lipstick on a pig

Treehugger's quote of the day, features Germaine Greer's recent Guardian article about what she viewed as ugly eco housing - a search for a new aesthetic? Hopefully.

The builders of eco-houses accept as a given the basic shape and dropsical proportions of the two-storey suburban villa, with pitched roofs, end gables, front porch, picture windows, chimneys, and so forth. This may be because local planning authorities demand that they be "in keeping", even though there is little aesthetic merit in what they are expected to be in keeping with

corrected post - previous made reference to Germaine Greer as a "he" sincere apologies

Guardian's article "Why are architects' websites so badly designed?"

old school green roofs

Emilio Ambasz design for Fukuoka's Tenjin Central Park with a terraced building covered in gardens constructed more than a decade ago.

them vs us??

A Sci-Arc proposal with odd real-world references to indentured labour, found on elseplace - a new blog by Orhan Ayyüce

I was the guest editor for archinect's Opinion Editorial no.1 please have a read.

HdM (Swiss Architects Herzog de Meuron) have brought some well needed elegance to their proposal for the extension to the Tate Modern in London. The previous imagery for the project was a stocky translucent "appendage" to the Tates original brick facade. The design has developed taking cues from the building's history and the architects' experience in museum building and environmental focus.

more and even more

Big Up!!

A sincere congratulations to some fellow architects & bloggers for the recent mention in the 2008 Wallpaper* directory Front Office and Super Collosal

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blog wunderlust: 17 July 2008

Marmol Radziner prefab video | architecture is like sushi | Corbusian contradictions? | Louvre break ground on Islamic gallery | Gehry's Serpentine | Don't blame Zaha | Jorn Utzon - a photoset

and now for something completely different...a new way to turn women on!!

Design Your Dwelling

What does it mean to feel at home in the modern world? Dwell & Google SketchUp challenge you to explore what this means to you in the "Design Your Dwelling."

Most people define their home as a place where they feel comfortable and secure. But what does that actually look like? What would make it personal to you? Is it scale, materials, sustainability, environment? Only you know for sure. Entry period is July 3-August 31, 2008.

twist of fate

On June 2008, Alain Robert popularised as Spiderman, scaled the recently completed New York Times Building protesting amongst other things Global Warming. The 52 story tower in Manhattan by Renzo Piano and FXFOWLE, is one of the greenest buildings in the city, wrapped with a brise soleil to minimize solar gain. Ironically, the sunscreens were used by Roberts and two subsequent climbers as ladders, and subsequently are being removed from the lower portion of the building, thus minimizing its solar protection and energy efficiency.

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Cameron Sinclair Interview

CNN sheds some light on Architecture for Humanity, with an interview with co-founder Cameron Sinclair

Peter Stutchbury wins the first prize for an extreme housing competition in Cherepovets, Russia. The competition was Living Steel's 3rd International Architecture Competition for Sustainable Housing, which presented architects with the task of creating single-family, detached housing that are both affordable and environmentally sustainable.

more via Bustler