Archive Category: Architecture
10 Beautiful Ceilings
We hardly ever look at ceilings, but they can make a world of difference in the mood of a room. Architecture fan deputy dog has a roundup of beautiful ceilings from all over. He is still looking for an explanation of this ceiling. Pictured is a ceiling at Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal. Link
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The Surreal Appeal of the Falkirk Wheel
The people of Falkirk, Scotland needed to connect two waterways, but there was one big problem. The difference in height between the two measures about the same as an eight story building. The solution? A pretty amazing rotating boat lift, the only one of its type in the world:
The Scottish capital city, Edinburgh and its second city, Glasgow, had no water based connection for seventy years. It wasn’t until almost the dawn of the new century that this situation was reconsidered and the idea of the Falkirk Wheel was taken seriously and put in to action.
Now the wheel, as well as a connector between the two cities, is a remarkable and awe-inspiring tourist destination in its own right. However, if it wasn’t for the prodigious gambling habits of the British people this amazing structure would never have been built.
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13-story Building Topples
You don’t want to be around when a high-rise apartment building falls over! The unfinished 13-story building in Shanghai toppled Saturday morning and killed a 28-year-old worker.
“It was just like an earthquake,” witness Zhang Supong told China Daily.
Construction of the building has been halted pending an investigation of the collapse, including reports that cracks had appeared Friday on a flood prevention bank near the apartment building, Xinhua reported.
Link to story. Link to pictures. -via J-Walk Blog
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The Incredible Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge Under Construction
Little known outside of its home states of Nevada and Arizona, this new bridge has been overshadowed by its more venerable and certainly larger neighbor but the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge is certainly something to be seen.
Were it not so near the Hoover Dam it would probably be a tourist spot all on its own. Due to be completed next year this amazing bridge is still very much under construction, as pictures in the link will show. Once the arch meets in the middle the biggest party since Prohibition will no doubt ensue.
The longer, more proper and formal name is the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. Perhaps it is already known as The Mike and Pat locally. O’Callaghan was the Governor of Nevada in the nineteen seventies as well as a veteran of the Korean War. Tillman is by far the more controversial choice. He gave up a millionaire lifestyle and superstar footballer status to serve in the US Army in Afghanistan where he was killed in 2004. His death has been subject to military investigations and more than the occasional conspiracy theory.
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Temporary Ski Jumps
A half-century ago, building ski jumps out of scaffolding was pretty popular, especially at stadiums, where they would be used to draw a crowd. Deputy dog takes a look at several of these oh-so-scary contraptions. The ski jump pictured was used at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1954. Link
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Defying Developers: Buildings of the Resistance
Buildings are creatively converted or utterly demolished all the time to make room for highways and other large-scale civic problems, but the laws vary on what can be done when a single hold-out structure stands alone against a sea of fat-cat developers, builders and architects who all want nothing more but for them to move.
Sometimes they successfully force out residents or bribe them with offers that range up to 20 times the value of the home and real estate - but in many cases they simply have to give up and build around them, creating so-called ‘nail houses’ that stand apart from their surroundings.
In some cases, these incredible stand-alone structures have huge fan bases of individuals who applaud their willingness to stand up for their property.
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6 Stubborn Nail Houses
In Pixar’s new film Up! a homeowner refuses to sell when development moves in to the neighborhood. This situation occurs quite often in real life, and the remaining property is called a “nail house” because it sticks out like a nail among the newer (and almost always bigger) buildings. deputy dog has the stories of six such property owners. Shown is the home of Edith Macefield in Seattle (featured previously at Neatorama) which was festooned with balloons recently as a promotion for the Pixar film. Link
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World’s Most Fascinating Tunnel Networks
Perhaps of all hidden architectures, nothing amazes us more than secret tunnels.
Some, like the Lizard People’s tunnel under Los Angeles, promised great treasures, if only you’re brave enough to burrow deeply. Others, like the booby-trapped Viet Cong Cu Chi Network, have only death and misadventure for those foolish enough to venture in.
Oobject has a nifty feature of 12 of the most interesting tunnels in the world:
Networks of secret passages and tunnels have been built on a giant scale, from components of the Maginot line to the Viet Cong Cu Chi Network.
Others perform a peacetime function, such as the half mile tunnel network H.G. Dyar built under his Washington home, as a hobby, the passageways under Disney’s Magic Kingdom or the unbelievable 5000 year old Lizard People tunnel network under Los Angeles that the L.A. Times published a diagram of during the depression.
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Buried Church
In 1943, a volcano began growing out of a cornfield in San Juan Parangaricutiro, Michoacán, Mexico. It erupted for eight years, growing to a height of 336 meters. The lava flow buried the town, but the inhabitants were able to evacuate. Of all the buildings, only the church is now visible, rising half-buried from the new rock. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend
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Skyscrapers of the Not so Distant Future
I have always found skyscrapers to be so majestic, and beautiful. Here are some soon to be finished skyscrapers, as well as a few still in the design phase.
International Commerce Centre. West Kowloon, Hong Kong. Estimated Completion: 2010. Apparantly, this building was going to be even longer, but they were forced to scale it back, since city ordinances don’t allow buildings that are taller than the surrounding mountains.
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The Woman Who Moved Her House Brick by Brick
In 1947, after the love of her life passed away unexpectedly, May Alice Savidge bought a house to restore.
A few years later, she was told by the town council that her house was to be destroyed to make way for a road. Needless to say, May didn’t take that lying down: she fought the town … and lost. But Savidge never gave up:
In 1969, when she was 58, the bulldozers reached her gate. Her response was to number each beam and pane of glass so that her home could be reassembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
Dismantling the heavy oak timber frame, held together with tapered wooden pegs, was both difficult and dangerous. A team of local demolition contractors helped May. She traced over a sample of brickwork using greaseproof paper and crayons so that she would know which bond to use and how thick to lay the mortar.
She continued to live in the house as it was taken down, sleeping beneath the stars in the freezing cold. [...]
She found a site in the seaside town of Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk, and obtained planning permission and laid foundations. A lorry made the round trip to Norfolk 11 times to carry every part of the house.
So began a life of hardship. She had no electricity and worked by the light of Victorian paraffin lamps. She used an alarm clock to set herself targets each day, noting how many nails she extracted from oak beams per hour, as she dismantled the house and prepared for rebuilding. [...]
Two years later, the framework was fixed to the foundations by a local carpenter and May started to infill the brickwork. She had no experience of brickwork, but was determined to lay every single brick perfectly.
It would be another eight years before the roof tiles were put in place and the property made watertight.
By the time she was into her 70s, however, May had moved in and the house stood proudly in its new gardens, each old oak beam in place, the brickwork nearly complete and many of the walls plastered.
Savidge continued to work on the house until she died at the age of 82. Her niece, Christine Adams, continued the job to finish the house and now recounts the amazing life story of her aunt: Link - via Cellar IotD
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Cameron’s Home
"The place is like a museum. It’s very beautiful and very cold, and you’re not allowed to touch anything."~ Ferris Bueller
The home that once served as the set for Ferris’ friend Cameron’s home, in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, is for sale. You can refresh your memory by watching this scene.
The Ben Rose Home in Highland Park, Illinois, was designed by architects A. James Speyer and David Haid, and constructed in 1953. It is being listed by Sotheby’s for $2.3 million. More images are available here.
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8 Awe-Inspiring Swimming Pools
Seriously, if I had a back yard larger than a postage stamp and a budget that could accomidate more than a nice dinner ever few weeks, I would totally pimp it out with one of these. I mean, come on! Look at that one in Thailand!
The standard pool, in all its sparkly-blue, hot-summer-day glory, is enough to send most hearts aflutter. Add an edgy architectural design or sweeping city view, and you may just have your next dream destination.
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Virtual White House Tour
Here’s a site that can keep you busy for a long time! This virtual tour of the White House has current floor plans of each floor and section of the building as well as ground layouts -PLUS historical floor plans from various eras in its history. Click on the rooms to see photos of what’s inside, and how the room looked in the past. Each page has more information, such as which president and First Lady slept in twin beds or separate rooms. I learned about the “bachelor suite” used by young men who courted Woodrow Wilson’s daughters, and how Zachary Taylor’s slaves had to climb a ladder to get to their attic rooms. Link -via the Presurfer
Note: I had some trouble with the “Residence Overview” page. You may have to hit your back button to get out of that one.
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Interesting Bridges
Dark Roasted Blend has a photo-heavy roundup of interesting bridge construction, beginning with views of several bridges being built across huge gorges in China. The bridge shown is part of the Jinji Expressway. Also see large, artful, and scary bridges from around the world, plus links to earlier posts in the series on bridges. Link
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The Car-free Community
A suburb without cars? It’s happening in Vauban, Germany, an experimental community near Freiburg where there are no garages, street parking, or driveways. If you have a car and move to Vauban, you purchase a space in a parking building at the edge of town when you buy your home. Most residents do not own a car.
Henk Schulz, a scientist who on one afternoon last month was watching his three young children wander around Vauban, remembers his excitement at buying his first car. Now, he said, he is glad to be raising his children away from cars; he does not worry much about their safety in the street.
In the past few years, Vauban has become a well-known niche community, even if it has spawned few imitators in Germany. But whether the concept will work in California is an open question.
A few experimental car-free communities are trying to get off the ground in the US, but not many people live in them so far.
Besides, convincing people to give up their cars is often an uphill run. “People in the U.S. are incredibly suspicious of any idea where people are not going to own cars, or are going to own fewer,” said David Ceaser, co-founder of CarFree City USA, who said no car-free suburban project the size of Vauban had been successful in the United States.
(image credit: Martin Specht for The New York Times)
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Living Rock: Massive Monuments Sculpted In Situ
We all know about Mount Rushmore and the Great Sphinx of Giza, both carved in situ without the intention of ever being moved. Such sculptures are often referred to as living rock. Others, like these, are not so well known. From places you may expect to find them, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia to the far flung reaches of Ethiopia and Bangladesh, most were carved in ancient times. In almost all cases there are no extant records which explain how they were built without the aid of modern technology. Yet here they are.
Quazen blog has a list of 9 incredible architectures sculpted out of rocks:
China has many a Buddha dotted throughout its extraordinary landscapes but the Giant Buddha of Leshan is unique in that it was carved directly out of the cliff face - just look at the people at the feet of the statue. The sculpture, which is seventy one meters (or over three hundred feet) tall dwarfs the tourists that flock to see it. It is positioned so that it faces Mount Emei and stands at the meeting place of three rivers. Although the Government of China has promised a restoration program, the statue has suffered from the effects of pollution, particularly over the last twenty years. Fortunately, the statue was not damaged in the Sichuan earthquake of 2008.
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The Monastery Built on a Volcanic Plug
In central Burma there is a remarkable monastery, Taung Kalat, that sits atop an ancient volcanic plug. Looking like the possible lair of a Bond villain or maybe ET’s next port of call should he make a return visit, this amazing piece of architecture has weathered many a storm. However, it may be finally brought down by the neglect of the military Junta that runs this troubled nation.
Yes, that’s right a volcanic plug. It sounds dangerous but at this stage in its life, Taung Kalat poses no threat. A volcanic plug (sometimes called a ‘neck’) is formed when magma, on its way up through a vent on an active volcano, hardens inside the vent. While the volcano is active this could well lead to the mother of all explosions and it would, you have to admit, be a shame if this beautiful monastery was to be catapulted in to the stratosphere. However, the volcano is thought (perhaps we should say hoped) to be extinct.
(image credit: Flickr user exfordy)
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Manhattan, 2009 and 1609
English explorer Henry Hudson set foot on an island called Mannahatta 400 years ago. The Manhatta Project has recreated the island as it appeared in 1609, with forests, wetlands, and a vast array of wildlife. See views of Manhattan side-by-side with a computer recreation of what it looked like before it became a city. Link -via mental_floss
(Image credit: Markley Boyer, Mannahatta Project/Wildlife Conservation Society)
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Japanese Homeless Camp, Complete With Solar Panel
Images : Kyohei Sakaguchi
The Japanese are just better than the rest of us. There. I’ve said it. From consumer electronics to cars, it seems that the Japanese just do things better.
I’m sure we’ve all heard that the Japanese may be academically better (their school children consistently score at the top of the charts) but they’re not creative. But that is dead wrong as anyone who has seen a Japanese game show, watched an anime, or play Super Mario can attest.
Even the Japanese homeless are better. In 2000, architect Kyohei Sakaguchi ran across this homeless camp along a riverside in Tokyo. The homeless man who was living in it worked for a camera company and knew his electronics - so he outfitted his "Zero Yen House" with a solar panel that let him watch TV and listen to the radio.
The Interior is made from wood. The roof is made from the cardboard. He covered it with a big blue vinyl sheet. He stocks under the floor. This house isn’t connected with the road. He just put it on the road. He said to me that this could float on the water once. This house is also a ship!!!
Link - via anArchitecture
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A Monument of Post-Apocalyptic Instructions
In 1979, an anonymous group erected a massive stone structure in Elbert County, Georgia. This modern-day stonehenge is more than twenty feet tall and arranged to serve as a calendar and a clock. Its slabs have instructions in eight languages for reconstructing society after the collapse of civilization. The instructions are more philosophical than technological, but perhaps nonetheless prudent:
PROTECT PEOPLE AND NATIONS WITH FAIR LAWS AND JUST COURTS. LET ALL NATIONS RULE INTERNALLY RESOLVING EXTERNAL DISPUTES IN A WORLD COURT. AVOID PETTY LAWS AND USELESS OFFICIALS. BALANCE PERSONAL RIGHTS WITH SOCIAL DUTIES. PRIZE TRUTH—BEAUTY—LOVE—SEEKING HARMONY WITH THE INFINITE. BE NOT A CANCER ON THE EARTH—LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE—LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE.
If you were composing brief instructions for survivors of the collapse of civilization, what would you write?
Link via Instapundit
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10 Inspiring Green Office Blocks
If you’re going to spend 8 hours a day at work in the office, it might as well be somewhere healthy and inspiring. Unfortunately the characterless and insipid glass edifices that so blight our inner cities are far removed from being either attractive or motivating, never mind sustainable. But there is a distinct wind of change breathing fresh life into the workplace with a new breed of elegantly designed sustainable offices. It may sound inconceivable, but these are the sort of places you actually might not mind spending the best part of your week in. StaoilHydro headquarters (pictured) is just one.
The futuristic new HQ of Norway’s StaoilHydro features five separate wings piled on top of one another in a seemingly haphazard manner. It saves energy by utilising renewable geothermal heat in its district heating and cooling system. Hot water (or cold depending on the depth from which it is extracted) is pumped out of a nearby disused coal mine straight into the offices’ radiators. Once the water in the radiators has cooled, it is pumped back into the mine to be naturally reheated by the Earth.
Link - via thrivecore
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Alex Michaelis’ Staircase/Slide Combo
Don’t let my kids see this: London architect Alex Michaelis has slide next to his staircase! Laura Housley of Cookie Magazine has the story:
Not that there aren’t plenty of kids’ diversions elsewhere, including the climbing wall outside and the slide that runs alongside the staircase. "We tend to have a lot of the kids’ friends around—they’re here perhaps more than at some of the other parents’ homes," Michaelis says, adding that even grown-ups can’t resist skipping the stairs. "We’ve been known after a big dinner party to use the slide."
Color me envious: Link | Photo gallery of the house (Here’s the slide) - via Bloesem Kids
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10 Uncanny Ultramodern Houses You Wish You Could Afford
Well, the market has fallen out from under everyone but it is still nice to dream, right? And who knows, with housing prices plummeting maybe you too will be able to afford one of these awesomely luxurious modern house designs. Part of what makes them so great is the variety of ways in which they take the limitations of a given site and turn them into incredible design opportunities.
Many designers must content themselves with imagining and drawing things that may never be built - very few can realize ultramodern home visions in the real world. Like a blast from the future, these ten architects have brought to life incredible houses that most of us could not even dream of - let alone afford.
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Green Roofs: Style + Sustainable = 17 Sweet Designs
Green roofs have become about more than just sustainable architecture - they have become new, long-unused canvasses for artistic expression and creative design.
This collection of green roof designs shows the possibilities of not only environmental architecture but of making something beautiful out of one of the most ubiquitous bare surfaces in the world - the roof - as we move into the future of sustainable design.
We’ve always thought we had roofs covered. They had to be barren, hostile places the rain and the wildlife slid from before they could do any damage. Nature had no place on our roofs. Except…we couldn’t have been more wrong. A green roof may required a little extra engineering behind the scenes, but it’s far better than its non-living counterparts for regulating house temperature, filtering out pollutants, scrubbing the surrounding air, controlling stormwater run-off, absorbing sound and many more factors that impact our quality of life. A green roof is a healthy roof.
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How the Other Half Lives On: The Abandoned Halves of Paired Townhouses
Ever wonder what happens if a conjoined twin perishes while still attached to their sibling? In much the same way, Camilo Jose Vergaga explores the results of having one half of a building deserted while the other half remains inhabited.
In some cases, one half has undergone radical renovations and looks entirely different than its mate. In other cases, the old one has been cut from the new, leaving a lopsided half on its own. Sometimes the impacts cut deep as one half rots and and is filled with squatters while the other is maintained.
More than your typical urban decay images of abandoned places, this juxtaposition of occupied and unoccupied shows the stark before-and-after contrast - the then as well as the now, side by side in a way rarely seen.
In poor neighborhoods, when someone is taken to the hospital or otherwise leaves their home the neighbors and police tend not to watch out for the place in order to prevent problems. As the population of Camden continues to decrease these mismatched pairs only grow in number.
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The Yellow Treehouse Restaurant
Commisioned by Yellow Pages in New Zealand, the architectural firm of Pacific Environments designed this amazing treehouse/restaurant.
The concept is driven by the ‘enchanted’ site which is raised above an open meadow and meandering stream on the edge of the woods.
The tree-house concept is reminiscent of childhood dreams and playtime, fairy stories of enchantment and imagination . It’s inspired through many forms found in nature -the chrysalis/cocoon protecting the emerging butterfly/moth, perhaps an onion/garlic clove form hung out to dry.
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Leaning Tower of Shanghai
Surely you’ve heard of the Great Wall of China, but how about a Leaning Tower? Turns out, China’s Huzhu Pagoda may just be the most tilted building in the world, beating out the Leaning Tower of Pisa …
The Huzhu pagoda leans over Tianma village in Songjiang suburb, its seven-story structure so lopsided it seems in imminent danger of toppling over altogether.
It was built in 1079 — well before Italy’s famous Leaning Tower of Pisa — by Gen. Zhou Wenda to house five Buddha relics given to him as a reward by Emperor Song Gaozong of the Southern Song dynasty. But from the start, it began to tilt.
“Part of the foundation was built on rock, part of the foundation was built on mud,” explains Yang Kun, who works at the Songjiang Museum and has studied the pagoda’s history.
Link [Update 3/13/09: reader beware: the website (NPR.org of all places) may have trojan in a rogue ad]
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The Cardboard Office
Designers Joost van Bleiswijk and Alrik Koudenburg created this interesting office for Nothing, a Dutch advertising agency: everything is made from cardboards!
The Nothing team took the idea behind the company name (taking nothing and turning it into something) as the starting point for the physical design of the office; which included creating walls, signage, beams, tables, shelving and even a set of stairs out of cardboard.
(image credit: Joachim Baan)
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World’s Largest Crossword Puzzle
The city of Lvov in the Ukraine is home to the world’s largest crossword puzzle.
Clues to the crossword are scattered around the city’s major landmarks and attractions including parks, fountains, and theatres.
Although the crossword – which is 19 squares across and 34 squares high – is far too big to be filled in by hand, the artists responsible have come up with an intriguing way of displaying the answers.
When night falls, fluorescent letters placed inside every square are turned on, revealing the complete solution in a light glow
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