Saturday, May 31, 2008

045: Photography, textures, quick thoughts

Photography:




Photography by :Sannah Kvist



Her photography I've particularly loved since I added her on flickr-- she had this account, then deleted all her pictures, then started again, with a fresh, non-frustrated attitude.

I picked this picture in particular to post in my blog because: What makes this picture interesting is its texture: bark, a building's bark, gravel, grass, person.

To think: When we are designing a building, people will find the art in the building int heir photographs: in how light touches on part of it, how it varies throughout the day, the many angles, the different companions they take, etc. etc.

So what if we are just designers? So what if it's "just an art" we are doing?: think of the photographers that will use these spaces to frame their thoughts, their subjects, their lovers, their family, their expressions-- or just their daily life.

Just a small thing. But I'm just pointing out: how the texture / wood slating / austere landscaping / the tree, and its tones at that moment-- that makes this picture gorgeous (in my opinion, of course.)

Umbrellas and temporary structures:



Kengo Kuma designs an umbrella house. Very creative :)

Thursday, May 29, 2008

044: and from the ashes of inactivity:

Finally a post:



Found here.

I do love Jun Igarashi's work.

Which makes me think: grad school. Is it something I want right now? Do I yearn to expand my knowledge on architecture? It's a question left open ended, and a question my mother often addresses. I don't need it, but does my heart need it?

I think, if I had to go anywhere-- I would like, at the moment, to study for my Masters in Japan.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

043: Paris (part II)

Continuing to...historical buildings, social housing types




Opera de Paris, Charles Garnier, architect
Recent mural by Marc Chagall on canvas.

steel and masonry
Louvre.


Versailles, Hall of Mirrors
And all the rococo one can handle at one time.









Next: Pompidou + more

Monday, March 17, 2008

042: Paris, France (snapshot)/ Semester project (progress)

Paris: dense & historical


Part I

Notre Dame:


Saint Chapelle:

Saint Chapelle

Chartres:


(That heart was already there.)



More later.

The Parking Structure extends toward the station!





Because, that's what it is. The parking (on the left) extends (yet doesn't continue) to the station, lending its structure and ramping systems to create a sort of landscape-- for recreation/retail on top, and transit program/circulation underneath.

It continues, as always, to develop.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

041: Eduardo Arroyo's pixelated landscape/ Sick days means all nighters.

Eduardo Arroyo, plaza de desierto
Plaza de Desierto, in Barakaldo...

Eduardo Arroyo

I found his orthogonal organization intriguing, unnatural even, in the good sense. It adds to landscape-- it's blatantly man made but still beautiful. He breaks away from the orthogonal flatness here and there with forced topographies, but gracefully I think.

On the subject on topography, parking lots:

NL architects- Parkhouse
NL Architects, Parkhouse-- scan from The Architecture of Parking

Sick days means all nighters, just to make up for the work days lost.


Friday, February 22, 2008

040: Riken Yamamoto & Field Workshop, melting plastic/shaping chipboard/ process

The day, in particles:

[Thinking While Creating/Creating by Writing]Riken Yamamoto & Field Workshop


Their thoughts on process:

Process プロセス

What we call 'process' cannot be illustrated by, for example, arranging a series of study models, side by side. Such an arrangement might demonstrate how the design changed from one model tot he next, but there is more to a 'process' than that. A 'process' is not something that can be broken down into clearcut stages. Many different things influence the design in an organic way between one study model and the next, for example, discussions with the client, local character,systems and ideas that Yamamoto and the staff come up with. Indeed, a workshop is held to investigate this very process.

We try to see things in a broader perspective from the point of view of agents such as local residents, users, and administrators. Architecture is an important part of that process bu not the end objective. In the case of an art museum, architecture is merely one of a number of elements or agents (such as the works in the collection, the administrative program and the social role and history of the museum) that interact and undergo change. The series of changes binds together the overall vision, but within the process the vision itself undergoes continual change. When architecture is not regarded as the end objective, that has an effect on everything: the boundaries between various agents are blurred.

Architecture is a catalyst accelerating change in agents. That is because the process of creating a tangible object called a building provides opportunities to do things such as solving problems of administrative programming and thinking about local society....

This blog was originally supposed to show my progress in all semester's projects: of course, because of other classes + studio time spent on the project itself, my updates are not immediate. I find this firm interesting not only because of their work, but some of their philosophy as well. They are very youthful, holding true to their mantra, "the process itself is architecture." I'm sure many would argue against it, for it, half-agree to it....Even I, myself, half-agree to it.

I checked out the book mainly for their work on the Saitama Prefectural University.






Melting Plastic/Shaping Chipboard


I continue the search for the convenient topographic solution. Give me another day.

Paris,France: Sophomore Trip


I can't wait for the catacombs, I can't wait for Peripherique's Atrium Building, I can't wait for La Defense, for the Louvre, for the cheap wine. I can't wait for Le Corbusier, the museums.


Tuesday, February 19, 2008

039: Sci-fi ooooh/ Tube hotel ooooh

It's the "fun post."

1.

First, a sci-fi adventure houses Polish radio rmf fm.





















2.

Second a hotel in Germany.

Yes, the rooms are concrete sewer tubes. How awesome is that (and claustrophobic...but, they must be very private, very dark, and very soundproof.)














Quota Warning:

In the department of architecture listserv:

Can you please send this out to all faculty and students. We are 8 gbs away from maxing out our storage on the server. (252 out of 260 gb)

Subject: Rice University, RiceCluster-1, 2008-02-19 14:21:51 -06:00: Quota warning

Server Attributes:Server nameRiceCluster\RiceCluster-1CompanyRice UniversityDepartmentSAILocation11620 Main Street, Houston, TX, 77025, USADescriptionLoaner headSoftware version4.3.996h (Tue Dec 4 21:10:40 2007)Hardware versionTitan (TN1CHRS0705300)MAC ID79-5E-46-0C-39-DF

Quota warning threshold was reached.
Usage=252 GB (limit=280 GB).VolumeSA05ViVolArchitecture


Wow, we're almost at the limit!