Sunday, 18 July 2010

Garscube Link / 7N Architects + RankinFraser

Garscube Link / 7N Architects + RankinFraser: "

© Dave Morris


Arquitectos: 7N Architects

Arquitectos del Paisaje: RankinFraser

Ubicación: Garscube Road/ M8 Flyover, Glasgow, Escocia

Costo: £1.2 millón

Fecha inicio construcción: 21 Septiembre 2009

Fecha término construcción: 28 Junio 2010








El Garscube Link es una nueva intervención urbana que reconecta el norte de Glasgow con el centro de la ciudad para los peatones y ciclistas. Corresponde a la primera fase de regeneración del área de Speirs Locks en Glasgow, y fue diseñada por 7N Architects y RankinFraser (Arquitectura del Paisaje) para el Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership (GCRP), una asociación entre el Concejo de la Ciudad de Glasgow y la ISIS Waterside Regeneration, apoyada por la British Waterways Scotland.


© Dave Morris


El proyecto ha involucrado la radical rehabilitación de esta conexión crucial al centro de la ciudad que fue cortada por la construcción de la autopista M8 en los años ‘60. La primera interfaz ha sido transformada desde una barrera inhóspita a una que se convertirá en una fortaleza para una zona más amplia que el área en sí. La ruta existente era un ambiente hostil: oscuro, sucio, ruidoso e intimidante. El nuevo espacio público es significativamente más amplio que el anterior paso bajo nivel, unificado por una pieza fluida de resina roja que no restringe el uso a una simple ruta.


© 7N Architects


El espacio está iluminado por una cinta de 50 “flores” de aluminio coloreado, aleteando a través del espacio 8m sobre el suelo, estas guían al visitante a través de la ruta en un contraste deliberado con la solidez del hormigón. El Garscube Link ha sido bautizado como “Las Flores de Phoenix”, una referencia al antiguo Parque Phoenix, el cual una vez ocupó el terreno antes de la construcción de la autopista. El proyecto ganó el premio del Scottish Design Awards 2010 en la categoría “Best Future Building”.



© Dave Morris
© Dave Morris
© Dave Morris
© Dave Morris
© Dave Morris
© 7N Architects
© Dave Morris



"

Friday, 16 July 2010

gad weil: nature capitale

gad weil: nature capitale: "

image: gad weil



artist gad weil describes himself as a street artist, but he produces unqiue installations that aren’t like any

street art you have seen before. the artist’s latest piece over took a section of avenue des champs-elysees

in paris, covering the wide boulevard with grass and other plants. ‘nature capitale’ features 8,000 parcels

of agriculture covering over 3 hectares of land with 150,000 plants. the installation was in place for only

two days and was created in collaboration with landscape designer laurence medioni. young french

farmers angry about their falling incomes donated the plants, prudcing the artwork as a protest statement.

this latest champs-elysees piece comes 20 years after weil’s ‘la grand moisson’ for which he transformed

the same street into a wheat field.



http://www.gadweil.com





image: gad weil





image: gad weil





image: gad weil





image: gad weil





image: gad weil

"

Thursday, 15 July 2010

terreform + michael sorkin: new york city (steady) state

terreform + michael sorkin: new york city (steady) state: "



'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - future proposal





as part of venice biennale's international architecture exhibition this year, the U.S. pavilion

will showcase the work of seven architects and collectives who act independently as forces

for social change. curated by michael rooks of the high museum of art and jonathan solomon

of 306090 - workshopping: an american model for architectural practice consists of ground

breaking projects. each offer proactive solutions to critical, present-day problems through better

architectural design-from re-envisioning how cities can increase production of locally-grown food,

to providing engineering solutions to storm and flood disaster prevention, to transforming NYC

into a more eco-friendly city.



one of the projects that will be on display is 'new york city (steady) state' by new york based

non profit organization terreform led by architect michael sorkin.







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - current image





new york city (steady) state is a book and web publication project that
explores whether

new york city can become self-sufficient within its
political boundaries. intended as an alternative

master plan for the
city’s future, the study investigates the possibility for urban
self-reliance

in areas including food, energy, waste, water, air supply
and quality, manufacture, employment,

culture, health and transport. 
the project also seeks to provide a new standard for design

writing and
analysis on sustainability, one which is inseparable from and grounded
in a strong

awareness of the particularities of place, both social and
environmental.  new york city (steady)

state also provides a new model
for other cities to follow.







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - future proposal





terreform has spent the last several years working on an alternative
master plan for new york

city. its research grows from a single
predicate: it is possible for the city to become completely

self-sufficient within the five boroughs. the organization is devising a plan
in which the city’s

ecological footprint and its political footprint
are completely co-terminus.  the project includes

investigations of new
york city’s most relevant metabolisms, from food and energy to waste


and transportation. the purpose of the study is first to demonstrate
that this kind of radical

responsibility-taking is actually possible,
second to compile a catalogue of habits and technologies

that would
enable this, and finally to investigate the morphological and social
consequences for

the city.







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - current image





new york city (steady) state is not only a design manual, but it is a
design-driven argument

for a drastic reconfiguration of the way people
economize and handle their material resources.

current design guides
typically perpetuate models of sustainability that are too
discipline-specific,

too superficial and/or too divorced from context.
new york city (steady) state is a deep reflection

on the character of
sustainability and on current models for development and change. it
will provide

both a full catalogue of immediately practical solutions,
augmented by a theoretical text that will

look at the economics of
self-reliance and import substitution as a driver for this
transformation.

terreform increasingly sees the city as the logical
increment for resistance to environmental

and political degradation,
for realizing individual expression, as well as a key medium for taking


responsibility for the fate of the global environment. the project is
based on the idea that higher levels

of autonomy are crucial both for
the achievement of a sustainable future and for the democratic


character of cities.







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - future proposal





new york city (steady) state is thus a means of taking inventory for
cities currently relying

on and striving for more limited forms of
sustainability, a model for planning, a handbook

of techniques and a
speculation about synthesis. terreform advocates that this systemic,


integrated, large-scale master planning approach is exactly the type of
reorientation that

governments, planners, developers, architects,
engineers, designers and citizens urgently

need to consider.





'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - current image







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york -  houses becoming sustainable by using solar power, implementing

grey water tanks etc.







'new york city (steady) state', terreform + michael sorkin, new york - future proposal





terreform is a non-profit organization dedicated to researching forms
and practices of just

and sustainable architecture and urbanism.
founded in 2005 by michael sorkin, and located

in new york city,
terreform’s diverse group of urban designers undertake self-initiated


investigations into both local and global and serves as a resource for
community and other

organizations to support independent environmental
and planning initiatives.

"

Tuesday, 13 July 2010

Dingbat 2.0 Competition Winners

Dingbat 2.0 Competition Winners: "

Professional Winners / First Place

The winning and honorable mention entries from the Dingbat 2.0 Competition were announced at the LA Forum’s Dingbat 2.0 Exhibition opening on Saturday, June 19th, at LA Forum Events at Woodbury Hollywood. There were eight professional winners and five student winners selected from over 80 entries from 18 countries (number of ‘winners’ includes honorable mentions in both categories). The work of the thirteen winners is being exhibited at the Dingbat 2.0 Exhibition through July 24th.

All the winners and honorable mentions after the break. For complete descriptions of each project, click here.

Professional Winners:

First Place
Carmen C. Cham, James Black & Tyler Goss / Footprint / Los Angeles, CA:

The “Microparcelization” project advocates replacing Dingbats with small single-family homes on small lots, to be made possible by new mechanism for subdividing parcels, and to be promoted by an updated version of the Case Study House program. Dingbats were perfect for the zoning, economies, and construction practices of their time, but today they approach the end of their useful lifespan. Aging Dingbats are structurally and environmentally deficient. The Dingbat is the city’s least desirable multifamily housing typology; their nostalgic appeal tugs most strongly at architects themselves. Thousands can be replaced before we should get soft and start to miss them (read more…)

Second Place
Gary Paige, Nick Aho, Richard Lucero, Ping Ping Tan / Gary Paige/Studio / Los Angeles, CA:

In an age where the contemporary domestic landscape is defined by different lifestyles and living arrangements, and where the nuclear-family is being supplanted by the post-nuclear or extended family, conventional forms of housing such as the dingbat and suburban tract house are rapidly becoming outmoded, raising critical questions about new models of urban housing. Specifically, several questions emerge: How can contemporary and emerging forms of domesticity lead to strategies for producing programmatic identity and variation? What are ways of theorizing difference for a building type that’s often plagued by spatial uniformity and morphological sameness? And, how can we increase density yet at the same time amplify the resonance of spatial affect and experience (read more…)

Third Place (shared)
Liz Falletta / Los Angeles, CA:

Current market fundamentals indicate that real estate developers will not be rebuilding the Dingbat apartment en masse any time soon. While it may be feasible to build a new “stucco box” typology in wealthier neighborhoods during the next cycle, most Dingbats will have to make do with rehabilitation, substantial or otherwise, for the foreseeable future. Alternate solutions that allow Dingbats to more actively and sustainably serve their residents, their communities and the public realm will be required if Los Angeles is to meet the demands of its residential future (read more…)

Third Place (shared)
Caroline Filice Smith / Neceth / Spotsylvania, VA:

Honorable Mention
John Ferri AIA, Carolyn Matsumoto, Wilson Rodas, Takako Tajima / Los Angeles, CA:

DIG has created a portfolio of exceptional properties that responds to the diversity of southern California lifestyles. DIGWEHO is our newest residential community offering in the highly desirable City of West Hollywood. We have nine distinctive designs for you to explore. With a range of canonical expressions, flexible spatial configurations, efficient construction, and a sophisticated solution to parking ordinance requirements, DIG has redefined the multi-family property experience for all stakeholders (read more…)

Honorable Mention
Benjamin Luddy & Makoto Mizutani / Scout Regalia / Los Angeles, CA:

As a reinvention of the distinctively regional dingbat typology, our proposal seeks to maximize the quality of life for residents within the increasingly dense future of the City. “Dingbat Terrarium” is a new vision for multifamily housing in Los Angeles that embraces the utilitarian features of classic dingbats, while proposing creative solutions for a more livable model of rental housing in the City (read more…)

Honorable Mention
Ric. Abramson AIA, Daniel Ruiz, Van Pham, Chasen Rainey / Workplays studio*architecture / West Hollywood, CA:

Built for a car-centric society, the Dingbat no longer speaks to a 21st century Los Angeles in which the current expansion of mass transit and interest in a cleaner environment continue to push away from a car-based culture. Yet as a prototype for development, it does retain a specific legacy – the dingbat housing type enables a denser form of infill whose variants and multiplication result in a hyper-specific urban patterning (read more…)

Honorable Mention
Jeeyong An, Sang Hwa Lee, Ji Yoon Oh / Ginseng Chicken Architecture P.C. / New York, NY:

The Dingbat, which has long been a residential icon of the Los Angeles area, is direly in need of an update. Transportation and congestion are some of the greatest obstacles that Los Angeles faces today and the traditional Dingbat fails to respond to these problems in many ways. Not only has the limited capacity (6-8 households per building) proven insufficient in accommodating the rapidly increasing population and thus exacerbating already problematic sprawl, but the back-out parking spaces traversing the sidewalks create unfriendly and hazardous walking conditions for pedestrians making the already difficult journey to public transit even more of a challenge (read more…)

Student Winners:

First Place
The Choripans: Ignacio Barrios, Ariel Gualtruzzi, Delfina Prause, Mauro Aparo / Universidad Nacional del litoral / Santa Fe, Argentina:

Box decomposition to create a new spatiality, habitability, comfort, ventilation, lighting, preserving density. Parking lots: Relocation underneath the community street, to unify and reorder vehicular traffic within the block, avoiding its use as a vehicular access, restricting it to pedestrians-only. This way the street is provided with a new dynamic, encouraging community interaction. Its construction can be State funded, to later be maintained by a private company (read more…)

Second Place
Tim Norris / Arizona State University / Tempe, AZ:

Third Place
Ryan Lovett / Columbia University / New York, NY:

It is a place defined by its typological reinventiveness. As the inevitable forces requiring densification necessitated a kind of developer-driven, financially-dictated inventiveness which have yielded such guilty pleasure like the single family detached. From The detached single family house, the dingbat, there seems to be an evolutionary trend towards new typological invention (read more…)

Honorable Mention
Margaret M. Fain / Harvard University / Cambridge, MA:

Honorable Mention
Tommy Pniewski / Oxford Brookes University / Oxford, UK:

The Streets of LA turn to paradise. The new dingbat gives birth to flora creating a series of beautiful and unique skins visible from cars driving by the neighborhood. The street, formerly occupied by decorated shoe boxes, now emerges; a crowd of lined up sensual curves reminiscent of the Californian hills and the waves of its ocean. The radical and the exotic collide exposing the qualities of its nature and culture. The beauty of self expression is amplified in the skin of the city of angel’s new dingbats. L.A. dwellers are able to turn the floral skins of their dingbat to their own desired aesthetic landmark. Fitting for a city where, more than most, each person is trying to forge an identity , not being just another formless face in one of the world’s biggest centers of business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, technology and education (read more…)

"