Architects Hawking Cars

Flipping through October's Architectural Digest, "The Architecture Issue," a couple advertisements stood out, each using architecture and architects to sell cars.

The first is a two-page spread for Lexus, its HS Hybrid sitting in front of a Richard Meier sketch of his "much-anticipated Italcementi Innovation and Technology Central Laboratory" in northern Italy. The fairly ho-hum sketch is accompanied by text that boasts the lab "will be built of TX Active concrete that will 'eat' smog and significantly reduce pollution caused by car emissions and industrial activities." Not surprisingly the pollution-mitigating cement was developed by Italcementi and tried out on Meier's Jubilee Church in Rome. The ad's text further states that the other features of Meier's building (insulated low-e glass, geothermal, solar energy systems) will supposedly "provide close to total energy self-sufficiency."



The second ad is one of those "special advertising sections" laid out like a magazine feature, fooling us into reading the content as if it didn't exist solely to sell a product. Across four pages the reader is shown the winners of Maserati's 2009 "nationwide call for entries of garages in which a Maserati might feel at home." Most of the photos are of the existing garage winner, Holger Schubert of Archisis (the other winner, in the conceptual category is shown in the gray box at bottom right). The 1,200sf (111sm) garage is the first of five for the L.A. architect's canyonside residence; it literally looks like a home for the car. A bridge gives access to the glass-walled garage. Features inside include radiant concrete floors, mechanically operated window screens, a library with homasote walls, some designer furniture and a ramp that raises six inches to allow Schubert to pull out of the garage without starting the engine. The top-right image shows that not only does the architect give the car a view he also gives onlookers a view of his car.



That architecture and architects are being used to sell cars does not surprise me; it is something I documented in 2005. Nor am I taken aback that it is done in these manners. Design and its relationships to the environment, in the first case, and luxury, in the second, are shared by both the building and car industries. And, while further differences between the two ads include the celebrity stature of one architect and the relative lack of name recognition of the other, they share a certain optimism about the future of architecture and cars. Sustainability, creativity and a drive (pardon the pun) to improve our situation links these two realms. Now if only architects could be paired up in advertising with bicycles or public transportation.

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Three Educational Buildings in New York, Texas and Louisiana.

This week's book review is On Architecture by Fred Rush.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

polis
An offshoot of the dearly departed Where. (added to sidebar under blogs::urban)

Reimagining Boston's stalled projects
"The Globe's Casey Ross asked some local artists and architects to reimagine [some] stalled projects and come up with ideas to make them part of the city's culture again."

MAP
"MAP (Manual of Architectural Possibilities) is a publication of research and visions; research into territories, which can be concrete or abstract, but always put into question."

Swiss by Design
A podcast interview with Peter Zumthor, from World Radio Switzerland.

Book Review: Pendulum Plane

Pendulum Plane: Oyler Wu Collaborative by Oyler Wu Collaborative, edited by Todd Gannon
L. A. Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, 2009
Paperback, 96 pages



At a 2008 panel discussion on The Future of Architectural Publishing, one response to a question from an audience member, "What do you know doesn't work?," was "books on individual buildings." Luckily another one of the panelists countered this position, pointing out the past successes of some book-length case studies on single buildings. I say luckily because I'm a big fan of books that document, present, analyze and critique one building; I agree that they can work well. A magazine article, a portion of a monograph, or a blog post are comparatively lacking in respect when compared to the huge effort of designing and constructing a building. In that sense, this pamphlet-size case study for Oyler Wu Collaborative's small-scale storefront intervention for the LA Forum's new headquarters on Hollywood Boulevard is just the right size: small like the project itself, but big enough to convey the multitude of ideas present in the project.

Architects Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu won a 2008 two-stage competition with a proposal that falls somewhere between the spatial fullness and serene bouyancy of the other two finalists, F-lab and Kuth/Ranieri, according to Mohamed Sharif's introduction. The winning design proposes an intervention that inhabits the ceiling and acts as an armature for exhibition displays, important given that the Hollywood Boulevard space is shared with the Woodbury School of Architecture. This occurs via a hinging of the aluminum pipe structure, one of the many aspects of the design and construction documented here with sketches, models, renderings, architectural drawings, and photographs. A conversation between Wes Jones and Oyler and Wu, and an essay by Todd Gannon round out the information packed into the book's 96 pages. Gannon's essay is particularly insightful, situating the design within the historical de-emphasis of the ceiling in favor of vertical surfaces, walls of glass and other materials.

The complex, alien-like intervention appears to be generated within a computer environment, especially given the renderings that accompanied the drawings in the competition boards. But the models and sketches complicate this assumption, one that is deflated in the conversation with Wes Jones, where Oyler and Wu situate the physical models above the virtual ones in terms of importance in shaping the design. Here the computer's presence is in realizing the armature's complex but repeating forms, whose bent corners simplify construction (fewer complicated and time-consuming aluminum welds) but also give the piece its particular presence: a dense overlay of lines and curves, ever-changing and challenging our preconceptions about what an architectural intervention should be.

The intervention fits into Oyler Wu's portfolio alongside two other aluminum installations (one at SCI-Arc, where they both teach, and one at Materials & Applications) that predate Pendulum Plane. These investigations activate their respective environments in similar yet unique ways, using structure to create a canopy, stairs and a ceiling, architectural elements typically constructed of planar materials. The most recent design throws the kinetic into the mix, extending the effects of the previous projects but making one hope this isn't the last we've seen of Oyler Wu's aluminum experiments.

Today's archidose #356

Cascais, Casa das Histórias e Desenhos Paula Rego. Eduardo Souto de Moura, originally uploaded by z.z.

Casa das Histórias e Desenhos Paula Rego in Cascais, Portugal by Eduardo Souto de Moura, 2008.

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Art Books NYC

Here's a couple of art book happenings in NYC.



The NY Art Book Fair takes place next weekend, October 2-4 at PS1. The free event is organized by Printer Matter, "the world's greatest source for artists' publications." The Fair hosts over 200 international presses, booksellers, antiquarian dealers, and independent artist/publishers, including architecturally minded publishers D.A.P., PIN-UP, and Princeton Architectural Press.


[Gagosian Shop | image source]

Last week saw the opening of the Gagosian Shop at 988 Madison Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The ground floor space designed by Daniel Rowen Architects with MN Design displays the numerous art books, posters, prints and other wares in a sparse environment resembling the Gagosian galleries elsewhere in town.

Literary Dose #40

"'[Ric Scofidio] and I typically argue a lot,' [Liz Diller] says.
'Yes,' he says.
'We kind of beat each other up. He has his ideas, I have my ideas, and I think my ideas are better than his.'
[...]
'Early in our relationship, we really pushed it many times to be on [sic] the breaking point,' he remembers. 'I mean really be on [sic] the breaking point, and then 20 minutes later we're back together and everything was fine. And I think that that has enabled us to be totally brutal and honest with each other.'"

- "Portrait of a Working Marriage" in FLYP Issue 35, which features a couple videos with DS+R and an audio interview with FHL co-founder Robert Hammond.

Walls for Learning

Digging around the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs website a few days ago, I came across a "Percent for Art" project from 1994 by Allan and Ellen Wexler for Public School 340 in the Bronx. The simply titled Drawing P.S. 340 is a "112 foot (34 m) wall mural [that] presents various floor plans and detailed construction drawings based on the actual architectural plans for the school, ... elevation drawings of the hallway and variously scaled maps that situate the school in the community, city, and country. "


[Drawing P.S. 340 by Allan and Ellen Wexler | image source]

Further explanation indicates: "The artwork is intended to provide students with a schematic overview of the new school and an opportunity for architectural study. "


[Drawing P.S. 340 by Allan and Ellen Wexler | image source]

A few things come to mind seeing this mural. First, the hallway would be quite unremarkable without it. The design is otherwise a tile base, painted doors and frames, and a drop ceiling. Second, even though the mural is only 15 years old, it seems even more anachronistic, given that blueprints are no longer used by architects. Even when I worked in an architectural office in high school, making prints in the ammonia-filled backroom, the prints were bluelines (blue on white) not blueprints (white on blue).

Third and lastly, this makes me wonder how effective architectural drawings are in helping people -- children or adults -- understand space and construction. Does the drawing teach as much as, say, an actual cut-away or mock-up of a wall, something made from the actual materials of the school? Probably not, but a drawing is also a lot cheaper (the percent for art is only 1% of the construction budget after all) and easier to modify over time (I wonder if this installation is still in place). As much as I'm for educating people about architecture, space, wayfinding, construction, etc., questions of how that happens should always be at the fore.

Today's archidose #355

Abbey Mills Pumping Station F, originally uploaded by suburbanslice.

Abbey Mills Pumping Station in Stratford, East London by Allies and Morrison, 1997.

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Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Lake Travis Retreat near Austin, Texas by Dick Clark Architecture.

This week's book review is Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion, Architecture with essays by Jill Gasparina, Taro Igarashi, and Olivier Saillard.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

Arch Tracker
" Tracking architecture around the globe." (added to sidebar under blogs::architecture)

Cultural Conversations
"New York architect Victoria Meyers presents discussions about culture and life as experienced in the American landscape." (added to sidebar under blogs::culture)

New Urbanism Blog
The blog of 180° Urban Design. (added to sidebar under blogs::urban)

Public Information Exchange
"An initiative of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects ... designed to create an archive of NYC projects, proposals, programs and exhibitions presented or discussed at the Center for Architecture." (added to sidebar under architectural links::new york city)

3SIXØ Architecture BLOG
"A Public Sketchbook." (added to sidebar under blogs::offices)

Today's archidose #354

fisheye-01, originally uploaded by ZapGun on Flickr.

The Dune House in Torrão do Lameiro, Portugal by ZapGun, 2008. Many more pics are available in ZapGun's flickr set on the house.

To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

:: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or
:: Tag your photos archidose

AE17: Rampscape

In honor of today's start of the 2009 ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo in Chicago, here's a discovered "architectural element" that skillfully combines an access ramp and landscape elements, what I'm calling a rampscape.



The rampscape is located at the Tenth Avenue entrance to the Desmond Tutu Center at The General Theological Seminary in Chelsea, which I noticed on the same excursion as when I saw the Sales Tin. The landscape architect is Quennell Rothschild & Partners. The rampscape is perpendicular to the path of travel to the entrance via stairs. A slope of less than or equal to 1:20 means the ramp does not require handrails. A bench and plantings are located on the equivalent of the landing, corten steel defines the outer edges, and plantings and a stone wall sit between the two runs of ramp.



A surprise element is the fountain running down the middle of the center planting bed. It reminds me of the garden at the Querini Stampalia Foundation in Venice designed by Carlo Scarpa, though Rothschild's design and detailing pales in comparison. Even something as small as matching the mortar to the stone would have helped a great deal here; the off-white color calls attention to the sloppy crafstmanship (I cropped the worst part, the drain and uplight in the fountain's basin). Nevertheless this makes me realize I'd love to see more treatments of ramps as more than ADA requirements and with landscaping integrated into them.

Book Review: Extreme Architecture

Extreme Architecture: Building in Challenging Environments by Ruth Slavid
Laurence King Publishers, 2009
Hardcover, 208 pages



The term "extreme architecture" immediately brings to mind architecture that is formally aggressive, such as Deconstructivist architecture by the likes of Coop Himmelb(l)au. But for author Ruth Slavid it equals "extreme environments" and the architecture that responds to them. Her survey of close to fifty projects is divided into five sections (Hot, Cold, High, Wet, Space) that delineate the extremes architects must respond to. The selection ranges from variations on the vernacular to far-fetched proposals that seem to exist only to push the envelope by pushing the limits of human existence. What is constant is Slavid's exemplary writing, descriptive and informative to be sure, but also able to hold the reader's interest project after project. Be it a school for a poor community, a ski jump, a floating house, or even a dirigible, Slavid's perspective on how the architecture responds to its conditions is consistent, not seduced by the fastastical nature of the most extreme of the extreme.

A few projects in the book that have been featured on my web pages include the Primary School in Burkina Faso by Diébédo Francis Kéré (Hot), the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway by Peter W. Søderman/Barlindhaug Consult (Cold), and the SkiBox Portillo in Chile by Del Río-Núñez Architects (High). At the beginning of these and the other entries, Slavid provides consistent data (height above sea level, average annual rainfall, average high and low temperatures) as a means of comparison. One can see, for example, that the SkiBox is about 8,500 feet higher than the school in Burkina Faso, with over 20 feet more precipitation annually. So even though the environments of these buildings are extreme relative to mid-range places like Western Europe or the American Midwest, they are even more extreme compared each other. It's certainly not surprising to see such different approaches to building for these two examples, and many others. Materials, openings, forms, functions and other defining factors vary dramatically from pole to pole, be it hot to cold or underwater to outer space.

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