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Images via Urban Sketchers
Nice "3D Sketches" by Gerard Michel from Urban Sketchers.
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Friday, September 25, 2009
The work of JR - 28 millimetres
JR is a French artist and photographer, whose work is based on the creation of large scale portraits that are then exhibited in streets all over the world. His work is a mix of art and activism and touches on the themes of involvement, freedom, identity and limitations.
From 28millimetres.com :
"The Women project wants to underline their pivotal role and to highlight their dignity by shooting them in their daily lives and posting them on the walls of their country."
From 28millimetres.com :
"The Women project wants to underline their pivotal role and to highlight their dignity by shooting them in their daily lives and posting them on the walls of their country."
Image via JR-ArtThis part of the project takes place in Kenya, South-Sudan, Sierre-Leone, Liberia:
"The violence suffered by women there is the extreme expression of discrimination. The ethnic wars in Africa are a source of the worst crimes on women. When meeting them, JR wants to testify of their force, their courage and their noble struggle: first to live, then to exist."
Below is a "making of" video of the project, which really shows the impact the project has on the community.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Poundbury failing?
Photo via the Guardian. Photographer: Tim Graham/Corbis SygmaAn article in the Guardian from last month seems to point to an increasing amount of difficulties at Poundbury in Dorset. Poundbury is the incarnation of Prince Charles’ views on architecture and planning and tries to emulate the traditional English village. It is characterized by its New Urbanist inspirations and traditional architecture.
I visited Poundbury last year and the place really struck a chord with me for some reason, however this article appears to suggest that seven years on from the completion of the first stage, many residents are growing unhappy with their town. Many appear to be unhappy with the building quality of their homes and horror stories of collapsing roofs due to bad insulation and damp and cracked walls surely points to a real problem in the quality of workmanship.
However, this is not the only issue, the article then goes on to describe that the choice of gravel to cover the footpaths is a particular problem: cats use it as toilets, flip flop wearing is now excruciatingly painful, and it is impossible to clear from snow in the winter. Parks and pavements too become smelly if dog owners do not pick up after their pets, flip flops and gravel may not be best suited but come on!; and considering none of the areas intended for heavy car use and snowplows in particular are graveled, most of these issues appear to be nitpicking. The network of alleyways that aims to make the town more pedestrian friendly also seem to be causing problems as can be seen in this quote:
"I find them really scary and dangerous. They're great in the day but at night the kids come and bang on the door and then run off down them. I'm frightened to walk them by myself at night." She darts back into her house as a group of young men with a box of beer walks past on the way to the park.
I don’t consider myself to be menace to society, but I too happen to sometimes walk back from the shops with a box of beer, I am even some times armed with a French stick. May I also suggest that kids knocking on doors and running away, although a pain in the rear may in fact be a sign that these places are actually pretty livable. Perhaps keeping a pretty powerful pump action water pistol by the door would be a solution but I might also suggest that this person tries to get out a bit more.
One important issue that was raised however, was the appearance of a “them and us “ divide between the new residents of Poundbury and the original town of Dorchester. Perhaps this was to be expected with Poundbury attracting an entirely new demographic.
With a survey by the Oxford Brooks University finding that 86% of the residents of Poundbury were glad they moved there, the journalists may have just been trying to justify their trip to Poundbury.
Urban illustrations by Jessie Douglas
Jessie Douglas is a young British illustrator from Plymouth whose work centers a lot on the urban environment. She herself claims a particular interest in "the grunge and grime of the urban environment".
I find the composition of the sketches and her use of mixed media really remarkable. Be sure to check out her blog and website where you can admire her sketchbooks and also order some prints.
Thanks to Jess for letting me use her images on the blog.
Ecological Children Activity and Education Center
If you are ever in the Gulf of Thailand and if you are fortunate enough (read both meanings), you could enjoy a stay at the Soneva Kiri 6 star hotel resort on the Koh Kood Island. I guess the 6 star rating speaks for itself but the resort is magnificent but just as importantly, the aspirations for its buildings were to combine impeccable design with high ecological ambition.
Image via Archdaily
The Children Activity and Learning Centre of the resort is particularly inspiring. It provides an Auditorium and Cinema for lectures, films and play, a library, Art room, music room as well as a fashion Room. The content of the den is designed to stimulate the children’s creativity, as well as educating them on certain ecological and cultural issues. Many of the books in the library look at permaculture and local Tai culture.
Image via Archdaily
The ecological and local approach obviously carries through in the choice of building materials. Both the structure and roof are made form local Thai bamboo and the interior is made form local plantation River Red Gum and rattan structural elements make up the inner domes. The open design helps reduce energy consumption, by allowing natural sunlight and natural airflow to penetrate through the building. The roof also cantilevers up to 8m and provides shade and protection from the heavy rains.
Image via Archdaily
The manta ray shape of the building also seems particularly well suited to its context: a rocky slope facing the sea. It really shows that the design team had a lot of fun with this project and no doubt the children it is designed for will too.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Space Invader
Invader is a french street artist, who's work consists of invading the streets with tile mosaics inspired by the video game of the late 70's.
Invader translates the pixelized design of the video game into the real world in mosaic form. Since 1998 the invasion has spread to the whole world from Paris to New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles and as far as Mombasa, Kenya.
Each mosaic or invasion is photographed and it's location plotted on a map for reference on the space invader website. The invasion sites are chosen for their symbolic or busy location or in the case of Montpellier, so that the invasion sites themselves depict an invader when plotted on a map.
The artist remains anonymous, but has just given an interview for the opening of a new gallery exhibition.
National Tourist Routes Norway
I have already touched on the Norwegian National Tourists Routes when I blogged about the Aurland lookout, nonetheless this subject deserves another entry. Norway has some of the most majestic scenery in the world, from fjords to rolling highland tundra and rocky beaches covering 25,000 kilometers of coastline. One way tourists can experience the richness of the country is to take a series of scenic drives through these landscapes.
Several years back the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPA) looked to enhance this road network and make the experience of driving the scenic routes even more fulfilling. Together with the Architectural Council for the National Tourist Route Project, the NPRA looked to create unique, high quality experiences by combining the landscape with creative architectural projects.
::Photo via VisitNorway
::Photo via VisitNorway
:: Photo via Turistveg.no
According to VisitNorway.com, as of today there are 6 completed National Tourist Routes but by 2016 there will be a total of 18. These routes lead tourists to the fjords, the coasts, mountains and waterfalls and the journey is punctuated by architectural wonders that compliment and highlight the natural surroundings.From the Norwegian Trade Portal:
"In addition to these aesthetic niceties, practical tourist needs have been taken into account with the installation of car parks with capacity for summer traffic, pull-off and scenic points that allow travellers to fully appreciate their journey, picnic areas, overnight parking, hotels, restaurants – in effect, everything that you would want on a journey through the scenic wonderland of Norway."
The most recent addition to the National Tourist Routes is a lookout by Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter.
:: Image via ArchDaily
From the website:
:: Image via ArchDaily"The project will enhance the experience of the Trollstigen plateau’s location and nature. Thoughtfulness regarding features and materials will underscore the site’s temper and character, and well-adapted, functional facilities will augment the visitor’s experience. The architecture is to be characterised by clear and precise transitions between planned zones and the natural landscape. Through the notion of water as a dynamic element –from snow, to running and then falling water- and rock as a static element, the project creates a series of prepositional relations that describe and magnify the unique spatiality of the site."
:: Image via ArchDaily
:: Image via ArchDailyFuture additions to the National Tourists Routes by Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter are available in the work section of their website.
Animal Wall
A 50m dividing wall by Gitta Gschwendtner in Cardiff Bay, doubles up as a home for up to 1000 birds and bats. The wall acts as a divider between a residential development and the water front in Century Wharf. It was commissioned by Charles Church Developments because of concern over the depletion of the natural bird habitat in the Cardiff Bay area.
The wall offers a choice of different sized homes made out of woodcrete (a mixture of wood and concrete). Nesting should begin next spring and it is expected to house a wide variety of bats, starlings, sparrows and blue and gray tits.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Park City - William McDonough & Edward McMahon
Two distinguished key speakers from the Park City green infrastructure conference by CABE and Natural England held in March 2009. From CABE's sustainable cities website:
"William McDonough, author of Cradle to Cradle, spoke on the ecology of urban design. McDonough sees a world of abundance – it is a question of using it in ways that allows it to last. He wants to celebrate human creativity, instead of bemoaning our activities."
"Edward McMahon is credited as being the founding father of green infrastructure. He argues that we have to see green space as a necessity rather than an amenity."
"William McDonough, author of Cradle to Cradle, spoke on the ecology of urban design. McDonough sees a world of abundance – it is a question of using it in ways that allows it to last. He wants to celebrate human creativity, instead of bemoaning our activities."
Friday, September 4, 2009
Laneway Housing
Laneway housing is a micro-housing concept from Vancouver. It is an infill housing scheme that takes advantage of the extensive lane network found behind many Vancouver homes. A change in municipal legislation now authorizes homeowners to transform their laneway garages into rental housing.
An estimated 70,000 lots across the city are eligible to transform their garages into small, attractive efficient houses of up to 46 square meter (500 feet) homes and 1 and a half stories high.
LaneFab is a new company born from the collaboration of Mat Turner,a carpenter, and Bryn Davidson, a designer. LaneFab offers different layouts for one bed or two bed houses with parking or garage options for one or two cars. The typical house is between 500 and 800 square feet and costs about $130,000 including the demolition of the existing structure and could generate just over $10,000 in revenue.
LaneFab is not the only company that specializes in Laneway housing with the company Smallworks also offering a Laneway Loft House solution complete with a greenroof amongst others.
Lanefab argues laneway housing has the potential, through a combination of efficiency and upgrades to the adjacent home’s existing fixtures, to actually reduce a given home’s environmental impact. Development across an entire block or a city could produce significant environmental improvements.
“If we want to do anything about climate change or peak oil at a big picture level, individual green houses won’t do anything for us, but if we can do small infill dwellings in walkable, transit-accessible neighborhoods, then I think it’s really about as good a thing as you can do if you’re going to be building” Davidson says.
Lanefab argues laneway housing has the potential, through a combination of efficiency and upgrades to the adjacent home’s existing fixtures, to actually reduce a given home’s environmental impact. Development across an entire block or a city could produce significant environmental improvements.
“If we want to do anything about climate change or peak oil at a big picture level, individual green houses won’t do anything for us, but if we can do small infill dwellings in walkable, transit-accessible neighborhoods, then I think it’s really about as good a thing as you can do if you’re going to be building” Davidson says.
Array - United Visual Artists
United Visual Artists are a British-based collective whose current practice spans permanent architectural installation, live performance and responsive installation. Their 'Array' installation is a field of columns set in the courtyard of the Chuya Nakahara Memorial Museum in Southern Japan.
From their website: "The columns create a field of light and sound which gently shifts in response to the viewers’ movements, via a hidden network of ultrasonic sensors. Each column is lit by a pure, shimmering white light. This forest of light calls you in, and its response to your movement invites you to explore. Inside the grid lives a spirit, in the form of a single pure red light. This spirit is timid but often playful, revealing itself boldly then disappearing."
The installation is a really interesting way of getting people to interact with space and uses of all of their senses. It must be pretty cool when it is pitch black and you only have the noise and the lights to guide you through this "forest".
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Luxigon
I am a sucker for flashy 3d renderings and architectural graphics and Paris based Luxigon is a an architectural visualization company that is pretty good at it.
The Cove Follow Up
A few weeks ago I posted the trailer to the film The Cove. An article by Richard O'Barry of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, on the Take Part website linked to the official Cove website, now describes how the film has helped put an end to dolphin killing at the cove in Taiji, Japan. The article is available here.
Trees as Building Materials?
Architects at the University of Stuttgart are researching the elasticity of trees and how they can grow around steel supports with the idea of that they could be used as a natural building material.
Their "baubotanical" tower is 9 meters high and has a base of 8 square meters. The structure is made up of hundreds of white willows, which at the moment are supported by a metal scaffolding. The scaffolding is expected to be removed in 8 to 10 years, when the willow should be able to support itself and 3 metal platforms.
Should these methods be successful, trees could be used to build towers, platforms or bridges like those erected by the War-Khasis people in the Meghalaya forests of India.
By guiding the roots of rubber trees they are able to build bridges that span over 30 meters and which can hold the weight of up to 50 people. Because the bridges are living, they grow gradually stronger over time and can even repair themselves.
