Last week we told you about ACME Studio’s newest collection of roller balls and card cases with designs by Charles and Ray Eames and Hariri & Hariri. We asked you which architect and project would you like to see in future collections, and among all the comments by registered users we now have two lucky winners!
Grace Whang will receive Charles and Ray Eames “Dots-Etched” collection, and Tim Grantham won Hariri & Hariri “Site Plan”. Congratulations to you both! We will contact you directly with the details.
Remember you can also become a registered user of ArchDaily to have access to all our special features and so you can participate in future giveaways! More information on ACME Studio’s collection after the break.
Keystone: (noun) – Key-shaped stone at the top of the arch used to open a secluded vault in Egypt containing the secret to all Architectural success. The vault may be empty, and booby trapped.
L
Light: (noun) – The illumination at the end of the tunnel which has been turned off due to lack of financing.
Linear: (noun) – The shortest distance between your ideals and your client’s pocketbook.
Lintel: (noun) – A bean-soup used to span window openings.
Loggia: (noun) – A gallery or corridor on the façade of a building, open to interpretation on one side.
{ more definitions after the break }
https://www.archdaily.com/175080/an-architectural-pocket-dictionary-k-zJody Brown
DesignByMany‘s latest challenge: Pop-up Retail Store sponsored by HP and media partners ArchDaily. For new Fall fashions and back-to-school shopping, ‘pop-up’ retail shops are the hottest trend. These small, temporary shops are bringing fashion and an urban edge to under-utilized and vacant spaces. This challenge is to design a quickly constructed or prefabricated, free-standing shop of no more than 200 square feet.
DesignByMany is a challenge based design technology community where users post challenges to the community along with their design source files. The community can then post responses with their own source files to solve the challenge. They can also comment on the challenge and interact with other designers throughout the process.
A few months ago I had the chance to meet Steven Holl, whose work I admire. I think that he has been able to innovate and challenge programs as we used to know them, and experiment with materials and structures, while sticking to what really matters in architecture: space, context and light.
Today’s selection includes a neighborhood information tower in California, a Lithuanian passenger terminal, a creatively glazed education center, and an unconventional vernacular day care centre in the Netherlands. We hope you enjoy taking a look at these projects that deserve a revisit!
It’s probably our fault to begin with. I don’t really know the exact numbers, but Buildings use more fossil fuels than cars, construction debris makes up the highest percentage of our landfills, building roofs and parking lots account for the majority of storm water run-out issues, and Market driven greed for greater and greater return on investment fueled a decade of speculative office and housing developments at a scale never seen before. And, now entire communities sit vacant and waiting for a recovery that may never happen. Can Architects be trusted to come up with solutions for problems we played a major role in causing in the first place?
More reasons after the break:
https://www.archdaily.com/170218/10-reasons-architects-can-fix-itJody Brown
Editor’s note: We welcome Bob Borson to ArchDaily. We will be presenting periodic updates from his popular blog Life of an Architect, generating a space for conversation among architects.
So school started a few weeks ago and architecture students are back in the studio environment – Aaahhhhh (breathing deeply) the familiar smell of despair, B.O. and basswood. There are a few things that I thought I would share with all you new studio rats. These are things you will probably have to figure out for yourself but I wish someone had told me some of these things when I was still spending 35 bazillion hours a week up at studio. There are many different experiences people might value from their time spent with other future architects but I would like to expose some commonly held urban legends associated with architecture and design studios.
The EPA estimates that in 2009, the United States produced approximately 486 billion pounds of solid waste, most of which could have been recycled. And where did all that solid waste go? Right into our landfills, not too far from where we live and work. The same year, 34% of municipal solid waste was recycled (compared with only 10% in 1980) but the problem remains that, according to Chemical & Engineering News, most product-design methods used today are short-sighted. Most of these products were not designed with an end-of-life solution in mind, therefore most cannot be recycled or reused.
Read on to find out what this means for design after the break.
One the first things you must consider when starting your new architectural firm, is what to name it. The choices are varied and the ramifications staggering. If the personality of the firm is going to be projected by the name, you had better take it seriously – every one else will. That’s where Life of an Architect can help (not really) - because I am a creative and critical thinker and somebody has to think about these things.
Originally, before architects were licensed professionals and to add some credibility to the profession to help distinguish themselves from the other trade crafts (like carpenters and contractors), architecture firms turned to law firms as an example and starting stringing together the last names of the founding individuals or partners (i.e. McKim, Mead & White) . This method is still wildly used simply because it is the easiest albeit least creative method. It doesn’t take much to recognize that some of the older more established firms have chosen this method:
Employees contribute to the culture and reputation of the SVEHN JØSSANG ATELJE in the way they present themselves. An Architectural appearance is essential to a favorable impression with clients, and company shareholders (ie. Svehn). Good grooming and appropriate dress should reflect an employee’s confidence in his/her aesthetic convictions and inspire others to realize that they are dressed unimaginatively. An Architect’s attire should be minimal yet condescending at the same time.
https://www.archdaily.com/168236/an-architects-dress-codeJody Brown
Architecture photographer Paul Clemence shared with us a recent photo set of the current status of the One World Trade Center building by SOM.
I was downtown today, checking out the commotion by Ground Zero and snapped these images of the Freedom Tower. Is for sure going up and we can already glance at its connection to neighborhood buildings, its presence on the skyline and some interesting architectural nuances.
Earlier this week one of Europe’s great ethnographic museums, the Museum der Kulturen Basel, reopened its doors. Two years of reconstruction, refurbishment and expansion including a Herzog & de Meuron design for the historical walls was among the updates that it received. Their design is described as a ‘stunning crown for the historical walls: the beautiful rooftop of irregular folds fits harmoniously into the rooftops surrounding the cathedral’.
Director Anna Schmid commented, “Our innovative approach to life’s cultural dimensions makes them more accessible. We want to be a place for new encounters and inspiration.”
Ten years ago the world was jarred at seeing a financial institution of a high urban city destroyed. Maybe at that moment we found ourselves second-guessing the security of our society and our government, of the stability of our ever-expanding cities, of the soundness of our buildings. But a decade later cities are still thriving: growing and rebuilding. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan predicted that our attitudes toward the value of urban development would remain unchanged, and he may have been right. So have we, as law-makers, designers and inhabitants of the urban environment learned from what ten years ago was considered a failure in our cities and government agencies? ArchDaily had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Patrick Phillips, CEO of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), an international organization devoted to the responsible use of land and in creating sustainable thriving communities worldwide.
It might seem strange, but it started with a death. The death of the father precipitated the decision. The death was not unexpected but the outcomes were. Dean would sit in the hospital room with his leg next to his father’s dangling bag of piss. The tubes with fluids going in and out. The nurse periodically coming to vacuum the solid bits of phlegm to keep the ventilator clear. His father was in a hospital of no particular reputation in a sunny part of Los Angeles. IT was the wrong sort of hospital. The sort you come to die in rather than miraculously emerge from. Dean would sit in the room with the beeps and gurgling sounds. The family was there too. Not always at the same time. They had come from around the country. Stopping their lives momentarily, the last time they would visit this town they had visited many times.
Editor’s note: We welcome Bob Borson to ArchDaily. We will be presenting periodic updates from his popular blog Life of an Architect, generating a space for conversation among architects.
What does your signature say about you? The way you leave your name behind on a piece a paper tells more about you than just saying “sorry I hit your car but I don’t have insurance“. It should come as no surprise but I don’t subscribe to mystical thinking like being an Aries and that my horoscope tells me to “prepare for an exciting trip” … yeah, right. Getting pushed down the stairs should hardly qualify as an exciting trip. According to those people in the mystical know – how you sign your signature actually does mean something and does provide some insight into the mind behind the name.
Your first name relates to your individual ego – If your first name is larger than your family name, it suggests that you are proud of YOUR OWN accomplishments. However, the larger the first name, the larger the desire to APPEAR important. This can also indicate a low self-esteem.
The Family name projects social status – If your family name is larger than your first name, you take great pride in family achievements and reputation, rather than in your own accomplishments.
Legible signature – If the signature is legible and simple, the writer is unpretentious, honest and straightforward. This person will follow the rules and do as they are told… just the same as when they were in school.
Illegible Signature – If the signature is illegible, the writer may be in such a hurry that they can’t take the time to shape the letters properly… doctors, executives, movie stars. An illegible signature is often a sign of a big ego… someone who expects others to KNOW who they are. This person also wants to keep their personal lives private and shielded from the outside world.
Check out some of the world’s most famous architects’ signatures after the break.
