Filed under: Architecture, Design, On the Radar, Seattle, Travel, Urban Architecture
On the Radar is BUILD’s every-couple-of-weeks synopsis of what we’re up to up.
SURFING
Lately our favorite gratuitous image site is suckerPUNCHdaily which asks: “when was the last time you got punched by design?”
-thanks to Ryan
If you’re looking for more data to sink your teeth into head on over to Greenlineblog, it’s full of juicy information on design, technology and sustainability.
-thanks to Brian
The A-Cero website was new to us and the BUILD jury is still out. Sexy architectural experience or overdesigned and complicated, you be the judge.
-either way, thanks to Josiah
MEETING
A couple of weeks ago we started the Northwest Architecture Meetup group and rounded up the troops at Picnic for our first event. If you live in or around Seattle and enjoy meeting design-minded peeps get yourself signed up for future soirees. Check it out here.
DRINKING
We’ve got a new favorite drink. A St. Germain is 1 shot gin, 1/2 shot St. Germain, 3 shots tonic water, throw a lime in there.
MATERIALIZING
Porcelanosa out of Spain is manufacturing large porcelain tiles textured and graphically matched with a specific wood species. The flooring material is said to be cost-effective, maintenance free and extremely durable. Typically we like materials to look like what they are but for some reason the images of Porcelanosa’s Woodtec line caught our eye. It seems like this product line could have a wide range of uses like walls, backsplashes, indoor-outdoor surfaces… Find out more here.
-thanks to Ken
EVOLVING
If you have not yet watched Annie Leonard’s Story of Stuff close down our silly little blog immediately and watch it here. Then email it to people you like. Solutions can be found here.
DIAGRAMMING
Have we been drinking too much again or did this last election exhibit better communication graphics than all other elections combined? Check out the dynamic maps, cartograms dingbats, icons and yes.. cupcakes.
IDENTIFYING
For a very thorough study in brand logo identity over time check this out.
-thanks to Angela
For a hilarious study of personal identity guidelines give Tank Studio’s Christopher Doyle a visit.
-thanks to Angela
TOURING
The California Academy of Sciences designed by Architecture God Renzo Piano opened up last month and our BUILD senior field correspondent sent us photos hot off the press.
-thanks to Alex for the photos
JetBlue’s Terminal 5 at JFK re-opened on October 22nd. The original TWA terminal by Eero Saarinen was given a $743M addition and update by Gensler and finally the elegant lines and cool lounges regain the lost romance of travel. Get yourself on a flight to Manhattan and we’ll see you in the Deep Blue Bar for St. Germains.
There’s a new player in the modern lodging game. i-escape’s website is a bit cluttered but it offers some hip hideaways and boutique hotels. Afterall, you’ve got to compare the prices on tablethotels with something.
Modern cottages and cabins are a tough find but if you’re in need of lodging in Northern California look into the Healdsburg Cottages. They’re website needs a nice modern update but the grounds look inspiring and the cottages, appropriately named Charles, Ray, George and Eileen, are little modern gems.
-thanks to ken
READING
As far as non-fiction goes around here, Malcolm Gladwell is the bomb. He just released Outliers, his latest book, on Tuesday November 18th and BUILD got a hot little copy in our hands. “An ‘Outlier’ is a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience.”
CREATING
Although Andrea Zittel has been producing art since the early 90’s we were only recently introduced to her work at MOMA. Her recent projects look at our living spaces, functional household objects and daily behaviors. She boils these items down to caricatures of habitation creating final pieces that are simple, humorous and refreshingly playful. It’s nice to check in with her work after designing big houses all day.
The Bellevue Art Museum is at the tail end of John Grade’s: Disintegration Sculpture through Landscape; a phenomenal body of work that deserves some attention. Get over to BAM, one of the few Steven Holl projects in the northwest, and check it out before the show closes on November 30th.
You most likely remember the provocative images from Chris Jordan’s “Running the Numbers” series which looks behind the curtain of our collective behavior in the U.S. His photo montages are fascinating, haunting and infectious. He recently spoke at the TED conference and if you’re a Seattle-ite get on over to Grey Gallery & Lounge on the Pike-Pine corridor and join us for the ARCADE release party on Wednesday, December 3rd which features Jordan’s “The Art of Waste”.
DEVELOPING
Despite the terrible market, nice projects continue to spring up in the northwest. Portland’s newest addition, the Clinton Condominiums, relies on close collaboration between developer, architect and builder. Hat’s off to developer Randy Rapaport who supported great design in a time when the path of least resistance is anything but. The building is filling up with great homeowners, a bakery and a yoga studio. Seattle take note – when you build sensible, timeless architecture, good peeps show up.
-thanks to Brian
Mini-malls, parking lots and big box stores seem to be the new focus of society-conscious architects willing to throw schematic ideas at real problems. Recently, “The Washington Post assembled a team of artists, architects, engineers and developers to think creatively about what to do with spaces once occupied by big box stores”… Kudos to The Washington Post. Read more about the second lives of big box stores here.
…that oughta keep you busy over the weekend
As designers and builders deeply concerned with our collective future, we’re overdue to renew our basic premises regarding ‘sustainable’ and ‘green’ practices. Having thought long and hard about the need to do more to ensure a high quality of life for future generations, Build LLC offers the following principles of honest, sustainable design.
Durability make sure stuff works and is built for future generations. Outsmart and outlast both designed and perceived obsolescence.
Sensibility continually assert discipline in size, scale and program. Know when to subtract and streamline. Beauty and comfort result from intelligent solutions, not the reflexive addition of features.
Density incorporate the most people and activities that can sensibly be sustained in a given volume. There is a healthy balance between lawn covered neighborhoods and asphalt encased towers.
Regionalism use local resources: architects, contractors and materials.
Timelessness understand what forms and innovations will last; reject fashion, pretention, and conscious efforts to attract attention.
The best ‘green’ features disappear into a building: the structure works better and enhances the inhabitant’s health and enjoyment. We start from these basic, common-sense sustainability practices. These are core to our practice, like our desks and pencils. We don’t brag about them- we build them in, naturally. And when we don’t, we’re honest that we didn’t - and, this just means we can’t go waving the banner of sustainability around.
Technology will improve and our mindsets will continue to evolve. While we’re developing usable ‘cradle to cradle’ products and processes, our best alternative is to use these five principles to guide our actions to achieve the most sustainable outcomes possible.
If these principles seem basic, that’s the point. They are fundamental and instinctual. Let’s get them right wherever we can while we sort out the emerging technologies.
Filed under: Architecture, Industrial Architecture, Rural Architecture, Scapes, Suburban Architecture
In our ongoing Google Earth series the Borderscapes theme covers some fascinating interfaces between built-form and nature. The plan view images of earth, captured from space, are becoming increasing indicative of how human-made landscapes are integrating (or not integrating) with natural contexts. The images, while only a snapshot of each occurrence, also begin to convey whether the development strategies are mindful or viral.
Farms in the United Arab Emerites at 10.5 miles
Battleship Graveyard in Benicia, CA at 6,000 ft
Jetties in San Lucido, Italy at 3,500 ft
Crater in San Salvador, Paraguay at 2,000 ft
Central Park in Manhattan at 1,500 ft
Florida Keys at 1,500 ft
Suburb in Muscoy, CA at 1,500 ft
Suburb in Palm Springs, CA at 1,500 ft
Suburbs in Salt Lake City, UT at 1,500 ft
Suburb in San Jose, CA at 1,500 ft
Umm-Durrman, Sudan at 1,500 ft
Windfarm in Copenhagen, Denmark at 1,500 ft
Swimming pool in Colares, Portugal at 400 ft
Leca swimming pools by Alvaro Siza in Portugal at 250 ft
Google Earth is now available for the iPhone - check it out here or app it on your iPhone.
