Optical Glass House
Posted by Cynthia | Filed under Musings
Take a gorgeous video tour of the Optical Glass House by Hiroshi Nakamura and his studio NAP. Truly experiential, exploring all of the senses while solving for the homeowners space needs. The home is located in the heart of the city on a busy highway. The custom Optical Glass Block wall on the front facade provides acoustic separation from the noise of the city, while maintaining a visual connection to the lively and active urban streetscape. It seems to me a relaxing and meditative environment, the manipulation of light and water creating pattern and texture dancing on the walls, an art installation if you will, changing with the shifting sun. The Optical Glass House project is getting some well deserved attention in the press. An architectural expression, not just of shelter, but also realizing the power of transformation. A once undesirable lot becomes an oasis of calm from the activity of the day to day just outside the door.
Video sourced at http://www.dezeen.com
Tags: architectural water feature, architecture, Glass Block, Hiroshi Nakamaura, interior design, lighting design, Studio NAP, Urban dwelling
ABC of Architecture
Posted by Cynthia | Filed under Musings
Come on, have a bit of fun and test your architectural knowledge. Click “Play” above to enjoy a graphically beautiful film short, describing an alphabetical list of ‘the most important architects with their best known building’.
Created by the folks at Ombu Architecture, it is a concise but not complete list, understandably limited by the quantity of letters in the alphabet. “A lot of them have been left out with grief because we only need one for each letter and we done an effort to have differents nationalities.” It’s a tough assignment, but I think they did well!
Here is the alphabetical list.
Alvar AAlto _ Säynätsalo Town hall – Finland
Luis Barragán _ satellite towers – Mexico city
Santiago Calatrava _ Lyon – Satolas airport railway station – lyon France
Luís Domènech i Montaner _ Antoni Tàpies foundation – Barcelona
Eduardo Souto de Moura _ Paula Rego’s House of Stories _ Cascais _ portugal
Norman Foster_ London City Hall _ England
frank Gehry _ Guggenheim bilbao _ Spain
herzog & de meuron _ Beijing National Stadium _ CHina
Arata Isozaki _ Palau Sant Jordi _ barcelona
Philip Johnson _ The Glass House _ New Canaan _ United state
Louis Kahn _ National Parliament of Bangladesh _ Dhaka city
le corbusier _ Villa Savoye _ Poissy, Francia
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe _ barcelona pavilion _ Spain
oscar niemeyer _ National Congress of Brazil, Brasília
Joseph Maria Olbrich _ Secession building, vienna – Austria
César Pelli _ Petronas Twin Tower _ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Giacomo Quarenghi _ the Smolny Institute _ St. Petersburg, Russia.
Renzo Piano + Richard Rogers _ Pompidou Centre _ Paris, Francia
Álvaro Siza _ Ibere camargo foundation _ porto alegre _ Brazil
kenzo Tange _ Tokyo Olympic Stadium – Japan
Jørn Utzon _ Sydney Opera House _ Australia
William Van Alen _ Chrysler Building _ New York City
frank lloyd wright _ guggenheim new york _ United state
Iannis Xenakis _ Philips pavilion _ Expo ’58 in Brussels
Minoru Yamasaki _ World Trade Center
Zaha Hadid_The Pierres Vives building _ Montpellier, France
Film and excerpts sourced at ombuarchitecture.tumblr.com
Tags: architecture, Architecture ABC's, Architecture Film, Art Films, Famous Architects, Famous Architecture, Graphic Design, interior design
Could You Live In A Water Tower?
Posted by Erin | Filed under House Tours, Inspiration, Musings
If you’d have asked me yesterday if it were possible to convert a water tower into a show-stopping residence, I’d likely laugh. Yet today, the joke’s on me after spotting this gorgeous London water tower home…
Tags: architecture, home tour, international, london
Food Oasis
Posted by Cynthia | Filed under Musings
Urban Farming is on the rise, providing the resource to reimagine city blocks, and bring productive use to vacant properties. Community focused farming is a powerful tool to nourish communities, both with locally grown food as well as neighborhood focus. There is a feeling of connection to our food when working in the garden, an opportunity to feel the result of hard work and commitment and to connect with fellow members of our community in a meaningful way.
My own personal experience with my plots in our local community garden have been like nothing I could have imagined. The multigenerational friendships, and mentorships I have enjoyed have enriched my life, above and beyond the gifts of heirloom seeds, and coveted family bread recipes from my neighboring gardeners. I was pleased to learn that ’Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood could become the backbone of the nation’s largest urban agriculture district: The city’s planning commission is moving to approve an ambitious land-use plan that would reclaim some of the area’s 11,000 vacant lots, spanning 13 square miles.’ The urban planning opportunities to benefit the community more broadly include ‘a 2.5-mile abandoned rail line which could be the district’s spine, with open lots and parks around its periphery serving as a marketplace for local produce and artisanal products. Locals have taken to calling it the “New Era Trail.”
For Englewood, as well as areas like it, this strong design platform has set the stage to ‘encourage a budding grassroots movement around urban agriculture by consolidating data, promoting education, and even encouraging light manufacturing.’ A big idea, not without challenge and opposition, but providing a platform for revitalization and community growth.
To learn more about the project visit The Burnham Plan Centennial.
Image and excerpts sourced at The Architects Newspaper, http://archpaper.com.
Tags: architecture, Chicago, City of Chicago Urban Planning, Englewood, green design, Urban Farming
Color Block
Posted by Cynthia | Filed under Musings
A startling display of color. This Spanish building demands the attention of the passerby as it jumps out from its neutral surroundings. Although the use of Color Blocking is visible in modern day architecture, the use of bold blocks of color is not new. Take the groundbreaking example of the work of Charles and Ray Eames below. The Eames House, also known as Case Study House No. 8, is a landmark of mid-20th century modern architecture. It was constructed in 1949 by husband-and-wife design pioneers Charles and Ray Eames to serve as their home and studio.
Similarly, these two examples express their modularity and create a dynamic visual punch. Of late, it’s a colorful modern expression being seen all the world around.
Images 1 and 2, sourced at Trendland
Image 3 sourced at mimoa.eu
Tags: architecture, Charles and Ray Eames, color blocking, Eames, interior design, Midcentury Modern
