High Drama at Architecture School
Wednesday August 20, 2008
Ever wondered what it's like to study architecture at a top university? The Sundance Channel has captured the drama and challenge in their new reality TV show,
Architecture School. The six-week series follows architecture students at
Tulane University as they design and build a home for Katrina-devastated New Orleans. The show premiers August 20 and repeats a half dozen times throughout the week. If you don't get the Sundance Channel, you can visit their Web site to watch
Architecture School Video Clips.
Happy Birthday, Eero Saarinen
Wednesday August 20, 2008
Finnish-American architect
Eero Saarinen was born on August 20, 1910. Saarinen began his career as a sculptor and this training influenced his building designs. Saarinen's works include Dulles Airport near Washington D.C., Kresge Auditorium in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the dramatic
Saint Louis Gateway Arch. Saarinen died in 1961.
Photo: ClipArt.com
Wired Schools
Sunday August 17, 2008
Computers are revolutionizing the way we teach and learn. Will they also change the way we design our classrooms? Check out these
wired schools...
Go Back to School for Free
Friday August 15, 2008
Anyone can go back to school, thanks to
free online architecture classes offered by big name universities. The courses run the gamut, from historic preservation to green design. This week I have my eye on the
Beijing Urban Design Studio, a joint course from MIT and Tsinghua University. In this class, students worked on planning and designing important, often controversial, projects for Beijing, China. The course is over, but the readings, assignments, and project presentations are archived and you can download everything for free.
Is Architecture a Team Sport?
Wednesday August 13, 2008
No great project is the work of a single individual, and although we often talk about big names like I.M. Pei or Rem Koolhaas, we understand that their completed works are the effort of a larger team. Still, human nature makes me want to pin greatness on a person rather than a committee. So, when I first wrote about the
Water Cube, the Olympic Aquatic Centre in Beijing, I mentioned
Chris Bosse, who was a key designer for the Water Cube while he was employed at
PTW Architects. Within days, I received a testy email from a marketing manager for PTW Architects. "It is imperative to us that all the team at PTW are fairly and correctly acknowledged under the banner of our firm, which owns attribution to this project (under copyright) along with our partners..." And so, the name PTW Architects remained, but Chris Bosse's name was purged from the article. That's only fair. Or, is it?
Beijing's Fuzzy Buildings
Tuesday August 12, 2008
Architects who designed new buildings for Beijing were faced with an interesting challenge: how to create powerful, iconic designs in a landscape that is often shrouded with smog.
"Beijing seems to lose its pizazz when the smog is thick," says Christopher Hawthorne, Architecture Critic for the Los Angeles Times. Buildings that look so bold and crisp in architectural renderings turn vague in the reality of Beijing's hazy atmosphere.
To help buildings stand out against the dull, gray sky, architects often chose intense colors, like the dark glass walls of the CCTV headquarters. And, the older buildings like you find in Tiananmen Square? Thank goodness so many of them are red.
Full story: Architects take Beijing's smog into account, Los Angeles Times.
Photo: Donchang'an Jie Shopping Centre in Beijing, China. © John W. Banagan / Getty Images
Russia: Architecture of Conflict
Sunday August 10, 2008
Deadly clashes between Russia and the breakaway republic of Georgia have put that vast land once again in the spotlight. The mounting tensions are taking place in a scene that reflects centuries of cultural conflict, with a unique blend of architecture born of Mongol rule, czarist reigns of terror, European invasions, and Communist rule.
More: Architecture in Russia >
St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow - ArtToday.com Image
Elvis the King - of Design?
Saturday August 9, 2008
August 9 marks the beginning of Elvis Week in Memphis, Tennessee, when thousands of fans converge on Graceland, home of the Rock 'n Roll idol.
Elvis Presley died on August 17, 1977, and Graceland is now a National Historic Landmark. Of course, in this case historic doesn't mean old so much as interesting. Graceland is a souped-up Colonial Revival with interior decor that is, well, different.
Graceland pictures
Elvis Week Events
Architecture in Tennessee
Rock 'n Roll star Elvis Presley is buried at Graceland, his estate in Memphis, Tennessee. Photo by Mario Tama/Gettty Images
Barbra's Barn
Thursday August 7, 2008
Among the famous movie stars who act like architects is singer acress Barbra Streisand. With her actor husband James Brolin, Streisand traveled to New England to study the architecture of traditional barns and farmhouses. Then she helped design a fanciful barnlike house at
Ramirez Canyon Park, her former estate Malibu. She covered the stucco siding with aged wood to recreate the look of an old fashioned barn.
Barn Architecture:
Barn Photos and Building Plans
Board and Batten Siding
American Country Building Design
Critics Eye Beijing
Tuesday August 5, 2008
Beijing spent a mind-numbing $43 billion to redesign the City for the 2008 Summer Olympics, with gigantic and startling buildings by some of the world's most prominent architects. Now, as the athletes prepare to compete, the architecture critics are weighing in.
Beijing's building boom, Los Angeles Times
Olympic stadium with a design to remember, New York Times
Chinese architects the winners, Los Angeles Times
Behind Beijing's icons, Chicago Tribune
China Central Television in Beijing Photo © Feng Li/Getty Images
