veer iphone wallpapers
May 6, 2008I’m a big fan of Veer’s catalogues and mailings, their graphic design and fonts are always so well meshed and on-target.
more at http://ideas.veer.com/wallpaper
koolhaas houselife
April 17, 2008a new film about architecture!
this is a film about the house in bordeaux designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas, as experienced by the housekeeper who cleans it. koolhaas houselife is a decidedly contemporary take on a contemporary building, how fitting.
Rem Koolhaas’ Maison a Bordeaux, photo courtesy of ‘A company’
the home, named ‘best design of 1998′ by time magazine, was designed for a man bound to a wheelchair following a traffic accident. there are three levels to the building, all connected by a central elevator/room. the bottom floor is carved into the ground, the middle level is a 3×3.5m glass room which rises and lowers to the other levels of the home, and the top level has bedrooms for the family. the glass elevator-room is lined on one side with bookshelves!
Rem Koolhaas’ Maison a Bordeaux model, courtesy of MoMA.org
check out the trailer at bekablog.
Sala Rosa Concert
April 12, 2008
Photos by Andrew Chau & Welland Sin
The One and Only, Kweku and the Movement, and First U Get the Sugar at Sala Rosa, Montreal. April 5.
solar tower = spirit level?
April 3, 2008maybe i’ve been reading eikonographia too much, but seville’s solar tower bears an uncanny resemblance to the aptly named spirit level.
Seville’s Solar Power Tower, from Inhabitat
Spirit Level, Corbis
that, or a descending angel from the heavens.
aga khan museum toronto’s best-kept secret
April 2, 2008
Perspective rendering of the future Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, from canadianarchitect.com
The Aga Khan (آقا خان), spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims, is celebrating his golden jubilee this year. Fittingly and well-deservedly, his media presence has been everywhere. The Aga Khan has spent his life promoting community development, pluralism, peace, and as a plus, a legacy of great architecture.
The New Ismaili Centre by Charles Correa, from canadianarchitect.com
The Aga Khan seems to have taken a liking for Canada, and we have two major projects under construction right now in Toronto and Ottawa. Toronto outbid London (England!) for the Aga Khan Museum, a three-part project consisting of museum, religious, and cultural centre.
The Fumihiko Maki designed Aga Khan Museum, from canadianarchitect.com
The designs are still being completed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki, celebrated architect Charles Correa, Vladimir Djurovik of Lebanon, with Moriyama & Teshima from Toronto overseeing the project construction. This is truly a stellar cast of architects, and I have high hopes that this will be the most exciting project in Toronto for years to come (complete in 2011).
View of Vladimir Djurovik’s landscaped gardens, from canadianarchitect.com
It is too bad though that the old Bata Shoe headquarters were demolished for this plan… As the Toronto Star’s Christopher Hume aptly remarked, “Surely there’s an element of irony when an architecturally worthy building must be destroyed in the name of culture.”
Canada’s second Aga Khan project is the Ottawa Centre of Pluralism, to be housed in the former building of the War Museum.
Aga Khan Centre of Pluralism in Ottawa, photo courtesy of the Government of Canada
a wrapped courtyard
April 1, 2008
Posters by Evelyne Bouchard
A video of the Tunisia installation at the McGill School of Architecture. The exhibit explores the notion of private space in the traditional Islamic medina. The wrapped cloth restricts access to the interior courtyard but allows for liminal views to the sights and sounds of the country.
Video by Andrew Chau
yes we can
March 31, 2008barack obama’s just too convincing for his own good.
i’m not even american and i feel patriotic when i hear him speak.
i think he’s finally convinced me with his talk about mixed race.
genetic algorithms in architecture
March 30, 2008
farms in cities
March 25, 2008Surprisingly enough, there do exist urban farms in Canadian cities.
Ottawa Central Experimental Farm from above, Image from Google Earth
One is the Ottawa Experimental Farm, which is very close to downtown (just southwest of Parliament Hill). This farm not only has a large swath of land dedicated to growing crops and testing out new cultivation techniques, it has an extensive built campus of research laboratories, government ministries, greenhouses, visitor facilities, and even an arboretum.
McGill University’s MacDonald Campus from above, Image from Google Earth
