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Eastbourne - Towner, originally uploaded by Dubris.

Towner in Eastbourne, England by Rick Mathers Architects, 2008.

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"On Roosevelt Island —- located in the East River between Manhattan and Queens —- there are no garbage bags on the sidewalks and no garbage trucks. Instead, garbage is collected from its 14,000 inhabitants via a retro-futuristic system of underground tubes. A computer empties the trash chutes several times a day, whisking away the waste of the Island’s residential towers, and zooming it through underground pipes to a transfer station at one end of the island. There it is compacted, sealed into containers, and loaded on a truck to join the rest of New York City’s waste."Who knew? I didn't until a friend of mine who lives on Roosevelt Island recently told me about the system. Soon many more people will learn about the island's trash system -- and what can be learned from it towards "alternative futures for New York City's infrastructure" -- when the exhibition FAST TRASH: Roosevelt Island's Pneumatic Tubes and the Future of Cities opens at Gallery RIVAA (Roosevelt Island Visual Art Association) on April 22, running until May 23.



For those not familiar with New York City's non-Roosevelt Island trash "system," garbage and recycling are placed on the curb, usually the night before the designated day for the building/block/neighborhood pickup. Garbage/recycling trucks pick up the bags or empty the bins, compacting the trash before unloading at a waste disposal facility somewhere in the city before being sent to some other state (Pennsylvania or New Jersey, I think, for trash) for burying in a landfill or sorting for recycling. As the description at top shows, Roosevelt Island is unique up to the last step.

Coming from Chicago, it's obvious that Manhattan's lack of alleys creates the situation whereby curbside pickup is basically the only option, besides subterranean solutions of course. Roosevelt Island's pneumatic method is too costly and complex for extrapolation to its big brother to the west. But maybe smaller, building-scale installations in the not-too-distant future could set out clean, Wall-E-esque compacted boxes on the curb instead of piles of black/clear bags, bins or bundled papers. This doesn't alleviate the fact garbage is curbside -- and as anybody who has visited New York City can attest, removing garbage from the curbs would be ideal -- but the point here is that rethinking even the smallest steps in the current system might have larger implications. In this scenario, trucks could pick up trash more quickly, blocking less traffic and creating less of a noise disturbance with their compactors.


[Viewing portal before garbage is sucked into the compactor on Roosevelt Island | photo courtesy Juliette Spertus]

The idea of a network of tubes underneath the buildings that straddle Main Street on Roosevelt Island makes the occasional protuberances along the street (below) much more intriguing. Do these tubes (I'm guessing they are ventilation ducts...maybe related to the garbage collection?) connect with each other, with other tubes poking above the ground plane, their own network of shared air? We know water and sewer and now garbage is moved around via a network of pipes, but how about hot air for heating in the winter? Or cold air in the summer? Like industrial complexes that trap and recirculate heat created by various processes, one can envision something similar here where all waste (exhaust, trash, sewer) is contained and reused in some way, so no waste escapes the island. A completely self-sufficient Roosevelt Island.



Speculation aside, it should be noted that the exhibition, curated by Juliette Spertus, will also include a symposium at NYU on May 6:
"Comparative Garbage Collection Strategy and Urban Planning"
Thursday, May 6, 6 - 9pm, Reception to follow.
NYU Wagner School of Public Service
295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012

For Further information and to RSVP please contact:
Juliette Spertus, curator
Email: Juliette.spertus@gmail.com

"Comparative Garbage Collection Strategy and Urban Planning"
Moderated by Rosina Abramson, VP of Planning and Intergovernmental Affairs, Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC).

The panel will explore the decision making process around recent installations of urban-scale pneumatic garbage collection systems around the world, and open a dialogue around the role of garbage collection in dense urban environments.
Confirmed Participants include:

-Richard Anderson, President, NY Building Congress.
-Suzanne Mattei, Director NY State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, NYC office.
-Carlos Vazquez, technical director, department of sanitation, Barcelona.
-Mike Youkee, Chair Mayor’s advisory board on housing development, London.

The symposium is cosponsored by the Urban Planning Department, RIOC and Envac, the Swedish manufacturer of RI’s system, in conjunction with the exhibition.

Here are some photos of the Genetic Stair by Caliper Studio, 2009. Photos are posted to flickr by Caliper Studio and are copyright Ty Cole, 2009.

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Ten Walks/Two Talks by Jon Cotner and Andy Fitch
Ugly Duckling Presse, 2010
Paperback, 86 pages



Research for my guide to contemporary architecture in New York City includes the fairly obvious reading of other architecture guides, be it NYC or some other city. But of course these sort of guides offer an incomplete view of the city, so my research extends to other takes on the city in print form. Jon Cotner and Andy Fitch's short book focused on Manhattan is as far removed from architecture guides as can be, but it helps instill what is too frequently missing from books on buildings: the experience of the city.

The book, as is immediately apparent, takes the form of ten walks and two talks, "updates [on] the meandering and meditative form of Bashō's travel diaries ... a descriptive/dialogic fugue." Fitch pens the ten walks and the two authors' interaction becomes the two talks. For me the ten walks stood out for their stream-of-consciousness descriptions of almost everything within eye, ear and even nose shot, those things that become background for New Yorkers. "Fingers peeked from a homeless person's quilt. ... The fresh morning smell had changed to damp boots." It is as if the blurred edges achieve the clarity of what is actually being focused upon, like the Hiroshige prints that accompany the text; the detail of the horses' hooves is as important as the shop fronts.

Cotner and Fitch's two talks -- in Central Park and in Union Square's Whole Foods -- present a similar take on the city, somewhere between the external reality of it and the internalizations made up of past experiences. The dialogue form includes the stops, starts and interruptions that come with natural conversation, making me long for an audio companion. (Perhaps a visit to Unnameable Books on March 16 for a reading by the two is in order.) In both cases -- walks and talks -- a certain patience is required to fully appreciate the intricacies of the language and structure instilled in the text. (It is no accident the book is categorized primarily as poetry.) But even a cursory reading offers much to appreciate, a subtle shifting in the way one experiences the city. New York is the ultimate walker's city, a melange of objects and people interacting in unique and unpredictable ways. This book is a great "guide" to this aspect of the city.

US:

My weekly page update:

This week's dose features Three Projects by SOM:


The featured past dose is 7 South Dearborn in Chicago, Illinois by SOM:


This week's book review is SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (five volumes) by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill:


Unrelated links will resume next week.

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ISAR PS House - 29 DSC_0143s2, originally uploaded by cs@sf.

PS House in San Francisco, California by IwamotoScott Architecture, 2010.

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A few things (exhibition, competition, journal) to pass along.


Landscapes of Quarantine opens on March 9 at the Storefront for Art and Architecture. The exhibition "exploring the spaces of quarantine, from Level 4 biocontainment labs to underground nuclear waste repositories" is the result of the alternative design studio led by Geoff Manaugh of BLDGBLOG and Nicola Twilley of Edible Geography.



"Open Agenda is a new annual competition aimed at supporting a new generation of experimental Australian architecture. Open to recent architecture graduates, Open Agenda is focused on developing the possibilities of design research in architecture and the built environment. ... Open Agenda will award seed funding to three exceptional design research proposals that explore new positions in architecture for critical consideration."



"Candide. Journal for Architectural Knowledge is a peer-reviewed German-English language periodical edited by the Department of Architecture Theory, Faculty of Architecture at RWTH Aachen University." The first issue of the twice-yearly journal was released in December 2009.

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Cemetery_Chapel_, originally uploaded by m_innit.

St. Mary of the Angels Chapel in Rotterdam, Netherlands by Mecanoo, 2001.

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One of my tasks at world-architects.com is the development of the new Building of the Week feature for the US sites. Like the architect's profile listings, I'm trying to find work diverse in many ways (geography, size, building type, material, etc.), so that the projects are a reflection of the country. The feature is structured as a Q&A with the designers, keeping the focus on the architects and their working process.



The current feature (above) is an installation in Brooklyn by SOFTlab. The other buildings to date include (clockwise from top right, below): the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook in Culver City by Safdie Rabines, a retreat in Tennessee by Sanders Pace Architecture, a library in Delaware by ikon.5 architects, and a security kiosk at Pratt Institute by Hangar Design Group.



If you'd like to recommend a Building of the Week, please e-mail me at jh[at]world-architects[dot]com.

Posts will be light for a week or two as I pack and move house. I'm also taking this week off for my weekly page.


["Pulling Mike and Hilda Symmonds house across the road in Conche" | image source]

Update 03.02: Just got internet service today at the new place, so my weekly page will resume next week (2010.03.08). Daily posts should resume shortly.

Here are some night shots of a couple buildings completed last year as part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center at the Dallas Arts District in Dallas, Texas. Photographs are by redblank.



[Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre by REX/OMA (see REX's Joshua Prince-Ramus speak about the building at TED.)]


[Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House by Foster + Partners]

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Featured a few years ago in project form, the Rolex Learning Center by SANAA is now complete and opens on February 22 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Back then I discussed the design in terms of the trend of "Swiss cheese architecture," probably unrelated to the building's location but nevertheless found in a number of building designs by SANAA and other architects.


[Rolex Learning Center within the EPFL campus / ©EPFL/Alain Herzog / modified by archidose / click for original]

One aspect of the Rolex Learning Center which sets it apart from other horizontal buildings punctuated by round or elliptical courtyards (see Burr Elementary School by SOM) is the building section, the way the slice of cheese undulates along the ground's flat plane. In a sense the building becomes the landscape; instead of cutting and filling the earth to provide access underneath, the building rises and falls to accomplish the same.


[Rolex Learning Center / EPFL / SANAA / ©Hisao Suzuki / click for larger view]

So to what end does the undulating cheese building accomplish? It allows movement across the site without entering the building. It creates a unique topography and experience inside for visitors. And it creates a distinctive appearance for the building, especially on end, where one can see the building's elevation curve.


[Rolex Learning Center / EPFL / SANAA / ©Hisao Suzuki / click for larger view]

What most intrigues me are the in-between spaces underneath the building's "bridges." These highly compressed spaces, finished in raw concrete, have potential in terms of programming (performances, exhibitions, gatherings), though at the moment the outdoor spaces are envisioned as places of relaxation.


[Rolex Learning Center / EPFL / SANAA / ©Hisao Suzuki / click for larger view]

The program of the Learning Center currently includes a scientific library with study areas, the CRAFT Laboratory -- a research center for EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) -- and the Rolex Forum -- an ampitheater with stage for 600 people -- and dining spaces. With these aims and programming, it sounds like the only spaces open to the public are the exterior spaces under the building and within the courtyard. If this is the case, the undulations seem justified. Without them the student and research facility would be a walled-off, impenetrable mass.


[Rolex Learning Center / EPFL / SANAA / ©Hisao Suzuki / click for larger view]

Nevertheless this condition (no interior public space) is unfortunate, because the interior spaces appear quite striking, in their empty state at least. They seem like diagrams for flows of information, unimpeded by walls and right angles. Perhaps a metaphor for the sharing of data that is important with scientific research?


[Rolex Learning Center / EPFL / SANAA / ©Hisao Suzuki / click for larger view]

One design feature I question is why the roof parallels the floor. Maybe it was cheaper to reuse the formwork; after pouring the floor the forms could be raised for the roof. As well this makes the glass and its framing a consistent height, cheaper and easier to fabricate. Regardless, having the two slabs parallel means that the space is undulating but uniform. But if the roof plane did it's own thing -- maybe flat, or undulating in a different direction -- then the spaces would have further tension and compression, even more variety and diversity. As is it's still a remarkable building that transcends its Swiss-cheeseness.

Here are some photos of the Hale County Animal Shelter in Greensboro, Alabama by Rural Studio, 2006. Photographs are by schopaia.

To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

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In news that probably won't surprise anybody, the results of the voting for Barbie's next profession (reported earlier, where architect was in the running against four other careers) are in, and the blond doll will not be an architect. The winners? News Anchor (girls' vote) and Computer Engineer (popular vote). It looks like Despina Stratigakos's campaign could not even help drum up enough votes for our profession to be immortalized as a skinny figurine.



Well, as they say, it was an honor just being nominated.

(Thanks to Yazan's comment on my previous post for the heads up!)

My weekly page update:

This week's dose features Split Level House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Qb:


The featured past dose is Rag Flats in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Onion Flats:


This week's book review is Installations by Architects: Experiments in Building Design by Sarah Bonnemaison and Ronit Eisenbach; and Provisional: Emerging Modes of Architectural Practice USA by Elite Kedan , F. Jonathan Dreyfous , Craig Mutter:


Some unrelated links for your enjoyment: ArchDaily Buildng of the Year: Finalists
Go vote on 65 projects in 13 categories now running for the award. Voting ends February 28th.

bookstorming
"bookstorming helps to promote and diffuse contemporary art and architecture, through bookstores, magazines and communication tools." Includes Archibooks publishing and Archistorm magazine.

José Miguel Hernández Hernández's Blog
Blog of "publisher, writer, and architectural photographer" in Spain. (added to sidebar under blogs::architecture)

Spatial Agency Database
"An ongoing research project that aims to shift the of focus of architectural discourse from one that is centred around the design (= building) and making (= technology) of buildings to one where architecture is understood as a situated and embedded praxis conscious of and working with its social, economic and political context. (added to sidebar under architectural links::online journals)

Here are some photos of the Centre Pompidou-Metz in Metz, France by Shiguru Ban Architects, opening May 2010. Photographs are by VisiOkrOniK. A live webcam can be found at Ville de Metz.

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Earlier today I attended a press preview of the Contemplating the Void exhibition opening at the Guggenheim Museum. Curators Nancy Spector and David van der Leer asked nearly 200 artists and architects (a roughly 50/50 split between them) to create something that would fill the void in Frank Lloyd Wright's famous rotunda. The curators mentioned that they have scores of proposals for exhibitions in the void that went unrealized, though unfortunately they did not opt to display those alongside the predominantly one-page/2d pieces gifted to the Guggenheim for a silent auction next month.



The exhibition occupies the fourth floor annex, an unfortunate but unsurprising condition. It would have been great to have the ideas that contemplate void interacting directly with it, but a quick glance reveals that the show isn't "meaty" enough to take on that large space. As is, the 193 pieces are scattered about the annex in no particular order, necessitating image and title keys (below) for those wanting to know more about the imagery. Without the newsprint, one could walk the galleries and let the images speak for themselves, free of authorship, certainly not a bad idea.



In their introduction this morning the curators described the layout as an attempt at being "as visually pleasing as possible." But I found that groupings of pieces exhibited certain themes, perhaps aligned with their visuals, be it media (computer renderings, collage, drawings, etc.), color palette, or vantage point (photo overlay, architectural drawing, diagram, text, etc.). Below are some themes I found as I considered what I was seeing, though not all follow from the adjacencies I mentioned. Images are by me and are linked to Flickr where larger versions can be found.

Green the Void


[Top L: SeARCH R: Saunders Architecture | Bottom L: N55 R: Itami Jun Architects]

Not surprisingly, a number of contributors envisioned a rotunda filled with trees and/or other vegetation, in some cases a commentary on a dire future and in others an alternative potential for the large skylit space.

Fill the Void


[Top L: Anish Kapoor R: Group8| Bottom: Neil M. Denari Architects]

A literal filling of the void ran the gamut from liquids taking on the form of the void to various objects crammed into the space. This theme was probably the most common, though also one that overlaps many others. A subset could even be "filling the void with things hanging from above."

Wrap the Void

[L: Dror Benshetrit R: Mass Studies]

Many pieces dealt with the confines of the void itself, interacting with the ramp's balustrade in some manner.

Reflect the Void

[L: Amanda Levete Architects R: Josiah McElheny]

Only a few pieces explored how the central space could reflect the ramp, be it platonically (McElheny's sphere) or in a faceted and confusing manner (AL A).

Bridge the Void


[Top L: Rachel Whiteread R: Oyler Wu Collaborative | Bottom: Takuyahosokai]

Contributors who wanted to bring people into the space of the void ultimately led people to the skylight and the sky above.

Invert/Mirror the Void

[L: Tezuka Architects R: Office dA]

Alternatively, a number of proposals inverted the spiral either by carving from the earth or mirroring the floor to give the impression of its extension below.

Exploit the Void

[L: Powerhouse Company R: Josephine Meckseper]

Not enough pieces dealt with larger issues, and those that did lacked subtlety. Nevertheless, the melding of Panopticon prison with circular rotunda is very spot-on, a critique of the relationship between form and function, among other things.

Activate the Void (and Museum)

[L: Ball-Nogues Studio R: Work Architecture Company]

A number of proposals activated not only the rotunda but the rest of the museum. In the case of the two above -- located near each other in the exhibition -- the museum becomes a factory for pull-candy and a water park. These examples illustrate how exhibition location is tied to theme.

Displace the (Solid) Void

[L: MAD Architects R: Stefano Boeri]

Some entries started to move beyond the boundaries of not only the rotunda but the museum itself. These desired to express the space via a solid object visible from outside. Lightweight floating objects were the norm for this approach.

Unravel the Void (Outside the Museum)


[Top L: SNOHETTA R: Doug Aitken | Bottom: Torafu Architects]

Lastly, a number of images broke well beyond the confines of the museum, in many cases unfurling the ramp up Fifth Avenue or extending it into a larger pattern of circulation overtaking the neighboring buildings. Doug Aitken's wearable Guggenheim is a funny, Beaux-Arts-esque costume that puts the person smack in the middle of the void.

MINE THE GAP is the Chicago Architectural Club's 2010 Chicago Prize Competition. Its site is one of the most instantly recognizable signs of the economic slowdown and Chicago's ambition to extend itself as a global city.


MINE THE GAP, a single-stage international design ideas competition dedicated to examining one of the most visible scars left after the collapse of the real estate market in Chicago: the massive hole along the Lake Michigan shore that was to have been—and may yet be—the foundation for a singular 150-story condominium tower designed by an internationally-renowned Spanish architect, a tower which was to have become a new icon for the city and region. What to do with the gap? Whether or not the project is resuscitated, what else can we do with this strategic and highly-charged site? Once the motor of real-estate speculation has stalled, what can we use to propel ourselves, and the discipline, forward?Some more information:Prizes:
First Prize: $3,500
Second Prize: $1,500
Third Prize: $750
Up to 3 Honorable Mentions will be awarded.

The results of this competition will be announced in May 2010, at a public event to be held in Chicago. All entries will be published in the forthcoming issue of the CAC Journal, alongside the results of the 2008 Burnham Prize Competition, Union Station 2020.

Deadline:
Competitors may submit material online anytime between March 22, 2010 and May 3, 2010. Registration is open, and may be completed anytime before the deadline.

Entry Fee: Register Now
CAC Members: $30
Students: $50
Professionals: $90

Jury:
Lynn Becker
Writer, Chicago Reader and Architecturechicagoplus

Preston Scott Cohen (pending confirmation)
Principal, Preston Scott Cohen, Inc.
Professor and Department Chair
Harvard University

Martin Felsen
Partner, UrbanLab; Chicago, IL
Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology
Director, Archeworks

Jeanne Gang
Patner, Studio/Gang/Architects
Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology

Robert Somol
Professor and Department Director
University of Illinois-Chicago

Antony Wood
Executive Director
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology

The US has The Architect's Newspaper, and now it looks like Europe has its own newspaper on architecture. Panorama architecture newspaper is published by future, the maker of those giant magazines on competitions. Published every two months, the term newspaper may be a stretch, especially given that blogs and other online platforms can break news and even delve into some depth before the paper is printed.



RIBA Bookshops describes the paper as such:
Panorama Architecture Newspaper is an exciting new channel for architecture news, Up-to-date, beautifully illustrated and with global content and appeal, Panorama aspires to become a point of reference for architectural news, research and opportunities. This issue of Panorama [January/February 2010] features a day-in-the-life interview with Spanish architect Carlos Ferrater, the new Dallas Theater Center, plans for the new home of National Archives of France and Andalusia's tallest building, The Towers of Hercules.

Unless you've been living sans internet for the last few weeks, you've probably seen Unhappy Hipsters. Last week I added a link to the site that features photos from Dwell Magazine with some droll and usually spot-on commentary as a caption. The heavily re-tweeted and e-mailed web page lightly critiques both the architecture, the inhabitants and the means of expression Dwell uses to convey their particular "brand" of neo-modern residential design.


[Unhappy Hipsters | image source]

Well, those Unhappy Hipsters make me wonder why a similar blog does not address the out-of-control formalism in architecture today, the because-we-can designs that seem to ignore some of the basic human, environmental and other concerns that architecture should address, all in the name of formal invention. Architectural Record's The First Word blog comes pretty close, but its format of providing a definition and commentary based on a single image is uncritical in its look at new buildings and projects. I think what is needed is something that addresses the things missing in architecture today, because it's so easy to be wooed by pretty pictures -- carefully composed and modified photographs or ever more realistic renderings -- that gloss over a design's shortcomings, especially when they're accompanied by the architect's own words on blogs like Arch Daily. And given that just about all projects today are accompanied by both types of images, it's harder and harder to determine what is successful without being able to visit a building in person.

That said, I figured why not just launch another series on this blog that could tackle such a thing? Yes, I've been slacking on some of the other series (firm faces, especially), but this one sounds like a fun one to tackle. I won't try to replicate the Unhappy Hipster's wit, instead I'll just use architectural imagery as a launching board for commentaries in my usual unexciting tone. Like this:


[Kiltro House in Talca, Chile by Supersudaka | image from Arch Daily]

The architects describe how the wooden envelope blocks Chile's hot summer sun, but the roof terrace -- the principal facade when arriving to the house, they also explain -- is completely open to the sun and other elements, any time of year. Accessible but unusable, towards preserving the seamless wrapping of the wood envelope from the entry to the roof and the minimal appearance of this top surface on the approach.