This is fairly depressing book. As ‘young architects’ ourselves, this book presents a fairly good summary of just how lazy we are and we should be doing more…

It is the result of a Young Architects Forum competition run by the Architectural League of New York - young architects here being defined by having graduated within the last ten years (again, depressing). The brief asked for portfolios to be submitted showcasing work under the thematic lens of ‘proof’. In her foreword Sarah Whiting states that

“proof is in fact product as much as it is process: it’s demonstration, meaning the end product, as well as the action of demonstrating.”

And

“While the six selected winners differ greatly, a general shared optimism wafts across the entire group, complemented by quick wit, which often helps to push optimism toward ambition rather than remain in the realm of mere naivete.”

As such the book contains practices and projects that demonstrate proof of practice in projects ranging from small experiments in space to larger buildings under construction. The six practices are: ludens, PRODUCTORA, PARA, Jinhee Park, Aranda/Lasch, and UNI.

…continue reading…

One of the announcements made at the RAIA National Conference a couple of weeks ago was a partnership with Google to integrate Australian award winning buildings into Google Earth. Available as a download-able layer that can be added to Google Earth, there is information on over 600 buildings that have been awarded at the state and national level.

While it is not clear why a partnership with Google was necessary to achieve this (can’t anyone add their own content, 3D models etc to Google Earth? Am I wrong in thinking this?) it is certainly a very large step in the right direction by an Institute that has for a long time been a little tardy in keeping up with the technologie nouveau.

…continue reading…

The New Yorker recently ran a completely fascinating article on the world of elevators – “Up and Then Down” – by Nick Paumgarten. It details the mechanics of elevators, the likely hood of something going wrong, a history of Otis, all of which is interspersed with the story of Nicholas White.

White was a hapless employee of McGraw Hill who was trapped in an elevator for 41 hours; the whole ordeal of which was captured on surveillance cameras, a time-lapse version of which follows:

Watching the video is a little like watching a bug in a jar, a body quickly attempting to come to grips with its enclosure, looking for areas of permeability, hopelessly opening the doors periodically to check to see if the scenery outside has changed from a blank wall to an open floor, measuring the dimensions of the space by lying across its length and width, resignation and desperation.

Recently:

Alts and ads to a house in Sydney:

A new model of the house we showed last time:

…continue reading…

“I am pleased to announce that Australia, the largest island in the world has dramatically increased in size”

- Federal Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson

Ummm…

Australia has just been enlarged. By an extra 2.5 million square kilometres. Or - “an area five times the size of France, 10 times the size of New Zealand, and 20 times the size of the United Kingdom”.

Figure 1. In which Mr Ferguson points to a blob called Australia.

…continue reading…

Oscar Niemeyer’s National Congress of Brazil for sale.

A lifestyle of sensual functionalism awaits the discerning purchaser of this charming example of Brazilian modern architecture. This exciting property features 3 bedrooms, external aspect, lift access, close proximity to public transport and the plasticity and freedom that only reinforced concrete can offer. Yours for only 145,000 euros! Don’t miss out!

Spotted in Madrid.

The Tristan Project by Bill Viola is currently on display at the Art Gallery of NSW. The video work was made originally to accompany a performance of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde first presented at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

Aside from the exhibition on display at the Art Gallery of NSW, there are two works on display at the St Saviour’s Church in Redfern; Fire Woman and Tristan’s Ascension.

They are epic works of sound and slow motion acts of nature. With the human body both resilient and submissive in the face of walls of fire and mountainous waterfalls. We are told that:

“Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde is the story of a love so profound that it cannot be contained in the material bodies of the lovers. In order to fully realise their love, Tristan and Isolde must ultimately transcend life itself.”

In its location in a small unassuming church in Redfern, the work becomes like a contemporary stained glass window; a window into a deeply spiritual place and is affecting in a deeply primal manner and we recommend you take a look at it while it is still showing. It is on every night from 6:30pm-10pm until May 17.