"If you could see what I've seen, with your eyes"
R. H., Bladerunner
Local re_action
photo credits: L. Coar
As the saying goes "think locally" truly takes root in actions which do just that. My good friend and colleague, Lancelot Coar guided his University of Manitoba students in the re-use of materials from an abandoned school house in the rural town of Clearwater, Manitoba. Over the last two academic semesters students demolished and preserved wood planks and boards from the early century school house, slated for demolition. Through recent months students then designed and constructed from the salvaged lumber various installations which, were relocated within the community of Clearwater. Students devised a bridge, gazebo and community space, giving back to the small town where the empty school house had left off years ago.
Urban_voice
June 6, 2008
As many as one million protesters have erupted in the city of Seoul in direct response to recent trade policy changes with the United States. Korean citizens have been incensed by the national governments bow to US trade policy by admitting US beef older than 30 months into Korea for consumption (which by the way is not allowed to be consumed in the US under FDA guidelines). The newly elected Korean president is currently under intense pressure to renegotiate the deal with US trade policy makers.
What has grabbed my attention is the collective Urban voice (not new to Korea) and passion about standing firm for social safety and well being in a concious society. The city of Seoul has become in recent days grounds for change and action against the decisions of few.
The streets can speak.
In_Memory
Rauschenberg was a master of making dense.
An assembler of life's 'things' transformed in historical collections of artifacts. For me his work is both simple and immensely complex. He inspired a generation of artists and will undoubtedly continue to do so for generations to come.
Condencity_6 abandoned form
Ewha Women's University Student Center: Dominique Perrault, Architect
Subterranean form- invisible- given way to a new cultural landscape
Le Fresnoy: Bernard Tschumi Architect
An anti-form born of site driven circumstances. Reuse of existing buildings combined under a unifying roof shelter: combining space, function and experience.
Architecture [what we might consider environmental design] requires a kind of pervasive permeability; a seamless relationship of the greater natural and constructed environments. Building must be an active participant in the environment in which it exists.
'Co-existent' architecture is against style- anti-form. Arguably, deconstructivism has uncovered what has become a need to reconnect the fragments of city/ place and a desire to go beyond formal design language and image; more specifically architectural 'style'. Outcomes predicated upon ideas and theories, extended to challenge the processes by which architecture is conceived. Our generation is challenged to take a step further in creating architectures which, in effect, are one with place; where form making is purely a product of analytic search and spatial necessity.
How might we go further to dissolve 'image making' in order to promote a seamless connection within the environment at large?
Condencity_5
As designer's of the built environment we have the incredible responsibility of acute contextual awareness. Beyond that we must seek to predict future conditions that anticipate new and yet to be seen environmental and urban conditions. All of this sometimes seems impossible to incorporate in a project and yet without broad dimensional considerations architecture falls well short of it's potential as a contributor in the environment. My partner and I began this modest student housing project in South Korea with the intention of an expanded typology for student living given the realization of current residential practices in the region. Each dwelling was designed as self sufficient and autonomous spaces within a collective sustainable building 'unit'. The macro planning of each residential 'unit' is positioned between what we considered unconditioned spatial 'buffers'; corridor and patio space. Each plan takes advantage of site solar orientation as well as serving basic functional needs for student occupants (cooking, laundry, storage etc.)
The layout of the building intended for a sequence of experiences as one passes from street side entry to dwelling space. A long, straight stair at the flanking west side of the building connects to each of three floors of studio apartment units. A single loaded corridor off of the stair establishes an informal entry and internal seasonal buffer. Each exposed end of the studio unit is 'padded' with enclosed patio space providing necessary environmental and privacy insulation for each apartment. The corridor and patio spaces function as previously mentioned 'buffers' in both intense summer heat and cold winter months.
The growing urban area in which the apartment is located will soon be a major urban center for the city of Gwangju. It is projected that in the next decade much of the vacant ground around the site will be developed.
Gallery Opening
Currently on display at Gensler- San Francisco through July 25th 2008 are a few of my recent paintings alongside some impressive works by professional colleagues.
Un_Condensed: Vegas
The hardest of 'On's'. An American climax of double standards.
It exists as our truest and most revealing of feelings on consumption and contempt for a planet. With the planets acceptance of course, Vegas is more global than anywhere. There is no need to look beyond. It all exists in Vegas as a replicated experience of what urban experience can be; reconstituted in one linear 'strip' for the sensational gratification of immediate pleasures.
What is the future of this place so completely unsustainable yet growing uncontrolled in such a delicate environment? More significantly it's impact on the planet as a model for place making strategy in other global locations (specifically Macau-Cotai in Asia-the Vegas of the far east) ?
Condencity_4
Photo credit: B. Trannel
Somewhere between Asia and North American time is form making. Nothing more or less. The process of my 'making' has little to do with place, culture or even reason. Just because we can, there you have it. A fast made architecture for ultimate consumptions. Sometimes as Architects this is what we are faced with, like it or not; a commercial expectation that feeds us.
As environmental designer's we must argue for compulsory connections (in the very least) to context and to nature. This should be fundamental in going beyond building commodity exclusively. I like to imagine our architectures now as multi-generative; energy producing (renewable sources), mixed-function structures of entertainment / trade/ multi-social class living opportunity. An amalgam of functions extending beyond singular objects, while acknowledging greater social and environmental concerns. What form would this take in the city? First considerations must look beyond form-making as a generative foundation for architecture and the city.
Space, experience and environment need to be intertwined.
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