Interactive Surface: Tron Premiere Halfpipe

Tron Legacy Premiere - A Light Session from ENESS on Vimeo.

Interactive surfaces are a new and exciting frontier for architecture. For the premiere of the new Tron movie, a half pipe was created with various lighting effects as a promotion. ENESS did quite a few amazing projects that almost completely transform the materiality and atmosphere of surfaces and objects.

 
ENESS 2010 Showreel from ENESS on Vimeo.

The interactivity of these projections adds a dimension to architecture that rarely existed before. The previous notion of an immobile surface is redefined as something provocative and curious. By interacting with these interactive surfaces, the audience also indirectly interact with each other, bringing a social element to the architecture. 

Super Specific: Shohei Shigamatsu

Shohei Shigematsu, partner at OMA and director of the firm's New York office, recently gave a lecture at the independently organised TEDxEast conference in New York. Entitled "Super Specific", the talk aims at stablising the practice of global architecture within the ever-fluctuating world economy.

I mainly found the talk worthwhile for two reasons. For one, it gives a little insight into how to function as an architect and designer when the economy falters and the going gets tough. In the case of Shigematsu, his designs begin to embrace the hyper-functionalism for which OMA has become well known for and maximise development potential (i.e. money making ability) without sacrificing formal and iconic expression.

Secondly, the short talk is aimed at non-architects. Recently, (probably in large part due to the faltering economy) architecture has come under criticism for being too insular. It's always interesting to see how high-profile architects attempt to engage people outside of the discipline, and it is evident that through his work and oratory, Shigematsu is able to do so rather convincingly.

Also, thumbs up for being the first architect I know to bash MUJI.

Dinosaur Super Heroes

There hasn't been a dinosaur related post in a while, so I was quite excited when I saw this.

From
 http://legitimusmaximus.tumblr.com
Other incredible illustrations along with more dinosaur superheroes at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cadencejunkie/

On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century

Architectural representation often deals with issues of the line. At its simplest inception, a line is what connects two points. However, The nature of the line and its effects becomes something infinitely complex. In architecture, the crucial moment is when a two dimensional drawing becomes a representation of a three dimensional idea. How exactly this happens and how clearly the idea becomes interpreted walks the line between science and art; the perception of the viewers versus the medium of the artist. 

"On Line" is the title of a series of exhibits and performances happening at the Museum of Modern Art in New York through February 7th. I will post an update as soon as I get a chance to visit. For now, here s a synopsis from the website:

"On Line is organized chronologically in three sections: Surface Tension, featuring the artistic drive to construct and represent movement through line within the flat picture plane; Line Extension, composed of works in which lines extend beyond flatness into real space—that is, into social space; and Confluence, presenting works in which line and background are fused, giving greater significance to the space between lines. In following the development of the meaning of line over the last one hundred years, the exhibition traces it in movement, across disciplines, and as it has been drawn out and rewoven in time and space—inevitably reflecting the interconnection and interdependency that are increasingly both shaping and emerging from a globalized society. Line, like thought, once understood as linear and progressive, has evolved into a kind of network: fluid, simultaneous, indefinite, and open."

The videos synopsis by the artists discuss some very crucial ideas on the ever important line. You can find these videos here: OnLine

101 Things I Didn’t Learn in Architecture School

Archdaily recently published a list of the "101 Things I Didn't Learn in Architecture School", which will instantly humour anyone who has spent a night in the studio. While you can find the full list here, I'd like to highlight a few of my favourites.

3] Do not drink at work and especially do not get toasted around your colleagues under any circumstances.

14] Go home to your family.
(As I've learned, iPhone's can be used to remind you to do this.)

19] Do not, however, ask for two monitors. Even though it makes you look like a bad-ass you will be expected to do twice the amount of work.

43] If you are invited to be on a jury, don’t trash the student just to make yourself look good or to contradict a rival on the jury. Be constructive and try to help the student. This is the point.

47] Don’t be a Typhoid Mary. When sick, stay home.

62] Architects who do not build things also have important things to say and should be listened to.

 67] Read Rem Koolhaas, but do not obsess and fantasize about being him. Delirious New York is still relevant.

82] Always back up your hard drive.
(instructions)

98] Architecture is cliquish.

Road Printer

I am officially impressed with the world.

Those Lego Lovers Who Didn't Become Architecture Students

AFOL A Blocumentary from AFOL on Vimeo.

Admittedly, when I was younger, I was obsessed with building with LEGOs. Although I can't say that it eventually flourished into an intense interest in architecture, it sure as hell was time well spent when I was younger. The video is very amusing. The passion these people have for little plastic bricks is amazing. Highlight at 15:00, the guy makes LEGO cars, but doesn't own his own car. to much money spent on LEGOs? or money well invested in pure awesomeness?

Tweenbots and the City

Tweenbots website - by Kacie Kinzer

"Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal. "


Tweenbots is very interesting project about the city. Happening in New York (where else?), these robots create a very interesting narrative in a city that is know for its unforgiving inhabitants. Results are surprisingly favorable for the tiny little robot. It would be interesting to GPS track the robot to see its route, but the minimal tech makes this project just that much more elegant.

Code City: Building Code Shenanigans

Despite the pecha kucha ripoff program in the form of "ignite". This guy dishes out the info on some pretty important and alarming things about building codes.

72 Hour Urban Action: Transformers Team

Alex Yuen and I prepared a presentation detailing our trip. Instead of rewriting it, I will just post it here. 

Return from the promised land

We have been extremely swamped with catch-up work since we've been back. However, with fall break coming soon, we will try to catalog our adventures in Israel.

Meanwhile:
flikr photos of the competition can found here
Photos of our team can be found here
Also read the NY times article here

Now we wait...

It's now about 10:30 AM and after a morning of moving things to and from the site, a few of us are trying to get a few hours out of the harsh midday sun while we wait for materials to arrive.  While we have most of our list set, we've had a few wrenches thrown in there in the form of 15% surcharges here and people unwilling to provide transportation there.  All of the labour, materials, and tools that are not provided by our team must fit in a budget of $3,000 or about 11,000 shekels. We have about 60 OSB wood sheets being trucked in from Tel Aviv which is taking up the majority of our budget.  We're hoping to get that all in by this afternoon and begin full work on construction then.

A Brand New Day: 32hours, 40hours to go

We've woken up after a much needed and throughly enjoyed sleep. It is now around 7am in the morning. Plan A has more or less been set last night. Today looks to be hopefully a mostly construction day. Cowboy boots are on. It's go time.

The Slump: 19hours - 53hours to go

It is around 6PM on Sunday here in Bat Yam, we are about 19 hours into the 72 hour urban action competition. The schedule we have listed for ourselves has already gone to shit. There are so many unanticipated factors that keep us from coming even close to a finalized design plan. Although ten people can generate a plethora of great ideas, it is also quite difficult to agree upon one set of ideas. In such a short time frame, it is hard to process all the information that is coming through. Design ideas morph until they become entirely unclear. As I write this now, I have a general vague idea of where we're going, but no solid images of what is to come exist. Hopefully after this nap, everything will be better.

Our mission as given to us last night is titled: The Backyard? The mission is to "transform the space from backyard to front yard without losing its sheltered and relaxed qualities that enable its current uses." The site as it stands is a pedestrian passageway and a alley playground for children. The site is uncomfortable for both uses, and there is some tension between the residents on one side, and a religious school on the other.

Our solution is punchily titled: Urban Tango. The basic aspects of the idea is to create an interaction between the various factors of the site; the people, the children, even the site onto itself and to generate an interaction that changes the site as people come and lay claim to the space. Even for those who merely pass through the site, a difference experience is felt each time depending on the interaction of the people who more actively occupy the site.

With that, I'm off for a nap.

Shabbat Shalom!

There haven't been many updates in a while, but we have arrived in beautiful Bat-Yam, Israel for the 72 Hour Urban Action competition. The competition begins tonight and will end in three days. I don't know how much time I will get to update, (if I'm not working, I should probably be sleeping) but never-less I will try my best. Our team consists of Alex and I from Rice, Four people from OUTr  based in Melbourne Australia, and four Israel locals in the field of architecture and design.

Pecha-Kucha

I attend the Pecha-Kucha event in Shanghai hosted by the Dutch Culture Center. For those of you who don't know what Pecha-Kucha is, (I didn't know until the day of the event) here is a quote from their website.

"PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.
It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace."

The format works quite well. It prevents presenters from being too wordy, or the audience from falling asleep from a boring lecturer. Unless they are all boring, which luckily didn't happen this time. There are some presentations That I want to delve deeper into, but for this post, I will run down my notes from the night. It was dark and I had to scribble blind, but I think I got some pretty good notes down.

China Pavilion: The metaphor

I mentioned previously that the China Pavilion is a surprisingly good metaphor for what China is going through now as a nation. After being in Shanghai (one of China's fastest growing and most international cities) for two months, China has revealed itself to be a proud nation who is extremely concerned with how it is perceived by the international community. However, due to rapid growth, the general Chinese population has not been able to catch up. What one ends up with is an exterior that looks half polished while the interior is glaringly flawed.

Before I continue my rant on everything that disappoints me about this aspect of China and become seen as a merciless traitor to my birthplace, here a few words that will hopefully save me from being deemed so. First and foremost, I love this country, it's food, it's people, and it's environments have given me fond memories to carry through my life. One of the saddest moments of my life was boarding that plane to New York when I was eight, knowing that being Chinese will mean something completely different from then on. Each time I come back, I've had mixed feelings about what I feel. On one hand, I still see the memories of everything I know and love and continue to find new surprises that secure China's prominence in my heart. However, time after time I find my self disgusted with certain ways this country has developed in the past twelve years. It seems that for each building that rises in China that I love, hundreds are built that I hate. This failure is an embarrassment to the reputation China is fighting so hard to build. The China pavilion arrives at a perfect time when I just can no longer look on and not be furious.

The art of Architectural Lighting

This past Wednesday I attended a seminar by Harald Hofmann of the Leox Design Partnership based in Germany. They do lighting design for architectural projects. They don't design the lights themselves, but rather uses them to create an environment or an effect that brings out another dimension in the architecture. The seminar provided a insightful look into the impact of light design and what the future holds for this medium.

 

Modern architectural lighting design started with Richard Kelly in the 1950s. The three pillars of light design as defined by him is; to support Function (for the comfort of the program of the space), to Reveal interior or Exterior elements (that maybe otherwise not highlighted by natural light), and to be Integrated with architecture (as a part of and not an addition to). Hofmann goes on to use two very familiar projects as an example. I.M.Pei's Louvre addition, and Allianz Arena by Herzog and de Meuron. In both these projects, artificial lighting is essential to the iconic presence these projects have in our minds.

Expo: The China Pavilion

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I had a chance to visit the China Pavilion this past Tuesday. I left the Expo that night with mixed feelings about how China is trying to represent itself to the world. The China Pavilion of the Shanghai Expo should have been a unrivaled testament to China's growing economic power and gloriously long history. Instead, it is if not one of the most laughable pavilions at the Expo, but also a surprisingly good metaphor for what China is doing wrong with all this new found wealth.

The pavilion is not without it's good parts. The film in the beginning does a good job of summarizing what has happened in China in the past fifty or so years. The drastic change, the key historical points, and an especially emotional section on the recent earthquake disaster all contribute to an amazing presentation of China. What follows does disappoint, but I will get onto that later. The other amazing moment comes at the very end, where a circular wall of water surrounds the exit escalators. The streams of water are timed to display patterns, images, and even Chinese characters. Not only is it cool to look at, it also treads into several interesting architectural concepts. This itself would have made a great pavilion, instead, it plays a loud finale to an otherwise lackluster score.

The pavilion is separated into three sections, each representing, the past, the present, and the future. The idea is pretty cute, but the execution is just horrible. Nowhere in the pavilion do you ever feel the time being represented. Instead you see a hodge podge of random exhibits. The "thing to see" at the China Pavilion, the giant animated wall of classic Chinese painting, does not command a place and presence. Instead, the worst part, a Disney like tram ride about different types of bridges, forces you to sit and suffer through not only mysterious odors, but build quality so bad that it transcends reality. Being on that ride is like being force fed a bucket of LSD and then kidnapped and strapped onto a tram and taken into some negative budget horror house build by a gang of toddlers.

Despite all its good and bads, seeing the China Pavilion is a necessity. China is the host of the Expo, and what China did with the Chinese Pavilion speaks volumes about what the nation is going through right now, and why there is some serious work that needs to be done internally, before China can step onto the world stage and command the presence it wants to.  

Expo in Motion

Pictures of pavilions from this year's World Expo in Shanghai are everywhere now, but these two gorgeous videos by Seppe Van Grieken are much more mesmerizing than your common photo.  For someone who has yet gotten out to Shanghai, the back and forth between visiting photographers and UK pavilion architecture in the second video really satisfies my senses.


The Danish Pavilion from Shanghai Expo Timelapse Machine on Vimeo.



As seen on hypebeast

The Linked Hybrid

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

This weekend, I made my way out to take a look at Steven Holl's Linked Hyrbid in Beijing as well as the exhibition "Urbanisms" that was on display there through the end of the month. Holl, who finished second to the pair of Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima (SANAA), for this year's Pritzker Prize, has become extremely active in China with major residential and cultural projects around the country. With an office in Beijing run by Holl's partner, Li Hu, as well as the original office in New York, the firm says it is able to work around the clock due to the 12/13 hour time difference between China and the East Coast.

Located on the North East corner of Beijing's 2nd Ring Road, the Linked Hybrid finds itself as the centerpiece of one of Beijing's major art districts. Situated right in between two stops on the 13 line, the neighborhood is quiet, with little pedestrian or automotive traffic.

Difference in Communication

This recent post on Boing Boing really caught my attention; largely due to the frustration I face interning in a multi-lingual environment. However, the communicating differences between languages has become an increasingly big area of interest for me. As someone who has taken an introductory class in linguistics, albeit pass/fail and not one of the classes I am not most focused in (a euphemism for skipping class), languages are one of the most fundamental things that factor into the way we think. Although we may not realize it, our native language already factors greatly in the way we process what we sense, and how we discuss it. 

For architecture this becomes increasingly important. As I have realized in my architectural studies, subtle meanings in seemingly similar words can be the cause of miserable miscommunication. As architecture becomes an increasingly international field, the communication barrier is not only a conscious problem, but also a subconscious dilemma.  

Bjarke Bikes

XPO - BJARKE BIKES THROUGH DANISH PAVILION from BIG on Vimeo.

Horrible pun aside, heres a video of Bjarke riding through the Danish Pavilion and almost running some people over.

This is perfect for getting through the recession

Call him what you like, an architectural prophet, and evil genius, a guy with the best name for an architect ever. Yet despite what one may think of his work or designs, Rem Koolhaas is without a doubt, one of the most successful and influential architects of the last 30-plus years. In my experience, architecture students are some of his biggest fans, a group that recently has begun to include Sultans, Presidents, and Brad Pitts of the world. After interviewing the man himself, the Independent recently published an article discussing among other things, how Koolhaas has been able to stay afloat and fresh while the world's capital has dried up. It is certainly worth a read and it offers a fresh perspective on what it means to be a successful architect. And for the students out there, even if you already knew about his swimming habits, the article gives some more interesting glimpses into the life of the legend that is Rem.

Read the article here (fixed)

Oddly Architectural Moments

This past Sunday I came across something that struck me as somewhat architectural. The more I thought about it, the more interesting it became. What really struck me is the fact that it seems to be supersaturated, yet somehow contained, built over time by the hands of many customers.

RawrBooks: The Function of Form by Farshid Moussavi

Yes Is More by BIG started me on a reading binge for architecture books, but The Function of Form is one book I will always keep by my side. One part reference, one part structures guide, and one part picture book, the Function of Form provides an insightful view into structure and spaces they create. 

David Byrne: How Architecture Helped Music Evolve

Architecture today goes beyond just putting roofs over people's heads and erecting walls to keep the weather out; architecture becomes a culmination of multiple conceptual and real-world ideas. David Byrne presents music as one of those things. He walks through the evolution of music and attributes its change to the shifting environments music is played under. It's worth a look.

My Life as an Intern: Week ?, New Employee Training

What employee training was like

It has really been a blur. Working overtime, not working overtime, doing projects, not doing anything, doing everything. I think the biggest contributing factor is having people at work to joke around with. Everything passed so quickly, but I'd like to stop for a moment to talk about the Employee Training I relieved on Saturday.

Employee training is at most points, quite the waste of time. Most of the material covered I learned already through making mistakes and asking those around me. However, one point that made everything worth it was learning about how the company really works and is run. I don't know how much the confidentiality agreement I signed allows me to say, but I will not go into too many specifics.

Learning about what the company does, what other departments do, and how everything ties together really helps me to understand what I do. Not only does this lessen the confusion, but it also points me in a direction to work towards. Knowing my place, and where everyone else fits around or , in this case, above me, lets me know what I contribute and how I contribute.

Employee training made me realize that how little I thought I knew about the company, is really minuscule compared to what I learned in an hour of lecture. Things that I know now (if I'm not an intern, I get dental coverage!) make me less blind. Although I am still a blind intern fish frustratingly crashing into walls, at least now I now know the walls are those of a fishbowl.

Our Heroes: Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid is one of the most important architects of the past and present generation. She rose as an architect in a time when men totally dominated the field. She did not emulate others in her field, but blazed a path of her own, and a glorious path it is. The field of Architecture today is significantly less male dominated than before, probably a good part thanks to her and just recently, she was named as TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the world.

My admiration for Zaha Hadid largely comes from the style of her work. To me, the quality of her work symbolizes her as a woman. Her work is sensual, feminine, but never submissive.  Her work is proud and her style transcends into many other worlds. Her art, her furniture, and even her silverware, all exude her unique sense of style and thus, Hadid's work is incredibly recognizable. Even she herself, as seen in photographs and interviews, carry that incredible style. She is an amazing architect, but she is above and beyond that. Everything that glows Zaha Hadid and everything that light shines on, makes Zaha Hadid, and her influence, all the more incredible.

21 years later

While this post is coming a bit late, it will focus on my evening last Friday, on June 4th, 2010, here in Beijing.

For those who don't recognize the date, June 4th, 1989 was the day when the PLA violently cracked down on the protests that were being staged in Tiananmen square. Here in China, practically all images, including the iconic photo of tank and lone protester, or records of the event have been censored from the public. Probably only those who were in Beijing at the time of the massacre or who have been educated abroad are really aware that anything happened at all. However, as China continues to forge ahead as a world power, many in the international community are reluctant to fully acknowledge the country's prominence because of the brutality that took place here 21 years ago. To be a little comical, the incident is like a bit of greens stuck between China's teeth; embarrassingly noticeable by everyone but China itself.

Urbanization and China: Mr. Wu Jiang from Tong Ji

Again from the Three on the Bund talk, but this time it's Wu Jiang,
the vice president of Shanghai Tongji University. His talk was a bit
more exciting, but mostly because I can understand what he's saying.
His lecture raised a very important issue facing china in the recent years
and will amplify exponentially in the years to come. China is rapidly
urbanizing, but in a very unique situation. China is the most populous
nation, but it isn't the biggest. China's man to land ratio is
significantly smaller than other nations. Wu Jiang also raises the
concern that China's urbanization is a very inorganic one. China does
not grow on its own terms, but tries very hard to emulate European and
American cities. Chinese urbanization is drastically different from
the path western cities took, and according to Mr. Jiang, following
that route will be disastrous for not only China, but the other
eastern countries beginning to urbanize as well.

You must be this tall to ride: Kengo Kuma's talk

A bunch of us went to go see Kengo Kuma talk today. It was a lackluster speech, but mostly due to the lackluster translation. I'm sure if I were fluent in Japanese, the talk would be a lot more exciting. However, I did leave the talk with some things to think about. The most intriguing aspect of the talk was the importance placed on the relationship between man and the environment and man and history. Architecture serves as a intermediate language between the two. Kuma believes that architecture should not just flatten its surroundings but play a harmonious if not subservient role. Kuma displays this through his work, either placing the architecture in such a way that it becomes a frame for the surrounding beauty, or using local materials that bridge the gaps between the old and the new. That pretty much summarizes my notes, his work is definitely worth checking out.
Follow this Link

Our Heroes: A Multi-Part Series

Architecture is to some extent a profession of precedents. Every architect learns from the experiences of architects past. As a student, sometimes I can't help it but feel like a pre-teen school girl at a Justin Beiber concert. For my heroes are the greatest ever, and any flaws are hugely overshadowed by the sheer beauty of what they build. Unlike Justin Beiber, Architectural heroes are intelligent productive members of the global community. They set a standard and push above and beyond that. Our heroes inspire us to be greater than who we though we could be. They set a target for our aspirations. Perhaps without them knowing, they've already become silent mentors to a generation of rising architects.

One cannot be in the world of architecture today without hearing the name of Justin Beiber

New York New York! High Line and New Museum

Every once in a while, I get to return to this quaint place known as New York City. I find it incredibly surprising that New York, with all its density, is always finding new ways to introduce new architectural projects. This time, I managed to visit and snap a few pictures of the High Line and the New Museum. They are both interesting places and are definitely worth it to swing by if you are in town. As always, clicking on the pictures delivers you to the flickr page where you can pick up the full res versions. More pictures and story after the break.

Building your Architectural Library

It seems we've been told since nearly the beginning of our architectural education of the extremely important concept of building our architectural library. I actually do have a good number of architecture books, but most of them are gifts from aunts and uncles who don't really know what a good book is for an architecture student. Therefore, my architectural library mainly consists of general architectural history books with a handful of Frank Lloyd Wright books and bios sprinkled here and there. It's not that I don't appreciate those books and don't enjoy thumbing through them, it's just that it kind of feels like receiving a subscription of Architectural Digest for your birthday instead of Architectural Record. Inspired by the Barnes and Noble giftcard I found in my wallet and the prospect of returning my second copy of 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School (both had been gifts) for some store credit, I set off in hopes of expanding my architectural library with a book or two more relevant to my studies than the secret life of FLW.

I eventually found the architecture section, and realized I had been quite naive in my hopes of finding something along the lines of Vers une architecture or Delirious New York. There were only about 6 ft worth of architecture books, and even more sad was that these were mixed in with the interior design books. Really, the majority of the books in that section seemed to be about home improvement. After much sifting I eventually settled on two purchases: The Architecture of Happiness and From Bauhaus to Our House. The former is about the philosophy of the importance of our architectural environment on our personal psyche and the latter is a critical satire on modern architecture. Neither is written by a big name in the architecture world, and I seriously doubt either is on the list of recommended books given to us by our freshmen studio profs, but I look forward to reading them nonetheless and hope to gain some unconventional architectural wisdom.

"Football O Saurus"

...is the name of the game.

In the spirit of RAWRchitecture and the upcoming World Cup, a fast-paced, vigorous and controversial game has come to my attention.

Named... Football O saurus. It is exactly what you hope and expect it to be.

Football and Dinosaurs.

The aim of the game is to captain a team of vibrantly coloured Titanosaurs and win against another team of dinosaurs in soccer.

"Football-o-saurus is a fast paced game of 5-a-side dinosaur football...The computer controlled dinosaurs are all very intelligent and will run into space when their team has the ball, and mark their opponents when they are defending so you have to put together a good move to score a goal. The computer football game is networkable so up to 10 people can play against each other over a local network or the Internet."

For those of you who have taken lpap125 will know that space is key to winning the game of soccer, so the fact that these dinosaurs understand that shows that they are indeed very intelligent.
Also, a ten player game? To me this sounds like a perfect game to play in that environmental class we have to take next semester. If you think you can take on team Kiwisaurus-rex.

Down with SC... Up with Football O saurus

Singapore Police use Facebook to try to catch criminals

I can remember a time when it wasn't that ridiculous to ask a young person if he or she had a facebook account.  Now, the social networking site is ubiquitous and is changing the way people interact with their computer and each other.  Singapore, always trying to make the city-state a more harmonious place, is using facebook to host security cam stills of suspected criminals in hopes that netizens will call in with tips or leads.  While people use facebook for all sorts of things, I am on one hand impressed by the Singapore Police Forces resourcefulness, and on the other hand somewhat put off that facebook is becoming a huge electronic wall, where anyone can anonymously pinup whatever they feel like.  Perhaps, however, this is just a case of Singapore being Singapore, something that I realized when I found this image:

Its caption reads: "Police are looking for the man shown in the picture to assist with investigations into a case of theft of bicycle at Blk 55 Geylang Bahru on 15 March 2010." 

Hmmm, I wonder if they ever found the guy so that he could "assist".  Nonetheless, at least 25 people like this!

 
 
More candid camera culprits can be found here.

Paris in Review: Sainte-Chapelle

Well this seems redundant, but I guess this will be for those too lazy to rummage through the images themselves or those who like the sound of my sweet written narration. Anyway, onward.
One of my favorite places was Sainte-Chapelle. Here is a Wikipedia brief to prepare you for my comments after the break.


"The Sainte-Chapelle, the palatine chapel in the courtyard of the royal palace on the Île de la Cité, was built to house precious relics: Christ's crown of thorns, theImage of Edessa and thirty other relics of Christ that had been in the possession of Louis IX since August 1239, when it arrived from Venice in the hands of two Dominican friars. Unlike many devout aristocrats who stole relics, the saintly Louis bought his precious relics of the Passion, purchased from the Latin emperor at Constantinople, Baldwin II, for the exorbitant sum of 135,000 livres, which was paid to the Venetians, to whom it had been pawned. The entire chapel, by contrast, cost 40,000 livres to build and until it was complete the relics were housed at chapels at the Château de Vincennes and a specially-built chapel at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In 1241, a piece of the True Cross was added, and other relics. Thus the building in Paris, consecrated 26 April 1248, was like a precious reliquary: even the stonework was painted, with medallions of saints and martyrs in the quatrefoils of the dado arcade, which was hung with rich textiles"

Remember Paris?

I know it has taken a while, but I've finally found a home for the stupendous amounts of photos I've taken.
Here is the flickr link. It's not fully on there, Days 1-4 are on right now, I will try my best to put them all up there in a jiffy.

Rem-ember me?

Thus begins my summer in Beijing.  While I am going to continue to post on RAWRchitecture, I am also going to start another blog focussing on things I do, eat, and see from day to day.  You can find it over at http://www.zhi-nal.blogspot.com/.

My life as an intern: week 3: overtime

It feels quite weird that it has already been tree weeks since I've started working as an intern. One of the things that reallly gets to me is how relaxing working for someone else really is. I mean, sure it has its disadvantages, such as the stifled creativity or the face that you basically get to do all the boring stuff and really non of the fun things. Yet, doing non of the fun things is actually kind of great. Being a part of the grind means I don't have to worry about anything other than just doing what I'm told.

It surely isn't how I want to live out my life, doing work for other people, but as a break in-between school, it's absolutely fantastic. I work set hours and overtime means working till 12. At school, work really starts around 12. What I do isn't life changing or rediculously rewarding,like curing cancer in a third world country or saving cute endangered animals while the sun beams down on my strong muscled shoulders.(jk I'm pretty scrawny) I am however learn a ton about how to manage my own workflow and how the creative collaborative process works in a corporate enviroment. If I can do that while not expending every ounce of energy in my soul then I consider this a tremendously rewarding summer activity. Before I babble further, I should talk about what this post is about: working overtime.

Working overtime is pretty sweet. Free dinner, free cab, and coworker bonding not to mention the extra pay. The last time I worked overtime, I was still jet lagged, but this time, I could fully appreciate its good sides. Usually at school, working towards a deadline usually means working my ass off on my own project, usually with the company and the support of whoever else really needs to get stuff done and happens to be there In studio. At work, I found oddly a strong sense of teamwork. I guess that's what all those team building exercises companies spend money on is for. Not that I'd like to work overtime everyday, but once in a while, I feel like it is really valuable.

Shanghai EXPO! Danish Belgian and UK(ish?)

I don't think it needs much explaining, so here are a bunch of pictures.

The Need for LEED

Frank Gehry recently had some controversial opinions regarding LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a system for rating buildings on their "greenness") . Gehry is quoted as saying in reference to LEED, "I think the issue is finally a political one...a lot of LEED is given for bogus stuff." This seemed to have caused tremendous unrest in the heart of Susan Szenasy, who wrote a letter titled "you are so wrong, Frank Gehry", in which she writes:

"With buildings known to produce more than half of the world's carbon output, surely those who design and build them have to shoulder some responsibility. But not, apparently, Gehry. He cavalierly called out LEED ratings (and thus the many efforts made every day by architects and designers to make our world less toxic, use available energy and water more carefully, pay mind to the site and its proximity to public transit, etc. ) as 'political' and 'bogus.' This is unfortunate for everyone concerned, and everyone must be concerned. But I'm not surprised, though I am saddened no end."

Fred Bernstein architecture writer and critic countered Szenasy with the following

"One example is CityCenter, the Las Vegas complex that contains more than 5,000 hotel rooms, plus casinos and shopping malls and restaurants and nightclubs - altogether, 18 million air-conditioned square feet smack in the middle of the Mojave Desert. I can't imagine a greater environmental disaster than this complex (which, in addition to requiring vast resources to build and operate, is designed to draw travelers from around the world). And yet it was awarded LEED Gold status." 

Building Comedy

Almost all forms of art have a comedic genre, yet such a category doesn't really pop-out in the world of architecture.  However, I've started to think about this quite a bit.  First, can architecture be funny.  Secondly, if so, should it be.  I think it's fair to describe goal of architecture, at least in one way, as the pursuit of improving the human condition through our built environment.  Now it has been shown that laughing causes people to live happier and healthier lives, but should we be content with our diet of laughs coming from the things and people like youtube, Judd Apatow, and Flight of the Conchords, or should our buildings help crack a smile too.

My Life as an Intern: Week 2

Week two was truly as about inspiring as the title of this post. After last week's overtime and then days off, this week made me realize what the "grind" really mean. I didn't work any overtime this week, nor did I have any desire or need to. There was a project meeting on Monday followed by the assignment and reassignment of boring projects. Whereas last week there was always something I needed to finish, this week was full of me trying to figure out what I should be doing. Why can't the project manager actually manage the project or at least give me some resources to learn something?

My Life as an Intern: My boss, my boss' boss, my boss' boss' boss

Last week was my first week working an architectural Intern. Having only just completed my sophomore year, I could not possibly have known what to expect. The firm I currently work at is a division of one of the largest firms in the world (or so they claim). It definitely feels big. Taking up the entire 22nd floor of a very funky yet corporate looking building (and parts of the 21st) this monstrosity of an office as only one part of a huge web of offices is hard to imagine. Timesheets and overtime approval forms and software licensing forms aside, I did feel like I signed my soul away today when I signed my contract...

Home3d app and why the future is full of terrible looking homes

Inspiration for this article can be found at www.home3dapp.com
I recently got an iPad. I am very happy with the purchase. However,
today everything changed. I was blissfully browsing for apps as usual,
looking for things to put on this beautiful piece of machine. I don't
know what possessed me, but I typed in "architecture" into the search
bar. Then, everything I believed to be good In this world changed
drastically when I came upon his app. This abomination of a bad idea
and whatever posses these people to produce it and bring it to light
makes me want to rip my eyes out.

dress like an Architect: black

It has been a while since my last post and since I've been at home for 2 weeks now, I can't use school as an excuse for being busy. I have, however, been able to reflect on the original point of this blog, as lighthearted means of journaling observations on architectural. Expect more of this sort of thing along the way as summer begins to come full swing and sleep loss from the school year has been redeemed.

There is no doubt architects are characters. Perhaps it stems from the attitude that accompanies a "maker", that they have an inherent power to create and decide, and thus a license to be slightly different from the average salary making professional. Yet with all of there quirks, why does the stereotype connecting architects to black clothes? They are supposed to creative people, no? So why the simple palette?

Shanghai and the Shanghai EXPO

Well, to all five people that read this blog, I am heading out to Shanghai tomorrow. Due to blogger being banned, I'll see what work arounds I can use to post. I will be in Shanghai for an exciting three months. While I am there, I will be working as an inter as well as visiting the hell out of the EXPO. Shanghai is going to be awesome, so expect posts about buildings, food, and more buildings. (or no posts at all, if China upped their game)

-Laters y'all

IBM City One

IBM is releasing a "serious" game that seems on the surface to be a Sim City like game. The goal is to build smarter more sustainable cities. One of thing things IBM is doing towards its "smarter planet" goal. Look Forward to it in the fall of this year.

Arty

To perfect to pass up for RAWRchitecture, dinosaurs in architectural landscapes. Not to mention how inherently architectural dealing with issues of scale, representation, and photography vs drawing is. More at Original link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benheine/sets/72157623723956821/

Images by Ben Heine

principals of good design

Gizmodo has a new post about principals of good design using Apple's new Ipad as an example. As much as I dislike Apple's operating model and ease of use claims, I do admire the design of their products. Here is a good article to read the essential elements of design that apply not only to industrial design, but anything design related.

Understanding the Ipad's Industrial Design

Make your sections Prehistoric

Sick of CAD? Have a review soon but you don't really care what your reviewers think and want to stick it to them? Then throw some Dino's in there!

Download

There are some other pretty handy blocks on the site as well so go wild!

The Late Night

It is 3:20am in beautiful Houston. Many of us are partaking in one of the staples rituals of architecture school, the late night. There seems to be something special about the night. More work just gets done. Some very important equipment are seen in the photographs below, most of which are necessities of pulling a successful late night work session. First of all, hydration is extremely important, water bottles kept at the desk is a constant reminder to take some sips of water at regular intervals. Secondly, headphones block out external noise while pumping music. It is sometimes important to keep external headphone noise low, as it may be embarrassing when your studio mates find out that you've been listening to Lady Gaga non-stop for the past four hours because theres something about her catchy tunes that makes you work at unprecedented speeds. Lastly, caffeine is important to keep alert and awake. Coffee and tea are favorites, but exploring other options is highly encouraged. Successful late night working can be extremely productive. Even when it doesn't, it often results in some fun and memorable sleep deprived conversations.

At my own desk

Harmony

Harmony

Harmony is a really cool sketching tool. Play around with it for a bit and watch the lines interact with each other. The creator is playing around and most likely implementing new brushes sometime in the near future. It's a fun time whenever you're bored or need some abstract inspiration.

paris post: spirals stairs

Getting off the plane in Paris, one of the first things I noticed in the airport was the spiral staircase. From what it seems to me, the spiral staircase is something seen more in Europe than here in the states. The spiral itself is beautiful in form. From the bottom step to the top, there is a continuity of motion missing in switchback stairs. Like the Parisian roundabout, the spiral stairs solve the issue of circulation, but on a human scale.On a multistory spiral staircase, each landing diverts motion but does not pause it. Like a roundabout, cars getting out on each street does not stem the flow of the roundabout itself.

Inside a house facing a covered walkway

Charles de Gaulle airport

While many spiral staircases have beautiful sweeping curves and a dizzying central atrium, others show the versatility of the style. In the chapels and cathedrals of Paris, spiral staircases are fit into the tightest of places. When moving into the staircases, one feels the space getting squeeze down. In one moment you are in a space large enough to fit a twenty story building, then your cramped into a space where you cannot even throw up your arms without knocking into something. Instead of an atrium alluding to the size of stair, the stairs seems to suck itself into a singularity. You don't know when they end because you can't see when they end.  

Inside Sainte Chapelle

At the end of these tight staircases, the space you stumble out onto seems all the larger. After being squeezed for a disorienting amount of time, one's eyes dart straight up, sizing up the full volume of the new space. This contrast highlights the extremes of volume in the two spaces. Moving from one to the other, feelings of elevation and claustrophobia is increased by this juxtaposition.  

Stairs are always intriguing to see. They serve the need of vertical movement while at the same time become something decorative and inviting. Where as some are purely utilitarian, many are designed to go far beyond that. Like the designer chair, the designed staircase elevates something in its essence is a tool into an object of beauty and elegance. 

and we're coming back

rawrchitecture has completed our foray into paris. we will soon be on a plane headed home. follow up with us for the next few weeks for what we hope to be copious amounts of quality posts.

paris paris paris, paris paris pairs, paris paris parissssssssss

So we've been in Paris for around two days, and theres a ton of things that we've seen. To give ya'll and idea, I'll put up some pictures. There will be much more detailed posts perhaps later on. Due to time constraints, this may be all we can do. We'll update consistently and fully upon our return from Paris. In the mean time, just bear with us while we educate and enjoy ourselves in Paris.

More pics after the break!

and we're off!

The writers of this blog are taking a trip to Paris. Provided that we cannot update there, we will post once we get back. Stay tuned for delicious posts of our adventure stories.

the void. the guggenheim.

The void of the Guggenheim has become the setting for a new project. Artists and architects are invited to fill the central atrium of Frank Lloyd Wright's museum. I could go on and on about spaces and voids and their relationships, but what I thought most interesting while looking at the proposals is the relationship between artists and architects. Looking through the proposals, sometimes it isn't immediately apparent which one is by an artist, and which is by an architect.

For anyone who has been to the Guggenheim, the void in the center is a piece of art in itself. The white balconies spirals elegantly up the building, guiding visitor flow around the museum. To change the void would drastically change the visitor experience, because the void is something museum visitors constantly revisit as they move around the exhibits.

It would be incredible to see all these projects built. The vast variety presented in these proposals gives testament to the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright. Contemplating the void suggests that sometimes, creating good spaces may be more important than creating works for them.

Appletopia

Appletopia

Architects like to talk about utopias, dystopias, and occasionally, heterotopias. Some like to think that they can change the world and make it perfect. And while the utopia has yet to be attained, there is one group that has come closer to it than anyone. Since the announcement of the Ipad, something has been stuck in my head. Apple Computers is the the closest thing the world has to a functioning utopia. Explanation:

Like any utopia, there is a man in charge, a man who calls the shots and has the final call. One thing, this dictator’s name is Steve and he wears turtlenecks.

Google Trend Decides

Google trends is possibly the least used feature among the millions that Google now has. It also happens to be the one that I find the most humor in using. It compares the total hits of up to five search items. This can easily be used to decide battles, such as that which is the main focus of this blog: Architecture versus Dinosaurs.

But I decided to utilize my other three search item spots and chose some all-stars from each group: T-Rex, Frank Gehry, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Also, I limited it to the last 12 month period, since around 2005 FLW had a spike which put his data twenty times above that of the next competitor; kudos Mr. Wright, 2005 seemed to have been your year, but it's throwing off my data, so...

The Results...

Architecture Wins

On a relative scale compared to the most popular result:

Architecture (Light Blue) 1.00

Dinosaur (Red) 0.40

T-Rex (Orange) 0.08

Frank Lloyd Wright (Green) 0.06

Frank Gehry (Purple) 0.02

The almost illegible graph Google gives us:

A decisive win for architecture, and an embarrassing loss for dinosaurs, although it is notable that the most popular dinosaur, the t-rex, had 40% more hits than FLW, and 350% more than Frank Gehry. Sorry Mr. Gehry, but your time has come and passed and you're already less popular than a extinct over-sized reptile from 65-68 million years ago, and you're not even dead yet.

RAWR: 1, chitecture: 1

All tied up...

Car-o-saurus

Source

decorated sheds

Extremely well done and entertaining video of a world filled with corporate logos and advertisements

Courtesy of The Awesomer

[link]