Archive for May, 2009

• Comments on JAPAN – MY TRIP TO BATTLESHIP ISLAND | Vice Magazine

  JAPAN – MY TRIP TO BATTLESHIP ISLAND | Vice Magazine – The story of two friends exploring an old coal mining facility on Hashima Island, which is close to the port of Nagaski. The facility was abandoned in the 1970’s and the crumbling buildings are an incredible site. Unlike many other modern ruins, Battleship Island wasn’t devastated by war but only by neglect. The island was once the most densely populated

  05.05.09 | no comments | Filed Under: Commentary | Arthur McGoey

• Comments on Pachacamac House / Longhi Architects | Arch Daily

  Pachacamac House / Longhi Architects | Arch Daily – Architecture of the Earth is such a rare thing in our contemporary times. Too often building try to float free of the constraints of gravity in an attempt to challenge our perceptions. However the Pachacamac House in Peru by Longhi Architects, which is intimately tied to the Earth seems more foreign and challenging to our modern eyes. To be from and of

  05.05.09 | no comments | Filed Under: Commentary | Arthur McGoey

• Comments on Sand/Stone | BLDGBLOG

  Sand/Stone | BLDGBLOG – A student, Magnus Larsson, at the Architectural Association, has proposed a landscape project that will solidify desert sand into sandstone, thus creating a new material for habitation within a harsh desert. The idea is to use injection piles to 3D print sandstone out of sand by injecting a microbial solution that will solidify the sand into sandstone. These structures can create internal micro-climates more favorable to habitation and

  05.05.09 | no comments | Filed Under: Commentary | Arthur McGoey

• Comments on Frances Anderton: “Excess” Versus “Relevance” Is an Irrelevant Debate

  Frances Anderton: “Excess” Versus “Relevance” Is an Irrelevant Debate – I can not agree with Frances Anderton more when she says that by framing a dichotomy of excess versus relevance in architecture, those mourning the loss of grand projects and those cheering that loss due to the current economic circumstances, are failing to appreciate the full scope of architecture. Certainly, architectural journalism favors the spectacular projects of excess but even still most

  05.05.09 | no comments | Filed Under: Commentary | Arthur McGoey

• Comments on ART TO ARCHITECTURE « LEBBEUS WOODS

  ART TO ARCHITECTURE « LEBBEUS WOODS – Lebbeus Woods asks the question about the relationship of Art to Architecture.  He points out that as the arts like painting and sculpture became less integrated with Architecture, they actually gained a more direct influence on architecture.  Suddenly Art could be used as a direct inspiration for Architecture.  It is certainly an interesting observation.

  For my part, I hold with Deleuze and Guttari’s opinion that Art is

  05.05.09 | no comments | Filed Under: Commentary | Arthur McGoey

• Comments on Inapal Metal / Menos é mais | Arch Daily

  Inapal Metal / Menos é mais | Arch Daily – Inapal Metal is manufacturer of automotive parts.  The designed by Menos e Mais architects is a simple study in corrugated metal.  Rather than a banal metal building though, the Inapal Metal building has a subtle refinement that makes it something so much more.  The curving radius of the corners and the change in direction between the two main masses of the building break

  05.05.09 | no comments | Filed Under: Commentary | Arthur McGoey

• Comments on Santo Stefano Cemetery in Italy / Amoretti + Calvi + Ranalli | Arch Daily

  Santo Stefano Cemetery in Italy / Amoretti + Calvi + Ranalli | Arch Daily – The expansion of the Santo Stefano Cemetery in Italy is set between the old cemetery and a waterfront way.  It consists of a series of cubic crypts each freestanding and set in two rows along a curving line with a path set between.  The project’s success comes from its use of such a simple object as the cubic

  05.05.09 | no comments | Filed Under: Commentary | Arthur McGoey

• Comments on Richard Box | Interactive Architecture dot Org

  Richard Box | Interactive Architecture dot Org – An installation of 1301 fluorescent light bulbs powered by the electric field of a high voltage power line that crosses over the site is impressive in its ability to reveal the hidden world of the electromagnetic radiation that permeates the world around us.  While visually reminding me of Walter De Maria’s lightning field at sunset/sunrise, this installation takes the place making abilities of De Maria’s

  05.05.09 | no comments | Filed Under: Commentary | Arthur McGoey

• Comments on 290 Mulberry Fabrication Update – Prototyping | CASE Design, Inc.

  290 Mulberry Fabrication Update – Prototyping | CASE Design, Inc. – Case discusses the collaborative approach that was taken during their time at SHOP in the development of the innovative brick panels at 290 Mulberry.  The use of parametric modeling and a 3D printer allowed the production of quick prototypes and models that were then presented to potential fabricators, allowing a more directed and specific discussions to happen and the selection of fabricators

  05.05.09 | no comments | Filed Under: Commentary | Arthur McGoey

• Comments on Plants Can Twitter for Water with New Device – PC Magazine

  Plants Can Twitter for Water with New Device – PC Magazine – Researchers have designed a system that combines a soil moisture sensor, a micro-controller and custom software to allow a plant to send out tweets on its status.  Messages can be customized by the user to make them more unique.  In fact one of the researcher’s plant ‘Pothos’ has more than 2,300 followers on Twitter.

  This is an interesting example of how everyday

  05.05.09 | no comments | Filed Under: Commentary | Arthur McGoey