Category: Urban
Posted by James on 9/11/2007 11:48:00 AM
An Tur Solais - The Spire of Dublin
 A day on which one can't help but think of monuments and symbols seems like an appropriate time to take a look at a successful modern monument... at least Witold Rybczynski thought so, and it got me to thinking about it as well.
The Spire of Dublin, also known as An Tur Solais (the Monument of Light) and The Spike... it also has some unsavory nicknames in the Dubliner tradition: The Stiletto in the Ghetto, The Nail in the Pale, The Binge Syringe, and (perhaps my favorite) The Erection in the Intersection.
The monument was conceived in the early 1990's to provide a replacement for Nelson's Pillar which was blown up by former IRA members in 1966. An architectural competition was held with the intention of building the monument in time for the millennium. Alas construction was delayed by a pair of lawsuits filed by failed competitors - one designed a resurrection of Nelsons Pillar but topped by a bronze sun, the other a column topped by a revolving restaurant...
Of course monuments are contentious by their very nature - e.g. Ground Zero, Alex Eiffel, World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., etc. And the sore losers of the competition weren't the only detractors of the winning entry - public opinion and politicians decried the monument citing its inappropriateness to the context, the exorbitant cost and everything in between. Not to mention the planning process and environmental regulations (EIS). It is a wonder it was ever built at all... and so it is perhaps a fitting symbol of the new Ireland where such things are possible. And yet that uncovers an ironic twist: this monument of the new Ireland, built to replace a symbol of British imperialism, was an entry by a British architect, Ian Ritchie.
Link: The Spire of Dublin
Slideshow: Slate - The Spire of Dublin
Designer: Ian Ritchie Architects
Related: Seeing Éire [I] - Ailtireacht na Baile Átha Cliath (L+L)
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Category: Urban
Posted by James on 4/5/2007 10:05:00 AM
1972 documentary film
How else would Reyner Banham tour Los Angeles but by car? Take a circa 1972 ride through Los Angeles with the architectural critic and author of Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies as he visits the Plains, the Foothills, Surfurbia, and (of course) Autopia. It is amazing to see how much Los Angeles changed in the last 35 years, and yet how relevant Banham's observations still are. Awesome.
We'll get back to modern day Los Angeles with more coverage from CA Boom 4 shortly... stay tuned.
Link: Google Video (51 min 58 sec)
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Category: Urban
Posted by James on 9/25/2006 12:08:00 PM
International Style urban community in Detroit
 Modern urban redevelopment projects generally have a bad rap, with conclusions batted about of the failure of modernism to produce livable communities. Not all modernist developments met the same fate as Pruitt-Igoe, however. Shining examples of modernist planning are scattered around the world which deliver on the promise that modern visionaries hoped to fulfill.
One such example is the highly successful Lafayette Park (Gratiot Park Development) in Detroit Michigan designed by architect Mies van der Rohe, planner Ludwig Hilberseimer, and landscape architect Alfred Caldwell.
Link: National Park Service - Mies van der Rohe Residential District
Article: Detroit Free Press - 50th Anniversary of Lafayette Park
Photos: Flickr Lafayette Park photo set
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Category: Urban
Posted by James on 7/20/2006 8:42:00 PM
Something out of Blade Runner
Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei provides a tour of construction in Beiging including the CCTV building by OMA, the National Theater by Paul Andreu, the National Swimming Center (Water Cube) by PTW and the Olympic Stadium by Herzog & de Meuron.
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Category: Urban
Posted by James on 6/21/2006 2:33:00 PM
A social oasis in the urban environment... she's electric
 Nothing to do with the UK national treasure... the London Oasis is a temporary structure on Clerkenwell Green installed as part of national Architecture Week. It is a kinetic sculpture by architect Laurie Chetwood designed to demonstrate sustainability and renewable energy while providing entertainment, a place for meeting and tranquil space for Londoners. Self-sufficiently powered by solar cells, a hydrogen fuel cell and wind, the Oasis interacts with the environment around it. Shade providing "branches" open and close in response to the weather. Enclosed pods at the base provide a place of seclusion for people to rest with "cleaner cooled air and relaxing sounds." At night the Oasis acts as a beacon in the cityscape with lights which repsond to the movements of people around it. It even uses rainwater it has collected for irrigation and cooling.
Link: London Oasis
Firm: Chetwood Associates
More: MSNBC - Urban 'Oasis' of clean energy lands in London
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Category: Urban
Posted by James on 5/21/2006 5:32:00 PM
Exhibition of experimental architecture
 An exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery in London running June 15, 2006 - September 17, 2006.
From extraordinary houses and incredible towers, to fantasy cityscapes and inhabitable sculptures, Future City showcases the most radical and experimental architecture to have emerged in the past 50 years.
From the visionary artist-turned-architect Constant Nieuwenhuys, to 1960’s giants Archigram and SuperStudio, to deconstructivists Daniel Libeskind and Zaha Hadid and contemporary digitally inspired work by Nox and Decoi, this is the most comprehensive survey of experimental architecture to be held in the UK.
Link: Barbican - Future City
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Category: Urban
Posted by James on 5/17/2006 2:39:00 PM
Exhibition and dialogue on contemporary art and artists and their role in the future of metropolitan Phoenix
 An exhibit at the Arizona State University Art Museum in Tempe, Arizona running September 9, 2006 - January 27, 2007.
New American City: Artists Look Forward will explore the role of artists and the art produced in urban development and revitalization contexts.
What is the role of art and visual culture in the city's current development, and in its future?
The artists selected for the exhibition were recently announced at an event that took place on the farm/art project of Arizona artist Matthew Moore.
Link: ASU Art Museum - New American City
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Category: Urban
Posted by Lorenza on 3/27/2006 10:39:00 AM
The exhibition marks the re-launch of the CUBE gallery in Manchester, UK
The exhibition Future Landscape shown at CUBE, Manchester, has now come to an end. Over the two months of being opened to the public, the exhibition has gathered under one collection several projects, bridging Architecture and Landscape, which, in a near future, will shape the North West region of England.
Projects of prominent architects based mostly in the region were thus displayed to give the opportunity to the public to gain an insight on how the region will be shaped in the years to come and also to express their views on such regeneration projects.
Varied graphic styles, design approaches and thus resulting design-forms were highlighted by this exhibition which brought to the viewer an understanding on the diversity of the projects and their suitability for the chosen sites.
Through walking and observing the works on display, the viewer was certain to find a project which stimulated his/her imagination.
Link: CUBE
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Category: Urban
Posted by James on 3/17/2006 11:41:00 PM
A Dublin district resurected
 St. Patrick's Day seems an appropriate time to get back to my series on Ireland. Having looked at Dublin, both at large and in particular, this time I will focus on a particular district: Temple Bar.
Temple Bar was the pioneering effort of contemporary urban regeneration in Dublin in the early 1990's. An architectural competition to create a framework plan for the district was won by a unique group of young architects who collaborated as Group 91:
- Shay Cleary Architects
- Grafton Architects
- Paul Keogh Architects
- McCullough Mulvin Architects
- McGarry NiEanaigh Architects
- O'Donnell + Tuomey Architects
- Shane O'Toole Architects
- Derek Tynan Architects
The Temple Bar Architectural Framework Plan outlined architectural and urban design proposals which provided for sensitive, but bold thinking urban renewal. The result has turned Temple Bar into one of the most vibrant areas of the city with many award-winning modern buildings which integrate into the historical fabric of the city.
Link: The Reflecting City - Temple Bar
Link: Temple Bar
Reference:
Seeing Éire [prologue] (L+L)
Reference: Seeing Éire [I] - Ailtireacht na Baile Átha Cliath (L+L)
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Category: Urban
Posted by James on 3/6/2006 4:25:00 PM
NYIT studio explores the big box invasion into urban territory
 When the unstoppable Wal-Mart comes to town, there is sure to be a struggle, and the push to open big box stores in more urban areas has been no different - in fact it has raised new issues as can be seen in the current proposed New York City location.
A studio 3rd year studio at NYIT led by Matt Dockery explores "a hybrid public / private venture designed to allow New York City to reap the benefits of low-cost merchandise without suffering the negative impacts of Big-Box stores on public space, local business and the environment."
The site used by the studio is in Brooklyn adjacent to the proposed Atlantic Yards project designed by Frank Gehry. The charge to the students is to create a new building type to house a mixed program: big box retail, a public arts market, assembly hall, public services, and a parking garage.
Link: Big Box vs. Big Apple
Much more: BoxTank - Multi-Tiered Wal-Mart Becoming Reality
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