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

Roots - Laura Facey

On a visit to Devon House, one of the premier Historic Sites in Kingston, Jamaica I came across a magnificent piece of artwork. The sculpture, placed at the entry to the gardens of Devon House, appears at first glance to be corten or rusted metal, resembling industrial waste left out to weather. Roots as the works are called, are actually salvaged from a massive tree trunk, and bear their own story of being carried by hand from the inner countryside of St. Ann.

Artist, Laura Facey

more here

The perspective chair designed by Pharrell.

The recently completed railway bridge by Santiago Calatrava will serve as a gateway to the Holy City, Jerusalem. The bridge was designed to be a light and transparent structure with a single pitched pillar pointing in the direction of the city.

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Apologies on the slight pause in posts. I am presently on vacation for a few weeks.

In the meantime chomp on these

Bucky exhibition | decolonising architecture | winner of the USC Architecture YouTube Competition | the architecture of cell phones - the green version |

The Cult of Design

The Cult of Design
Originally uploaded by CSM Product Design 08.

designer action figures...literally action figures of your favourite designers

Whilst acting is my career, architecture is my passion

- Brad Pitt

The actor is slated to design an "environmentally-friendly" 800-room luxury resort (hotel & leisure complex) in Dubai of which he is among a team of design consultants for the project. The proposal will be unveiled next month. In the meantime Brad Pitt is currently helping to build 150 homes in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

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more fetish

architectural festish gone bad...a woman who has a bizarre fetish for inanimate objects has married the Eiffel Tower. Also check out this