8.01.2008
Wet Paint
Apologies for the delay in postings; I am still getting a handle on the 9 to 6 life. I promise that by the middle of next week, posts shall be forthcoming.
7.17.2008
7.16.2008
Deep sea creatures
Most people who know me know of my undying love for Animal Planet and Discovery channels. I've always found nature to hold more inspiration for me than any museum ever could. My favorite narrator of all time, David Attenborough, has helped to create some of the greatest documentaries about this planet ever made. Check out Blue Planet and Planet Earth. Episodes tend to appear on Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, and both stations respective HD channels. (Note: Sigourney Weaver narrates the US version, David Attenborough narrates the UK version, and which version is better is hotly contested. I side with David)
Now why exactly would you want to check out these?
Because you get to stare at some of the most beautiful creatures you never knew existed:
The first is a National Geographic photo set over here.
The second is from David Doubilet who specializes in undersea photography. This is a photo from his set on nudibranchs, tiny underwater beauties (I wish land slugs were this amazing). Take a peek at the rest here.
How these shows translate into architecture will have to wait for another day. A fungus that controls population adapted into urban planning...
Now why exactly would you want to check out these?
Because you get to stare at some of the most beautiful creatures you never knew existed:
The first is a National Geographic photo set over here.
The second is from David Doubilet who specializes in undersea photography. This is a photo from his set on nudibranchs, tiny underwater beauties (I wish land slugs were this amazing). Take a peek at the rest here.
How these shows translate into architecture will have to wait for another day. A fungus that controls population adapted into urban planning...
NY Times article on urban farming
The idea of the urban, vertical farm has been swirling around for a good while now, but nothing is more successful at drawing attention to an idea than a NY Times article complete with sweet, sweet renderings.
The first rendering that strikes a fancy looks like if you were to take Sauerbruch Hutton's GSW building in Berlin, assign plants for each color, and clad the building with the same transparency as Toyo Ito's Sendai Mediatheque.
These two combined equals:
It sure is pretty, but as usual, details on how exactly a building like this would function run a little bit short. Technology like hydroponics is starting to make these buildings feasible, but, sadly, it seems we are still pretty far from realizing any project of this nature.
The other notable rendering looks pretty much like an MVRDV project, just with more trees:
Above is MVRDV's Dutch Pavilion, which famously started falling apart after about 5 years (woo starchitecture and it's emphasis on, uh, quality!).
The real fun is when you start to consider that these proposals are being pushed mainly in New York, where our increased housing and food needs pale in comparison to China, where they have started proposing agro-housing.
This rendering by Knafo Klimor Architects. The population of Chinese cities is increasing at an incredible rate, leaving little room for agricultural areas as the cities are expanding. Agro-housing proposes both apartments and gardens integrated into one structure, with each resident growing their own food. But how much better would this solution work to solve the growing urban agriculture problem? Would it be better to simply have solutions that are pure vertical farms, or rely on housing residents to provide all of the farming necessary?
What could potentially be truly exciting is the possibility of vertical community gardens, much like those squeezed into urban plots in New York right now. Imagine if communities gather, not on the block, but in the air.
The first rendering that strikes a fancy looks like if you were to take Sauerbruch Hutton's GSW building in Berlin, assign plants for each color, and clad the building with the same transparency as Toyo Ito's Sendai Mediatheque.
These two combined equals:
It sure is pretty, but as usual, details on how exactly a building like this would function run a little bit short. Technology like hydroponics is starting to make these buildings feasible, but, sadly, it seems we are still pretty far from realizing any project of this nature.
The other notable rendering looks pretty much like an MVRDV project, just with more trees:
Above is MVRDV's Dutch Pavilion, which famously started falling apart after about 5 years (woo starchitecture and it's emphasis on, uh, quality!).
The real fun is when you start to consider that these proposals are being pushed mainly in New York, where our increased housing and food needs pale in comparison to China, where they have started proposing agro-housing.
This rendering by Knafo Klimor Architects. The population of Chinese cities is increasing at an incredible rate, leaving little room for agricultural areas as the cities are expanding. Agro-housing proposes both apartments and gardens integrated into one structure, with each resident growing their own food. But how much better would this solution work to solve the growing urban agriculture problem? Would it be better to simply have solutions that are pure vertical farms, or rely on housing residents to provide all of the farming necessary?
What could potentially be truly exciting is the possibility of vertical community gardens, much like those squeezed into urban plots in New York right now. Imagine if communities gather, not on the block, but in the air.
7.14.2008
Mandal headboard as wall decor
For my first official post, here is something I found over at AT-NYC today. The IKEA Mandal headboard has been hacked as a bookshelf as well as a display wall.I wonder if it could carry enough weight to function as kitchen storage. Imagine if, instead of a wall of cabinets, you had this for storage, and had added hooks to store all of your kitchen items that you use most frequently.
It would also work well in the bedroom for someone like me. If I can't see everything I have, I forget that it even exists. A bedroom that had every wall covered in these, with hacks to add hang bars for clothes would be my ideal.
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