Form and Function in Architecture

"I am in favor of an almost unlimited plastic freedom, a freedom that is not slavishly subordinate to the reasons of any given technique or of functionalism, but which makes an appeal to the imagination, to things that are new and beautiful, capable of arousing surprise and emotion by their very newness and creativeness; a freedom that provides scope -- when desirable -- for moods of ecstasy, reverie, and poetry."

--"Form and Function in Architecture," Oscar Niemeyer

Cabin Fever

"'Isolated' is an urban concept. It is a product of the city. To leave the map behind is a uniquely urban fantasy. It is those at the center of the pattern who talk the most about escaping it. But their escapes are usually just extensions of the pattern, demonstrations that the city knows no limit."

--"Cabin Fever," Mark Wigley

(I love that I'm taking his class at GSAPP and his reading his papers in my senior seminar...)

Sad But True

Pre-Fab At Its Best

I first fell in love with shipping containers as an architectural medium when I saw Shigeru Ban's Nomadic Museum for the Ashes and Snow exhibit in Santa Monica, and I think these Container Cities are just fantastic. Modular and pre-fabricated -- maybe New Orleans residents should look into buying some...

(Thanks, Inhabitat.)

For Anyone Who Misses Dorm Living:

...take a look at Micro Compact Homes, designed by British architects for a German firm. The website describes it as a "lightweight compact dwelling for one or two people. Its compact dimensions of 2.6m cube adapt it to a variety of sites and circumstances, and its functioning spaces of sleeping, working / dining, cooking and hygiene make it suitable for everyday use."

Tempting, but I think I'll stick with a cramped studio downtown...

Linkage

1. Never been able to tell the difference between Garamond Monotype and Garamond ITC? Never fear, French blog Design et Typo dissects the subtle differences between all of the font's various incarnations. I suppose it makes even more sense if you know French -- but the graphics are powerful enough to speak for themselves.

2. GOOD Magazine came out with a list of the 51 Best Magazines Ever. Guess who just started working for #8?

3. Hideous design and mediocre photo quality, but this list of "Strange Houses Around the World" is entertaining.

4. In continuing with my fetish for strangely recycled goods, ThinkGeek is now making notepads from old floppy disks.

I Mean, That's How I Dress When I'm in the Studio

First Express comes out with the "Editor Pant" line, and now Banana Express is modeling their spring clothing off of architects?! I feel like my entire life is being slowly commercialized.

In response, Gawker went in search of some real architects for their reactions. The resulting--heavily snarky--interview is priceless:

Gawker: So what is it like being surrounded by nubile 23 year olds in khaki coordinates at all times?

Frankie: I am not really sure, to be honest with you. I think I may be involved in some different types of architecture than these people.

Gawker: What do you mean, it's not really like that?

Frankie: Well, firstly, these people look really well-rested and almost obscenely casual. If this were a real meeting, the model on the table would have some stray marks on it. More likely, it would be shattered in a million pieces on the floor.

Also, in my experience no architects dress like that - the Liebeskind eyeglasses and black turtleneck/blazer, German expressionist style is still the bottom line at most nyc offices. Most people are executing variations on this basic Sprockets-y theme.

Gawker: Well, you guys do spend a lot of time in the airy conference room overlooking the Hudson, staring at little wooden dollhouses and making flirty-eyes at each other, right?

[...]

Gawker: Do you think these ads will inspire a lot of youngsters to become architects when they grow up?

Frankie: If I were a high schooler with architectural aspirations seeing this, it would probably be too seductive to resist. Five years in a design program, however, at a sufficiently respectable design school will bleed most of the color out of this person's palette and leave them crushed and vulnerable enough to fully engage the profession.

Le Corbusier Fan?

Now you can buy 40,000+ of his plans on a 16-DVD set for only $9,500.

The COR Building

I'm completely ripping this from one of my new favorite blogs, Inhabitat -- an architecture + design blog focused on sustainability -- but apparently Chad Oppenheim, Buro Happold, and Ysreal Seinuk teamed up to create a beautiful (and green!) highrise in Miami whose exterior structure includes wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, and solar hot water generation. Plus, it's pretty. What more could you want from a building?

EDIT: And -- to be sung to the tune of "It's A Small World After All" -- Inhabitat's founder Jill Fehrenbacher is actually a grad student at Columbia's GSAPP architecture school.

Utopia

Angela Detanico and Rafael Lain have come up with a new font called Utopia -- a "digital typeface that portrays the mixture between the modernist architecture of Oscar Niemeyer and informal occupation of the urban space that shapes major Brazilian cities."

Splendid! Two of my fetishes combined...

Final Architecture Model

The bass wood, wire, & mesh monstrosity that took me about 50 hours of the past weekend.



Detail.

From the Studio

A study model from my architecture class, made with basswood & glue.

Time Lapse

A small study from my studio architecture class.

From Tiffany's to Louis Vuitton

New Frank Gehry building planned for Paris!

From Concert Halls to Cufflinks

While I am mostly scandalized that one of my favorite architects is now designing a jewelry line for Tiffany & Co, I must admit ... Frank Gehry has quite an eye. And let's face it -- his strong suit has always been design, never execution (or silly details like creating buildings that can actually, um, stay standing). So maybe this is for the best?