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Panel Discussion: Small Lot Subdivisions and New Housing Typologies
A panel discussion with City Planning officials, architects, and developers will be held on Saturday, November 5, 2005 from 11am-3pm.
cityworksLosAngeles is staging a panel discussion on the subject of the Small Lot Subdivision Ordinance and its potential to allow new models of affordable housing. Join a lively discussion moderated by Mark Surdam of Enterprise Home Ownership Partners and Frances Anderton of KCRW's DnA in advance of an upcoming design competition intended to probe opportunities afforded by the ordinance.
Link: cityworksLosAngeles
RSVP: workinprogres@earthlink.net (by 11/2)
Helping companies innovate
IDEO is what the dot.com companies tried to be and failed. A place where imagination is rewarded, and failure is just part of the path to success. IDEO is fueled by team creativity, and they believe that your company should be too. That's why they have produced Method Cards, a set of 51 cards that are meant to get your team inspired and on the path to great design.
IDEO firmly believes that the best way to spark the type of creativity that leads to innovation is by having fun. Method Cards are a design tool that use images, affinity diagrams and processes like mapping to get you going, but may also encourage your team to bodystorm in order to understand how the user might feel in a particular environment.
Link: IDEO
Update 3/14/06:
Article: NY Times - Going Off the Beaten Path for New Design Ideas
The Works of Eva Jiricna
Czech born / London based architect, Eva Jiricna , is represented quite nicely in a recent publication of her projects titled 'In/Ex Terior'. The book showcases a selection of 39 projects and designs which includes over 250 photographs and drawings to really get the point across as to how much of a talent she really is. It's a well layed out portfolio of retail, hotels, night clubs and much, much more.
Over the last decade Jiricna´s contribution to architecture and design has been recognised with personal awards, including being made a Royal Designer for Industry, a Commander of the British Empire for Services to Interior Design, election as a Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Arts, and induction in the American Hall of Fame. She holds honorary doctorates and professorships at several universities (e.g., Southampton Institute, Technical University in Brno, University of Sheffield, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague). In 2003 she was elected a President of Architectural Association of London. She participates on international juries and lectures widely on her work.
Link: Eva Jiricna Architects
A centerless center rooted in the landscape
A free-thinking women's college, Wellesley features a campus that is the antithesis of traditional academic hierarchical form. Buildings are clustered and scattered across the wildly varied Massachusetts landscape, exemplifying the ethos of the school.
It has been argued that "no single building on the Wellesley campus can claim as much historical significance and general admiration as does the landscape itself, and the buildings best loved within the Wellesley community have aesthetic properties which blend with those of the landscape."
Link: Wellesley College Wang Center
Firm: Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects
Firm: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Article: Boston Globe - Center of attention on a centerless campus (BugMeNot)
Via: The Dirt
Proving there's power in numbers
Based in London, FuseDesignCollective was formed over a
year ago by a group of design graduates from the University of
Brighton. It has now grown to incorporate graduate members
from other universities around the UK with each member bringing in new style, skills and personality to the group.
Fuse represents a new mode in contemporary British design. The Fuse designers form the nucleus of a shared network of specialist knowledge and experience.
The Collective is not a business, company or a "non-profit
making organization", it is a group set up by its member designers
to help each other to create better design, for themselves and
their clients.
Link: FuseDesignCollective
One of the most important examples of experimental design
The Pearlroth House, built by architect Andrew Geller in 1959 and located in Westhampton Beach, is scheduled to be demolished in spring 2006. Filmmaker Jake Gorst, along with Exhibitions International, are working to save the house from demolition. Their plan is to relocate the house and turn it into a museum of mid-century modern architecture.
Johnathan Pearlroth, son of Mitch and Arthur Pearlroth, and current owner of the house, approached filmmaker Jake Gorst in April 2005 regarding the possibility of preserving the house by relocation. Additions made to the house in the 1970s were decaying and much repair work needed to be done. Present day building codes made a complete restoration impossible without further compromising the original design. Pearlroth realized that he would have to build a new structure if his family was to continue enjoying their beachfront property.
For more info, follow the links below.
Link: Pearlroth House
Link: Andrew Geller
The 6th edition at Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens, Québec
The names of the designers invited to take place in the seventh annual International Garden festival at Redford Gardens has been announced. They are: Pete North and Alissa North, landscape architects from Toronto, Ontario; Bosses Design (Éric Daoust, Donald Potvin, Jean-François Potvin), architects and designers from Montréal, Québ, Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot, landscape architects from Los Angeles, California; Chris Reed, landscape architect from Boston, Massachusetts (Stoss); Atelier le Balto (Marc Pouzol, Véronique Faucheur, Marc Vatinel), landscape architects from Berlin, Germany.
Link: International Garden Festival
Reference: International Garden Festival 2005 (L+L)
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)
Ozark chapel honored with AIA 2006 Twenty-five Year Award
It is one thing to celebrate a new building, but it is another to look back and recognize an outstanding design that has stood the test of time. We have an award winner looking back 5 years to show you from Ireland as well, but here is a building in the US which has been awarded a 25 year award. And I am sure that the Throncrown Chapel will continue to be celebrated for some time to come.
There are not many iconic modern religious structures which come immediately to mind. Thorncrown and Lloyd Wright's Wayfarers Chapel are certainly two of the most significant modern religious buildings in the US that come to my mind. Interestingly both of the Wrightian Organic Architecture school of thought.
Architect E. Fay Jones’s unique appreciation of the site and environment are what make the Crownthorn Chapel so special. Beyond the striking structural concept it is the way that Mr. Jones made use of the tracery of the trees, the dappled light through the foliage and branches, the rooted connection to the earth and the soaring slot of sky above which make this building truly remarkable.
Link: Thorncrown Chapel
Link: AIA - Thorncrown Chapel Selected to Receive AIA 2006 Twenty-five Year Award
Jellio: Fun By Design
The 70's were colourful and plastic as a kid and Mario Marsicano and Chris Lenox of Jellio have captured that childhood aesthetic in their furniture and art collections. Their Turbo line takes its inspiration from the Revell car model kits; remember the plastic snap-off pieces? The Jellio version is wall mounted and made from aluminum-filled polyurethane resin with a metallic silver finish. I was delighted to find Rockem Sockem Robots commemorated in an end table; they were a personal favorite, but they also make a "Light Britesque" table, squirt gun art and more. Jellio truly is fun by design.
Link: Jellio [Thanks, Mario!]
Canadian design collective making waves
Created in 2003, the Loyal Loot Collective consists of graduates from the University of Alberta's Industrial Design program. In a short time they've made great strides in the design community by exhibiting in hotspots such as Tokyo, London, Toronto, and New York. Now with their website up and running, they're prepared to reach a larger audience with their well thought out line of products.
As a collective, Loyal Loot strives to create designs with a natural quality by staying true to materials. The inherent value of these designs is meant to last a lifetime ensuring that they retain a non-disposable presence and remain precious to their owner, becoming more and more meaningful as they age. Loyal loot exhibits their work together and aims to create community in design, within the collective as well as with fellow designers. Members of loyal loot are involved in several creative facets, specializing in furniture, products and clothing.
Link: LoyalLootCollective
Link: University of Alberta
Customizable Acrylic Paned Screen
My penchant for screens hasn't waned during my absence here at L+L and thanks to a tip from Anita at Furniture Seen I'm happy to jumpstart my entries with the Pivot Screen from Mebel Furniture. Anita wrote us and said:
The Pivot Screen designed by Jacek Ostoya of Mebel Furniture in San Francisco. The screen is made up of frames with interchangable acrylic pieces. You can configure your screen with as much opacity as you choose and arrange colors or pictures to fit your mood. Ostoya was named by the LA Times as a furniture designer to watch in 2006.
Link: Furniture Seen Thanks, Anita!
Designer: Mebel
Frank Gehry expands the German art world
The north-western German town of Herford made quite a splash in the art world with its ambitious new project, the MARTa Herford Museum. The 21,000 sq.ft. addition by Frank Gehry brought a serious overhaul to the existing structure that's been standing since the 1950's.
With the name MARTa fronting the triad of design (M standing for Möbel/furniture), art (ART) and architecture/ambience (a), the museum aims to provide fresh inspiration for art, design, architecture and business both in the local region and far beyond. An extraordinary complex of buildings designed by Frank Gehry houses a novel combination of a museum, centre of excellence and event forum. It is here that exhibition curator and museum director Jan Hoet displays contemporary aspects of art and design. The main idea behind MARTa Herford is to highlight and redefine the contradictory links between art and business.
The museum addition is sure to add to Herford's prominence in the design community where the town accounts for 20% of furniture made in Germany as well as hosting two prominent trade shows, MOW and ZOW. Both are showcases for the furniture trade and suppliers respectively and act as both international forums as well as barometers for the industry.
Link: MARTa Herford
Hanging garden
An interesting take on the archetypical terra cotta pot by French designer Vincent Vandenbrouck.
The pots are grouped via steel bars which slot into slices on each side. The steel bar and wire suspension system allows eight or twelve pots create a vegetable wall. Might create a mess when you water... but whatever. Single pots are also available in a non-hanging version.
Available through Paris showroom Compagnie.
Design: Vincent Vandenbrouck
Link: Edition Compagnie
Via: Reluct
New Architecture in Spain
Exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City opened Sunday and runs through May 1, 2006.
Spain has been a happening center for architecture for some time now... does anyone not now know of Bilbao? But this exhibition documents more recent architectural developments, with Moneo's 1998 Murcia City Hall serving as the spring point. Though it seems to me that perhaps Spain's architectural awakening stems from the preparations for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
The show features a broad range of architects from the well known international players to young local up-and-comers. Christopher Hawthorne of the LA Times writes, "'On-Site' is at its best a sophisticated essay on the idea of architectural middle ground, particularly between youth and experience and between globalization and regional context."
The exhibition features 35 significant architectural projects that are currently in design or under construction. These works are considered in relation to an additional eighteen projects, each of which are a major architectural accomplishment completed in Spain within the last few years. The projects presented will reflect the geographic and generational diversity of the current wave of new projects and their architects, as well as a wide range of scales - from a single private house to a new international airport. The exhibition will not only reflect the accomplishments of Spanish architects, but also the contributions of professionals from elsewhere.
Link: MoMA - On-Site
Audio slideshow: MoMA - narrated by curator Terence Riley
Photos: Roland Halbe
Review: NY Times - A Survey of Spain, Architects' Playground [images]
Review: LA Times - Spain expands on its sense of place
Review: Washinton Post - Gains in Spain
Related: The Observer - Cutting-edge Sp
The ASLA declares April 2006 as National Landscape Architecture Month
All right you landscape party people... the American Society of Landscape Architects has done it again, declared the month of April as National Landscape Architecture Month. So, order up a big load of mulch to celebrate, or keep an eye out for ASLA Chapter events... the weekly breakdown listed after the jump.
ASLA chapters across the country will celebrate with public outreach activities to help communities "Discover Landscape Architecture," the theme for this year. The month encompasses Earth Day on April 22 and the birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted on April 27, who founded the American landscape architecture profession.
Link: ASLA - Landscape Architecture Month 2006
Article: Landscape Career Discovery (pdf)
Article: Hire A Landscape Architect To Add Value To Your Home (pdf)
Article: Design for Active Living (pdf)
Alumninum furniture and objects
I first saw the work of MuNiMulA over at Design*Sponge last week... I was impressed with the straight forward yet beautiful creations and decided to check them out a bit further. Turns out MuNiMulA is a design and manufacturing firm located in Quincy, Michigan... coincidentally, I spent quite a bit of time during my childhood in the rural countryside not too far from Quincy. Now, quality of their work is reason enough to feature MuNiMulA here, but that bit of serendipity just sealed the deal.
The anodized aluminum construction of MuNiMulA's line of furnishings make them perfect for indoor/outdoor living - light weight, durable, versatile and practical. The clear anodizing leaves the aluminum with a slightly matte silver finish is often used in the marine and boating industry. There is a caveat for the colored finishes though; prolonged exposure to sunlight can cause the bright colors to fade over time. MuNiMulA’s upholstered pieces are offered in weatherproof Spinneybeck leather or outdoor canvas by special order.
Link: MuNiMulA [Thanks, Jenifer!]
"The West Coast Independant Design Show"
We've been covering CA Boom since it's inception, and we're looking forward to their third effort being held Thursday, March 23 to Sunday, March 26, 2006. It's a design show of a different stripe, where both professionals and consumers are invited. Here's the deal:
Three & half days of cutting edge design including tours from leading contemporary architects of recently completed projects, exhibits from independent designers, architects & manufacturers, panel discussions whose participants are the leaders and innovators of the contemporary design community and kicking off with a rocking design community opening night event.
The highlight of the show are the home tours - 5 homes per day. All but two one of the homes have been announced and we have listed the tour details and other show info after the jump.
Link: CA Boom 3
OUR COVERAGE OF THE FIRST TWO YEARS
Reference: CA Boom II - Compiled links and wrap up report (L+L)
Reference: CA Boom - Description and complied links (L+L)
Exploring architecture and the built environment via the arts and culture
The 10th Architecture Week, the annual British public celebration of contemporary architecture, will be held June 16-25, 2006, in cities throughout the U.K.
The Week includes walks, talks, tours, maps, events, visits to new buildings and architects' practices, exhibitions, family and children's activities, films and picnics.
Link: Architecture Week
Our quick summary of the first day
Weren't we just here? The third year of CA Boom is underway and we're here for the third time - only seven months after we wrapped up our coverage of last year's show. They have moved the date up a few months this year for whatever reason, but it works for me since the weather is a lot nicer... though it is cutting into a potential ski weekend...
Some first impressions for this year compared to last: it seems a bit more crowded, fewer frills but overall seems better organized, a solid line up of homes for the first day tour, and a somewhat expanded exhibition area. There is a good vibe this year as things seem to settle in... as they say, third time is the charm.
Featured after the jump are some images from today's home with links to galleries of the day one home tours. Watch L+L for more content soon.
Link: CA Boom
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
Design selected in an international competition
A UC Berkeley design team has won the competition for a 15-acre park in Chiayi, Taiwan, a monument to peace commemorating the 228 Incident - a tragedy which occurred on February 28, 1947, when government soldiers killed thousands of Taiwanese citizens. It was illegal to discuss the events of 1947 until 1992 when the Taiwanese government issued a formal apology.
The design team, comprised of Professor Judith Stilgenbauer and graduate students Kit Shihting Wang and Calder Gillin, named their proposal Conceal/Surface, stating: (it) is about time, growth and the inevitable revelation of historical truths. The central design element is the bamboo room, a partially sunken courtyard planted with bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel) and enclosed by semi-translucent glass walls offering veiled views of the bamboo within. An underground glass enclosed viewing room will provide floor-to-ceiling view of the bamboo room.
Link: 228 National Memorial Park
Link: Selected proposals
Release: UC Berkeley - Professor, students win design competition for Taiwan peace park
Designer of ‘Human Environments’
Albano Daminato is an interior architect and designer based in Singapore. His recent projects have included small scale hotels, private residences, retail stores, restaurants, bars and cafes, from overall concepts through to the design of furniture, objects and even uniforms.
His work is rigorous and architectural in approach as is evident in the form, detailing, spatiality and materiality of his projects. There is a duality to Albano's work; it is subtle yet strong, minimal yet complex.
Link: Albano Daminato
Top ten examples of sustainable architecture in the U.S.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected the top ten examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment. The projects will be honored on May 3 during a presentation at the National Building Museum in Washington and again in June at the AIA 2006 National Convention and Design Exposition in Los Angeles.
The 2006 COTE Top Ten Green Projects address environmental conservation and the notion of sustainable development with designs that integrate architecture, technology, and natural systems. They make a positive contribution to their community, improve comfort for building occupants, and reduce environmental impacts through strategies such as: reuse of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact site development, energy and water conservation, use of sustainable or renewable construction materials, and design that improves indoor air quality.
Link: AIA/COTE 2006 Top Ten Awards
Meticulous attention to detail.
Sense of Place is a UK design shop that creates furniture and cabinetry using both contemporary and traditional methods. I discovered Sense of Place after browsing the portfolio of a photographer that photographed their furniture catalog and was impressed both by his work and SoP's craftmanship. Their one-off piece, "The Table", is featured at right.
Link: Sense of Place
Link: Kirsten Prisk Photography
Department of design culture edited by Adriean Koleric
We're amping it up L+L a bit here with a slight update to our look and feel, and the addition of a new Branch to expand our offerings.
Edmonton, Alberta based designer Adriean Koleric has been a contributor at Land+Living for some time now - and we are pleased today to announce that DesignBOT, Adriean's design blog, has joined the Land+Living network! DesignBOT will bring turn up the funk on L+L and expand our horizons with more design lifestyle, pop culture and fashion focused content.
Link: designbot.landliving.com
Note: Some DesignBOT content will appear on the L+L homepage along with the usual L+L fare.
Abstract California artist
San Francisco Bay Area painter Laura Elisabeth Bauer creates abstract art works exploring nonobjective constructivism on canvas and sculptural forms. She counts modern masters Matisse, Miro, Mondrian, and Picasso among her influences as well as the period from 1920 through the 1950's, especially the abstract female artists Popova, Hepworth, and Hartigan.
There is a frenetic energy to her work which, to me, seems to speak of the modern world and urban/suburban landscapes which we inhabit. Yet there is a calm grounded quality and connection to the past residing in the layered complexity of her work.
She says:
I am learning that there are many ways of expressing creativity, and I remain open to continue in my exploration into the unknown. I not only enjoy looking to the past for inspiration but I also enjoy revisiting my old work and taking it a step further, using the old and integrating it with the new.
Link: California Modern Art Gallery
not your momma's apparel
Based in Signal Hill-California, Oddica is an online apparel company that has put great emphasis into promoting the artists and designers who've colalborated on a wide range of T-shirts.
The focal point of our company is our Artists. How they interpret a particular idea, and how that idea looks on a shirt, determines whether a customer is going to buy, plain and simple. Our job is to stay behind the curtain and seamlessly deliver the Artist's vision to our customers.
Apart from the mainstay line of t-shirts, regular contributors Joshua Smith (Hydro74) and Brian Jaramillo (beejay) are collaborating on the inaugural Year in T-Shirts book. Items included will be the top 10 T-shirts of the year, top 10 artists of the year and profiles on a number of designers and brands.
As well the group is working on a kids line for the immediate future simply titled, Oddica Kids.
Link: Oddica
Vertical Garden Competition Winning entry by David Fletcher + Juan Azulay
The MAK Center and SCI-Arc invited thirteen emerging architecture firms and architects to design a 'vertical garden' at the Schindler House. To contend with the vertical growth of the city, a vertical garden will be designed to occupy the edges of the Schindler House property, adding a new dimension to the landscape of the low-rise Schindler House and creating a green buffer between the house and its neighbors. The Schindler House is as inseparable from its garden as it is from its condominium neighbors; the vertical garden will address this condition and posit new ideas relating to landscape, public art, urban growth, and architecture.
The proposal by David Fletcher + Juan Azulay proposes a light weight structural system enveloping the site to provide support for the growth of an organic sturctural system - strangler fig (f. petiolaris). Over time, the organic structure fuses with the non organic structure and becomes dominant.
Video: mak T6 Vacant by Fletcher + Azulay
Link: SCI-Arc - MAK Center | Vertical Garden Competition Winners Announced
Link: MAK Center
Experimental Skateboard MFG.
Chardon, Ohio based Factory 13 Experimental Skateboard Mfg. is owner Danny Creadon's vehicle to maintain a stance against corporate America.
We operate outside of corporate trends, we will never compromise style for money.
Everything from cereal bowl concaves, 8 wheelers, longboards, single kick pigs, rockers, new street shapes, custom
constructions, custom mold making, silk screening and custom artwork. Dedication to true skateboarders.
A fiercely independant entity, F13 has compiled an overwhelming portfolio of custom work both in quantity and more importantly, quality. Personally I just couldn't get over the variety of decks that Danny and his crew have created. The images we've posted for this article is nothing more than a drop in the ocean for what's come out of that shop.
Absolutely insane.
Link: Factory 13
