Couchitecture

Check out these wonderful posts about cardboard architecture, which consisted of an entertaining/comedic analysis on "cardboard fort architecture". The critics, who make up an American architectural practice called Build LLC, were fascinated by this underrated design methodology that goes back to every architect's basic instinct, back to their childhood design and build urges, which "helped us figure out the ABCs of design and construction... that helped us get where we are today. " It sort of reminded me of the projects we used to get as first year architecture students, projects like creating an architectural dish or a 1 pound tower.

These posts were very entertaining, but an earlier series on what they called "couch cushion architecture" really made my day. Just like the cardboard series, this couch series examines a more primal example than cardboard boxes as a material, and that is interior furniture. The analysis of each project consisted of light commentary and a mark on each project. Here are some of the submissions along with their evaluation as given by the critics:

A brilliant synergy between the weighted foundation and the light tensile structure, this project impressed us with its attenuation of structure and bright interior spaces. The courtyard and formal entry are also well thought-out and provide a clear means of way-finding.

Grade A+

The A-frame’s sound structural properties and ease of construction have long since proven their architectural merits. We applaud the use of red shag carpet as a departure from what would otherwise be a mere pedestrian form.

Grade: B+

This whimsical project draws inspiration from the classic Tuscan stone towers of Italy; where a taller tower symbolized an owner’s power and prosperity over neighboring structures. Unfortunately the design falls short of greatness with its lackadaisical cushion placement and poor choice of plaid.

Grade: C

While typically the stacked foundation technique leads to a stable and impressive base, this particular application seems dubious. Fraught with apparent labor strikes the project is rumored to have developed irreconcilable technical inadequacies and unresolved scheduling conflicts.

Grade: D-

Good God gentlemen, you’re a mess! You need walls, you need a roof. Get to work man!

Grade: F

Sketches of Frank Gehry

This is a documentary about Frank Gehry... although I do admire his architectural style, I can't say I am a big fan... I think most of his buildings should have been in Disney Land right next to Disney concert hall that he designed. His buildings do look intriguing and they certainly put a smile on your face and that's what Disney is for... but can people really work productively and concentrate, for example, in his dancing house? When I first saw the building I thought that it was being crushed by giant ropes (those contour lines on the facade of the building looked like ropes to me at first).

But you can't judge a building by looking at it from photos you have to experience it... and the only Gehry building I've been to is the DZ bank in Berlin which I thought was good and that's mainly because all the craziness is tucked inside the building rather than out... because of its plain and simple facade it sits nicely in Pariser Platz respecting the history of the Brandenburg Gate... but once you get in and enter the atrium, you face a huge blob which looks to me like a shark (or some wild animal that I don't know the name of) staring at you... which I think is very suitable for a bank because banks are wild animals eager to jump you and make money out of you. So I wonder if I visit other Gehry buildings would I change my mind about them or not??

Anyway here is a link to his movie trailer, I would love to see it and get to know what goes on inside this man's head.

Urban Cactus

Designed by the Dutch UCX Architects, this is a funky residential tower in Rotterdam, Netherlands... I am not a fan of weird and irregularly shaped towers... but there is perfect logic behind this insanity... there are big terraces, double height spaces, loads of natural light in... I don't know a lot about it but from the looks of it it should have some sustainable systems achieving low carbon footprint.

More info here

Chill Out in Dubai

Located in Times Square Center, "Chill Out" coffee shop is inspired when Salah Sharaf, a board member of Sharaf Group, visited ABSOLUT ICEBAR in London. In a country where the temperature could exceed 40 degrees Celsius, the idea of an ice coffee shop looked a little ridiculous... but again this is Dubai... where you have a skiing resort in the middle of the desert, 3 identical man-made islands that look like palm trees, rotating towers and 100s of freak-ish-ly tall buildings being built each year.

Chill Out is the fifth in the world of its kind after London, Milan, Stockholm and Tokyo. The project costs AED9 million (US $2.45 million) and took a year and a half to be finalized. The ice, done by Iceculture Inc, will be shipped in freezer tanks by sea and air from Canada for the "best and cleanest kind of ice". Ships in Montreal will embark on a 6,500mile voyage to Dubai. 4 (23,000 kilograms of Ontario-made ice) containers, will set sail to the Middle East. A month later, eight Iceculture workers in Dubai will have $150,000 worth of ice to assemble into an 1,800-square-foot eatery, which will take approximately 7 days.

The restaurant has 3 areas; a lobby, a lounge, and a buffer zone. Visitors will spend 5 minutes in the 5 degrees Celsius buffer zone to allow the body to adjust for the drop in temperature in the dinning area and get a taste of whats coming next... once in the lobby, visitors will be given a hooded heavy jacket, disposable woollen gloves and a pair of shoes. The dinning area will be around -27 degrees Celsius and in all other ice bars visitors have to leave after 40 minutes for health reasons.... not in Dubai though you can freeze to death if you want to.

The electricity will be separate from the national grid, there will be private generators in case of any emergency. Specially designed LED lighting is used not to melt the ice. Every 3 months, all of the interior furniture from the seats and tables to the plates and glasses will be redesigned to revive the restaurant and give a chance for new designers. There will be no smoking in the restaurant (YESSSSS!). The flooring is made of anti-skid ceramic tiles. Will cost visitors AED60 including thermal gear and a free drink. And EVERYTHING is made of ice.

I don't even want to think about the carbon foot print that this project will have on the environment... I am sure it will make money though and unfortunately that's the only thing many people think of.

More info here and here and here

Wanna live in a dildo???

Following a previous post about sail shaped buildings in the GCC, I did some research after I read that Jean Nouvel was planning to design an "Islamicised Torre Agbar" for a wealthy client from Qatar who requested from him to build the exact same building after seeing it in Barcelona.

Well the result is the second building on the right of the picture above... the Torre Agbar have been dubbed as the "dildo building" and since it has a striking resemblance to a year and a half older building called The Gherkin designed by Norman foster, the latter building caught the nickname as well... And now I've noticed that people have been calling the one in Qatar as the "condom building". I was afraid that Qatar would get that sail shaped building fever... but I guess they caught the dildo shaped building fever instead... how unfortunate for them!!

The funny thing is in that post I quoted Nouvel saying "If you travel a lot in the world... You see the same buildings without roots... You see a lot of repetition of stylistic vocabulary... It’s not the right attitude for architecture." I was anxious to see this "Islamicised Torre Agbar". And when I did I struggled to see what so "islamicised" about this building. Finally after deep and careful analysis I came to the conclusion that it could be a symbol to a circumcised penis since as Muslims men must circumcise their penises.

Too funky for my taste...

I don't know why but I find it difficult to swallow this £235m development in Dubai’s Business Bay for Omniyat Properties designed by Zaha Hadid... from what I understand the concept behind the building is "to create an opening on to the city and frame these views". However, I feel that a building is important to be intertwined to the site... I guess the building was deliberately designed to stand out on its own against the whole surrounding site, as most of Zaha Hadid's designs do... and I guess in a city like Dubai that's aiming towards a generic city it can be argued that architects can get away with any bald design considering the rapid rate of development where every 2 weeks a new striking design wins a competition.

Smoking Shed

BD launched a challenge to design a smoking shed, a result for the ban on smoking in any public enclosed space in UK which begins in July 2007. This entry by Christian Harrup caught my attention... it has a strong resemblance to Le Grande Arche in Le Defense, Paris.

Funky apartments

Source

Yep that's true... These are apartments... not the latest ride of Disney World. AND guess who is the target market for those apartments?????? Old people aged 50 and above!!!!!

The Reversible-Destiny Lofts designed by Arakawa and Gins are aimed to create a simulating environment that keep the occupants alert and aware as they grow old. Most people want comfortable and relaxing apartments especially old people. The idea of the design is to change the attitude of people who want to grow old peacefully... it encourages a new lifestyle by creating the most discomforting living space that "invigorates their life" and keeps them alive and lively. I wonder if it could be a new option for people with mid-life crises??

I guess it might be nice idea for a family with kids to live there... I know I would have loved to grow up in an apartment like that instead of our boring house.