I’ve obviously not been particularly attentive to AMNP as of late, but my singular new year’s resolution is to cut the crap and get back to work – hopefully I’ll manage to keep that goal alive for more than the 2 weeks that my resolutions typically last…
And to start the new year off, a quick round-up of some links worth checking out as you try to adjust to being back in the office now that the holidays are finally over.
[note: to get to Zaha, skip ahead to about the 39:30 mark]
In this interview with Zaha Hadid, Paul Goldberger [architecture critic for the New Yorker] sits in for Charlie Rose. This interview aired in the summer of 2006 [I believe].
Speaking of the New Yorker and Zaha, check out the recent article in the magazine on Hadid and here work, “The Abstractionist“. They’ve also posted an audio slideshow showcasing her newest completed project, the MAXXI Museum in Rome – which opened without any art on display, as ‘the building itself is exhibition enough’ [ha].
Farshid Moussavi and ACTAR have released the first follow-up to 2006’s hugely popular The Function of Ornament,
Farshid Moussavi [now formerly of FOA], Harvard’s GSD, and Actar have responded to the widespread success of 2006’s The Function of Ornament – a self-described ” graphic guide to ornaments in the twentieth century” – with a second volume entitled The Function of Form. Over two and a half times the size of The Function of Ornament, in FOF Moussavi sets out to investigate the complex relationship established between form and function in modern / contemporary design – using the book’s introduction to both discuss various perceived historical relationships between form and function, and then to [essentially] argue that the actual relationship between form and function in architecture is in conflict with the dualistic view of modernism in the 20th century.
[Take that, Mies.]
The vast majority of the book is then organized into chapters by material/structural system – with each chapter investigating the variations possible within each system. This is achieved by first identifying the ‘base units’ of the system to be explored, and then tessellating those base units in the horizontal, vertical, and curved directions. For instance, the first chapter looks at grids and frames – establishing the base unit of one-way frames as ‘composed of a rectangular grid of columns supporting a pair of primary, parallel beams along the column lines which in turn support secondary beams that span between them at much closer intervals than the centers of the columns’. This ‘base unit’ is then tessellated in the 3 directions, creating various permutations of the one-way frame – which are further organized by spatial affect.
S.R. Crown Hall at IIT by Mies is the first example given in the book, representing a one-way frame tessellated horizontally – and having the spatial affects of ‘openness, lightness, freedom, horizontality, and specularity’.
The book goes on to investigate hundreds of variations of systems and their base units – providing a unique view of the relationship of form and spatial sensations and affects. FOF takes an in-depth look at the physical and atmospheric affects of each system, investigating the sometimes subtle differences in affects produced. The forms produced by each tessellated base unit are given a 2-page spread, with a simple 3d image meant to convey the spatial affects of the particular system on the left page – and a detailed description of the various components, including plan and axonometric drawings, on the right page.
A must-have for any designer, The Function of Form makes for a tremendous resource as a reference when investigating possible forms/structural systems for a given project – allowing readers to quickly compare spatial quality and affects of various systems, while also providing reasonably in-depth explanations as to how these qualities are achieved by the different systems.
The Function of Form, by Farshid Moussavi – edited with Daniel Lopez, Garrick Ambrose, Ben Fortunato, Ryan Ludwig, and Ahmadreza Schricker
Published by Actar and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Available from Amazon.com for $26.37, here.
::Review copy of The Function of Form provided by Actar::
The architecture is covered with a wall in which holes are cut. The shape of the holes resembles a trunk, leaves, a root and bulbs. It also can be seen as clouds floating over the trees. The concrete shape which is based on nature turns into a hollow cave: light, and sunbeams filtered through trees.
It’s been a minute now since our last post on our current featured ‘Ninjas of the Month’ – EASERNdesign. Keeping the series alive, here is their Villa Saitan project – an 11 unit studio-apartment complex in Kyoto, Japan.
One of the major factors driving the project was EASTERNdesign’s desire to create a structure that was different from the repetitive, impersonal nature of a ‘typical’ apartment building. The goal was to wrap the units with a continuous facade that would give the appearance of one unified home. This was achieved by cutting through the concrete walls in a nature-inspired root/trunk/leaf pattern. Behind this think wall the units are enclosed by simple glass walls on the exterior – with the concrete walls serving as sun-shading and privacy device.
This concrete shell is then covered in some kind of OSB or fiberboard, softening the forms by giving them an almost fabric-like aesthetic.
Another noteworthy aspect of the project’s layout is the public open space carved out of the ground floor of the building – linking the two sides of the site with a covered/protected external passageway. This inner pathway also connects to the owner’s yard, allowing him direct access to the apartment building’s facilities [which he manages himself].
What does the name Saitan mean? Tan is the color of the shrine gates, vermilion. It is also the color of pale red granite stone. Vermilion will not be weathered. It is said that vermillion is a sacred color and it used to be applied on serving dishes and bow and arrow to make them holy ones. Sai means variety of beautiful colors that make something more attractive.
What I really don’t understand is what exactly is going on with the facade shown above. I kind of like it for whatever reason, so it isn’t that – I just don’t see how it ties in to the curvy, nature-inspired front. It makes for an odd dichotomy that seems to give the building a kind of multiple personality disorder.
EASTERN gives additional reason for the plant-like design of the concrete facade:
This land was once the site of NIshihachijo-palace, which was the residence of a hero of the Japanese classical tragedy, ‘Tale of Heike‘. It was a stage of rise and fall of a clan in the 12th century. Such an old and sad memory is cherished and still told among the people of this neighborhood.
The collective housing that is built on such a historical place should not be seen as an average apartment house. Such notion occurred to us, which might have led us to the idea of an ‘immortal tree.’
We, therefore, designed a building which does not take vaguely a shape of a tree, but rather an intense and massive form with a tint of movement.
You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe – when it knocked down our buildings it did not replace them with anything more offensive than rubble. We did that.
~ Charles, Prince of Wales [AKA 'Prince Chuckles' to ninjas]
[image: map of the world as a near-continuous coastline, via BLDGBLOG]
I’m back, my ninjas! I wish there was some explanation worthy of my being absent from posting here for the past few weeks, but unfortunately I’ve got nothing. I suppose I’ve been ‘busy’ – or at least more so than I’ve been for the past few months – and that has kept me from the site. But the hiatus has come to an end, and the ninjas are back.
That said, I’ve got some interesting [to me, at least] news: in January I will start a 3 year term as a member of the editorial board of Architecture Boston. I’m not completely sure of how much influence that will grant me over the magazine, but I promise you this: something about ninjas will find its way into AB by 2013, so be on the lookout.
ANd this brings us to this week’s collection of links. As always, if you see anything on the web that you believe should be linked-to from AMNP [as part of Ninjas on the 'Net, the news sidebar, or as a full post] feel free to drop me an email at architecture@myninjaplease.com.
- a look at the Macallen Building in South Boston, by Office dA [A Daily Dose of Architecture]
Ed. Note: MNP was experiencing some technical difficulties on Monday, Nov. 30th. Our apologies.
Happy belated Thanksgiving! And for those of you who weren’t giving thanks for Europeans’ fairly ruthless conquering of the Americas this past week – happy Monday! AMNP is back after a week-long hiatus.
To really kick off your week, I advise you to go watch this video of interviews with people waiting in line for a Sarah Palin book signing [note to Palin fans: feel free to never visit AMNP again - I won't be offended]. Now, I don’t really mean to be insulting here, so all I’ll say is that it’s reminiscent of the Katie Couric interview – everyone in line loves Sarah, but nobody knows anything about her policies or political goals/agendas/whatever. She has apparently won them all over by being so spunky and mavericky.
Moving on to more relevant [I hope] things – here is AMNP’s weekly selection of archi-blogosphere linkage. As always, if you see anything on the web that you believe should be linked-to from AMNP [as part of Ninjas on the 'Net,? the news sidebar, or as a full post] feel free to drop me an email at architecture@myninjaplease.com.
- lastly, don?t miss myninjaplease.com?s two newest features:A Dozen, and The Industry. Our ninja Kookiecrumbles has been hard at work interviewing artists and featuring their work as well as speaking to industry insider ? coming up with some great content that should not be slept on.
[solution: architecture + God (complex) = The Berg]
This week’s ninja math was submitted by AMNP reader Matt K. – who has been pretty consistently dropping great ninja math equations on us.
::To submit an idea for some ninja math, email us at ARCHITECTURE[at]MYNINJAPLEASE[dot]COM. For past entries, click on the Ninja Arithmetic category under archjutsu::
These two images appeared over at WAN on Nov. 16th in an article entitled “Masterplanning Mumbai“, detailing a masterplan project for?Bombay Boulevard, Mumbai, that was recently awarded to BDP.
Now, I’m not looking to discuss the project itself really. Rather, I’d like to know what people think about the two different rendering styles employed by the firm for this one proposal. After the comments received regarding the stunning Farnsworth House images created by Peter Guthrie [which can be seen here], I’m curious to know how people feel about these renderings – neither of which photorealism [obviously].
Also, what do people think about these digital models that look like physical models? By which I mean images that make no attempt at looking like photorealistic representations of the final product – but which instead look like simple scale models of a project.
Furthermore, if you can produce something as rich, dynamic, and detailed as the sketch above, is something in the style of the rendering below necessary?
The holes are lined up on a cross shape. The hole is made on the architecture like the perforated line. This architecture is “House with Crest”. A light that penetrates into the architecture always moves and never stays. It is a symbolic spectacle. A light that goes through the hole is projected in a circle shape, moves unlimitedly, and never stays. Occasionally, it disappears, and it appears.
For our second installment of Ninjas of the Month: Eastern Design we have the MON Factory/House 8 in Kyoto, Japan. Completed in 2007, the 260 m2 project houses both a workshop of a traditional craftsman and his family home.
The owner wanted a home that could accommodate his business – creating crests for traditional Japanese clothing – while keeping the living and work spaces distinct and separate. EASTERN’s solution was to raise the majority of the project off of street level, creating a parking area beneath the main structure of the building, with a storefront for the craftsman’s business on the street. The workspace is then directly above the shop, connecting the two spaces while making the actual workshop more private.
The second level – with the workshop and living spaces – is divided by two courtyards into it’s primary parts, namely the workshop, the living room / kitchen area, and the bedroom, by two small courtyard spaces. Essentially, hallways run along both sides of the house [around these courtyards, which don't reach the perimeter of the building], connecting the various spaces. Get a better look at the plan in larger detail, here.
We “lift the one-storied house to the sky” to create calm interior space. It is lifted to 3m in the sky. The space under that is lent as a parking lot. The one-storied house lifted to the sky makes “two outside spaces placed among three inside spaces”. The wind and the light of nature gather from the sky into two outside void spaces. And that extends to three inside spaces.
The only break in the exterior concrete walls of the building come in the form of a series of circular ‘holes’ – which speak directly to the circular shape of the tradition crests being made in the workshop.
Two street side walls overlap on “Mise (show/shop)” space from right and left as like the breast of the Kimono. The “breast” interior becomes the shop space. The circular holes made for a cross shape becomes a pattern that decorates the wall as a crest. The kinds of crests reaches 7000. Any complicated crest pattern is formed from circle.
The workshop area and the living area are separated and also connected. The client and his daughter have such living style. The crest making is a delicate work and also a business work. It is quiet, and also busy. The drifting cloud is seen, and they finish working, and relax in the living room at the middle space.
The reflected light becomes an infinite line of light and extends into the darkness of twilight on both side window of the living room. And the dark becomes deeper. In this one-storied house lifted to the sky a night goes on like that.
Next week we’ll be back with the next installment of this current ‘Ninja(s) of the Month’ feature, looking into the work of EASTERN design.
Paul Goldberger, writer and architecture critic for the New Yorker, writes on Jeanne Gang's new Aqua tower in Chicago - explaining why it's an even more impressive project than understood at first glace. .:read the full article->
The Brookings Institute has graded President Obamas infrastructure spending / plan as an "A-" - but in reading the actual article, I'm not really sure why. Sure, it seems like a good idea - but the fact that it hasn't really been implemented properly / most effectively should be reflected in Obama's grade, shouldn't it?
Well, no Planning Department - thats the new direction some cities/towns are taking, opting to contract planning work out to private firms rather than staff a full-time planning department.
Or really, 'Not on my Planet'. The NIMBY movement is possibly being elevated to a global scale, with Pacific Islanders (Micronesia, in particular) taking legal steps to block the Czech Republic from building a coal plant due to the affects said plant would have on the island nation - some 6,000km or so away. Well played, Micronesia! I have no doubt that this won't work directly - but it keeps the effects global warming has on small island nations and their populations in the news, which is a big deal. Also, this shows (in case you weren't aware) that the people of Micronesia are ninjas - using the Czechs' own laws against them.
Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for the New Yorker, sits down to discuss his new books - and the current state of things in the world of architecture - with Charlie Rose.
Architecture students want more design/build projects in school - which will only make them more effective in the workplace, giving them valuable construction experience.
How good of a job are architecture schools doing at integrating sustainability into their curricula? Apparently, not so impressive. Check out "Ecological Literacy in Architectural Education".
Experts say that even though commercial real estate is tanking, that it both won't be as bad as the housing market's collapse and won't cause another recession. Ninjas will not be holding their breath (well not for this, anyways) - and architects will probably still be screwed.
For completely screwing-over the entire planet. Brilliant! A writer for the Guardian, who was in the room for a number of the Copenhagen talks, explains how China blocked all the major iniatives - and how Obama isn't [really] to blame. "I am certain that had the Chinese not been in the room, we would have left Copenhagen with a deal that had environmentalists popping champagne corks in every corner of the world."
Autodesk, makers of AutoCAD and Revit [among other software] have created an online videogame to build awareness about the importance of green building. My ninjas, PLEASE...
Are LED traffic signals too efficient for cold climates? Apparently they don't necessarily give off [read: waste] enough heat to melt snow - which can then pile up enough to block the signals from the view of drivers.
Can abandoned 'big box' retail be converted to suburban farming? It would certainly put these spaces in the 'burbs to good use - and would [I imagine] be more cost efective than vertical farming in our cities. Something to think about...
Boston-based architecture firm Cubellis Associates, Inc. is closing shop. The 24 year old firm had recently opened a number of offices around the country, and employed roughly 400 people. Clients are being transitioned to start-ups created by employees Cubellis has recently let-go.
What is going on with Gwathmey Siegel & Associates' U.N. Mission project? If they were going for secure, why not put everyone in an actual bunker then?
"The concrete-paneled pillar opens grudgingly as it rises, transitioning from a blank wall to perforations just wide enough for an archer, to vast executive windows near the top. The structure embodies the latest in security doctrine and technology, but it has a stark, medieval look, as if it were meant to defend against catapults and trebuchets. Welcome to your friendly federal government's new diplomatic presence on the Manhattan skyline."
Minarets are now banned in Switzerland, in a move that is so absurdly ignorant that all I can do is laugh. Consider this: what is a minaret but a different word for something that is essentially the same as a common feature in Christian churches/cathedrals? Bell towers and tall steeples? My ninjas, please - same exact thing. Shit, bell towers even serve the same purpose as a minaret. Why not just build giant signs that read "hey, all you Muslims - we'd prefer it if you got the hell out of here". This is why in a true democracy [so nowhere] you don't have popular votes on these kinds of issues - because people in large groups are all too often biased, small minded, clique-orientated, bigots. Last time I checked popular demand wasn't a solid reason for the government allowing the many to mistreat the few...
This, I think, is a really cool / interesting story: "It all started when Google's Tom Wyman and Chris Cronin started getting enthusiastic calls and e-mails from architects who had children on the spectrum. Their kids, the parents reported, had discovered the software program and loved it. All they needed was their creativity and a computer mouse and they could design entire neighborhoods."
"The Long Island Chapter of the American Institute of Architects awarded Bates Masi + Architects the prestigious Archi Award for the Lakeside residence in Montauk, Long Island. The award was for the category Best Single and Multi-Family Residence."
"Paul Goldberger wants to remind us of why architecture matters, in shaping lives and cultures. From ancient Rome to the next wave of American - or Asian - building. This hour, On Point: Paul Goldberger, on the power of the built world around us."
Thanks mostly to pro-industry nuts, the climate change / global warming discussion has reached a strange level of apathy - mostly because - quite literally - people don't perceive their environment as 'warmer'. My ninjas, PLEASE. To suggest that climate change isn't happening - contrary to the opinion of the majority of scientists - because you still need to wear a coat in the winter is RETAHDED. Two new comments on the debate are from Amanda Baillieu [editor of bd] - claiming that "scientific evidence has now shifted enough" to suggest climate change isn't an issue to worry about [she doesn't source anyone, of course] - and a response by Hattie Hartman at the Architects' Journal, wondering mostly what the hell Amanda is talking about. An important point I'd like to make: saying that scientists think / support something isn't the same as showing they do. Many of these people claiming that science has debunked climate change are supposed to be journalists - even as a lowly blogger I know you need some sources to back something like that up. Sh!t.
"Just six weeks ago PLP Architecture was set up following a headline-grabbing fracture within Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects (KPF). Yet the new practice, led by the US giant's London founding member Lee Polisano and partners David Leventhal, Fred Pilbrow, Karen Cook and Ron Bakker, already boasts a 60-strong workforce and an enviable client list."
Zaha Hadid-designed Maxxi, the new museum of contemporary art in Rome, is opening soon - and Nicolai Ouroussoss gives us an overview of Hadid's latest work.
Thom Mayne spoke at Cornell recently, and dropped some gems: "His design philosophy opposes the "conservative" idea of "architecture as a contextual activity," wherein buildings are simply efficient containers for the prearranged activities that take place inside them. Mayne prefers constructing large-scale "environments" wherein the architecture provokes an active dialogue: the buildings and its surroundings mutually interpret each other. Innovation arises in a matrix of conflicts - rather than necessarily underwriting the given function of a space, Mayne's designs often challenge the idea of spatial coherence."
Check out SOM's vision for expanding Beijing's Central Business District - a project that could eventually displace up to 10,000 residents. Yay for progress! Wait, what...?