Tag: architecture

AirSpace

We could call this strange geography created by technology “AirSpace.” It’s the realm of coffee shops, bars, startup offices, and co-live / work spaces that share the same hallmarks everywhere you go: a profusion of symbols of comfort and quality, at least to a certain connoisseurial mindset. Minimalist furniture. Craft beer and avocado toast. Reclaimed wood. Industrial lighting. Cortados. Fast internet. The homogeneity of these spaces means that traveling between them is frictionless, a value that Silicon Valley prizes and cultural influencers like Schwarzmann take advantage of. Changing places can be as painless as reloading a website. You might not even realize you’re not where you started…

The profusion of generic cafes and Eames chairs and reclaimed wood tables might be a superficial meme of millennial interior decorating that will fade with time. But the anesthetized aesthetic of International Airbnb Style is the symptom of a deeper condition, I think.

on the homogenization of space: sameness worldwide, reclaimed wood, craft beer etc.

Towards Hundertwasser

the future will look a lot more like hundertwasser than you think

Hundertwasser wanted humans to think of their homes as their 3rd skin—a part of them that must continually change in order to stay alive. That meant allowing residents of his buildings to decorate the outer walls, to use composting toilets, and to grow meadows and forests on the roofs. Like Buckminster Fuller, Hundertwasser was an ecological architect at a time when few thought that way.

Load-bearing spray

there must be a catch?

Walls which are painted with Paxcon® can withstand explosions up to 20x greater than naked walls, a claim which Line-X has substantiated with rigorous testing over the past 20 years

Governors Island

next stage of governors island opening soon!

Utopian architecture

The Tale of Tomorrow: Utopian Architecture in the Modernist Realm collects photos and commentary about the mid-century heyday of utopian architecture, from Paolo Soleri’s Arcosanti to Bangladesh’s National Assembly Building.

Architecture contests are concept cars

“New York Horizon” is a prime example of Contestism—a trend in architecture that flows from the convergence of open-design competitions, cheap rendering software, and viral media. The eVolo Skyscraper Competition is hardly the only game in Contestism, but the winning entries tend to follow the same model. Contestism means spectacles that are neither straightforward nor satirical. Instead, they’re shallow and excessively social.

The Green Line

That looks fantastic.

Perkins Eastman has released a plan to turn Broadway into a pedestrian park running 40 blocks in Manhattan. The Green Line would extend from Columbus Circle to Union Square, connecting several prominent parks and plazas (Madison Square, Herald Square, Times Square) along the way.

Jakarta Seawall

More than 10m people currently live in the fast-growing Indonesian capital of Jakarta. There’s a potential snag in the city’s future expansion, though: it’s slowly sinking into the ocean. Jakarta sinks 8 cm a year. 40% of the city is already below sea level.

Mars Ice House

this is an amazing concept, winner of a nasa challenge to build a mars habitat with mars materials. the team came up with a solution that involves 3D printing ice & regolith with robots.

Middle East Skyscrapers

Middle east continues to over-compensate. it looks like the middle east will continue to host the tallest buildings in the world: Kingdom Tower (2019): 1008 m, Bride of the Gulf (20??): 1152 m. i’m giving the bride project ~10% chance of success.