Sakura is the Heart

Οι Κερασιές στο Εφήμερο
Το Φούτζι στο Αιώνιο

Cherry blossoms at Fukushima
Cherry blossoms at the Tokyo Imperial Palace
Cherry blossoms within a field of Phlox subulata at Yachounomori Garden in Tatebayashi, Gunma
A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is sometimes called sakura after the Japanese (桜 or 櫻; さくら).

Many of the varieties that have been cultivated for ornamental use do not produce fruit. Edible cherries generally come from cultivars of the related species Prunus avium and Prunus cerasus.
 

Τα Οχυρά των Λαών

Του Βασιλη Kαραποστολη*

Ολοι το βλέπουν πως τα χρόνια που έρχονται θα είναι τα χρόνια μιας θητείας σε πόνους. Με ποιον τρόπο όμως θα θητεύσουμε; Είναι άλλο πράγμα να βάζεις άρον άρον τη στολή σου και βλαστημώντας τους πάντες (και τον εαυτό σου μαζί), να τραβάς την πορεία σου και άλλο να προχωράς με το βήμα εκείνου που νιώθει πως από μέσα του δεν του αφαιρέθηκαν όλα. Ποιος λοιπόν θα είναι ο βηματισμός μας;

Χωρίς αμφιβολία οι απαντήσεις που δίνουν στα βάσανά τους διαφορετικοί λαοί αποκαλύπτουν το βάθος και τη διάρκεια των δοκιμασιών τους, αλλά και τις δυνάμεις που επιστρατεύονται για να τις αντιμετωπίσουν. Οι Ινδοί, για παράδειγμα, αμύνονται με εκείνη την απάθειά τους που όσο κι αν τη μελέτησαν οι Δυτικοί -και όσο κι αν τη μαϊμούδισαν σε διάφορα «κέντρα γιόγκας»- παρέμεινε γι’ αυτούς ακατανόητη. Εβλεπαν τους βουδιστές να αποσύρονται με τον διαλογισμό τους από τον κόσμο τον γεμάτο αγκάθια, και νόμιζαν ότι αποτραβιούνται σε κάποιο ησυχαστήριο χτισμένο εντός τους. Αυτό ήταν το σφάλμα των δυτικών παρατηρητών. Γιατί ο ζηλωτής της αυτοσυγκέντρωσης στην πραγματικότητα μεταφερόταν έξω από τον εαυτό του, σε ένα Ολον μέσα στο οποίο χωνευόταν η συνείδησή του. Αντεχε στις οδύνες γιατί είχε πάψει να έχει ένα «εγώ». Ποιον να χτυπήσουν τα βέλη του κακού, αφού δεν υπήρχε εστία, δεν υπήρχε προσωπική επιφάνεια πάνω στην οποία να καρφωθούν; Η ύπαρξη διαλυόταν σε άπειρα μόρια και ο άνθρωπος έφτανε στην αταραξία με το να καταργεί τα σημεία επαφής του με τον πόνο.

Στους αντίποδες θα βρούμε τη ρώσικη στάση. Οχι μόνο δεν θωρακίζουν την ψυχή και το σώμα τους οι Ρώσοι, αλλά τα εκθέτουν σε συνεχείς τριβές και ταλαιπωρίες. Θέλουν να δουν ως πού φθάνει η δύναμη που είναι βέβαιοι πως έχουν, όταν τους επιτίθεται η πείνα κι η δίψα, όταν το ψύχος τούς κυκλώνει τόσο ολοκληρωτικά ώστε να φαίνεται ότι ο έξω παγετός μοιραία θα φέρει και την εσωτερική τους νέκρωση. Τότε ακριβώς είναι που αντιδρούν με τη μεγαλύτερη σφοδρότητα, αν τουλάχιστον δεχτούμε όσα μαρτυρούν για το πνεύμα του λαού αυτού οι μεγάλοι εξερευνητές του. Ακόμη κι ο Ντοστογιέφσκι απορούσε με το σθένος τους. Παρατηρούσε τυραννισμένους ανθρώπους γύρω του να διατηρούν στο βλέμμα τους μια κάποια αλλόκοτη θέρμη. Κάτι κρατιόταν ζεστό μέσα τους και τους εφοδίαζε μ’ ένα είδος χαρούμενης καρτερίας φτιαγμένης από «εμπιστοσύνη, άγνοια κι ελπίδα».

Σταθερή πίστη

Μοιάζει -ειδικά σήμερα- εξίσου ακατανόητο αυτό το σλάβικο σφρίγος με την ινδική εξαΰλωση. Από πού αντλούν τόση δύναμη οι κακοπαθημένοι Ρώσοι; Οι ίδιες οι πράξεις τους και η ιστορία τους μας το εξηγούν. Μας δείχνουν ότι διαθέτουν μια πίστη στη ζωή τέτοια που να τους επιτρέπει να νιώθουν απ’ ευθείας κληρονόμοι της. Ο,τι ζωντανό, ό,τι πηγαίο, ό,τι εκρηκτικό υπάρχει στο υπέδαφος της γης, θεωρούν ότι κυλάει ανεμπόδιστο στις φλέβες τους, για να τους μετατρέπει σε Ανταίους, όταν χρειάζεται. Χάρη στην πεποίθησή τους ότι η γήινη ζωή συμμαχεί μαζί τους, άντεξαν πολλά οι Ρώσοι. Αλλά πήγαν ακόμη πιο πέρα από το να αποκρούουν σθεναρά τις επιδρομές της μοίρας. Πιστεύοντας ότι αντλούν συνεχώς από το αρτεσιανό φρέαρ της ζωής, θέλησαν να διαπλάσουν επιπλέον κι έναν «νέο άνθρωπο». Τα δάκρυα, τον ιδρώτα και το αίμα τους να γίνουν λίπασμα για τη μελλοντική ανθρωπότητα. Εδώ -κι ας σκανδαλιστούν μερικοί- θα συναντηθούν ο Τολστόι, ο Ντοστογιέφσκι, ο Γκόρκι και ο Λένιν. Μπορεί κανείς να κρίνει όπως νομίζει αυτό το πείραμα - ένα όμως δεν δικαιούται να πει: ότι ήταν πείραμα εργαστηρίου. Αυτός ο λαός ό,τι κάνει, το κάνει βάζοντας στη φωτιά τα χέρια του.

Ας πάμε τώρα σε μιαν άλλη εύφλεκτη περιοχή. Στην Ισπανία αυτό που καίει δεν είναι, όπως στη Ρωσία, η επιθυμία για την ανύψωση της ζωής, είναι η επιθυμία για τη συνάντηση με το Απόλυτο. Αυτή η έλξη κι αυτή η ένταση υπαγορεύει στους Ισπανούς να περιφρονούν βαθύτερα την υποχρέωση να είναι προσαρμοστικοί, «ρεαλιστές». Χειρότερη ταπείνωση, εδώ, θεωρείται να μην μπορείς να διαβλέψεις κάτι το αόρατο πίσω από τα ορατά. Αυτή η ασυμβίβαστη ονειροπόληση θα αποφέρει το παραλήρημα της Αγίας Τερέζας, τις εξορμήσεις του Δον Κιχώτη, τις εξορμήσεις επίσης των θαλασσοπόρων κατακτητών, όπως και τις σκοτεινές δαιμονικές μορφές του Γκόγια, ή, σε εντελώς άλλη κατεύθυνση, τη μεθοδική αδιαλλαξία των Ιησουιτών. Αν όλοι αυτοί μπορούν να μη συντρίβονται από τα εμπόδια που ορθώνονται μπρος τους, είναι γιατί φαντάζονται έναν άγγελο, ή μια σαγηνευτική γυναικεία μορφή, ή και μιαν άγνωστη ήπειρο να υπάρχει πίσω απ’ τα φράγματα. Συμπέρασμα. Οι Ισπανοί αντέχουν τα βάσανα επειδή παθιάζονται. Οι Ινδοί επειδή είναι απαθείς. Οι Ρώσοι επειδή πιστεύουν. Κι εμείς;

Ραψωδοί της ζωής

Σε εμάς δεν υπάρχει ούτε η ικανότητα για λυτρωτική απάθεια, ούτε για ακραίο πάθος, ούτε για σταθερή πίστη. Τότε πώς καταφέραμε να μην κατρακυλήσουμε στην εξαθλίωση ενός λαού που θα ήταν άθυρμα των καταστάσεων; Μπορούμε να πούμε πως μας έσωσε η ασίγαστη επιθυμία για έκφραση. Υπομείναμε έως πρόσφατα όσα μας έτυχαν, με την προσδοκία ότι από τα δυσάρεστα θα φτιάχναμε μια διήγηση ή ένα τραγούδι. Κάποτε οι Ελληνες «έζων δι’ έναν έπαινον, κι απέθνησκον δι’ ένα τραγούδι». Σήμερα, είμαστε υποχρεωμένοι να μην ελπίζουμε σε επαίνους - είναι το πιο σπάνιο πράγμα. Πρέπει επίσης να ομολογήσουμε ότι το τραγούδι δεν βγαίνει πια από τα χείλη μας. Παρ’ όλα αυτά, κάτι μένει. Είναι η ανάγκη να ανακοινώνουμε τα δεινά μας, να κουβεντιάζουμε με τους ομοιοπαθείς, να παρασταίνουμε με χειρονομίες αυτά που δεν λέγονται - έχουμε ακόμη κάποια δυνατότητα να είμαστε ραψωδοί της ζωής. Θα ήταν καταδίκη, αν μας επέβαλαν να παραμείνουμε σιωπηλοί και συλλογισμένοι. Οχι, αδύνατον να γίνει αυτό. Πρέπει να το πάρουμε απόφαση: η περίσκεψη δεν είναι το ατού μας. Εχουμε μόνο την έκφραση. Αλλοι λαοί τη θεώρησαν σχεδόν σπατάλη. Για μας είναι μια πηγή δύναμης. Θα τη διατηρήσουμε;

* Ο κ. Βασίλης Καραποστόλης είναι καθηγητής Πολιτισμού και Επικοινωνίας του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών.
ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ
 

a Translucent Network

Prickly Pear is an installation proposal for the work of Nicola Formichetti designed by Barker Freeman Design Office that proposes an immersive sensory environment with changing color tones that can correspond to changing music, body movement, or merchandise within the space. Our concept was to insert an enveloping volume of stretchy translucent netting that would capture and reflect the shifting light spectrum emitted from the system of custom LED fixtures. The lighting could be programmed on a pre-set script or it could be set to respond to environmental changes.

These fixtures are coupled to steel tension rods that attach to grommets in the fabric and to surface-mounted hooks fastened to the walls and ceiling of the existing space. More steel rods would be breakformed into u-shaped forms that would connect to the grommets inside the space to form hanging surfaces for merchandising.

Changing rooms are formed of smaller fabric pods that attach to the main volume through adjustable portals made from fabric gaskets. These spaces would have their lighting that can be programmed separately to indicate vacancy.

The form is inspired by the fruit of the prickly pear cactus, a plant that has its origins in the west but that has grown to become a staple of Mediterranean regions as well. The prickly pear is a source of inspiration and sustenance and celebrated in a wide range of cultures and in this way is a symbol of the global cross-pollination which inspires Nicola Formichetti, whose Italian-Japanese heritage has been a source of inspiration.

Project Team: Alexandra Barker, AIA LEED AP, Principal
Adrien Allred, Phuong Nguyen, Adam Jakubowski, Bridget Rice

to Be a Membrane, to Save a City

To confront with the sea level rising of New York, Tingwei Xu and Xie Zhang from the University of Pennsylvania designed an idea for protecting certain areas against water by wearing a “membrane’. Deriving from the intelligent components, we created a surface system that can reveal a continually changing expression. The transforming surface can combine the multiple functions such as waterproof, lighting and agricultural planting. Rather than a traditional hierarchy design thinking, each component on the surface has equal essentiality. It is a irreducible integrity.

As the surface serves as a waterproof for the buildings, in turn, the building provides structure support to the surface. To blur the boundary, the surface seamlessly dissolves the old and rigid layer system of the buildings. Thus, the space between the old building and the new surface is totally fluid. Then, all sufaces form a new lattice system on the site. Finally, the system simultaneously evolves into an unprecedented ecological area in New York.
 

just Constructions!!!

by S.M

Visionary Schools

Cheap, dull, unattractive and unpleasant spaces – that’s the reputation of school ‘relocatables’. They’re the decades old, utilitarian solution to changing school demographics, remote community needs and disasters such as fires, floods and cyclones.

But a new plan by the Laboratory For Visionary Architecture [LAVA] turns these unpleasant spaces into smart buildings, the design an education in itself. In sustainability, social interaction, nature and adaptive technology. Chris Bosse, Asia Pacific director of LAVA says: ‘we wanted to turn this idea upside down and create spaces that are sustainable, practical, cost-effective whilst fun and exciting to be in’.

The sustainable design includes a modular façade system that is manually operable, flexible for light and shade, enclosed space or open space, bringing the outside in or the inside out. Using eco-materials it is low cost, low carbon, with off-site prefabrication allowing responsive assembly, with small lightweight, easily transportable modular elements. This cellular ‘space for learning’ strengthens the connection between mankind, nature and technology. ‘Three-axis’ geometry allows the interlocking of each module to form large groups with smaller learning clusters. This results in the building itself learning how to adapt to future methods of learning and future modes of operation.

The future classroom adapts to multiple sites, unusual configurations and different climates and topographies through a simple telescopic system of posts integrating the classroom into the landscape. The concept received a commendation in the Australian Future Proofing School competition to future proof relocatable learning spaces. The aim of the ideas competition was to produce effective spaces for 21st century learning that are sustainable, integrate with the landscape and connect with the school environment, suitable for prefabrication and mass customization.

to Feed the Planet

The topic of the upcoming EXPO 2015 in Milan is “Feeding the planet – Energy for life.” So how could a pavilion deal with that topic? It’s name is Biolosophy, a design by architecture student Patrick Vogel at Wismar University, Germany The basic idea was to design a building, that seems “alive” and maybe eatable. Food is getting scarce on the planet, and meanwhile the world population is increasing. One almost infinite resource that we have is algae. The building is created with special columns and beams, made of steel, concrete and acrylic glass with algae growing in it. So the visitor of the pavilion feels like they are moving in a huge cell structure and can watch the algae grow and also eat it.

The design deals with the global food crisis and shall show new possibilities that we should all observe. It should be seen as a food producing algae sculpture with a highly sustainable effect in terms of feeding the planet and dealing with upcoming global issues. We already have the technology for growing algae, decreasing CO2 through algae cultivation and producing healthy algae-food, so why not use it in a modern building?
 

to Water your Pray

Part of the Young Architects Program, an initiative for promoting emerging designers, the Latin America branch was established and launched in 2011 by CONSTRUCTO, in collaboration with MOMA and MOMA PS1. It’s an active platform for creating new opportunities for talented Latin American architects to explore and design within the scope of collective-use spaces and informal live events, with strong emphasis on sustainability issues. In 2011 it was particularly oriented towards young Chilean architects, few of whom are members of the GUN Arquitectos team, a collective whose Water Cathedral Project was chosen as this year’s winning proposal.

The Water Cathedral is an outdoor installation, created primarily for public use. Its large horizontal nave is made up of numerous vertical components which vary in height and density. It is also a facility that generates a water injection system, with rainwater flowing through the stalactites. When filled with small amounts of water, the components act as interfaces out of which water droplets gradually flow and cool visitors below. The dynamic canopy of different density achieves less contrast between sunny areas and darker ones. The stalagmites, rising from the ground, create a cave-like topography of urban furniture which welcomes visitors and provide them with shaded sitting areas.

 

an Algorithmic Soma

The swarm intelligence systems are used in designing this proposal for the Taiwan Tower in Taichung, creating a bottom up logics in high-rise geometry. SOMA’s approach was aimed at achieving a multilayered, evocative tower appearance. Through use of algorithmic basis the natural processes applied in the organization of the design determine the visual aspect of the project. The Taiwan Tower showcases future architecture that learns from nature and deploys its underlying principles.

The non-hierarchical cluster of vertical geometries emerges from an open field base, letting the surrounding landscape to flow freely between the legs.  The biomimetic fibrous lamellas intertwine and connect to form a whole, while applying a set of digital models to organize the performative structure of the tower. The results are overlaid with functional requirements and further developed with the help of evolutionary structural software. At the eco-laboratories visitors can observe how piezoelectric halms produce energy by movement and transform them into light at night, resembling floating swarms of particles. The facades adapt to weather conditions by opening and closing and protect the visitors from sun and wind. The tower itself becomes a fully integrated part of the exhibition; it displays how the responsible use of natural resources can lead to architectural innovation and investigation that speaks to both imagination and emotions.

a Versatile Environment

The steel, cocoon-like structure represents a parametrically altered design of a typical fence.  What is supposed to function primarily as a demarcation tool is developed into an element that accentuates the 3-dimensionality of space. It is fragmentized, as if under the influence of powerful tectonic forces, pulling the initially linear structure in different directions. Not only does it frame the views of the surroundings, it creates an awareness of space that reveals its true potentials. The garden is transformed into a versatile environment, partly covered, withdrawn and protected, with a canopy sheltering a pool and a seating area. Seen from afar, it has a sculptural quality of a biomorphic structure that mimics the existing organic patterns of its surroundings.

With integrated panels following the concave form of the supporting structure, the surface segments of the fence develop in the central area in relation to the steel structure from the inside to the outside and dissolve more and more along the vertical. The frame construction has diagonally running circular tube profiles for out crossing and plate attachment. The frames consist of solid welded flat steel profiles. The not entirely closed shell is constructed with diamond shaped plates which are fixed by tabs on the diagonals and in case can be turned around their axis.

 

Mathematician Origami

The project is installed at “Pommery” champagne factory in France, part of the largest underground systems of corridors and caves in the area. It combines computational design techniques with ancient paper folding techniques, resulting in a 345 cubic-meter suspended structure which acoustically amplifies sound. The Sound Factory project was designed in cooperation between artists Ali Monemi and Robin Meier and architect Hyoung-Gul Kook.

The structure is made of 285 flat sheets of aluminium/polyethylene composite. The idea of modulation and systems for actual construction was developed into combinations of basic geometry, with a specific visual and acoustic impact on the immediate surroundings. The form itself was inspired by mathematician and origami expert Taketoshi Nojima, especially his work reproducing organic forms from folded paper. It acoustically amplifies the sound form a single speaker-driver in order to create an enclosed space that overflows the listener in its center. Using the actual sounds of effervescence picked up by a special microphone immersed in the champagne vessel, a real-time analysis/synthesis audio system creates a continually evolving sound environment, diffused downward from above.

“La Fabrique Sonore”, as this project was originally titled, uses contemporary computer-aided design techniques in a program-specific fashion, avoiding the common trap of reducing it to formalistic experimentation.

based on the old Zeppelins

Passing Cloud is a project by Tiago Barros for the international ideas competition: “Life at the Speed of Rail”, organized by the Van Alen Institute  in New York City. It reveals a strong conceptual approach on new ways of traveling based on the old Zeppelins.

Nowadays, traveling is achieved with this idea of having a fixed destination and an estimated time of arrival. Passing Cloud completely inverts this system. A floating device is introduced that travels around the entire USA territory according to current predominant winds. It has no fixed time of arrival or place for arrival. The journey becomes the essence.

This project envisions a distinct approach towards moving around the United States being also a revival of the act of traveling. Why traveling at high speed? Why having the final destiny always defined? And why always departing and arriving on a tight schedule? Nowadays, everything is set and everyone is always running around.

Passing Cloud is an innovative and environmentally friendly method of transportation that doesn’t require expensive steel tracks or concrete highways. It is made of a series of spherical balloons that form the shape of a cloud. Its inner stainless steel structure is covered with heavy weight tensile nylon fabric. During the journey, It moves according to prevailing winds speed and direction at the time of travel. Since it moves with the wind, no wind is ever felt during the trip, offering the passengers a full “floating sensation”.

a Visualization Design

Kinematic Bloom is an interactive project designed by Daekwon Park, founder of the web-based Meta-Territory_Studio. The project took shape within the framework of Augmented Architectures course at Harvard Graduate School of Design. The course focused on the idea that spatial experience can be conceived, understood and designed as a series of reactive computational events. The goal of the course was to explore the realms of theory, visualization, design, and production of augmented architecture. It engaged in a critical discussion on the impact that our daily digital experiences have on the perception and expectation of physical experiences.

From a simple source of light, Kinematic Bloom is transformed into an interactive and responsive set of luminaries. Equipped with several sensory mechanisms (sound detection, reaction to light and movement) the structures change shape and level of brightness, depending not only on human movement but also on the proximity of other light sources. The claim of augmentation, which Kinematic Bloom explores, is not to apply sensor technologies to an inert object as a simple overlay, but to shape the entire design process with the idea of integrated systems as a determining factor. The intelligence of design, material and sensor technologies and computation will therefore become combined.
 

to Re Engineering

The Acapulco Chair is one of the most celebrated chair designs of the 20th Century. It is an anonymous design that emerged in the 1950’s in Hollywood’s favorite beach destination: Acapulco, Mexico.

The chair was born next to the famous “La Quebrada” divers cliff, a place visited by Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and where John and Jacqueline Kennedy headed for their honeymoon.

The design enjoyed continuous success for almost five decades – being a designer’s favorite for its clean lines and comfort. It was manufactured by several artisanal workshops in Mexico, slowly disappearing from the market at the turn of the 21st Century.

After several design improvements, the chair is once again available with Electrostatic powder-coated steel frame and recycled UV filtered PVC woven cord shell, which makes it ideal for indoor and outdoor use.

The chair is available at thecommonproject, a design initiative based in Los Angeles, Barcelona, and Mexico City. In addition to this classic design, thecommonproject offers a stunning rocking chair version, as well as a kid’s size in both designs. Subtle and vibrant cord colors are the perfect accessory for any location.tyo

to Lava Bionic

“Architecture has to perform as an ecosystem within the organic tissue of the city.”

The intention of the Bionic Tower is to explore the array of ways in which natural and architectural can merge, creating the ultimate inhabitable structure. It starts at the basic level. Using references to the biological organization of the ecosystem, the design works its way from the smallest unit to the intelligence of the overall system.  By use of parametric modeling of a behavioral logic the system gets constantly optimized. Designed by LAVA, this biomorphic project is inspired by nature, and attempts to conceive a structure of great lightness, efficiency and elegance, using advanced design techniques.
to
The architects seem to address issues of ventilation, solar access and water collection as an evolutionary instinct of self-preservation, found in nature and adopted by architecture. Envisioned as equivalents to mechanisms of organic regeneration, the proposed systems are connected to the facade design. They are embedded in the façade in the form of intelligent automation of the surfaces, addressing pragmatic issues such as ventilation, solar access and water collection. New materials and technologies enable adaptability, responsiveness, environmental awareness and strength. The building systems and skin are controlled and react to external influences like air pressure, temperature, humidity, air pollution and solar radiation.

to Erase the Barriers of Art

DCPParquitectos proposal for the New Taipei City Museum of Art is an open and welcoming design that erases the barrier of exclusivity normally surrounding the world of art, patrons, and experts.

As such, the architecture of the New Taipei City Museum of Art is one that embodies this idea of erasure through eliminating the traditional borders between exhibition space and circulation, as well as exterior and interior. Every part of the museum is represented by a space without limits that can hold any type of expression.

Put together, each space is part of a large connected organism that expands and extends itself through the site, acting as a filter and transitional space between public and art.
A forest of columns, extending from the topography of the exterior into the interior spaces, acts as the device that delineates space, each program has a specific uniform distance between each column. This creates a unique atmosphere throughout the museum in which spaces are only roughly defined.

The first three levels of the museum sit in between the forest of columns around the building. As the visitor moves upwards towards the upper two floors that house the main galleries, this forest starts to disappear. Upon arrival, the visitor can enjoy a space that floats above all else.

These main gallery spaces are defined above all else by flexibility. Here, the column grid is the most open, allowing museum curators ample room to design exhibitions and sequences that can suit any particular need.

It is this level of flexibility and openness that will make the New Taipei City Museum of Art a unique public forum for art, learning, and culture.
 

a Great Inspiration in Art

In approaching the design for the new Kimball Art Center, we found great inspiration in the urban development of Park City, the Kimball site, and the citys mining heritage. We feel the form of the new Kimball Art Center emerges where these rich stories overlap. We were particularly moved when a long-time resident of Park City spoke nostaligally about the former Coalition Building, which once stood just south of the Kimball site.

It stood 80 feet tall for 80 years as an iconic landmark for Park City and a monument to the mining heritage, until a fire tragically brought it down on 1982. We wanted to recreate some of its attributes in the new Kimball Art Center – not only the proportions and materiality but the history it represented. Historically, timber was the primary construction material of the first miner settlers in Park City. Inside the mines, heavy timbers were stacked into retaining walls. The same technology was applied outside the mines as primary structure for most residential construction. We conceived the new Kimball Art Center as an evolution of this construction technique basically a highly-evolved log cabin at an unprecedented scale.

We found the most interesting challenge to be where the Kimball is situated in the urban context. At the intersection of the most socially active street Main St. and a diagonal street that has become the gateway to the city Heber Ave, the new Kimball needed to address both orientations. We solved this by essentialy giving each street a gallery. The building footprint sits in relation to Main St and the city grid, then as it rises it turns it to greet visitors entering the city via Heber Ave, creating an iconic yet contextual building at the citys doorstep.

 

a Monthly Rose

The new Dalian library conceived by Architects Collective is designed to become the center and heart for the local community with a strong relationship to the ocean and the bay. The building is placed in a park setting and aims to be a landmark for locals and visitors and a symbol for the creative and environmentally friendly future of New Pulian. It is a place for the public to read, contemplative and come together. The basic architectural form for the new library is the rose petal since the Monthly Rose is the city flower of Dalian. The new Pulian branch is one of several library branches in the Dalian region with each branch symbolizing a petal and forming a rose flower.

The Morpholio Project

The proliferation of device culture, social networking, and cloud technology is changing the way we work and connect on a daily basis. For designers, this means that technology is not only transforming the process of production, but also the processes through which we share, critique, and organize ourselves around the work we do. It has been predicted that in 2020, there will be 50 billion mobile internet connections worldwide, the equivalent of seven devices per person. Morpholio is not simply about the existence of technology, but rather is a tool for and an experiment in how we might better harness its power.

What is the future of critique, the driver of design culture, in this increasingly connected world? Is the speed at which images circulate around the globe, advancing the level of conversation within and amongst design disciplines? When placed in opposition, the time honored design school tradition of convening public debate around a set of images and ideas, presents a stark contrast to the typical comment forum found in social media. Taken together, however, a new spectrum of valuable means of gathering feedback about one’s work becomes visible. Its continued evolution will be impacted by the tools we create for sustaining and magnifying meaningful conversation, critique, feedback, and debate with a global community.

The Morpholio Project begins by re-imaging the portfolio. “Although essential to design culture, the current methods of creating and sharing design portfolios and presentations still ultimately rely on fixed notions of time, media and outdated technologies of sharing,” says Anna Kenoff, Co-Creator. The design world lacks the tools needed to understand how our work is consumed and experienced by those we most want to reach. The project ultimately asked, what would happen if you could merge processes of presentation, critique and collaboration into a single elastic platform?
Morpholio Beta 1.0: Present + Collaborate + Critique
The iPhone and iPad app, along with the MyMorpholio website, provides a unique space in which to collect, share, and discuss your work.

Present
This software begins by transforming the users portfolio into a constantly versioning and customizable collection of images that is more reflective of the way we work today. Capable of communicating with multiple devices, it organizes image collections in a comprehensible and accessible format that makes sharing and presenting work seamless and infinitely flexible.

Collaborate
Morpholio “Pinup,” allows collections to be posted for invited viewing and response. In “Pinup” you make your work public and searchable by all Morpholio users. You also have the option to send immediate invites to a targeted audience, and continuously update the images they see as you get feedback, and develop ideas. The “Co-creators” feature allows you to share and exchange image collections with anyone you choose, as well as give them access to selected images. Share image collections with your project team, consultants, or collaborators.

Critique
Morpholio “Crit” allows collections to be posted for private viewing and response. In “Crit” you can post work and invite other users to critique your work. Invited viewers can easily comment on any image by overlaying text, and will soon be able to use other feedback methods that are currently in development. Set up a critique for your studio, consultants, office, friends or project team.

to Bike Life

JDS’s proposal for the Bicycle Park in Chongming, China, consists of three landmark buildings, each portraying different aspects of the culture of cycling. With their spiraling shapes and sloping sides, the structures are accessible by bike, and offer a varied experience to visitors. The Park aims to inform and stimulate biking as an expression of social awareness, while illustrating the relationship between sport and technology through its distinctive architecture.

The Visitor Center acts as an entry landmark, serving as main access point and providing information about the park. The Bike Museum is a double helix, with its exterior portion used for the ride downwards. Swirling ramps provide excellent views of the surroundings, while the interior leads the visitors on a tour through the historical development of the bicycle. The multipurpose building is shaped as an island that can be used by people for various purposes. It can be used for holding conferences, competitions and even concerts. The slopes are at the disposal for biking enthusiasts to navigate.
The proposal seems to accentuate the accessibility of space by offering a bicycle-friendly environment and architecture that can be versatile in its use while still maintaining its educational and museological purpose.