Samstag, 29. August 2009

Samstags

Wie teuer du eine schöne Illusion auch bezahlt hast, du hast doch einen guten Handel gemacht. Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/378/485800/text/#

Oasis trennt sich

don't look back in anger ;)

Freitag, 28. August 2009

Erst kommt das Fressen, dann die Moral. Bertolt Brecht - BIG Library

wenn ich groß bin kann ich auch rhino script...

Invited as one of five pre-selected architect led teams, Danish practice BIG was awarded first prize in the open international design competition for Kazakhstan’s New National Library which included 19 entrants, among others Lord Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid.

Click above image to enlarge
BIG wins the international design competition for Kazakhstan’s New National Library in Astana

The new National Library, named after the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, encompasses an estimated 33,000 m2. The winning proposal was chosen by the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan K. Masimov together with Astana’s akim I.Tasmagambetov and a council of architects. The design was hailed as being both modern and rational and anchored in a classical vocabulary of traditional libraries. The circular organization of the archive at its inner core combines the clarity of a linear organization with the convenience of an infinite loop.

Click above image to enlarge
Exterior

Click above image to enlarge
Entrance Situation

“The design of the National Library combines four universal archetypes across space and time into a new national symbol: the circle, the rotunda, the arch and the yurt are merged into the form of a Möbius strip. The clarity of the circle, the courtyard of the rotunda, the gateway of the arch and the soft silhouette of the yurt are combined to create a new national monument appearing local and universal, contemporary and timeless, unique and archetypal at the same time,” said Bjarke Ingels, BIG Founding Partner on the Astana National Library.

U2 Live in Berlin - Great Stage

by mark fischer

A shop in a church by Merkx + Girod Architecten

via dezeen

Dutch architects Merkx + Girod have won the Lensvelt de Architect Interior Prize 2007 for their Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen in Maastricht - a bookstore inside a former Dominican church.

The prize jury said: “Merkx+Girod architects have created a contemporary bookshop in a former Dominican church, preserving the unique landmark setting. The church has been restored to its former glory and the utilities equipment has been housed in the extended cellar.

“In order to preserve the character of the church while achieving the desired commercial square footage, the architects erected a two-storey structure in black steel on one side, where the books are kept. Keeping the shop arrangement on the other side low created a clear and decipherable shop. The jury was very impressed by these spatial solutions, as well as by the gorgeous lighting plan. The combination of book complex and church interior were deemed particularly successful.”

Photos are by Roos Aldershoff.

Animal Wall by Gitta Gschwendtner

via dezeen
August 28th, 2009

London designer Gitta Gschwendtner has completed a wall that incorporates 1,000 nest boxes for birds and bats in Cardiff Bay, UK.

The 50 metre long wall separates a residential development of 1,00o new apartments from the adjacent riverside path.

It includes four types of boxes to accommodate different species of birds and bats.

Mittwoch, 26. August 2009

Osler House by Marcio Kogan - Simple Stylish Cool

via yatzer.com

photo © Pedro Vannucchi

Project: Osler House
Location: Brazil. DF
Project start date: March 2006
Project completion: January 2008
Site area: 797 square meters
Built area: 270 square meters
Architect: Marcio Kogan
Co-architect: Suzana Glogowski
Interior Design: Diana Radomysler, Marcio Kogan
Team: Oswaldo Pessano, Renata Furlanetto. Lair Reis, Samanta Cafardo, Carolina Castroviejo, Eduardo Glycerio, Maria Cristina Motta, Mariana Simas, Gabriel Kogan
Landscape Architect: Renata Tilli
General Contractor: Abacus Engenharia

photo © Pedro Vannucchi

Osler House by Marcio Kogan
text by Marcia Argyriades for Yatzer

Not very far from the main design idea of the Gama Issa House, Marcio Kogan leaves us amazed once more, but this time with Osler House. Osler House is located in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, a city which is a world reference for urban planning. It is very similar in the following with Gama Issa House, basically, we still have the parallelogram box, but the second top part of the box is enlarged in dimensions from its base and is pivoted and rotated to a 90 degree angle. Osler House basically forms the letter T when one looks at the site plan.

photo © Pedro Vannucchi

The plan of Osler House is arranged by a ground floor parallelogram volume, a suspended volume and a deck with an outdoor pool. The concrete and wooden base volume houses the master bedroom, another bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, the utility area and the garage. The vertical wooden shutters offer a natural light filtration while letting the sun shine in. However, they can be open out entirely to connect the interior with the exterior, and furthermore bring more natural light and cross-ventilation into the house. These vertical wooden shutters are evocative of other elements which are commonly used in the modern city.

A small foyer in the entrance of the ground floor connects with the upper floor through an internal staircase. The upper floor which is organized in a reinforced concrete and glass volume accommodates the living room, the kitchen and a small workspace. The pivoted upper volume of the house is supported on the ground floor volume and on pilotis on the other. The rotated volume of the first floor creates a shaded area over the ground floor volume. The living room, the kitchen and the workspace have a spatial continuity in the area. At human eye level the visual transparency in the interior of the house is uninterrupted. The living room with the kitchen is separated only by a table which is used for food preparation. When the glass panel windows are open the inside becomes the outside and vice versa as a garden terrace extends the exterior living space. Basically, the garden terrace is the roof of the ground floor. An outdoor staircase connects the deck alongside the pool to the upper garden terrace.

photo © Pedro Vannucchi

One of the most important elements of this house are the tiles in a panel wall by the entrance which were especially designed by Athos Bulcão right before his death making Osler House probably his last project. Athos Bulcão (July 2, 1918 – July 31, 2008) was a Brazilian painter and sculptor. Athos Bulcão assisted Candido Portinari with the "São Francisco de Assis" painting at the Pampulha Church, in Belo Horizonte in 1940. Later on, he moved to Paris, where he lived until 1949, and then decided to relocate back to Brazil. He became one of the collaborators of the construction of Brasília, taking part in several of Oscar Niemeyer's projects. His tiles are in most famous classic buildings in Brasília including and not limited to Planalto Palace, Itamaraty and the National Theater.

The exquisite architecture of Osler House is composed of two perpendicular reinforced concrete volumes, a pool and a beautifully landscaped garden which organize it. Significant parts that make up this architecture are the classic yet modern tiles of Athos Bulcão along with other designs of the modern city; the large glass panel windows, the large wooden shutters, the concrete, and the landscape.

Truly, a stunning house to live in!

photo © Pedro Vannucchi

Jesus Handing the Keys to Peter

The fresco shows an important moment in the history of the catholic church. It is no coincidence that it is in the Sistine Chapel, the pope's personal chapel. Jesus hands the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter. In the previous verse Peter was called the rock upon which Jesus would build his church.

Artists interpreted Jesus' words literally: Peter is very often displayed carrying the keys.

The other followers watch on. They are joined by a few non-biblical figures. Among the men on the right it is thought that Perugino himself can be found alongside the architect of the Sistine Chapel.

In the background two other scenes from the life of Jesus are shown. To the left: the Rendering of the Tribute Money (ref. Masaccio); to the right: the stoning of Jesus.

Perugino shows the scenes in the best tradition of the Renaissance. The composition is almost perfectly symmetric, with skillfully applied perspective.

The temple in Renaissance style is Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. That is a geographic anomaly, as according to Matthew the event took place in the city of Caesarea Filippi near one of the sources of the river Jordan.

by Pietro Perugino