Andrea Stinga of OMBÚ Architecture has shared with us her latest creation with visual artist Federico Gonzalez: a video that illustrates Le Corbusier’s “Five Points of a New Architecture” in his 1929 masterpiece, Villa Savoye.
Theory and History: The Latest Architecture and News
VIDEO: Villa Savoye, The Five Points of a New Architecture
https://www.archdaily.com/430550/video-le-corbusier-s-five-points-of-architectureKarissa Rosenfield
LA’s Iconic Case Study Houses (Finally!) Make National Register
Ten of Los Angeles’ Case Study Homes have been deemed historically significant an worthy of being included on US’s National Register of Historic Places. Despite the Los Angeles Conservancy’s belief that all of them deserve “equal preservation protections,” the 11th home was not included due to “owner objection.”
The Case Study Houses spawned from a post-WWII residential experiment, presented by the Arts & Architecture magazine in 1945, which introduced modern movement ideas for affordable and efficient housing. The homes - designed by the likes of Richard Neutra, Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig, Eero Saarinen and others - redefined the modern home. And, with the help of Julius Shulman, placed Los Angeles as an epicenter for mid-century modernism.
The 11 homes included on the register are:
https://www.archdaily.com/418959/la-s-iconic-case-study-houses-finally-make-national-registerKarissa Rosenfield
Chinese Developer Plans to Build Crystal Palace Replica
Shanghai-based developer ZhongRong Holdings is working with Arup on an ambitious proposal to reconstruct Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace in London. Originally built to house the Great Exhibition of 1851, the 80,000 square-meter cast iron and glass structure was relocated from Hyde Park to south-east London in 1854 where it was ultimately destroyed by fire in 1936.
https://www.archdaily.com/408230/chinese-developer-proposes-to-build-crystal-palace-replica-in-londonKarissa Rosenfield
Never Built: Los Angeles
After years of extensive research that unearthed countless untold stories and hundreds of beautiful unbuilt designs, curators Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin will be celebrating the opening of their highly anticipated exhibition - Never Built: Los Angeles - today at the Architecture and Design Museum in Los Angeles.
https://www.archdaily.com/407692/never-built-los-angeles-2Karissa Rosenfield
Strelka Talks: Architecture and Community / Reinier de Graaf
"The Community" might be the most frequently used term over the last 50 years of Architectural and Urban discourse. For decades, "the community" has served as a legitimization for anything from Team X to New Urbanism, from Celebration to "vancouverism". But what is "the community"? Where should we look for the proper definition? How did communities appear in the past and how do they form today? Can 'the community" influence the design of its own space, territoiry or context? If yes, what could be the relationship between the community and architecture in the future?
In his Strelka talk Reinier de Graaf is trying to answer these and other, even more complex questions.
Via the Strelka Institute.
https://www.archdaily.com/377566/strelka-talks-architecture-and-community-reinier-de-graafKarissa Rosenfield
Video: Steven Holl and Jeffrey Kipnis in Conversation
In this fascinating conversation, critic and theorist Jeffrey Kipnis and architect Steven Holl discuss modern architecture, from competitions to cantilevers, courtesy of our friends at 32BNY.
https://www.archdaily.com/377502/video-steven-holl-and-jeffrey-kipnis-in-conversationRory Stott
The End of Critique: Baubles on Pedestals
The following article by Oliver “Olly” Wainwright (Architecture and design critic at The Guardian) was featured on Fulcrum #67 “The End of Critique”, which also included an article by ArchDaily's co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, David Basulto.
Baubles on Pedestals
It has become increasingly fashionable to trumpet the death of criticism. Barely a week goes by that there isn’t a new blog declaring the end of architectural critique, the slipping of standards, the domination of our screens by an unmediated slew of images.
“Criticism is in crisis,” wail the critics, seeing their traditional role threatened by a torrential tide of websites that funnel an incontinent splurge of unadulterated visual stimulation. From Dezeen to ArchDaily, Designboom to Architizer, we are bombarded with a never-ending deluge of projects, freed from any sense of context or meaning. It is easy to believe the cries that architectural culture is being flattened into a homogenous soup of saturated colours and oblique geometries – a cascade of effortlessly digested eye-candy to be liked, retweeted, pinned and shared across the infinite social media network.
https://www.archdaily.com/339461/the-end-of-critique-baubles-on-pedestalsVanessa Quirk
The End of Critique: Towards a New Architecture
The following article was featured on Fulcrum #67 "The End of Critique" and includes texts by Oliver "Olly" Wainwright (Architecture critic at The Guardian) and me, David Basulto (Founder and Editor in Chief of ArchDaily). Thanks to Jack Self for the invitation and for his thorough editing.
Towards a new architecture
Since the early 1900s, modern architecture has undergone incremental development, where each new iteration has been informed by previous findings and solutions designed by other architects. This process started at a very slow pace, when a young Le Corbusier went east and published his findings and observations in Vers une Architecture.
The book became very influential among his contemporaries, who, based on his observations, produced their own iterations, second, third and forth waves, very quickly. These architects then started to unite. CIAM is an instance of where this early knowledge was shared, replicated, and published, therefore advancing at a faster pace.
Since then, architectural knowledge pursued a steady curve of advancement, accelerated by architectural publications that made this knowledge available to different parts of the world. Ultimately, the Internet arrived, making the exchange rate of information so fast that new iterations of modern architecture are today accelerating this curve in unprecedented ways.
https://www.archdaily.com/337751/the-end-of-critique-towards-a-new-architectureDavid Basulto
TEDx: Fracture-Critical Design / Tom Fisher
Thomas Fisher, Professor in the School of Architecture and Dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, discusses the subject matter of his most recent book, Designing To Avoid Disaster: The Nature of Fracture-Critical Design.
https://www.archdaily.com/274002/tedx-fracture-critical-design-tom-fisherKarissa Rosenfield
Video: Wang Shu, “Geometry and Narrative of Natural Form”
Founder of Amateur Architecture Studio and Head of Architecture at the China Academy of Art, Wang Shu was the first Chinese architect to hold Harvards Graduate School of Design (GSD) Kenzo Tange professorship. The Harvard lecture honors architect Kenzo Tange by bringing distinguished architects from around the globe to the GSD.
https://www.archdaily.com/195980/video-wang-shu-%25e2%2580%259cgeometry-and-narrative-of-natural-form%25e2%2580%259dKarissa Rosenfield
Video: Culture of Craft / AIA Committee On Design
The experts at studio/216 have shared with us the Culture of Craft – a pilot for an AIA Committee On Design (COD) series about The Value of Design. The non-profit AIA committee spent this past year discussing this topic, hosting two conferences in Seattle and Japan. In this film, architects Tom Kundig FAIA, Bob Hull FAIA, Annie Han, Prentis Hale and Roy McMakin discuss the value of craft and design in theory and in practice.
https://www.archdaily.com/190098/video-culture-of-craft-aia-committee-on-designKarissa Rosenfield
Paolo Soleri's Bridge Design Collection: Connecting Metaphor
“Of all things that are man-made, bridges are, with dams, the most “structural,” single-minded, and imposing. As connectors at a breaking point, they have a heroic force that is aided by a challenging structuralism. As a strand of continuity in a non-continuum, the bridge is full of implied meanings. It is the opposite of devisiveness, separation, isolation, irretrievability, loss, segregation, abandonment. To bridge is as cogent in the psychic realm as it is in the physical world. The bridge is a symbol of confidence and trust. It is a communications medium as much as a connector.”
-Paolo Soleri, 1970, from “The Sketchbooks of Paolo Soleri”, published by MIT Press, 1971
https://www.archdaily.com/163889/paolo-soleris-bridge-design-collection-connecting-metaphorOscar Lopez
Video: Ole Bouman, "Broadcasting Architecture"
In this earnest and insightful video, NAi director Ole Bouman lectures on our shared need to “celebrate architecture’s glory.” The lecture was recorded in June 2011 at the International Architecture Festival (“FESTARCH“).
https://www.archdaily.com/159213/video-ole-bouman-broadcasting-architectureSamuel Jacobson
The Decaying Dutch Harbor Bunkers
Set against a backdrop typically reserved for postcards, the decaying bunkers of the Aleutian Islands Campaign serve to memorialize a little-known chapter of WWII lore. Read more about these distinctive relics after the break.
https://www.archdaily.com/157256/the-decaying-dutch-harbor-bunkersDaniel Morrison
Venice: City in Peril
Venice is commonly regarded as one of the wonders of the world, attracting over 17 million tourists each year. However, the city of Venice faces ongoing problems that threaten its ability to stay above water. The city’s flooding issues are notorious around the world. Every year water surges through its legendary labyrinth of streets wreaking havoc on architectural gems such as the Palazzo San Marco. With its architecture under threat, and dwindling population as many young people flock to the mainland, it is appropriate to think of Venice as a dying relic.
https://www.archdaily.com/158009/venice-city-in-perilBrian Pagnotta
O’ Mighty Green / STAR strategies + architecture
The Rotterdam based design team STAR strategies + architecture has shared with us their recent project, O’ Mighty Green, a critical piece about Green – washing and especially about the abuse of “Green” in architecture. Additional images and text can be seen after the break.
https://www.archdaily.com/144654/o%25e2%2580%2599-mighty-green-star-strategies-architectureHank Jarz
Mercier House, Lausanne
Architects: Francis Isoz Location: Rue du Grand Chêne 8, Lausanne, Switzerland Project Year: 1898-1900 Client: Jean-Jacques Mercier
https://www.archdaily.com/12673/mercier-house-lausanneMarco Castroni