Köln (Cologne), Germany by Heinz Bienefeld, 1977. Photographs are by chris schroeer-heiermann. Mouseover the photos for chris's helpful descriptions, or if that doesn't work -- say you're using a tablet -- click each photo to read the same.











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Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

This week's dose features House in Juso, Portugal by ARX Portugal + Stefano Riva:


The featured past does is the Casa Tóló in Lugar das Carvalhinhas, Portugal by Alvaro Leite Siza Vieira:


This week's book review is Schlepping Through Ambivalence: Essays on American Architectural Condition by Stanley Tigerman, edited by Emmanuel Petit:


american-architects.com Building of the Week:

Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah by Ennead Architects:


One unrelated link for your enjoyment -- the only one you need today:

2012 Pritzker Prize
Wang Shu (Amateur Architecture Studio) of The People’s Republic of China Is the 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate. Previously I featured the China Academy of Art Xiangshan Campus on my weekly page.

Journal Review: CLOG: Apple

CLOG: Apple, edited by Kyle May (Editor-in-Chief), Julia van den Hout, Jacob Reidel, Human Wu, PlayLab (Design)
February 2012
Paperback, 152 pages



The first issue of CLOG focused on BIG, exploring the firm, its designs, and its main personality across about 50 contributions, including some responses from Bjarke Ingels himself. The second installment of the periodical that "explores, from multiple viewpoints and through a variety of means, a single subject particularly relevant to architecture now" takes aim at Apple, spurred by the June 7, 2011 presentation by Steve Jobs to the Cupertino City Council for "Apple Campus 2." Not surprisingly, renderings of the spaceship-like design were everywhere last summer, one of those rare moments when architecture takes center stage in popular media. But the 40-odd contributions to CLOG do not limit themselves to discussing the Norman Foster-designed project; there is plenty in Apple's oeuvre -- computers, devices, stores, etc. -- to shine a light on.

Like the first issue of CLOG this one is aided by a recognizable flow to the short pieces, such that related takes are placed adjacent to each other. It starts with the suburban house and garage where Jobs lived and started Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne (the last is interviewed by CLOG, one of the last pieces in the issue), and then moves on to Apple Stores (360 and counting), the design of devices, glass in the design of stores like the Apple Cube, the Cupertino campus, and finally the death of Steve Jobs. The majority of the issue is about the campus, both in essays and in graphic documentation. Some of the latter include helpful diagrams that compare the ring of the building with structures like the Olympic Stadium in Beijing, the World Trade Center site, and the Great Pyramid of Giza -- all fit within the landscaped center.

Other highlights include graphic depictions of the various stores inserted into malls, the patent Apple pulled for the design of their Upper West Side store, the various takes on glass (such an important element in their stores, devices, and eventually the campus), the one-sentence responses by well-known architects to CLOG's question on the campus's design, and various replies to CLOG editor Kyle May's emails to various stakeholders on the Cupertino project (it goes without saying that no help is offered). Not all of the contributors are so smitten as everybody (in the world) seems to be with Apple in its various design guises, so it's refreshing to get some criticism about the supposed originality of their campus architecture, the questionable practice of recycling batteries and other electronics by Apple, and the effects of glass facades on birds, among other short stabs.

From the first to second issue CLOG departed from an office/personality popular in architectural circles to a subject known and embraced by millions of people around the world. An unwitting layperson may be put off by some of the more theoretical arguments in the issue, but there is still plenty of accessible writing and enticing imagery to open it to a larger audience. There is an apparent momentum from the first issue that is part publicity and part being the right idea at the right time: people still want print publications and the single topic format in short bites works in a world with digital distractions. We'll see if that momentum holds with the third issue on Data Centers, a step towards the digital realm but away from the striking architecture of the first two issues.

Today's archidose #561

Here are some photos of the 24 Hours Museum in Paris, France by Francesco Vezzoli with AMO, 2012. The installation for Prada was accessible for 24 hours from January 24-25 in the Palais d'Iéna by Auguste Perret, 1936-1946. Photographs are by victortsu.











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2012 Lewis Mumford Lecture on Urbanism

Mark yr calendars: Thursday, April 5th is the 2012 Lewis Mumford Lecture on Urbanism, to be given by New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. The 8th annual lecture is presented by the Graduate Program in Urban Design, Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at City College of New York (CCNY), and will be held in the Great Hall of Shepard Hall at CCNY, Convent Hall at 138th Street. It's free, open to the public, and no reservations are necessary.



Previous Lewis Mumford Lectures:

2011 - Richard Sennett: "The Edge: Borders and Boundaries in the City" (video archive available)
2010 - No lecture
2009 - Paul Auster: "City of Words"
2008 - David Harvey: "The Right to the City" (audio podcast available)
2007 - Amartya Sen: "The Urbanity of Calcutta" (audio podcast available)
2006 - Enrique Peñalosa: "A New Urban Paradigm: Building a Just and Sustainable Metropolis"
2005 - Mike Davis: "Planet of Slums"
2004 - Jane Jacobs

Missing Wheeler

A couple weeks ago when I posted three Things to Do and See in NYC, I indicated that blog posts on each would follow. Well, I posted about BIG♥NYC and the Metals in Construction Facades Conference, but yesterday on the way to my book talk I hopped off the High Line to check out this:


[Doug Wheeler at David Zwirner Gallery | image source]

Only to find this:



Such a line on a Wednesday afternoon! The slow-moving line and the need to get down to the south end of Battery Park City meant I had to pass. Unfortunately the installation runs only until this Saturday, the 25th. Alas my schedule for these few days means I'll miss it. Please share your thoughts in the comments section if you did experience Wheeler's installation.

The Day After

Thanks to everybody who came to The Skyscraper Museum last night for my book talk on the Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture, published by W. W. Norton. The talk was videotaped, meaning the museum should be posting the footage on their site in the future; I'll post a link when it's available. On Tuesday the Skyscraper Museum's next exhibition, News Paper Spires, on newspaper headquarters in New York City in the late 19th-century/early 20th-century, will open; mark yr calendars.



Forthcoming events on the promotion train for the book include some walking tours in the Spring and Summer and an illustrated talk at the New York Public Library's Mid-Manhattan Branch. Details on these and other events are forthcoming.

Events Galore

A lot is happening in New York City between now and the end of the month. Here's a smattering.

Space, the Sacred, and the Imagination:

A panel discussion with Mark C. Taylor, K. Michael Hays, Steven Holl, Ann Riselbach, Karla Britton, and Jim Williamson at Cornell AAP NYC, 50 West 17th Street on Tuesday, February 21 (that's tonight!) at 6:30pm.

L: Change: Architecture and Engineering in the Middle East, 2000-Present Exhibition Opening at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, on Wednesday, February 22, 6pm-9pm (the exhibition runs until June 23):

R: John Hill Book Talk (that's me!) at the Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place, on Wednesday, February 22, 6:30pm-8pm.

Megacities and Meta-Cities: Global Urban Design Studies and Research in Local Schools:

A day-long symposium organized by Antonella Contin, D. Graham Shane, and Giovanna Santamaria, on sustainable models for growing and shrinking territories, on Thursday, February 23 at Studio X NYC, 180 Varick Street, Suite 1610, from 9:30am-8pm.

C-BIP Brooklyn Think Tank:

The event is on Friday, February 24 at Powerhouse Arena, 37 Main Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn from 1pm-5:30pm. Participants include: PHILLIP ANZALONE Director, Building Science and Technology Sequence, Columbia University GSAPP/ Moderator; JAKE BARTON Principal and Founder, Local Projects; DAVID BENJAMIN Director, Living Architecture Lab, Columbia University GSAPP/ Moderator; SHANE BURGER Director of Design Technology, Woods Bagot; AGNES CHUNG Creative Technologist, New York Times; PEGGY DEAMER Principal, Deamer Architects, Professor, Yale School of Architecture; DAVID FANO Partner, Case; EDWIN B. HATHAWAY CEO, Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope™; WIILIAM HORGAN Principal, Grimshaw Architects; JESSE KEENAN Director, CURE, GSAPP Columbia University; LAURA KURGAN Director, Spatial Information Design Lab, Columbia University GSAPP/ Moderator; NADINE MALEH Architect, Community Solutions; SCOTT MARBLE Partner, Marble Fairbanks; Director of Integrated Design, Columbia University GSAPP / Moderator; MUCHAN PARK Designer, Kohn Pedersen Fox; WILL PICKERING Principal, Parallel Development Ltd.; S.BRY SARTE Principal, Founder, Sherwood Design Engineers; CRAIG SCHWITTER Managing Director for North America, Buro Happold; MARC SIMMONS Partner, Front Inc.; MARK WIGLEY Dean, Columbia University GSAPP; MELISSA WRIGHT-ELLIS Chief of Staff, Division of Energy Management, Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS).

L: Architecture Criticism Today, a panel discussion on Monday, February 27 with Julie Iovine, James Russell, Cathleen McGuigan, and Justin Davidson at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, 6pm-8pm:

R: Socio-Political Maps: A Participatory Public Discourse on the City, a panel discussion on Monday, February 27 with Christine Gaspar, Sophie Hochhausl, Prem Krishnamurthy, Bart Lootsma, William Menking, and Nader Vossoughian, moderated by Olympia Kazi, at the Austrian Cultural Forum NY, 11 East 52nd Street, 6:30pm.

Jimenez Lai, “Cartoonish Architecture”:

On Tuesday, February 28, 6pm-8pm, Jimenez Lai "will speak about the alternate worlds depicted by his comics, physical installations, models, and small buildings," at the SVA MFA Design Criticism department (D-Crit), 136 West 21st Street, Second Floor. [image: Noah's Ark in Space by Jimenez Lai - source]

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

This week's dose features Childcare Center in Maria Enzersdorf, Austria by MAGK and illiz architektur:


The featured past does is the Docet Institute in Monterrey, Mexico by stación-ARquitectura Arquitectos:

This week's book review is a+t 37: Strategy Space:


american-architects.com Building of the Week:

UNO Soccer Academy in Chicago, Illinois by JGMA and Ghafari Associates:


Unrelated links will return next week.

Metals in Construction, 2012 Facades Conference

On Thursday I attended the Metals in Construction, 2012 Facades Conference, organized by the Ornamental Metal Institute of New York and The Architect's Newspaper, and held at McGraw-Hill Auditorium. Below are some brief points on some of the presentations.



The first talk of the morning came with Bill Zahner (above) of Kansas City-based A. Zahner Company, first in the presentation of a bunch of striking projects -- many with big names (Frank Gehry, Morphosis, Zaha Hadid), but others little known outside of their Midwestern locale (St. Theresa's Academy by Gould Evans) -- and then in conversation with Julie Iovine of The Architect's Newspaper. Bill's role as a fabricator with a strong integration of digital technologies set the tone for the remainder of the day. His recurring emphasis of precision was one such point found elsewhere, rooted in the use of computer technologies in both design and fabrication. He also recounted how the nuns of St. Theresa's Academy told him he "was sent by God," which was brought up numerous times during the day. Personally I'm impressed by what Bill's company can pull off, but it seems to be a niche within architecture, what Iovine called couture projects; I'd like to see how the techniques he expounds can work their way into less flashy designs.



Next was Mic Patterson (below) of ENCLOS, a company that specializes in facade engineering and curtain wall design. He focused on facade retrofits for tall buildings, based as much on academic research (he teaches at UIC) as on practice. In particular he highlighted the mid-20th-century glass high rises in need of new exteriors -- due to single-pane glass and no thermal breaks -- as an important ingredient in meeting goals like those of Architecture 2030. Nevertheless he brought up the paradox in this endeavor: processed float glass is not recyclable (unlike raw float glass, which is), so the old skins are being sent to a landfill and the replacements will do the same in a few decades.



After a schmooze break came Jonathan Mallie (below), principal at SHoP Architects and SHoP Construction. He presented three projects -- Botswana Innovation Hub, Barclays Center, B2 @ Atlantic Yards -- with the largest chunk of time focusing on Barclays, the stadium now under construction as part of the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. It is wrapped by a skin of glass and weathering steel, which is being installed in "mega panels" that require lots and lots of help from software like Rhino, Grasshopper, and even a custom iPhone app to track construction progress. SHoP's presence at the conference must have been mandatory, since as architects they are trailblazers in exploiting collaboration in regards to digital fabrication. They are taking their accumulated knowledge and skill even higher with the modular prefab high rise of B2, but I'm not sure the architectural appeal of the carefully stacked boxes is as high as the skillfully covered stadium below.



Edward Peck (below), leader of Thornton Tomasetti's Building Skin Practice, talked about active solar analysis of facades. Attempting to get the audience to reconsider a facade as merely a line between inside and outside, designed and natural, Peck presented projects with various materials and some with porous skins. While most were flashy projects, ones that could have fit in Zahner's presentation, the meat of the presentation was an analysis of a single room in a hospital with one window on one wall. Peck demonstrated how software (Grasshopper and Diva, at the very least, if memory serves me) enabled the study of 600 different louver configurations for achieving the optimum facade for both winter and summer solar conditions. The programming worked in a feedback loop, a quasi-AI process that resulted in a top ten that definitely required an architect's touch.



After a panel discussion (not pictured) with some of the manufacturers that helped make the conference happen (Firestone, Cambridge Architecture, Ceramic Tiles of Italy) the GSA's Dirk Meyer (below) spoke about "sustainable building initiatives and how they will affect curtain wall design." His was the only client-side presence of the day, and his concerns echoed Mic Patterson's talk from earlier in the day, in terms of retrofitting buildings from the middle of last century and the mandate to meet the White House's 2030 goals. Meyer's presentation was more business than design, but it was clear he's genuinely concerned about sustainability; to wit, the GSA's specs are in the process of evolving to incorporate performance standards to attain carbon neutrality.



After lunch Brad Bell (not pictured), from the University of Texas Arlington School of Architecture, announced the Digital Fabrication Alliance, "a new international alliance of academics, professional designers, hardware and software developers and digital fabricators" (source), which then segued into a panel discussion on "Facade Innovation: Performance, Optimization and Integration."



The panel included (above, R to L): Anna Dyson, Director, CASE | Center for Architecture Science, and Ecology; Erik Verboon, Technical Designer/Façade Consultant, Buro Happold; Phillip Anzalone, Director, Laboratory for Applied Building Science, GSAPP, Columbia University; it was moderated by Andrew Vrana, MetaLab, University of Houston College of Architecture, Digital Fabrication Alliance. Dyson presented her ongoing work with the Integrated Concentrating Solar Facade (ICSF), which won a DOE competition some years ago but is inching its way towards commercial availability. Verboon presented their contribution to the complex skin (made up of 380 miles of stainless steel tubes) for the Snohetta-designed King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture. Anzalone's humorous presentation talked about the efforts at GSAPP for teaching construction through experimentation with industrial tools for digital fabrication. It was a good start to the afternoon.



Next Dennis Shelden of Gehry Technologies spoke about 8 Spruce Street, the recently completed high-rise in Lower Manhattan that Frank Gehry designed. He explained through various diagrams how the facade dealt with restrictions of both construction and economics, mainly the latter. Facade sections were either flat ($), complex ($$), or special ($$$), with the majority in the first and the minority in the last. Animations showed how the office came to cover the facade in this manner, plugging in the contractor's restrictions into a custom program that would work out various iterations. Shelden asserted that collaboration allows architects to deal with details like tracks for window washing rigs (a complex feat with Gehry's rippling facades), so they can be designed within a facade up front, rather than tacked on after the fact.



Federico Negro (right, above), Partner, CASE Building Information Modeling and Integrated Practice Consultancy, and Reese Campbell (left, above), Method Design, then discussed their collaboration on the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, a building designed by Trahan Architects that is now under construction. They "nerded out" with some in-depth explanations on how they developed fabrication files for the building's undulating exterior using the ever-popular Rhino and Grasshopper, among other pieces of software.



The keynote speaker was Patrik Schumacher, Director of Zaha Hadid Architects. He zipped through a bunch of projects that exhibited Hadid's signature curving forms, all the while highlighting the various materials (concrete, aluminum, fiberglass, GFRC, GFRP, composites, glass, wood) that give shape to their buildings. Seeing one project after another in the compact presentation I was amazed to see how much Hadid's office has realized since the Vitra Fire Station back in the early 1990s. One project he showed was the CMA CGM HQ in Marseilles, the office's first tower: The glass form curves as it reaches the base, displaying the concrete structure that follows the skin. Some projects under construction were also shown, most notably a house in GFRC that resembles the earlier Bergisel Ski Jump, and the striking Heydar Aliyev Centre in Azerbaijan, set to open in May.



In conversation with Iovine (above), Schumacher related the parametric modeling required to realize Hadid's projects to contemporary culture (see The Architect's Newspaper Blog for some quotes from their write-up of the conference), but any justification fell by the wayside after the onslaught of sensual images that preceded the discussion. Ending the conference with Schumacher showed the potential of collaboration and digital technology/fabrication, but it kept it rooted in high-profile commissions that only a few select architects can accomplish.

Today's archidose #560

Here are some photos of the A'Beckett Tower in Melbourne, Australia by Elenberg Fraser, 2011. Photographs are by William Veerbeek.









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Barnsworth Design Build

[The proposed Barnsworth Exhibition Center - source for all images]

Mies van der Rohe designed the Farnsworth House next to the Fox River in Plano, Illinois taking into account flooding. Yet even though it is raised five feet above the ground, the house has still been affected by flooding over the years, most recently in 2008.


[The wardrobe (far end of room) inside of the Farnsworth House]

These floods and the damage they inflict on the house's interior has necessitated the removal of the 12-foot-long wardrobe that is perpendicular to the large kitchen casework.


[Wardrobe removal]

But where to put the wardrobe? This is where students from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) come in. The IIT Design Build Studio is proposing the Barnsworth Exhibition Center, "a contemporary round barn" that would house the wardrobe and contain exhibition space. It takes its name from an adjacent barn building about a half mile from the Farnsworth House at the entrance to the site.


[Rendering showing the interior of the space, displaying the wardrobe]

Currently the design build team is in the process of securing a permit and raising funds for the small building. In service of the latter they've set up the project on Kickstarter. Click over there to get more information on the project, see previous design-build projects from IIT, and maybe pony up a little dough.


[Section showing building construction and HVAC Systems]