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I assume that the projection stand and the screen are anchored into the ground, but otherwise Ole Scheeren’s temporary movie theater off the coast of Thailand rocked with the waves. A recent film festival used it for private viewings. What would you want to watch at this theater? Titanic? Spongebob Squarepants? Waterworld?
Link | Architect’s Website | Photo: Piyatat Hemmatat
German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born 126 years ago today. He was influential in shifting modern architecture away from the ornate to the simple. Whether that is actually progress is in the eye of the beholder, but he is honored by today’s Google doodle, which depicts the SR Crown Hall in Chicago, one of his glass-and-steel designs. Link
The seemingly radical idea of building a skyscraper out of wood is not so strange after all, as architect Michael Green is quick to point out, because of two main advantages wood has over concrete and steel-it’s eco-friendly and cost effective. Here’s more on Vancouver’s Tallwood project:
‘Tallwood’ would be made of large panels of ‘laminated strand lumber’—a composite made by gluing together strands of wood.
Trees are a renewable resource, and they help to reduce air pollution. Sourcing from sustainably-managed forests could be deemed more environmentally sensitive, according to CNN.
Unlike concrete—which produces about 6-9kg of carbon dioxide for every 10kg of concrete—wood sucks carbon out of the atmosphere.
And contrary to popular belief, wood actually is quite fire-resistant.
“It may sound counter-intuitive, but performing well in a fire is something inherent in large pieces of wood, that’s why in forest fires the trees that survive are the largest ones,” Green said.
I don’t know why, but the preliminary photos of this project remind me of the tabletop game Jenga…
In Fukuoka, Japan, there exists a Starbucks coffee shop unlike anything you've seen before. The Starbucks in the city's main path to the Shinto shrine Dazaifu Tenmangu, is decorated with 2,000 wooden sticks, woven into the walls and ceilings!
Link - via Laughing Squid
The lovely wood and shifting forms of this bakery effectively imitate the color and shape of bread. March Studio, an architecture firm in Melbourne, Australia designed this interior for a bakery in the nearby suburb of Carlton.
Link (Google Translate) | Architects’ Website
The RMS Titanic was built in Belfast, Nothern Ireland, and as the 100th anniversary of the ship’s first and last voyage comes up, so is the new museum dedicated to the Titanic and the people who built her. Titanic Belfast is an architectural wonder designed to be reminiscent of the ship itself, situated on the very spot the luxury liner was built. Titanic Belfast is scheduled to open March 31st. See lots more pictures, including a peek at the interior, at Kuriositas. Link
(Image credit: Christopher Heaney)
Here’s a photo tour of a once-opulent building that fell into ruin, but this one has a modern story, and the photographs are all that is left. The 17,000 square-foot Jackling Mansion was built in 1925 in Woodside, California. Steve Jobs lived there for abut ten years, but let it fall into disrepair after 2000. The home maintenance was abandoned because Jobs planned to tear down the house, but then found himself in a long battle with historic preservationists. Meanwhile, photographer Jonathan Haeber documented the home’s downfall in pictures. See them at WebUrbanist. Link
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If you love IKEA so much that you want to live in one, your dream is about to come true. Soon you can buy an IKEA house:
The Swedish company hasn’t begun renting out its showrooms just yet, but it has partnered with Oregon architectural firm Ideabox to launch a line of prefabricated homes. Dubbed “aktiv,” the one-bedroom homes will be decked out entirely in hip IKEA decor. Expected to sell at $86,500, the homes are “Swedish inspired” and “full of personality,” according to the Ideabox website.
Don't worry, you won't have to put the house together with Allen wrenches - it comes already assembled: Link
American Bandstand host Dick Clark owns a house in Malibu, California, that looks as if it came straight from the TV show The Flintstones. It has only one bedroom and two bathrooms, but it sits on 22 acres and features great views all around. It can be yours for only $3.5 million! Link -via Breakfast Links
Those of us who merely watched the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake on screens got to witness something amazing: the resiliency and resourcefulness of the Japanese people. And we’re still seeing it as Japan prepares for future earthquakes. Here’s one example. Youichi Sakamoto invented a foundation structure that raises buildings on air pockets as soon as an earthquake starts:
1. A sensor detects the rumblings of an earthquake.
2. Within .5 to 1 second an air tank pushes air in-between an artificial foundation and the actual structure of the home, lifting it as high as 3cm off the ground.
3. While the earth below violently shakes, the levitating home quietly and patiently waits, returning back to the ground once the tectonic plates have settled.
Link -via Marginal Revolution
For a more modular ecclesiology, visit this temporary structure in the Netherlands. It’s built not out of LEGO bricks, but Legioblocks — concrete blocks made to resemble LEGO bricks. Michiel de Wit and Filip Jonker erected it for the Grenswerk Festival in the city of Enschede.
Link (Google Translate) -via Bit Rebels | Festival Website | Photo by the artists
There’s demand for more luxury housing in Mumbai, India, and the architecture firm of James Law is pitching its design for a huge residential complex. Among its features are small pools off the balconies that seem to hang in mid-air.
The 84-year-old Fort Steuben Bridge connecting Ohio and West Virginia was decommissioned in mere seconds on Tuesday. They did not skimp on the explosives! Luckily, its final performance was caught on high-speed video so we can see it go out in a blaze of glory. -via BroBible
This Presidents Day article is from the book Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges Into the Presidency.
What weighs 40,000 tons, towers 555 feet 5 1/8 inches high over the nation’s capital, has 897 steps to the top, is made of 36,491 stones, and can boast with certainty that George Washington never slept there? The Washington Monument!
Today surrounded by 50 flags at the base, symbolizing each of the 50 states, the white marble obelisk is the jewel in the crown of the National Mall -but it took a surprisingly long time for the nation to get around to building it.
DESIGN DEBATES
Immediately after the War for Independence, the Continental Congress made plans to honor General George Washington. As far back as 1783, there was a plan for an equestrian statue of Washington to be placed near the Capitol building -once they figured out where the capital city was going to be. But the new nation was busy, and the capital moved several times, making it difficult to find a good spot for a tribute.
After Washington died in 1799, Congress again made noises about erecting a monument in his honor, and they settled on creating a tomb in the Capitol building. But they forgot to ask his family’s opinion. Washington’s heirs did not want to move his remains, which stayed firmly planted in his tomb on the grounds of his home, Mount Vernon, in Alexandria, Virginia.
As the 100th anniversary of Washington’s birth approached, there was again a push to memorialize the first president. Congress coughed up $5,000 in 1832 for a marble statue intended for the Capitol Rotunda. However artist Horatio Greenhough’s creation -a 20-ton seated seminude figure- was not exactly what most folks had in mind. This statue ended up at the Smithsonian Institution in 1908.
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Can’t see it? Neither can I! Under all that foliage is St. Andrew’s Church in Bircham Tofts, England. It was abandoned in the 19th century when parishes were consolidated, but you can still get in, if you know how. There are photos of the interior stonework as well as more exterior shots at Urban Ghosts. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Gary Troughton)
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In 1956, 12-year old Jim Berger wanted to build a house for his dog. So he asked the Frank Lloyd Wright to design one.
In Berger’s favor, Wright had designed his family’s house. So he knew Berger and was on good terms with the kids’ family. The famous architect composed a complete set of plans for a dog house that would fit the same style. Berger never built it, but his family did in 1963. The family dogs, however, disapproved of its organic style and refused to live in it.
Link -via Flavorwire | Photo: Architects + Artisans
This mesmerizing structure is an arrangement on display at the 2012 Light Festival of Ghent, Belgium. The Italian firm Luminarie De Cagna carefully arranged its 55,000 LEDs. The apparent height of the ceiling is no camera trick. It’s twenty-eight meters high and visitors can walk right in.
Link -via Colossal | Photo: Stijn Coppens
If watching Return Of The Jedi left you with a longing for a life in the trees, a yearning for an Ewokian lifestyle that just won’t go away, then you’ll want to visit Oregon, where builder of dream houses Michael Garnier runs his Out ‘n’ About Treehouse Treesort.
The Ewok village inspired bed-and-breakfast is best described as “woodsy”, with nine treehouses connected by bridges and staircases and the ultra fun sounding zipline option, for getting around in a heroic hurry.
Enjoy the video tour, and see how treehouses can be an unusual yet fun vacation option.
Link –via DesignTAXI
You’ve probably seen the ad for this underground missile base in New York state that’s been on the market for some time. Now you have a chance to take a virtual tour! Scout from Scouting New York went to the site and the owners were gracious enough to let him look around and take plenty of pictures. There’s a nice house on top, and part of the underground has been renovated for use as a modern living area. Then there are parts that recall the facility’s original use during the Cold War. Link -via the Presurfer
If you ever wondered why it is so important to be exact in math, particularly in engineering math, then take a look at cases in which a math error resulted in deaths. Remember the Hyatt Regency disaster in Kansas City some 30 years ago?
When designing their newest hotel to be built in downtown Kansas City, the fine people at Hyatt Regency wanted all the bells and whistles in it. The architectural firm in charge of the building design came up with a series of aerial walkways suspended from the ceiling so that guests could people-watch from a heightened vantage point. All in all, it was a pretty nifty feature. Until it suddenly collapsed and killed more than a hundred people.
Now they know what design flaw caused it, and my mouth dropped open to see how simple it was. Read the rest of the story and others at Cracked. Link -via Digg
The Chinese construction company Broad Group built a 30-story hotel in just 15 days (360 hours) in December. This time-lapse video shows the process. See another, longer video showing more details at Geekosystem. Link
The Treehotel is a group of unusual tree houses in northern Sweden that guests can rent. All six sides of this one are mirrored, creating beautiful images as the sky and trees reflect on the surface. Others look like a bird’s nest and a flying saucer.
Link -via My Modern Met | Official Website | Photo: Peter Lundstrom
How would an architect design houses from fairy tales? Let's find out: Fairy tale author and editor Kate Bernheimer and architect Andrew Bernheimer collaborated to take a look at houses and structures from fairy tales, as seen through the lens of architecture.
Take Rapunzel's tower, for instance, as it's designed by Guy Norden and Associates:
What are the key elements of your architectural design and how is it sited?
As structural engineers we were instantly drawn to the “tower that stood in a forest and had neither a door nor a stairway, but only a tiny little window at the very top” featured in the Brothers Grimm version of “Rapunzel,” and we looked to our previous design for the Seven Stems Broadcast Tower for inspiration. We were able to meet the Grimms’ strict design requirements by employing a slender tower design of vertical cylindrical stems that are joined by intermittent outrigger beams with a reinforced space at the very top for Rapunzel’s long captivity.
View more at Design Observer: Link | More in the series: Baba Yaga and Jack and the Beanstalk
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Can you guess which iconic buildings are recreated using books and other everyday objects in this clever video by Luis Urculo?
Hit play or go to Link [vimeo] - via Fast Company
Comments Off Built in the 1950s, this bunker in Wiltshire could house and feed 4,000 people for three months. The United Kingdom designed it to house the government if the worst happened during the Cold War. Watch this video tour of its facilities and make an offer. It’s up for sale.
Link -via Boing Boing
The following is an article from the newest volume of the Bathroom Reader series, Uncle John’s 24-Karat Bathroom Reader.
Think the old woman who lived in a shoe had weird taste in housing? It turns out she was just ahead of her time. Buildings can look like all sorts of things, even…
AN IGLOO
(Image credit: City Profile)
Crouched on the Parks Highway about 180 miles outside of Anchorage, Alaska, is a hulking, four-story igloo. Its dome can be spotted from an airplane flying at 30,000 feet. Built in the 1970s, the igloo was meant to give tourists a chance to visit a “real” Alaskan igloo. Igloo City, as it’s known, has been a convenience store, a gas station, a makeshift triage clinic for a man attacked by a grizzly bear, and an emergency airplane refueling stop (a small plane once landed on the highway and and taxied in for gas). But other than part of the ground floor, the igloo itself has never been used. It was supposed to be a motel, but the couple who built it forgot something important: building codes. The structure never passed inspection, and its owners went broke.
…THE WORLD’S LARGEST CHEST
In the 1920s, the High Point, North Carolina, Chamber of Commerce built its first building-size chest of drawers. Twenty feet tall, the chest served as the Chamber’s Bureau of Information and helped to promote the city’s image as the “Furniture Capital of the World.” In 1996 the chest was augmented, making it 38 feet tall. In 2010, upset with the city’s refusal to help with the upkeep of the landmark, Pam Stern, the building’s owner, had the chest measured for a giant bra: 20 feet of silk, Spandex, and underwiring. (Get it? A chest of drawers.) HanesBrands, Inc., maker of Playtex bras, sent engineers over to take the chest’s measurements. Whether the city will permit the chest to wear the bra remains unknown at this time.
…A CHICKEN
(Image credit: Flicker user Brent Moore)
A 56-foot tall chicken head juts from the roof of the Kentucky Fried Chicken at the corner of Roswell Street and Cobb Parkway in Marietta, Georgia. Locals use it as a landmark when giving directions: “Turn right, after you pass the Big Chicken.” The architectural whimsy, built in 1963, was a Johnny Reb’s Chick, Chuck and Shakes fried-chicken restaurant until 1966, when the owner, Tubby Davis, sold it to his brother, who turned it into a KFC. In 1993 the chicken suffered wind damage and might have been demolished were it not considered too important to be axed. Reason: pilots use the building as a reference point when approaching Atlanta and nearby Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
…A NAUTILUS SHELL
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Dutch architects MVRDV designed these skyscrapers planned for South Korea. It’s called The Cloud, and is described as “a pixelated cloud” with towers rising through it.
Okay, now that you’ve seen the picture, what are you thinking? The architectural firm was caught off-guard by complaints from those who looked at the plan and saw the World Trade Center towers exploding. That’s the first thing I thought of, but MVRDV insists that the resemblance is coincidental. Read more about the controversy at Co.Design. Link -via The Daily What
In response to the earlier item on chicken coops, Neatoramanaut NickDanger3dEye let us know about the 12-sided coop he and his son built.
I got the basic idea for a plywood dodecahedron from a late 60s Popular Science magazine article I read in my youth. The author of that article built it as a meditation space, with a circular hole cut in one panel. Instead, we hinged one panel and put a hook and eye at the top, so we could lock up the chickens overnight, safe from raccoons and other varmints.
One other point, we hung a heat lamp from the top to warm the chickens during the winter. At night, the red light leaks through the vertices.
My son’s friends have been unpersuasive in trying to talk us into painting numbers on the side to make it look like a D12.
I would throw my vote to paint it as a die! An octahedral laying box was his next attempt at working his way through all the Platonic solids. Link to Flickr page.
All over the world, cities are cutting budgets, and zoos are often high on the hit list. The result is often abandoned facilities that cost too much to tear down. Thanks to urban explorers who are also photographers, we get to see these formerly fine facilities in their decaying abandoned states. Let’s just hope all the animals have a better place to live now. Pictured here is the zoo in Charleroi, Belgium, which was a victim of recessions that affected the entire city. See the rest at Environmental Graffiti. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Peter Van den Bossche)
Just a concept now (although one that can be demonstrated), buildings of the future might be put together by flying robots. Which sounds like a great idea, but I’d still want a real human building inspector! -via Geeks Are Sexy
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