RIP - Ricardo Legoretta

1931 - 2011, acclaimed Mexican architect Ricardo Legoretta was highly regarded for the fusion of modernism and tradition. A noted pupil of famed architect Luis Barragán, Legoretta was awarded the coveted UIA Gold Medal in 1999 and most recently the Praemium Imperiale earlier this year. Some of his notable works include the Camino Real hotel in Mexico City, the Latino Cultural Centre and the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose both in the United States. Read the obituary here

Carlo SCARPA - BRION Tomb

After the passing of Giuseppe Brion, founder of Brion Vega, his wife Onorina, commissioned architect Carlo Scarpa to design a monumental tomb in San Vito d'Altivole next to a little cemetery.

Great Spaces - Season 1 Ep.2: Brooklyn Bridge

Episode two of "Great Spaces" takes us back in time to the Brooklyn Bridge. One of the most iconic pieces of New York City architecture, the Bridge connects Manhattan and Brooklyn with one of the most beautiful bridge designs in the world.

Call for Entries ::: Reggae Poster Contest

The First International Reggae Poster Contest 2012 is open for entries for our 2012 edition, The Reggae Poster Contest 2012 from December 26 2011 until March 30 2012. The aim of the contest is to continue to build awareness for Reggae music and to celebrate the global achievements of Reggae and its impact on the world. The term Reggae encompasses all the popular Jamaican musical genres; Ska, Rocksteady, Roots Reggae, Dub, Dancehall and the unique Jamaican Soundsystems.

blog wunderlust : 26th December 2011

After a brief with a client [...] I can't stop thinking about the project. The subject keeps circulating through both hemispheres of my brain. I dream it, observe, think, research. And sketch profusely

Karim Rashid

Museum of Abandoned Mines by Brandon Mosley

Interview with Star Architect Rem Koolhaas | Starbucks Opens New Reclamation Drive Thru Made From Recycled Shipping Containers | Will British people ever think in metric? | Ideology Through Geometry | Mine Plug: Museum of Abandoned Mines | X-Ray Murals Reveal the Architectural Footprint of Razed Buildings | 3d sculptures from scrap wood | Ikea Hopes To Build An Entire London Neighbourhood | Gingerbread Geodesic Dome |

last word: Happy Boxing day everyone I found this video of world renown architect Alvaro Siza singing the Beatles

Introduction to Architecture for Humanity 2011

Introduction to Architecture for Humanity 2011 from Cameron Sinclair on Vimeo.

Ice Cube Celebrates The Eames

Ice Cube celebrates the Eames visiting the Case Study House 8 forming part of a documentary for Pacific Standard Time the birth of the LA art scene. For more info

TED talks ::: Nona Yehia & Jefferson Ellinger

Nona Yehia & Jefferson Ellinger presented at the TEDx Jackson Hole

Architects, artists, scientists and designers throughout the ages have been inspired by the beauty and elegance in nature; studying, imitating and attempting to recreate natural systems has shaped life as we know it. Today, the question is how natural phenomena can become instrumental in the design of new architectures that radically redefine our built environment.

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group

On the Boards: Biosphere Sustainability Centre

The Biosphere Sustainability Centre is a proposed reuse of an 11,508 m² brownfield site near the Thousand Islands in Gananoque, Canada into a new cultural, social, economic, and environmental centre. Designed by Paul Raff Studio the Centre includes exhibition and conference facilities, artisan studios, market retail, and office space. Additionally, the facility will consist of two green roofs with walk-out gardens, a walk-through biowall that cleans and recycles the air, and sculptural sun shades alongside the building.

On the Boards: Qingdao Water City

Qingdao Water City is a proposed 180,000m² development to be located on a 120acre site on Aoshan Bay in Goyang City, Korea. Designed by multi-national architectural firm NBBJ the development when complete will consist of 10 exhibition halls, one multi-purpose hall, retail and a central outdoor expo plaza. The form of the facility is intended to induce associations of flowing water and is complimented with a landscape made of natural foliage minimizing the need for irrigation.

SPARK Digital Media, the first publisher for Tablets specializing in Architecture and Design was recently launched between Portugal and Brasil. The primary goal is to publish authors, projects and works that are making a positive and innovative contribution to the fields of architecture and design. The first publication, NEW EXPRESSION On Housing is available at the App Store

Featured Projects, Texts and Architects:
Snow House, Emilio Marín
Looking for an Architecture of Open and Sensible Systems, Emilio Marín
Casa S.E.R., Nadir Bonaccorso
Casas Sustentáveis, B(A)ª Balthazar Aroso
Carlos Pedro Sant’Ana, Balthazar Aroso and Ivo Sales Costa talk On Housing
e_Exterior house, MODOSTUDIO + AtenaStudio
Allandale House, WORJ
Casa Umbraculo, Laboratorio de Arquitectura / Javier Corvalan
Hometta House, WEATHERS
House in Heat, Frohn&Rojas Architects
WALL House, Frohn&Rojas Architects
Mountain Research, General Design

blog wunderlust : 19th December 2011

Architects are the moderators between the objective world of building and the poetic world of living

Owen Rose

image via BigStock

Rebuild Downtown Kingston Block By Block | How should we design the cities of our dreams? | 3 Things You Can Do To Combat Climate Change | Building with wood - 2,500-home scheme for Montego Bay | Some see Twin Towers blast in architect's design | Strange Windows: Draw Buildings, Build Drawings (part 2) | Gingerbread Modern | Ai Weiwei runner up for Time's Person of the Year | Stacy-Ann Dennison Explores Kirigami

last word: Herman Hertzberger to Receive the 2012 Royal Gold Medal

Great Spaces - Season 1 Ep.1: UNStudio Amsterdam Pavilion

In the first episode of Great Spaces, host Delaine Isaac presents the UNStudio designed Amsterdam Pavilion located in Wall Street, NY.

Dutch Profiles: Piet Oudolf

The work of renowned landscape architect, Piet Oudolf can be found all over the world. His distinctive style has been described as: a thoughtful evocation of nature that emphasizes the form, texture and natural harmony of plants and the result of decades of observation and work with plants, especially perennials.

TED talks ::: Ben Kacyra

On the Boards: Euralille Youth Centre

 

Competition entry for a €12m Euralille Youth Centre by JDS Architects. The 7,000m² project located in Lille, France proposes to be an urban catalyst, accommodating three distinct programmes on a triangular site, organized around a calm garden.

On the Boards: Sculpture Museum of Leganes

A competition entry for a new 4,000 m² Museum of Sculpture in Leganes, Spain by architects MACA (Christian Alvarez, Jorge Garrudo & Thomas Suarez). Designed to be built over a series of phases utilizing the original building and the installation of outdoor sculptures.

competition ::: ouput Grand Prix

All projects submitted to the :output competition will be eligible for the :output Grand Prix. An international jury will choose the Grand Prix winner and a scholarship of 3,000 EUR. The scholarship meant to support young talents in Design and Architecture aims to present works from students to a broader design and architectural audience. Every year a 1,000+ students from more than 40 different countries around the world submit their best projects to the competition.

House of the Week 127: Stacked House

Built around an existing three bedroom house on a 400m² steeply sloping site built by the client in the early eighties, the stacked house is a three bedroom addition designed by Architecture Paradigm for his son’s family. The design examines three generations co-existing on the same property while retaining their personal identities. The house establishes a strong relationship with the outdoor spaces to maximize the already tight urban conditions.

blog wunderlust : 12th December 2011

We need to go out into the real world and experience it in order to create architecture that is rooted in reality

Tadao Ando

Top 100 Public Spaces in the US and Canada | Pornotopia: Architecture & Sexuality | Modern Playhouses | 3D printing makes SimCity a little less Sim | Central Helsinki to be skyscraper-free zone? | The Trouble With Church Preservation | Stadium air conditioning in doubt for 2022 World Cup in Qatar despite fears over extreme heat | Tactile Architecture: Does it Matter? | Cleveland Turns Uptown Into New Downtown | The best architecture of 2011: Jonathan Glancey's choice

last word: Should the ‘creative class’ be more rural in the developing world?

TED talks ::: Mark Raymond

TEDxPortofSpain - Mark Raymond is a Trinidad based architect and has been responsible for a wide range of architectural, urban design and planning projects throughout the Caribbean and is interested in the capacity of innovative architectural, urban and landscape design to ensure a sustainable future.

Eames: The Architect and the Painter

The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames are widely regarded as America's most important designers. In this film directed by Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey captures both energy of the Eames Office that created a mind-bending variety products, from splints for wounded military, to photography, interiors, etc but also their personal lives and influence on American life. Narrated by James Franco, Eames: The Architect and the Painter is the first film dedicated to these creative geniuses and their work.

Dwell: Contained

Owners of a soaring loft in San Francisco was transformed with the use of shipping containers. The final design includes a custom teak-and-copper bathroom, a hovering home office, a guest room with a custom Murphy bed, and a high-tech wall that transitions from clear to opaque with the push of a button.

House of the Week 126: Summer House in Menorca

The near 450m2 Summer House in Menorca, Spain designed by Pablo Serrano Elorduy of Dom Arquitectura seeks to engage the surroundings and views to marry the internal and external spaces. Inspired by the tanca - stone walls typical to Menorca, the site is organized orthogonally combining floors, water, trees, plants, decks and of course walls constructed of local stone.

New Work ::: The Okanagan College Centre of Excellence

Dubbed A Living Classroom, the facility designed by CEI Architecture is a net-zero energy and water consuming building. Electricity is generated by the largest photovoltaic solar array in Western Canada located on the roof of the building. Structure is provided by a combination of concrete and laminated timber columns, with wals made of composite panels. All these features make the Okanagan College Centre of Excellence one of the greenest educational facilities in the world.

Competition: Performance Architecture

Announcing the International Open Call for an ideas competition aimed at choosing proposals for five temporary urban interventions in the scope of Guimarães 2012 European Capital of Culture. The competition, Performance Architecture invites architectural and urban strategies that embody performance art approaches in an attempt to provide new direction for architects, artists and designers in the urban context.

New Work ::: The Josephine Baker School

Built on a trapezoid-shaped plot of land in La Courneuve a Parisian suburb, the €8m Josephine Baker School is a modern early education facility for nursery and elementary ages. Designed by architects Dominique Coulon & Associés the 6,500m² building recalls a pair of demolished housing blocks by merging the playgrounds for the older children and that reserved for the younger children.

competition ::: Public Interest Design

Announcing the 2nd Annual SEED awards for excellence in Public Interest Design that promote socially, economically, and environmentally healthy communities. The projects will be judged using "SEED": Social Economic Environmental Design”® a standard evaluation to measure the positive impact of design projects.

Winners will be announced 27th January, 2012.

blog wunderlust : 5th December 2011

Caribbean architecture is not identified by its appearance, rather by its spirit

Dr. Rohan Bailey

Bloomingdale library rape victim sues architect, contractor | Hip Cities That Think About How They Work | The Occupy Movement and the New Public Space | Interview: Chinese architect Ma Yansong | Architect Who Lives & Works in 78 Square Foot Apartment in Manhattan | Saving Time - Phillip Martin On A Mission To Maintain 'Heritage Clocks' Across Jamaica | My Father’s City & Poetry’s Urban Landscape | Unesco threatens Liverpool |

last word: 12th Cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture is now open for submissions

3XN Architects Anniversary Film

Film ::: Salk Institute

Filmmaker and Architect Pablo Casals-Aguirre captured this footage of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California – a rare portrayal of canonical architecture in every-day use.

On the Boards: Djibloho Master Plan

Master Plan for the New Capital City of Equatorial Guinea by IDF-Ideias do Futuro, located on the Wele-Nzas. Designed for 160,000 inhabitants on 20 acres, the concept is both modern and respectful of the country’s cultural roots and natural environment.

Sustainability is also central to the design and see the creation of retention basins, protection of the margins natural vegetation & watercourses as well as the construction of a canal to divert the excess water.

The Master Plan is planned along an orthogonal matrix making use of the existing road network and includes urban parks, cemeteries, zoo, botanical garden, sports park, libraries, a new administrative centre, cathedral, mixed housing and a golf course.

On the Boards: Terme Olimia

 

A proposal for a 12,200m² Wellness Spa designed architects Enota to complement existing skiing facilities in the town of Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. The scheme is comprised of an introverted saunas, massage parlours and swimming pools. The design borrows regional architectural features with the steep pitch Alpine gable roof and the simple elongated building mass.