As mentioned before, I recently saw the Apostles of Beauty show at the Art Institute of Chicago. I really enjoyed this exhibit.

The exhibit features a wide range of objects, such as textiles, furniture, jewelry, ceramics, metalwork, and surprisingly, photography. The exhibit is broken up into a loose timeline, in reference to the tagline “From Britain to Chicago”. It starts with the section “English Beginnings” focusing British manufacturers like Morris and Company in the 19th century. It comes to a close with the two sections “Chicago and Reform” and then “The Prairie School” with a major Frank Lloyd Wright piece. Of everything in the exhibit, the textiles and the photography stood out to me the most.

Left: Screen, 1885-1910, designed by John Henry Dearle; A three-panelled furnishing screen with embroidered panels showing ‘Parrot Tulip’, ‘Large Horned Poppy’ and ‘Anemone’ designs.

Right: Textile, Sutherland pattern, 1870-1871, designed by Owen Jones

I was surprised to see photography in an Arts and Crafts exhibit, but the connection between pictorialist principles and craftsman ideals were easy to understand. In addition, the work on display is very impressive. It features important names in the history of photography such as Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, and one of my favorites, Gertrude Käsebier.

Gertrude Käsebier, Heritage of Motherhood, ca. 1904, gum bichromate print

My only complaint with the exhibit was that it felt a little spare, and it could have benefited from more objects. But overall, it was very enjoyable.

The Apostles of Beauty will be at the Art Institute of Chicago until January 31, 2010.

At this point, I’m torn between beginning at my first introduction to the wonders of the architectural world, or beginning at my first understanding of it. I believe that my understanding should come first, as I plan on visiting many sites again (hopefully this summer!)

And so I shall begin with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Graycliff, located in Derby, New York.

Graycliff was commissioned by Buffalo’s Darwin D. Martin as a summer home built specifically for his wife. In essence, Isabelle Martin was the real client in this situation. The house was completed in 1929 (begun in 1926), and actually dug Wright out of a sort of rut.At this point in time, Wright was facing a lot of bad publicity over some family issues, like many celebrities today.

I visited the house at the end of my junior year with Chris Cook’s Industrial Drawing class at North Tonawanda High School. The site is situated right on Lake Erie, so it was pretty chilly. The house has an absolutely beautiful view of the water, and the cool breeze coming off of it must have been wonderful in the heat of summer. There was a path leading down the cliffside to the water, but it has been deemed too trecherous for tourists to go down, though I would have loved to.

Forgive me now for quoting the Graycliff website (link) as my memory of the layout is somewhat foggy. At the time I was pretty interested in architecture, but not nearly as much as I am today.

“It [Graycliff] is a complex of three buildings that includes the small Heat Hut, the 3,100 square-foot Foster House and the 6,500 square-foot Isabelle R. Martin House, all set amidst eight and a half acres of rolling lawns and gardens also designed by Wright.”

Anything after this, until I say otherwise, is what I recall from the tour. Forgive any choppyness or sudden segues, if any.

Graycliff was one of Wright’s prairie-style houses that reflected his ideal of a true “American Architecture.” The emphasis on horizontality is seen through the use of long passageways and cantilevered sections.

The entire building, being built for Isabelle, who had had continuously worsening eyesight for most of her life, was built to allow as much sunlight into the rooms as possible. Wright achieved this with his fantastic windows as well as his usage of a curtain wall to actually create “corner windows”; something relatively new to the architectural world. “Curtain walls” are walls that do not support the structure of the building. Usually this is done by pillars or piers placed either on the outside or inside of the houses, or sometimes within the walls themselves. “Corner windows” are windows that actually come together at the corners of a room, rather than having a post between them. This allowed for both more light and visability.

Like the original Martin House, Graycliff contains a long, narrow passageway between two sections of the house. This passageway not only emphasizes horizontality, but it is also lined with windows, making it a nice, well-lit area.

Behind the house there is a nice little garden area, presumably where the family would spent most of their outdoors time when not down by the water. I recall there being a sort of irrigation system, but not many details concerning it. I believe that rain water was simply channeled into large flower pots.

At the tour of Graycliff, I also learned about Wright’s emphasis on the hearth. To him, the fireplace was the ultimate center of the family. The hearth in this building was located in the living room, but could be seen from the dining area as well. It was closer to the window and off-center, perhaps to allow Isabelle to work by the fire as well as by a light source (providing she sat by the fire during the day, of course.)

In addition to the houses was a nice, wooded area. The trees added a vertical aspect that went well with the horizontality of the house, which was set in a clearing and lined up well with the horizon. The golden color of the brick combined with the red roof and shadows from the trees created an image that very much reminded me of a sunrise (or sunset, whichever).

All in all, it was remarkable.

Another aspect of the building that I liked was the one bedroom on the second floor. It was not that big of an area, but Wright used what he referred to as “compression” to make the area seem bigger. When you enter the room, you feel rather claustrophobic due to the extremely low ceilings. However, when you look ahead, you see a row of windows, drawing you in. As you step in further, the ceiling suddenly becomes higer, and you have the impression of being in a much larger area that is wonderfully lit and not the least bit closed-in, even with about 20 other people crowding into the room behind you. I’ve learned to love tiny tour groups.

This is one building that I’d very much like to go back to in the future. Granted, I’d go everywhere twice given the chance, but there was still a lot to be done in the restoration when I visited. Many of the walls and ceilings were crumbling and the whole house looked as if there was a lot more work that needed to be put into it. Which reminds me somehow… Wright could have cared less about bathrooms in this building. They were tiny, and nothing compared to the rest of the house. Just saying.

The house was abandoned in the 1940’s, when Isabelle could no longer afford to take care of it.

For more information regarding Graycliff, visit the aforementioned site. There you can also find information about tours and progress in the restoration.

Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, VISUAL ACOUSTICS celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the worlds greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman, who passed away this year, captured the work of nearly every major modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern Californias modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images.

Via & more: juliusshulmanfilm.com

Now that we are fast approaching the holiday season, you may be wondering what to give as a gift to that architect you know and like. There are many architects out there; all with different sensibilities, tastes, quirks, and interests.

I’ve compiled a list of suggestions that may help you find the right gift for that friend who’s either an architect, student of architecture, or in the architectural profession. There’s no such thing as the perfect gift with an architect.

BOOKS

For the architect who has wall to wall shelving of books, and has no time to read; or who has an empty coffee table. Here are some recommendations with pretty pictures of contemporary architecture that is sure to inspire.

Tiny Houses by Mimi Zeiger, is a 7″ x 7″ hardcover collection of tiny houses; no bigger than 1,000 square feet!

“With “McMansions” increasingly giving way to “tiny” houses, the desire to downsize and be more ecologically and economically prudent is a concept many are beginning to embrace. Focusing on dwelling spaces all under 1,000 square feet, TINY HOUSES (Rizzoli, April 2009) by Mimi Zeiger aims to challenge readers to take a look at their own homes and consider how much space they actively use.
Ranging from tree houses to floating houses, TINY HOUSES features an international collection of over thirty modular and prefab homes, each one embodying “microgreen living”, defined as the creation of tiny homes where people challenge themselves to live “greener” lives. By using a thoughtful application of green living principles, renewable resources for construction, and clever ingenuity, these homes exemplify sustainable living at its best.”

-book description from Rizzoli

For the architect who has joined the “green” bandwagon.

Green Architecture Now! by Philip Jodidio is a soft cover collection of contemporary sustainable architecture.

“The ecological impact of new construction, once a secondary concern, has become a crucial issue. Badly designed buildings guzzle natural resources and pollute their surroundings; in an era of rocketing energy costs and environmental degradation, the need for a sustainable, energy-efficient architecture is paramount. This book features the architects, artists and firms pioneering a new green architecture, and examines the emergent esthetics.”

-book description from TASCHEN

For the architect who loves Le Corbusier, here is the biggest book published of the great modernist architect.

Le Corbusier Le Grand published by Phaidon.

“Le Corbusier (1887-1965) was born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The self-named Le Corbusier was not only the creator of some of the most important and impressive buildings of the last century–Villa Savoye at Poissy, the Chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp, the capitol complex in Chandigarh, India–he was also an accomplished painter, sculptor, furniture designer, urbanist, and author. His work and social theories continue to be a dominant force in the world of architecture and design, while his elegant bearing, bow tie, and round black eyeglasses are still today a signature look for architects around the world. Le Corbusier Le Grand’s oversized format and luxurious binding reflect the legendary status of this “giant” of twentieth-century architecture and design.

The book includes an insightful introductory essay by France’s most authoritative architectural historian and critic, Jean-Louis Cohen, and incisive chapter introductions by highly regarded Le Corbusier scholar Tim Benton. A separate booklet includes translations of documents, many of which have never been translated into English before.”

-book description from Phaidon

For the critical architect whose always got something to say about a building.

Building Up and Tearing Down, and Why Architecture Matters; both by Paul Goldberger, who was recently on the Colbert Report. To see the interview, click here.

“The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao by Frank Gehry, the CCTV Headquarters by Rem Koolhaas, the Getty Center by Richard Meier, the Times Building by Renzo Piano: Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Paul Goldberger’s tenure at The New Yorker has documented a captivating era in the world of architecture, one in which larger-than-life buildings, urban schemes, historic preservation battles, and personalities have commanded an international stage. Goldberger’s keen observations and sharp wit make him one of the most insightful and passionate architectural voices of our time. In this collection of fifty-seven essays, the critic Tracy Kidder called “America’s foremost interpreter of public architecture” ranges from Havana to Beijing, from Chicago to Las Vegas, dissecting everything from skyscrapers by Norman Foster and museums by Tadao Ando to airports, monuments, suburban shopping malls, and white-brick apartment houses. This is a comprehensive account of the best—and the worst—of the “age of architecture.””

-book description of “Building Up and Tearing Down” from Random House Inc.

“Based on decades of looking at buildings and thinking about how we experience them, the distinguished critic raises our awareness of fundamental things like proportion, scale, space, texture, materials, shapes, light, and memory. Upon completing this remarkable architectural journey, readers will enjoy a wonderfully rewarding new way of seeing and experiencing every aspect of the built world.”

-book description of “Why Architecture Matters” from Yale University Press

DVD, MOVIES, DOCUMENTARIES

Architects love to watch and learn things so why not get them a documentary of a famous architect?

The PBS documentary of Frank Lloyd Wright by Ken Burns and we all know Mr. Burns produces highly acclaimed documentaries. To learn more about the documentary, click here.

A great documentary on the Spanish architect Antonio Guadí by Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara.

Synopsis from Criterion Films,
“Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí (1852–1926) designed some of the world’s most astonishing buildings, interiors, and parks; Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara constructed some of the most aesthetically audacious films ever made. Here their artistry melds in a unique, enthralling cinematic experience. Less a documentary than a visual poem, Teshigahara’s Antonio Gaudí takes viewers on a tour of Gaudí’s truly spectacular architecture, including his massive, still-unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. With camera work as bold and sensual as the curves of his subject’s organic structures, Teshigahara immortalizes Gaudí on film.”

For the architect who likes to be entertained, here are some movie suggestions.

The International starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. One of the customer reviews for this movie commented that the movie is stylish and featured great architecture.

The Fountainhead (the movie) starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal. The screenplay was adapted and written by the original author, Ayn Rand.

MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS

For the architect who likes to stay abreast of the latest trends in architecture, design, construction, and technology; magazines are a way to go and will be greatly appreciated. Just as there are a variety of specialist architects in the field, there is a magazine that fits their interest equally. Here is a list of architecture magazine compiled on Wikipedia that is sure to please to make any architect happy.

• A10 – new European architecture
• AG magazin Serbian magazine for architecture and construction
• Architects Journal
• Architectural Digest
• The Architect’s Newspaper American and International Architecture, published in New York and Los Angeles.
• Architectural Record International Architecture
• Architectural Review
• Azure” Canadian, International Architecture and Design
• Blueprint_(architecture_magazine) UK Based International Architecture and Design Magazine
• Casabella Italian and International Architecture magazine
• DesignIntelligence Architecture and design leadership and strategy
• Detail German based International Architecture magazine
• Domus Italian and International Architecture
• Dwell Architecture and Lifestyle
• El Croquis Leading offices producing outstanding works
• Frame International Architecture
• Junk Jet Electronics ° Aesthetics ° Architecture
• Log Observations on architecture and the contemporary city
• Metropolis Magazine Architecture and Design
• Oris Architecture and Art
• POL Oxygen Australian, International Architecture and Design
• “PRAXIS” Journal of writing and building
• Sherwin-Williams STIR Magazine News and resources for interior designers and architects
• The Next American City Architecture, Design, and Urban Planning
• Volume Magazine International Architecture

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

The Architect is never without his/her own set of tools that distinguishes them from another architect. It’s a competitive world out there and the Architect is always looking for ways to stand out from the rest just as they do with their designs. Here is a list of tools you may want to consider to stuff the stocking of the Architect.

The Architect always needs something to draw, write, and scribble with so why not get him or her a nice mechanical pencil like the Pentel Sharp Kerry, which is available in many colors.

Another option for a mechanical pencil is the LAMY scribble; Model 185(3,15).

For sketching, it has a thick 3.15 mm lead and a removable clip.
Mechanical pencil with distinctive ergonomic form. Matt black plastic, fittings in a palladium finish.
Clutch mechanism with 3.15 (LAMY M 43) sketching lead.
Designer: Hannes Wettstein

- description from LAMY scribble

You can’t give the Architect just a mechanical pencil; pair it up with a sketchbook. I saw this while I was in Barnes & Noble. These books are by ecosystem. The colors caught my eye and then I noticed that there are different books for different types of people. There is one for the artist, the writer, the organizer, and the Architect. And the Architect’s sketchbook is bound with graph paper? When I saw that, I was like, “Really?” I don’t know any architect who uses graph paper sketch books.

e•co sys•tem ar•chi•tect [ek-oh sis-tem ahr-ki-tekt]

An environmentally aware person who creates strength and order with lines.

Because you are structured, expressive, and ordered, each ecosystem architect item features grid paper so you can continue as an environmentally aware person who creates strength and order with lines. The 100% post-consumer recycled paper features a perfect grid for your planning.

I personally prefer sketchbooks by Moleskin. They come in a variety of sizes and covers. I like the ones that come three in a pack; perfect for traveling and to quickly jot down notes. Moleskin is currently offering a limited edition sketchbook for the Architect called La Mano Dell’Architetto.

“The Hand of the Architect (La Mano Dell’Architetto) is a limited edition Moleskine book filled with drawings from 110 internationally renowned architects. The compilation is a tribute to Piero Portaluppi, who in 1932 designed Villa Necchi Campiglio, located in the heart of Milan. The participating architects donated a total of 378 signed sketches. These were then exhibited in Milan and auctioned to raise funds for the maintenance of Villa Necchi Campiglio, which is now open to the public.

Get a glimpse into the sketchbooks of visionaries like Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid, Piero Lissoni, Kengo Kumo, Mario Botta, Tadao Ando, and many more. From whimsical to philosophical, simple sketches to elaborate renderings, the images in this book are a source of inspiration that will make you think, smile, and create.

Then, capture your own ideas with the companion special edition blank journal – this set includes the hardcover 272 page Moleskine Folio filled with architectural sketches, and an A4 Cahier with 120 blank pages for you to fill up!”

-description from Moleskin

MISCELLANEOUS

We all know that architecture is a high stress profession, and as a result, many architects like to unwind with a drink , or two, or three, or more. Why not treat them to a nice bottle of gin like DH Krahn gin.

If drinking isn’t a good idea for that architect you know (because there are lots out there who are alcoholics), how about a session with a therapist to help the architect you know work out their professional stresses, or career goals, or addictions (i.e. alcohol). Why not try an outdoor counseling sessions in Manhattan with Clay Cockrell; taking therapy off the couch? He’s been featured on Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, and AM New York; to name a few. For more information click here.

And how about for those architects who are just anal retentive? They need to loosen up and relax and not take work so seriously. Why not get them a gift certificate to a spa for a relaxing massage? Great Jones Spa is a great place to retreat and relax. I highly recommend the 90 minute massages; it will be greatly appreciated. Not only that will the architect enjoy a wonderful massage but they will also have access to the water lounge, which includes river rock sauna, chakra-light steam, thermal hot tub, and cold plunge.

]]> http://littlebeachbum.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/emory-conference-center-hotel-in-atlanta-georgia/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:48:11 +0000 shoegirl http://littlebeachbum.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/emory-conference-center-hotel-in-atlanta-georgia/

The PSO (Pre-Service Orientation) for Americorps Vistas was held at the Emory Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It is right near (on?) the edge of the Emory University campus.  The conference center is located in the middle of a forest – 26 acres of forest preserve, their website said – and its architecture is based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture. It was truly beautiful.  This is the main entryway of the conference center.

Most of the architecture at the hotel consisted of these clean lines and earthy colors.

There was a lot of this river rock around the area.  I wouldn’t have wanted to be the one to have to cut all those rocks to fit, though.

Out hotel room! A little messy…we had already unpacked.

A hiking path along the side of the hotel.

View from our hotel room. The trees were red and gold, and the sky was light pink – it was difficult to try to capture both of those colors. But still very pretty. Also note the low, slanting rooftops – very Frank Lloyd Wright.

This was the outside view of the dining center – and whoooo was the food magnificent. I probably gained five pounds while there, and this is not an exaggeration. Dinner was buffet-style, with a number of Southern entrées, like shrimp and grits, or fried catfish, or fried chicken and mashed potatoes…there was also macaroni and cheese pizza, prime rib, white asparagus soup, a gyro bar, and all sorts of other goodies. Not to mention…a dessert buffet! Each night had at least five or six different desserts – peach pie, pecan pie, key lime pie (the best), peanut butter cheesecake, New York cheesecake, chocolate cake, red velvet cake…the list was endless. I know there are a lot that I am missing – the key lime pie was the only one I tried and it was delicious.

This downstairs (along the ground floor of the left side of the photo) is where we spent our breaks from our seminars.

There was also really beautiful lighting inside the building.

It was a gorgeous place to spend four days.

I have always loved the graphic design, ideas and lines of Wright’s architecture but when I see his acutal work I am often disappointed by the poor workmanship, the dark corners or the clunky oakiness the detail work and furnishings.  But I just found a posting of a Cincinnatti house that has the interiors and light as I always hoped they would be – it’s an old posting on another blog but the Boswell House photographs are stunning.  The Hooked on Houses blog is actually a lot of fun.  And the novel Loving Frank (cloying title, great novel based on real-life events) is a worthwhile read.

900 Fifth Avenue

As a real estate broker and city planner, I am often asked if I could choose any building to live in, which would it be? Well, I have diverse tastes as I admire the architecture of Richard Meier, yet I like the pre-war classic with a touch of modernity at 740 Park. Of course, one could argue Robert A.M. Stern’s 15 Central Park West meets all the criteria i.e. pre-war layouts, modern mechanicals and so forth. The Prasada on CPW is another lovely building from pre WWI. Also, spending my formative years at Kips Bay Towers, I have a love of private open-space and functional design. However, I am going out on a limb and advising my goal is 900 Fifth Avenue.

OK, I admit, the building is usually overlooked and is not well known on probably the most well known avenue in Manhattan. However, I have been asked which building would be my first choice for a residence:

Location: As I have preached, it’s all location, location, location. In addition to being located on the always popular Upper East Side and fronting/addressing 5th Avenue, I consider the site of the building to be a premium. The west view of course is unobstructed Central Park. However, the south-view which is usually secondary or worse with most 5th Avenue buildings is a premium. Looking over the Frick Museum, the view is unobstructed and offers vistas including Central Park and Midtown. The south view from the lower floors looks onto the magnificent setting of The Frick. The upper-floors, a view of Midtown. The only other building on 5th Avenue which comes close to offering the dual west and south view package is 1080 5th Avenue; a post-war with a view over the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Guggenheim Museum.

Exterior: The façade while considered somewhat dated by present tastes must have been radical for 1958. Instead of the generic white brick used for many post-war apartment houses, the architects Sylvan and Robert Bien (father and son) included dark gray metal and aluminum to off-set the bay windows from the flat brick façade.  For residential architecture, the design was radical for the era, more appropriate for office buildings being developed in Midtown on Park Avenue. My personal view, the building stands out along an Avenue of eclectic designs from classical pre-war to modernist disasters designed for economic gain and not taking the urban fabric and design into context.

Interior: With 20 stories and only 50 units, the building is the perfect size for my tastes (full disclosure, I reside in a 65 unit, 18 story building co-op). Apartments have central air thus no protrusions of wall-through or window air conditioning units. Most apartments in the building range from 6-9 rooms, all with generous layouts and superior views as mentioned above. Amenities include a gym and garage.

Lobby and 1st Level: The granite base at human eye level fits correctly with the buildings design offset by the minimalist landscaping yet providing a cohesive design. The canopy and doorman station are similar to other 5th Avenue buildings.

 In New York City we have elevated building design to a commodity i.e. Candela, Meier, Nouvel, Stern, McKim, Mead and White and others.  The older pre-war buildings may offer generous layouts, however without extensive renovations (seen and unseen), such apartments can be a labor of love. New buildings from the past decade may have been designed by “starchitects” with name recognition; however the glass curtain wall is a most efficient oven in summer and freezer in winter.

We usually dismiss mid-century apartment houses as lacking the charm of pre-war and not having the cache of contemporary structures. I must be a contrarian. I see the mid-century buildings such as 900 5th Avenue as unique examples of design and taste during an era of profound change within society. For example, 900 Fifth respects the floor plans of pre-war buildings with 6-9 room layouts yet envelopes the design within a modernist façade.

Buildings such as Manhattan House and Imperial House once dismissed as boring white-brick are enjoying renewed popularity for their interior courtyards, efficient layouts and outdoor space i.e. balcony’s. The period of apartment house construction between 1945 and 1970 in New York is a time or transition on many fronts including design, land values, functionality and others. Post 1970, the City entered a fiscal crisis coupled with middle and upper middle-class flight to the suburbs as construction came to a grinding halt (as demand waned and financing was cost-prohibitive).  With the building book of the 1990’s and early 2000’s my question is “Will these building stand the test of time and be appreciated in 50 years or will they wallow in obscurity or be razed?”

The guy who likes to leave his phone on the street has got another habit (also phone related) which is annoying. He will still be pressing snooze for the alarm he has set an hour and a half after it first went off. Why not just set it to go off later instead of waking me up early for the past 2 days! Plonker.

I had a later than intended one last night, there’s a Dutch guy who works here who I was having a few drinks with. A very clever and interesting bloke though also quite weird. He is either a compulsive liar or has had a Forrest Gump/Benjamin Button style life in his short 23 years on this rock. I’m not sure which it is.

The weather is great here today, it’s in the mid 20s. So it will make for a good day of wandering about.

The first place I went to was the San Mamés Stadium. They do a tour but once again I had more or less hit siesta time. I saw the outside at least and I’ll see how I’m doing for time later and maybe take a proper look then, I’m not really that bothered though if I have to leave it.

The main bus station is right next to the ground so I had a look at the bus times to San Sebastian. Pretty much every half hour, so that’s nice and easy.

While walking down the main shopping street on my way to the Guggenheim I nipped into the Lacoste shop as I always do. I don’t know why I bother as even though they have some mega threads, their stuff is so expensive. I saw a nice jacket. €310. I didn’t have to mull that one over for too long.

As much as I like Spain, it will be a bit of a relief to get into France as I’ve found it pretty difficult trying to order food, very difficult at times in fact. Before my next visit a crash course in Spanish might be in order.

The Guggenheim was good. It cost me €11 to get in though if I was 26 rather than 27 my student card would have got me in for €6.50. Doh.

There isn’t actually that much in there, I managed to get s decent look at eveything in 2 hours. Some of the stuff seems very pretentious to me. Mainly some of the video installations on the ground floor, ‘Zidane’ being a good example.

I really enjoyed the massive exhibition of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. I’m hardly very well up on architecture but I could appreciate how amazing some of his designs are, about half of which were actually realised.

I liked the abstract and surrealism stuff too, that sort of thing appeals to me. The works they have by Kandinsky and Gottlieb is particularly good.

The building itself is also very impressive. If you’re in Bilbao and you don’t intend to go inside the Guggenheim, you should at least take a walk down the river to it just to see the exterior.

Crikey it’s a strange bus infrastructure in Basque country. I got to the bus station at about 18:15 with the intention of getting the 18:30. I then bought a ticket from the automated machine for €7, all hunky dory so far. When at 18:35 my bus still hadn’t turned up at platform 2, 3 or 4 (as the screen stated) I was a touch concerned and begun to check the destinations on the other buses nearby and show my ticket to the drivers just in case. It was lucky I did as with the 2nd one I tried it was my bus apparently, even though it had Santander (which is in the opposite direction) as the destination and was parked at platform 8. Barmy these Basque lot.

The hostel (Olga’s Place) is okay, nothing special, but it will do for a few nights. It’s located on Zabaleta Street strangely enough.

There’s nothing on the agenda for tonight, just get some grub then take it easy. Over.

PS One last thing, as I type this on the PC at the hostel I’m being forced to listen to a conversation between the most boring couple you could possibly imagine, as dull as it gets. I’m not sure I want to go to New Zealand anymore.

On Thursday, the 19th, I complete 16 years of living in Los Angeles. While everywhere on earth is probably fascinating, and complex, and impossible to understand without living there for a significant amount of time, LA is one place that evokes strong reactions from people who have visited here for only a brief time or who have not even been here at all. When I tell someone I live in Los Angeles, they might respond, “Cool, all those movie stars and the ocean and the nice weather!” or they might just as likely say, “Dang, how can you stand it: traffic, smog, murders, Tom Cruise, fires, earthquakes?”

Like every big city, LA is far too multidimensional to be summed up in any short string of descriptors. There is, as an unending progression of writers have and will continue to point out, the simple question of where LA begins and ends. When I say I live in LA, that’s pretty darned vague, when you consider that the metropolitan area stretches for nearly a hundred miles north to south, from the northern part of the San Fernando Valley (that’s “The Valley”) down into the far wastelands of Orange County, and from the ocean back eastward toward Riverside and San Bernardino: an area that’s home to maybe 8 or 10 million people. In fact, only a portion of those people live in a city named Los Angeles, while millions of others — including me — are residents of some untold number of other towns and cities that range from big cities in their own right – Santa Monica, Long Beach, Irvine — down to flyspecks like the City of Industry, which has about 12 full-time residents among its thousands of industrial buildings. But, not to split hairs, we’re all rolled up in the gestalt of the big morass that the world regards as Los Angeles, no matter how seldom we attend a movie premiere or go to the actual downtown or attend a game at Dodger Stadium.

Therefore, I’m listing 5 good and 5 bad things about Los Angeles from the perspective of the archetypal “transplanted midwesterner” who’s had a few years of driving around and breathing the air, meeting people and reading the local paper to form an idea of the place. I’m going to ignore the obvious things like good weather and an ocean and food because you don’t need to hear about THOSE again, as well as things like traffic and taxes and an incredibly corrupt set of municipal, county and state governments (well, the state government may not be corrupt: that presumes some fundamental level of functionality) because plenty of other cities and locations have all of those, too. I’ll stick to things I’ve learned that might not’ve occurred to you, whether you’re unfamiliar with the place, or perhaps even if you’ve been here so long that haven’t considered them lately.

5 Bad Things About Los Angeles

1. Water – As in wasting it. For a place that has spent billions of dollars to engineer one of the world’s most awesome hydrological systems to bring water across deserts and mountains, the inhabitants here are shockingly, alarmingly profligate in the way they use water. Nothing can convince you more completely of the inherent selfishness and cluelessness of your fellow man than to watch some bozo using a garden hose instead of sweeping his driveway or to retrieve your newspaper from a gutter running with water streaming from all the lawn sprinklers up the street.

2. Building Codes – As in none. An infinite number of building inspectors must have loaded an uncountable number of bottles of Johnny Walker Black into the trunks of their cars for endless years to account for the thousands of shopping centers built with only three-fourths the number of appropriate parking spaces, the single-unit properties occupied by two or even three dwellings, and the driveway cut-outs that enter streets just yards from busy intersections. The core fabric of Los Angeles is as dysfunctional a place as I have found on earth.

3. LAX – As in the nation’s 3rd-busiest and possibly least pleasant airport. I don’t want to get going on airports that have not kept pace with the current state of air travel since I did that in yesterday’s post, but only the advent of all the post-9/11 headaches associated with flying out of every airport have saved LAX from meriting an asterisk on any travel agent’s listing saying *try not to fly through here.

4. The sheer messiness of the place – LA, as I mentioned, is not a single place, but an immense amalgamation of cities, towns, manufacturing districts, harbors, refineries and our notorious “unincorporated areas” lapping over one another in a profusion of profound ugliness. The mild climate allows millions of people to live in poorly-built and even more poorly-maintained shacks, and hundreds of miles of streets are lined with a mind-numbing array of the least-appealing retail operations in the U.S. If you’re a visitor, and focusing on the beaches or the mountains or the museums, you might not notice it. If you have to drive to West Covina or Cucamonga, just keep your eyes on the road and don’t look left or right.

5. Highway signs – Lots of places have poor highway signage, but in Los Angeles and California in general, it’s apparently written into the state constitution. Heaven help the visitor who gets on the highway and has to figure out if Long Beach is north or south of them in order to know which way to turn.

Honorable Mention – The Los Angeles Times. Don’t get me started.

And 5 Good (possibly even great) Things

1. Clay Tracks – As in running tracks. When I grew up after the Civil War in the rust belt, running tracks were composed of black cinders because a) we had to do something with all those cinders from the blast furnaces and b) they held up during all the rain and absorbed heat so snow would melt off faster. For those schools not yet well-endowed enough to have artificial surfaces, the surface of choice is hard-packed clay. Man, running on tracks like that is just too good to believe.

2. The Hollywood Bowl – If you have a chance to visit here during the long summer season, go to the Bowl some evening. Sitting in the California night listening to music (and they have all kinds of music) is one of the great LA experiences.

3. The Getty Museum – If you had UNLIMITED WEALTH, what would you do? J. Paul G. endowed a fund to offer free museums to the public. And he had several trainloads of Renaissance art, Roman and Greek and Asian antiquities (not all of which, we hope, was looted), and a bunch o’ paintings and photographs and other stuff that he built, first, a mock Roman villa and then, later, a mammoth modern hilltop enclave to house them. Coming to LA? Go to the Getty. Either one. Will give you great ideas on what to do with your own unlimited wealth when it arrives. The settings are just as magnificent as the collections, and even if you don’t think you’ll like anything they have to see, go there anyway.

4. Farmer’s Markets – There are a plethora of weekly farmers’ markets that operate in towns and cities all across Los Angeles. While all the supermarkets have the same bananas and grapes and oranges and other stuff picked 2 weeks before and shipped in from Chile and New Zealand, these are the real places to get actual food, sold to you, usually, by the people who grew them up in Tehachapi or out in Saugus or lots of other places. It’s not cheaper than the supermarkets, but you get what you pay for, for once.

5. Architecture, in general – One of the beneficial outcomes of the amazing crazy-quilt growth of Los Angeles over a couple of hundred years is the endless variety of the architecture. Whether you admire old Spanish adobe or art deco or extreme modernism or cozy little bungalows, Bel-Aire mansions, meant-to-impress public works, roadside kitsch (see Motel sidebar to the right) or craftsman-era woodworking, it is here in inexhaustible supply. Landmark works by Richard Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright and Quincy Jones and Frank Gehry or the already-mentioned New Getty by Richard Meier . This is an architectural showcase it would take most of a lifetime to see, even if you made a concerted effort.

2 weeks ago I took a trip down to Chicago to visit an old friend, we went out exploring the historic city of OakPark, Illinois. Just for inspiration we decided to explore the old architecture of this city and came across Frank LLoyd Wright’s Unity Temple Church.

The Unity Temple

The next day we decided to explore a bit more and came across Frank Lloyd Wright’s house and studio. A fabulous example of design with such intricate detail.

Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio

Frank Lloyd Wright home & studio

It looked like a normal house from the outside. My first reaction was that this isn’t anything special but the minute we entered the studio Frank Lloyd Wright’s magic started to work on us. It is a an amazing example of perfect harmonious design and explain’s how sustainable products can be recycled to create an exquisite effect. The entire house was made using recycled materials. A tree grew from the middle of a wall and connected the studio to the main house. It was fabulous and ofcourse we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside. The house was decorated with intricate stained glass patterns and wood carvings. There was a fireplace in almost every room. Frank Lloyd Wright had taken inspiration from various cultures here namely from Roman, Italian and Egyptian cultures. The house had a feel of grandeur and was very well put together. I could see the symbology of the square, circle and hexagon coming together. The architecture was very modern for it’s times and very inspiring.

After oowing and ahing over his home and studio we decided to go around the neighborhood and see more of his work.

A house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the neighborhood

Today was a fun day because 1) I had off from work! and 2) I got to go into NYC specifically to do artsy things! I went as part of a tour with the friends of the Princeton University Art Museum. The first part was going to Evergreene Studios, an architectural arts firm that specializes in conservation, restoration and some new design. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures but seeing the studio was amazing. In two different parts of the studio they were working on huge murals, one with life-size figures. One guy was even applying gold leaf to the canvas which is something I’ve never seen. It looked so perfect and seamless. In another part of the studio they were making wallpaper by applying all these finishes to a special kind of paper. That whole experience made me think about my background in art history and why didn’t I ever think about conservation?! Oh, now I remember, it was the whole art and chemistry thing…But still check out their website and think about how important conservation and restoration are to keeping our heritage alive!

The second part of the day was a trip to the Kandinsky exhibit at the Guggenheim. I love the Guggenheim mostly because it was the last building built by Frank Lloyd Wright, one of my favorite architects of all time. It’s a great modern space for showing art work, though this opinion has been highly contested since the design plan was first introduced by Wright. The Kandinsky exhibit, which is open until January, is one of the biggest shows of his work. It’s arranged perfectly in the Guggenheim, travelling up the ramp as his work evolves from his time in Germany to Russia and France. I am not a huge Kandinsky fan though he was important to the evolution of abstraction in painting which leads to some of my favorite artists like Pollock, Rothko and Robert Ryman. The vivid colors and biomorphic forms in his art are stunning and offer a colorful approach to understanding abstraction. The exhibit itself was beautifully arranged though the te

xt seemed to repeat itself in an effort to enrich Kandinsky’s story when he really didn’t have much to tell. It wasn’t enough to get me interested in Kandinsky besides knowing his style and where he’s from but I loved seeing it in Wright’s space.

Tom & Frank, Two All American Architects

Though separated by 100 years and having grown up in divergent places and milieus, Thomas Jefferson and Frank Lloyd Wright had much in common.  Both enjoyed the good life, paying to live that life with borrowed money.  Both abhorred the city and preached a connection to the land as the only means of salvation.  And both designed the most significant American architecture of the 18th & 19th centuries.  And the similarity between their architectural designs, especially their homes, is all the more remarkable given that Jefferson approached architecture through the lens of the Enlightenment while Wright approached architecture within a romantic view of the Industrial Age. 

Jefferson’s Monticello and Wright’s Taliesin rest gently on their respective hillsides, the former in western Virginia and the later in south central Wisconsin.  Both places complement and complete their sites.  It’s hard to appreciate and understand each hilltop without the structures that are there.  And both homes took their architects’ adult lifetimes to build and rebuild.  Both structures stretch out from a center to embrace and take in their sites.  Both architects stretched out their respective structures to accommodate “dependencies” to make places that are both centered and dispersed.

While there are many similarities between Jefferson’s Monticello and Wright’s Taliesin, there are also differences.  Monticello is cerebral and ordered.  It stretches its arms out from its domed center and these arms gather in and embrace nature.  Monticello talks to us about the “head” and “heart” that comprise our makeup.  Taliesin, on the other hand, tells us that we have somehow lost something.  Rather than its arms reaching out to bring nature into our bosom, Taliesin puts us in places (cantilevered balconies, bridges and terraces) from where we can only view nature.  We get to contemplate rather than being a part of nature.

So if Jefferson’ Monticello is the America of the 18th & 19th centuries and Wright’s Taliesin is the America of the 19th & 20th centuries, who and what speaks to the America of the 20th & 21st centuries?

Fished this washboard out of the attic for Mike to add percussion to a bluegrass session, and remembered where I found it: a flea market in Phoenix, Arizona. Back in the dim and distant past, when the car-makers had huge media and marketing budgets and I had a staff job, a German car company flew a load of us first-class out to Phoenix  for a couple of days to test-drive their huge new  SUV out in the desert and up the trails of Camelback Mountain.

For an afternoon’s downtime, most colleagues went to either the bar or the pool in our exclusive Scottsdale spa hotel and ogled the beautiful people (Kate Moss was sunbathing poolside) but Guy and I commandeered a car, took in some architectural history at the Frank Lloyd Wright house and museum (Taliesin West), and toured the Phoenix flea markets. My washboard was $15, if I remember rightly, which wouldn’t have bought so much as a bag of peanuts back at the hotel, and it has played a role in many a jam since as well as being a souvenir of one of the more lavish junkets I went on. Those were the days, my friends, those were the days.

Though separated by 100 years and having grown up in divergent places and milieu, Thomas Jefferson and Frank Lloyd Wright had much

 in common.  Both enjoyed the good life, paying to live that life with borrowed money.  Both abhorred the city and preached a connection to the land as the only means of salvation.  And both designed the most significant American architecture of the 18th & 19th centuries.  And the similarities between their place making, especially their homes, is all the more remarkable given that Jefferson approached architecture through the lens of the Enlightenment while Wright’s approach was rooted in the Industrial Age. 

Jefferson’s Monticello and Wright’s Taliesin rest gently on their respective hillsides, the former in western Virginia and the later in south central Wisconsin.  Both places complement and complete their sites.  It’s hard to appreciate and understand each hilltop without the structures that are there.  And both homes took adult lifetimes to build and rebuild.  The act of making and remaking the structure becoming life time labors of love for both men.  Both structures stretch out from a center to embarrass and take in their sites.  Both Jefferson and Wright stretch out their respective structures to accommodate their ”dependencies”  to make places that are both centered and dispersed.

While there are many similarities between Jefferson’s Monticello and Wright’s Taliesin, there are also differences.  Monticello is cerebral and ordered.  It stretches its arms out from its domed center and these arms gather in and embrace nature.  Monticello talks to us about the “head” and “heart” that comprise our makeup.  Taliesin, on the other hand, tells us that we have somehow lost something.  Rather than its arms reaching out to bring nature into our bosom, Taliesin puts us in places (cantilevered balconies, bridges and terraces) from where we can only view nature.

So if Jefferson and Monticello is the America of the 18th & 19th centuries and Wright’s Taliesin is the America of the 19th & 20th centuries, who and what speaks to the America of the 20th & 21st centuries?

You notice Frank Lloyd Wright’s name is not on the front of this Lego package. Would the old codger ever be throwing a tantrum if he saw his museum turned into a child’s toy, especially one that bears little resemblance to the actual building! To me, it looks like an urban hotel.

following a quote from FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT. as far as I remember he said that during a visit to the disney studio in 1939. he said it at that time aimed at the US. I think today there are several countries it would fit to.

Despite all being students at the Div School, Erin, Kelli, and I have quite different schedules, which means that it’s difficult to find one another during the day to take photos of our outfits.  On Friday, however, we managed to all be in the same place at the same time before it got dark at 4:30pm.  Here you have photos taken at some of our favorite places around campus- on the main quad, next to the Robie House (designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright), and in the courtyard of the Chicago Theological Seminary.

Erin: argyle sweater, striped tee, skinny jeans, blazer, sneakers.

Kelli: skinny jeans (Old Navy), white tank (Hanes, Target), striped school boy blazer (Forever 21, borrowed from Emily), grey booties (Payless), awesome house (Frank Lloyd Wright).

Emily: skinny jeans (Gap), blue layering top (H&M), brown cardigan (Target), brown and purple belt (Old Navy), blue and orange scarf (street vendor in NYC, a gift from Kelli), brown and blue flats (Old Navy).

{via Frank Lloyd Wright On Architecture (1941)}

Hace menos de un mes que hablaba del [maxxi] de Zaha Hadid cuando aparece una de mis apreciadas críticas de Nicolai Ouroussoff en el New York Times [modern lines for the eternal city]. No sólo comenta el extraordinario significado que tiene el que una arquitectura como la de la iraní desembarque en Roma sino que explica de una forma excepcional las sensaciones que se tienen al moverse por el edificio desde que uno se acerca al lugar hasta que se adentra en sus salas. Es sobre estas últimas, sobre su alargado, suave y curvilíneo desarrollo, por cuyo aspecto y sensación le parece como si las rampas del guggenheim de frank lloyd wright se hubiesen desenredado.

Galería de fotos de  [roland halbe] y [helène binet]  via NYT [Inside maxxi] + [europaconcorsi]

***UPDATED*** completo reportaje fotográfico de [Luke Hayes] via [dezeen]

Michel Bourdeau : “L’horizon de la ville n’est pas un mirage d’architecte”

L’architecte et urbaniste répond point par point aux récentes prises de position de ses confrères Paul Chemetov et Jean Nouvel au sujet du Grand Paris.

Le Moniteur

I spent a few days in Chicago in September. My friend, Christian, is a certified U2 fan so he purchased a bunch of General Admission tickets for the 1st show in North America. We went to the show and walked all over Chicago. My favorite time during that trip was the short 3 hour visit we made to a suburb off the Green Line called Oak Park.

Its the place Ernest Hemmingway was born. Frank Lloyd Wright had his residence there. It’s a beautiful place, pure American suburbness.

We were there in the afternoon as the sun had a nice angle to it. Perfect for photography and slow walking.

There were kids walking home from private school in their uniforms, tree lined streets, classic architecture, leaves blowing around in the gentle breeze, 80 degree temperature, Trader Joes on the corner, what else could a white boy wish for?

I love a neighborhood where the sidewalks are 15 feet from the street and the homes have some 20 or 30 feet of lawn in the front yard. It gives your eyes room to move around and allows your body to relax. Room to stretch out.

I do understand that it gets chilly there in the winter though.

These profile pic designs were some off-the-cuff things I did when I felt an urge of inspiration come upon me. They are my Facebook and Twitter profile pictures. I thought they represented myself well. (Which is what a profile pic is intended to do!) And they truly express how I was feeling at the time. I don’t know if it’s classified as art, but it definitely felt like inspiration to me! Copyright © 2009 Will Johanning. All rights reserved.