10(+) MORE architects i have been thinking about

Just personally, I think a lot of this stuff does play out in a really plainly dialectic fashion - so a lot of that stuff emerged specifically out of people being sick of white-box modernism in whatever its forms, which the architects in question had all been inundated with in their own formative years. And so similarly, we grew up in a world where every movie theater, doctor's office, student rec center, etc. looked like THAT stuff and we can't bloody stand it.

This is an oversimplification in a lot of ways - the architects in question are a lot smarter than I'm giving them credit for - but it does play a role.

The other story (in terms of how it became so ubiquitous) is that postmodernism's own hype had to do with communicating directly with the people, providing symbols that could be understood, etc. Whether or not the people could understand them, it reflects an interest in playing ball with the market. The architects themselves were singing the voices of cheap materials, historical quotation, and so on. The color palette might just be zeitgeist - I mean the 80s and early 90s were not, in my opinion, great times for color in general...

As a side note, I'm learning to leave room in my own tastes for things I Just Plain Like and Just Plain Don't Like, even if I can't intellectualize them yet. I can't fully rationalize my hatred of the 80s stuff or my love of Art Nouveau, the latter's just pretty and the former's just grody.

I'm generally just interested in them on aesthetic levels, especially when they're really pared down, minimal forms.
cf. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/21/29467421_191cb9f563.jpg?v=0
Michael Graves, on the other hand, does tend to be repulsive in, I guess, depending on 'postmodernism's own hype' and tend to make some disgusting buildings. Stuff like the above, though, I really like.
It feels like forever since I read anything about architecture though, so I'm out of touch.

the above meaning that Theatre Square building.

Xpost to myself, I misread your post. And the answer is yes, me.

I don't mind the early Rossi (the image mehlt's just posted for example) which I think is onto a specifically interesting kick about type, history, collective memory, a lot of other dry and spooky stuff that makes a lot of sense for something like a crematorium. Rossi runs into trouble later trying to articulate things like conference centers and I don't know what else, but they start getting gross IMO.

Early Graves is also really good - let's say pre-1980, but there might be some good stuff later. In general I'm interested in everything about postmodernism EXCEPT the historicist language and material palette of the 1980s. Like, if you read Venturi's Complexity and Contradiction, everything he's talking about sounds great - complexity, multiplicity, layering of meaning, etc. The Hollein I posted to the last thread would be an example of that (to me), or for that matter this Ricardo Bofill project which I don't think I posted:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3205/2782368241_b5f7c28885.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/2783232228_a3d7163df8.jpg

The language is cloying, but the spaces are fantastic!

x-post, that is

Wait, you can't stand it/are repelled by it, but still find it awesomely beautiful?

― Girlfriend, you've been scooped like ice cream (mehlt), Friday, January 2, 2009 9:27 PM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

No, I find it awesomely ugly, I was asking if anyone else found it awesome beautiful.

Postmodernism breaks my heart, it's architecture's loss of innocence. Before that there had always been a utopian bent to the profession - even if the buildings were failures there was at least a continual hope and search for a better way to do things and a desire to lift society. Postmodernism purposefully stepped away from that in the face of modernism's defeat and didn't aspire to anything greater than a series of classical reference punchlines without the dignity of proportion. The buildings were never going to be awesomely beautiful because they weren't even trying to be, which is sad. I love beaux arts neoclassicism because it was at least made with a real BELIEF in classicism, I don't think postmodernists believed in anything.

Hrm, well, I think that varies a bit...one thread of postmodernism was certainly the "Collage City"/Jane Jacobs line (that eventually leads to new urbanism) where there's an active project of trying to save the city, move away from the monumental and embrace the fabric - that seems like a project with social ambition to me. Or in the Bofill posted above, maybe those images don't quite get it across but there was a clear desire to give "palaces to the people," quoting history specifically to create something that the residents would recognize as grand and honorific.

I used to think that the only thing unifying about postmodernist thought (or the only thing postmodernists "believe in") is a rejection of enlightenment ideals, but that's obviously glossing over a lot. For me, it is easy to view Modernism as truly beautiful as applied to one building, but equally as easy to view it as one-note as an archtectural movement, and even potentially oppressive. One manifestation of post-modernism's "social concern" (lol) would be multivalence, and the presentation of a variety (I was going to say "of aesthetic sensibilities", but I think "variety" is enough).

Yes - and then you have even more severe examples like Lucien Kroll (I think it's Kroll) where the architect's office has an open door, serving soda to the people who are going to live in the building and inviting them to make design decisions. Or Leon Krier, who believed that industrial building practice was so dehumanizing that it was better not to build, so as to avoid participating in the alienation of the worker. Postmodernism was a big umbrella, for a while there - I mean if you read an early edition of Jencks's Language of Post-Modern Architecture it really seems exciting. By the fifth or sixth edition all the photos look like the late Graves and the jig is up.

Oh, and I finally posted my pics of WORKac's Public Farm 1. On the previous thread, I wrote:

"re: P.F.1 - Yeah, it was great - particularly in light of the kind of stuff that typically wins. They seem to feel that the committee or jury or whoever realized they were getting really tired of atmospheric projects. "We could have won last year, but not ten years ago." It was refreshing to me as a living example of Dutch-ness here on our shores (they both worked at OMA) by architects young enough that you could imagine "hey, that could be me!" So that's always going to be encouraging. But I also loved how much it was filled in with fun little gimmicks and gizmos - the periscope, the audio and video of working farms, the chicken coop...it was cool."

Extended, archi-nerd ramblings here.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3088/3168274579_7f3be8bd3d.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3261/3168038169_3319f1dd4e.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1144/3167947285_c3d182ea3f.jpg

Jencks's Language of Post-Modern Architecture

This is what got me into architecture in the first place!

Haha! Just read it last year after it seemed to keep coming up. Good stuff, I read a later-ish edition that was starting to really drag by the end though. Needed a fresh edit I think, got repetitious, but as a showcase of just neat stuff and ideas the first half is essential. The "Death of Modern Architecture" chapter is classic.

I still remember where I was when I read that.

...don't leave us hanging!

Well, it's not exciting in re: this thread, but I was in Nashville sitting on a couch at Douglas Corners waiting to go play a show. It's just a vivid memory because I enjoyed the reading so much.

Know just what you mean - although in these grad school years there's pretty much one of three places I'm ever reading anything.

i got the other thread locked, i hope no one objects to this? i think it's just confusing having 2 threads being revived and it's more of a rolling discussion thread at this point so it makes sense. if you do i'm sure we can get it reopened.

last post on the previous thread was hyggeligt helpfully linking us to SpaceInvading

http://www.spaceinvading.com/

thanks for that, it's actually a great link and saves quite a bit of trawling around various different blogs although it still has links to those blogs for more description, which is cool.

Sou Fujimoto Architects' Wooden House. love it or hate it, you've never seen anything like it.

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/293969968_13.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/636003070_02.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/1789314738_01.jpg

http://www.archdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/1483004884_detailed-section.jpg

!!!

I think anybody who ever had blocks as a kid has seen something like it.

ha, i was just about to add a similar caveat.

BLOOMFRAME®
The BLOOMFRAME® breaks out of the 2-dimensional facade to add to the usable space in this innovative design by Hofman Dujardin Architects.

prototype that is expected to go into actual production early this year:

http://www.architecture-page.com/assets/images/content/prd_hofm_bloo/2.jpg
http://www.architecture-page.com/assets/images/content/prd_hofm_bloo/3.jpg
http://www.architecture-page.com/assets/images/content/prd_hofm_bloo/1.jpg

Bloomframe® is an innovative window frame that can be transformed into a balcony allowing an increase in usable space with minimal intervention.

Bloomframe® offers the user a flexible living environment. By opening the window frame, it is possible to walk out through the facade and to enjoy a comfortable balcony. The dynamic balcony enables adding outdoor space to compact apartments in urban high-rise areas.

The Bloomframe® balcony can be operated automatically with a simple push of the button. The system includes provisions to guarantee collapse safety during opening and closing.

The drive consists of an rpm-controlled electric motor that operates the balcony at two points via an auto-braking reduction (drop safety). The movement is transferred by tie rods from these linear guides.

The fully open position is limited mechanically, which guarantees optimum safety of the converted balcony. The application of a combined powered/mechanical movement makes the system user-friendly and easy to open and close for everyone.

I don't think I really understand the Bloomframe? It creates a not very attractive half-window when closed and doesn't seem to offer any advantages over a regular building other than potentially animating the building facade more - and you have to keep your patio furniture inside when you're not using it. I think I'd like it more with a glass bottom panel since it'll be up 80% of the time.

SpaceInvading is one of my favorite things about 2009

I'm glad so many designers are doing these weird 3D circulation intensive tiny houses/follies, but I'd sure like to see some upholstery in them or at least first aid kits for the inevitable bloody heads.

bloomframe would be cooler if the patio furniture folded out with it, like a pop-up book.

I'd like that! Or if the patio furniture was permanently secured to it so it stuck out from the inside wall of your house when closed.

and if it wasn't the color of an HVAC component.

haha yeah it looks like a big access panel.

well, i love it. obviously it doesn't have to be khaki/grey, it can be any colour, i would imagine. the bottom half could possibly be glass but people have vertigo. white steel is fine by me. also you just sit on a chair that you have in your lounge, or whatever. i wouldn't imagine you would have specific furniture for it unless it was some cheap folding deck chair you could keep in a cupboard?

haterz

I'm getting one

me too, on m4ryhi11 road end.

Yay new thread!

Doctor Casino, though you are a medical man with a gambling problem so far as I can tell from login name, I do like your flickr. It has been very good recently.

Jencks's Language of Post-Modern Architecture

Which edition is the better one to start with? Is this book the same one under a different name?

I like the Bloomframe! I think it could be a real boon to new apartments. I loathe buildings like the blocky ones upthread. They are just grotesque monoliths hammering the pedestrian down with sheer BLOCK COLOURS. Just awful.

I'm glad so many designers are doing these weird 3D circulation intensive tiny houses/follies, but I'd sure like to see some upholstery in them or at least first aid kits for the inevitable bloody heads.

Ha!

hi architects

looking at going on a solo field trip in march. probably europe. have been thinking of istanbul but that's just because I'd like to go there. where would you go? for like six days or so. money is an object but where would you go?

Where to begin! I've only really done Western Europe (no further east than Vienna) and with huge swaths of untouched territory in there. My gut says you kind of can't screw it up in terms of travel, life experience, food, all that kind of stuff - are you trying to see the maximum amount of architecture possible or just have a great trip where you also see some fab buildings?

hyggeligt - thanks! It'll be dormant again for a while, I am now entering my last studio at school and am busy, plus obviously not traveling.

re: That 2002 Jencks - it certainly SOUNDS like a revised edition of the original - Now rewritten and with two new chapters, the seventh edition brings the history up to date with the latest twists in the narrative, and the turn to a new complexity in architecture. Rewritten with new chapters didn't really serve the previous editions all that well - just started to feel aimless and tacked-on-to. But enough time had passed that I could imagine the 2002 volume being interesting, and I appreciate anything that calls out and explores the fundamentally postmodern qualities of 90s computer projects (Greg Lynn et al). Dunno... haven't read the new bits so I dunno if it's worth it or not.

Is okay, jealousy at fancy locations was eating in to my soul anyway. Could do with the spiritual break! (xpost)

Thanks for that Dr Cas, will chance it and see when I'm flush.

I should have said - have been to budapest, vienna, brno, prague, zurich, basel, madrid, barcelona, rome, florence, naples, berlin, munich, paris, krakow, amsterdam, rotterdam, brussels and others and places in between like leon in spain and vals in switzerland etc. and some UK stuff (I'm in scotland)

so, having never been up to copenhagen/oslo/stockholm/gothenberg/helsinki/tallinn/riga...I'm interested but don't have a ready idea of what's the best destination. not limited to europe other than in terms of the money issue

was looking at v cheap flights to oslo but hostels there seem on the expensive side. cheap flights and accommodation for gdansk but...I don't know if there's that much to see and can't seem to find good info

great trip w/ fab buildings would be fine but as much architecture as poss would be more justifiable in a way

that's a lot of places. are you in glasgow?

i hear Lisbon is lovely (and cheap on easyjet)

what about croatia? supposed to be gorgeous.

in glasgow yes (I mentioned conrad to you at a party on new years morning but it was early and late so I don't blame you for forgetting!)

had thought about lisbon and about porto too but was looking for something direct hoping to minimise cost and travel time

marseille? venice??

I should have found a better thread to ask this stuff as I obviously haven't been thinking about enough architects

I love the Bloomframe and I would sit in a Panton chair in it.

ah yes, i remember conrad.

venice yeah, go there. march is a good time to go, i think. i want to go back because i was only there for a day and a half but i loved it.

marseille i remember being quite rough but it's good to go and see the unité.

I would say Copenhagen is well worth the visit!

Copenhagen is rich with stuff - see the Flickr stream and sets of user seier_seier_seier. Really interested in going myself. Here's an email seier wrote me when I was considering a trip:

****

difficult question, copenhagen in two days...

copenhagen is pretty expensive (as is the rest of scandinavia) especially when coming from the u.s., so I'll recommend you a youth hostel which opened recently in a central office tower (not a tower by american standards, but by danish...you'll see).

www.danhostel.dk/composite-185.htm?HostelId=144&RegionAbb=SN

the same site mentions an even more central hostel opening in april. might be worth checking out:

www.danhostel.dk/composite-185.htm?HostelId=2068&RegionAbb=SN

helsinki and stockholm has some OK hostels too, I would look for the hostel in the olympic stadium in helsinki and the hostel on an old boat in stockholm, if I were you.

stockholm, btw, is my favourite city in scandinavia - it is beautiful, has great nature, landscape, architecture, and wom...its a nice place.

[re copenhagen:]

now, what to see....if the weather is good, I would go for places rather than buildings, in bad weather (of which we have plenty) vice versa...

places to see would be:

strandvejen north of copenhagen, the coastal road leading through the well off suburbs to the north, great on a summers day, will take you past lots of fine sites, including good buildings like arne jacobsen in klampenborg:

www.flickr.com/photos/seier/515032609/in/set-72157600269237235/
www.flickr.com/photos/seier/515004940/in/set-72157600269237235/
www.flickr.com/photos/seier/515030853/in/set-72157600269237235/
www.flickr.com/photos/seier/515031363/in/set-72157600269237235/

and utzon's related housing projects in fredensborg and elsinore:

www.flickr.com/photos/andrewpaulcarr/319888268/
www.flickr.com/photos/seier/1544636977/in/set-72157600103941003/

there is a fine renaissance castle in elsinore which inspired shakespeare a few years ago...can't miss it.

the louisiana museum of modern art in humlebæk is a hugely influential building from the fifties, taking the formal out of the museum and putting in nature instead. lots of contemporary architects has named this building as an inspiration, including nouvel, foster and herzog + de meuron.

oh, hang on, from elsinore the thing to do would be to take the ferry to sweden (30 minutes) and drive to klippan to see the lewerentz church

www.flickr.com/photos/seier/528487325/in/set-72157600288780668/

now, that's a whole day in a rented car, so maybe you'll prefer to stay in the city...

there's christiania free town, www.flickr.com/photos/seier/1244185274/in/set-72157603843053592/, a good place to see in the evening, food and bars and a very different street scene.

should the sun shine, the island of amager, formerly known as the ass hole of copenhagen, is seeing some very interesting change these years...on a sunny afternoon, former working class and industrial neighbourhood "islands brygge" is full of young copenhageners sunbathing and swimming in the habour. it is really lively and some of the gir...MVRDV has one of their best buildings nearby:

www.flickr.com/photos/feil/113830815/

further east, on the amager coast facing sweden, is another interesting industrial area undergoing radical change. surrounded by large scale infrastructure like a wind mill park, the airport and the bridge to sweden is a new beach, a huge piece of landscaping very popular with the locals already.

and there's the old town, of course, lots of cafés and shops and the odd arne jacobsen building...

if you are just going for the buildings, I would not miss:

- the foyer of the national bank, arne jacobsen 1961-1978. central copenhagen.
- bagsværd church, utzon. 20 minutes by train from copenhagen.
- klippan church, klippan, sweden. about 2 hours by train, I think.

thanks for that - going to weigh up copenhagen further but it would involve two flights. venice seems like the right choice for a lot of reasons and might be possible w/ some juggling but oslo currently £11 return for four nights is going to be hard to beat even though a cheap hostel has yet to make itself known

strandvejen north of copenhagen, the coastal road leading through the well off suburbs to the north, great on a summers day, will take you past lots of fine sites, including good buildings like arne jacobsen in klampenborg:

Very true. Try and end up at Ordrupgaard. Recently reopened with new wing. Bakken in the Dyrhaven nearby is trippy and good fun (I also think it might be the world's oldest fairground, I spent far too much time there growing up as it was free in unlike Tivoli).

there is a fine renaissance castle in elsinore which inspired shakespeare a few years ago...can't miss it.

Merely a legend alas. The crown jewels are there so well worth a look.

the louisiana museum of modern art in humlebæk is a hugely influential building from the fifties, taking the formal out of the museum and putting in nature instead. lots of contemporary architects has named this building as an inspiration, including nouvel, foster and herzog + de meuron.

Yes. Avoid visiting if there's a rehang because the permanent collection isn't huge for the trip involved. Another good gallery is the Glyptotek near Radhuspladset. Carlsberg money built and filled it. Lovely stuff.

there's christiania free town, www.flickr.com/photos/seier/1244185274/in/set-72157603843053592/, a good place to see in the evening, food and bars and a very different street scene.

Sadly not any more. They've closed down the drug stalls on pusher street and basically developers are moving in. Very sad now. I was there recently and was followed by four police officers. I am obviously sketchy looking.

A harbour tour is also a good idea. That way you get to see the Black Diamon of the royal library from the water and get closer to the new opera house. Rosenborg slot is a baroque palace in the centre of town near Norreport. It was one of Christian IV's vanity projects and well worth seeing.

seier_seier_seier

Check his shots of Venice for more inspiration Conrad. Again, thanks to Doctor Casino I have been following for the past few months. It is a great stream!

I have some Venice and surroundings here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorcasino/sets/72157601373054872/

this is my favorite thing in the world at the moment:

http://www.spaceinvading.com/bookmarklet/Images/0401091231094892leoniestair.jpg
http://www.spaceinvading.com/bookmarklet/Images/0401091231094893leoniestair3.jpg
http://www.spaceinvading.com/bookmarklet/Images/0401091231094893leoniestair2.jpg

by Levitate Architects

http://www.dezeen.com/2015/08/04/nord-house-apollo-architects-loft-room-mitaka-tokyo-japan/

DEATH TRAP

omg lol

In the self-promotion department: this guide to modern and contemporary architecture in China, into which i sunk an inadvertently and inordinately large amount of time over a couple years, is now available for pre-order. I got my author copies today and while of course there are a few things I'd die to go back and change, and of course it's inevitably out of date already given how fast things get built in China.... I do feel pretty good about it! Like, it for sure is the book I'd recommend to anybody going to China who wanted to look at buildings.

So uh yeah... tell your friends or something!

Congrats! Format looks great and very useful, and it's nice to see an informed architectural guide that's style agnostic.

Thank you! Trying to be, anyway. Our own preferences definitely shaped things, in that ineffable way where you look at something and just go "this is minor and uninteresting and someone who took time out of their vacation to see it would be pissed." But in general if other people care about it, it seemed reasonable to keep it in. Most of the existing English-language books on recent architecture in China are of the coffee-table book variety, with a handful of projects selected by building type (or a handful of architects with 2-3 projects each), and most came out kinda around the Olympics and are inevitably a bit stuck in that time. So our first goal was just to make something that would work as a travel guide while massively ramping up the inclusions, and hopefully simulate what we imagine as the heady, informative atmosphere of walking around with us on one of our school trips.

The fun/challenging thing was finding ways to squeeze in some comment about every last building. The map pages have lots of one-line descriptions of things that didn't become illustrated entries, so that was a great discipline for me as a writer, trying to convey what the idea of something was (and, vaguely, whose alleys it might be up) in a very very limited number of words. We were also editing each other, which was sometimes galling, but usually a "ahhh, fuck, they're right, that is dumb/confusing/pretentious."

sweet i may just order a copy, going to china in march

That's awesome! (And thanks, if you do!) Where will you be going?

Also just realized that here in this very thread, you can find my first reactions to Amateur Architecture (in Feb 2009), re: one of the buildings you now see in the preview pages of the guide! Crazy. Learning about architecture never stops being a "wait, there was a point in my life where i didn't know about (now foundational concept/person/fact X)" experience for me. Probably this is the way it is for people in whatever field, as you get deeper and deeper in.

Also: in Jan. 2012, the first intimations of dreams of a China book project, though sadly the titles discussed there did not make it - darn!

i work for an airline so i get free standby and prob won't know until the last second. we fly to shanghai beijing and hong kong direct.

Dig! Well, you will not be surprised to learn we do cover all three of those, and all three are just bursting with architecture. :)

Good News for Modern ManArchitecture (LACMA acquires Lautner house).

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/lacma-big-lebowski-house-john-lautner-428741

Oh, awesome!

good bit in LA Plays Itself where he talks about that one, iirc says it's a house that hollywood loves to hate (houses villains) but that they totally misunderstand the spirit of the building

woah.

Zaha Hadid (1950-2016)

http://www.dezeen.com/2016/05/03/vlooyberg-tower-close-to-bone-cantilevered-weathering-steel-staircase-observation-belgium/

(i do wonder why they do this sometimes)

simpsons fans, clearly

I don't think anyone's going to observe much out of those windows...

Finally made it inside the Nakagin Capsule Tower, built in 1972 and a rare remaining symbol of Japanese Metabolism. Tours by @nakagincapsule are ¥3,000 with proceeds towards building restoration. pic.twitter.com/VvSDFIz2Yo

— Dan Castellano (@ninja_padrino) March 4, 2018

:o

ha, we just taught that one this past week! would love to get inside. there used to be shockingly cheap airbnbs. didn't even bother trying when we were in town with students - it's just not set up at all for any kind of group tour, obv.

It seems kind of claustrophobic even in an area known for small apartments, but that might just be the framing from photos I've seen

I haven't decided if I'm into the design, but I need to get some photos of the Renzo Piano building under construction in my area.

the capsules are super super small. a bed, a desk, a corner shower and toilet, and shelves for your reel-to-reel tape player. no kitchen. they're basically monk's cells. the premise was that you'd swap out capsules over time, embracing obsolescence and change and all that jazz. unfortunately they didn't reach the scale of production needed for this to be economical, and anyway it's hard to imagine people really wanting their homes to become yet another type of product they're obliged to replace as it wears out or becomes outmoded. (some of the other metabolists were explicitly marxist in their outlook - presumably in their schemes the capsules would be made and provided by the state, not by a would-be capsule zaibatsu.)

they make more sense as teeny hotel rooms for business travelers, but then, holiday inn (and numerous japanese-only operations) already solved that one. one of my favorite formal precedents but really fraught with problems conceptually.

I have that Koolhaas/Obrist book on Metabolism but I need to go back and finish it. It's ok, in a Koolhaas/Obrist book way. There are probably much better works on the subject!

5 Women Accuse the Architect Richard Meier of Sexual Harassment

TW: workplace sexual harassment and assault, photo of the accused, descriptions.

once again: apparently everyone knew, and nobody did anything. the headline really undersells the accusations.

probably going to tour this recent renzo piano work at some point. a few friends did work on the project

https://www.designboom.com/architecture/renzo-piano-krause-gateway-center-des-moines-iowa-01-11-2019/

https://www.designboom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/renzo-piano-krause-gateway-center-des-moines-iowa-designboom-1800.jpg

I felt extremely dumb when the pivoted top story was explained to me: the building sits at the area where the street grid goes from river-parallel to north-south jeffersonian grid style. the top of the building reflects the latter

When you're a modern forest witch pic.twitter.com/hTbYUUaAnL

— Vananarama (@fullnihilism) September 16, 2021

the Swiss pavilion at expo 70

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/79/44/31/794431e9f7ea074304571f0dcd91baa7.jpg

On Le Corbs;

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jun/25/100-years-of-le-corbusier-what-does-he-mean-to-todays-architects

Good stuff in there, thanks!