blog wunderlust : 28 February 2010

the simplest things can evoke the deepest feelings, The silence in great music is often more profound that the sounds

Rick Joy

Drawing all the buildings in New York | Full Exposure: ultracool glass houses | Stylish and sustainable treetop home | Beauty and the Industrial City | NYC’s First Zero Energy School | the 6 defining characteristics of Co-housing | Making the World a Better Place Through Design | Recycling Worries And Some Fantastic Things

The blog wunderlust is a weekly round up summarizing the architectural highlights, news and web links, that don't otherwise fit the format of this blog. If you have any to share feel free to drop me an email

QuaDror modular detail

QuaDror from Dror on Vimeo.

A multifunctional joint that gives can provide structure and a variety of modular designs
via deezine4life

on the boards: Heart of Budapest

As part of a city development programme called the ’Heart of Budapest’, the city held a design competition in 2008 for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and expansion of the Budapest City Hall. Spora Architects 141,000m² proposed scheme uses a contemporary architectural expression whilst maintaining strict adherence of the national heritage for the restoration of the existing baroque city hall building.

house of the week 104: Villa K

Located at the very end of Tagadert Berber, a traditional village in Marrakesh, Villa K by Studio Ko was designed with respect towards its landscape. Echoing the old surrounding houses, the enigmatic earth block volumes site create a subtle contrast to the planes of the land.

blog wunderlust : 21 February 2011

Architects are not in competition with each other. We are all in competition with mediocrity

Gregg Pasquarelli

Architecture? We have an app for that | Community Activists: Rising from the Ashes | How to hire the right architect | El Lissitzky, Ivan Leonidov and the Russian utopias | Next generation architectural talent | Chicago ranks first in US LEED-certified buildings | LEED – A Caribbean Architect’s Perspective | MAP, PLAT & other archi-zines

MAKE presents: Reuben Margolin

MAKE presents the techno-kinetic wave sculptures of Bay Area visionary and longtime maker Reuben Margolin. Manufactured from wood to cardboard to found and salvaged objects the sculptures emulate the elegant and hypnotic motions of nature.

Neues Museum by David Chipperfield

The Neues Museum newly restored by David Chipperfield, originally built in the mid-nineteenth century, has been in ruins since the end of the Second World War. Its rebuilding is the last of the restoration projects on the city's Museum Island.

World Monuments Watch

Launched in 1996 and issued every two years, the World Monuments Watch calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster. The 2012 Watch continues this tradition, click the banner to nominate a site in your area.

Greg Lynn on calculus in architecture

Greg Lynn talks about the mathematical roots of architecture -- and how calculus and digital tools allow modern designers to move beyond the traditional building forms useing a church in Queens and a titanium tea set illustrate his thoughts.

on the boards: Florence Square

Florence Square is a proposed 10,000m² urban piazza and underground parking in the town of Fez designed by Paris based architects Mikou Design Studio. The square is defined by the strong axis of the main boulevard and seeks to create an urban presence with symbolic architectural elements to foster dialogue between cultures.

on the boards: Issam Fares Institute

Architects Office dA is designing the Issam Fares Institute, a 2,800m²building for the School of Public Policy and International Affairs in Beirut. The performance, identity, and ethos of the building emerges from the philosophy for which it serves & as a centre for interdisciplinary research, and will accommodate a conference area, an auditorium, a reading room, and offices for faculty and administration.

on the boards: Grand Egyptian Museum

The competition in 2002 for the design of the Grand Egyptian Museum was the largest architectural competition in history. Loos Architects contribution was an anonymous extrusion of stone hollowed-out with quasi-urban qualities inside determined by cosmic apparitions - sunset, sunrise, the moon - as well as the city of Cairo and the pyramids.

house of the week 103: Villa K

The 1500m² residence by architects Cell Space is set amongst a stand of trees in Nagano, Japan. Split over four levels the house is connected by an ascending spiral stair with the inner spaces highlighted sunlight from the roof.

house of the week 102: forest guard's house

In the Åkulla beech forest east of Varberg, Sweden lies a cottage for the forest guard designed by architects In Praise of Shadows. The austere facade of tarred wood is broken to create a line of sight through the building to an almost mystical view over the lake. The palette of environmentally conscious materials of in situ concrete, zinc and teak, and the language of the details suggests a structure that aims to grow old and beautiful with its surroundings.

new work ::: Kindergarten in El Porvenir

Designed by architect Giancarlo Mazzanti the kindergarten is situated in the impoverished area of Bogota, Colombia called El Porvenir. Finished in 2009, the mostly white complex is defined by dual exterior walls, the first contains playgrounds with public areas, the other one a complex of multifunctional kindergarten buildings. Within the simplicity and directness of the forms, spaces for excitement and drama are created.

new work ::: Sauna for All

Built on an abandoned concrete platform, located only a few dozen metres away from a popular public beach and promenade in Liberec, Czech Republic. The sauna designed by Mjolk Architects, is free to the public and is accessible by row boat available from a nearby café, where keys and firewood are available.

blog wunderlust : 14 February 2011

Happy Valentine's Day

China to create largest mega city in the world with 42 million people | Rethinking an 18th-Century Square | Bjarke Ingels reinvents the New York apartment building | Common Misconceptions of Minimalism | Downtown Skyscraper for the Digital Age | A tent city 'Freedom Motel'in Tahrir Square | Geography X: architecture of consequence

Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture

How can architects build a new world of sustainable beauty? By learning from nature. At TEDSalon in London, Michael Pawlyn of Exploration Architecture describes three habits of nature that could transform architecture and society: radical resource efficiency, closed loops, and drawing energy from the sun.

too important not to share

Spirit of Space ::: South Pond Pavilion

Spirit of Space captured the pavilion designed by Studio Gang as it took shape by documenting the entire construction process on film from beginning to completion to public use.

house of the week 101:Westside Residence

Designed for and by architect Jamie Darnell (el dorado), for himself and his family, the spartan residence combines a palette of durable materials of concrete, corrugated copper, laminated timber and ipe decking into a form that is both dynamic yet respects the scale of the context.

landscape ::: New Intercontinental

Landscape Architect Thomas Balsley has recently completed a courtyard for the new Intercontinental Hotel in Times Square. The unique and private, 1,500 ft² vest-pocket landscape acts as a backdrop to the reception area peered through a window and evokes the tranquil sensibility of the rock karesansui gardens of Japan.

The courtyard for the Intercontinental is designed to oxygenate the hotel, both literally and figuratively. It offers a visual and spiritual retreat to the hotel’s travelers and guests as they retreat from the city’s bustle.

Thomas Balsley

blog wunderlust : 07 February 2011

Planning is thinking beforehand how something is to be made or done, and mixing imagination with the product – which in a broad sense makes all of us planners. The only difference is that some people get a license to get paid for thinking and the rest of us just contribute our good thoughts to our fellow man.

Paul Revere Williams

Architecture News: Letter from the Caribbean | home sweet home, again | shop @ Andrew Maynard Architects | treading lightly - Jamaica | an essay on the ridiculous way architects talk | the architect's head | A Danish Architect brings his mountain-making ideas to New York | the 7 roles of the urban street tree

The blog wunderlust is a weekly round up summarizing the architectural highlights, news and web links, that don't otherwise fit the format of this blog. If you have any to share feel free to drop me an email

house of the week 100: Bequia House

Designed by Jake Edgley (Edgely Design) the holiday home is located on a steep forested hillside on the Caribbean island of Bequia. Inspired by traditional Moroccan courtyard houses, where a series of intimate spaces surround water, providing shelter from the sun throughout the day and cooling humidity from the pool creates a sequence of spaces from a delicate balcony entrance suspended high over the treetops.

more via Wallpaper magazine

The New Orleans Corner Store

If such a seamless resolution of form and use and construction is something we expect of a [building] type, then what are we to do with those crazy corner stores, corner bars, corner restaurants? Seen all over New Orleans (outside the French Quarter and the CBD), they form an easily recognizable family. Resolved, they are not.

Tim Culvahouse in an essay for the Design Observer investigates the architecture and street presence of the humble but social corner store and its role in the restoration of the city of New Orleans.

Installation ::: Botox Cloud

The conceptual and interdisciplinary design agency, SAQ has developed an interactive modular installation that mimics the complexity of clouds & weather patterns. The installation is made of paper models that are cut and folded in certain ways, much like 3-dimensional jigsaw puzzle that visually engages the users of the space. This project is an ongoing research by SAQ into architectural pluralism using design as a device to understand the complexities in our surrounding world.