That virtual blue sticker up top has been heralding our website launch for some time now, and the time is finally ripe… We’re ONLINE!! After a few minor setbacks last year, we decided started afresh and build the platform we originally envisioned–an all-in-one magazine, network and services hub for sharing architecture and connecting architects–as a live, interactive project. Starting with a English/Spanish magazine (right now showing articles in both languages) that also integrates a “Your feeds” feature that enables you to keep abreast of your favorites news sources, we will be scaling the platform over the next few months using the latest software to incorporate a sophisticated network and innovative web-based services. You can already register, and we’re looking forward to implementing your valuable feedback in order to make this the most international, fun and useful architecture resource on the web. All of our blog posts are now on the website, and we’ll be keeping the blog for further updates, corporate announcements and random or relevant thoughts. A huge thanks to all our readers and twitter followers who have motivated us each and every step of the way, we hope you stick with us! What are you waiting for? Go check it out!!

Ephemicropolis 2010 is an installation by Peter Root made with 100,000 staples that were broken into varying sizes from full stacks about 12cm high down to single staples. These stacks were then stood up and arranged over a period of 40 hours. Approx floor area 600x300cm

At the artist statements we can read:

The work I create regularly involves highly labor-intensive, mantra-like procedures of construction and assemblage. As well as being simple, playful experiments the work often touches upon themes of impermanence, repetition, structure, pattern, scale and architecture. My work often takes the form of extremely fragile, temporary arrangements, with works subject to micro-apocalyptic events such as a light breeze or a falling leaf.

A video on the making-of, here:

Belgian photographer Carl De Keyzer has compiled a series of powerful images of the remnant colonial structures in modern Congo into a new book titled Congo (belge). In collaboration with architecture historian Johan Lagae and in anticipation of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 50th anniversary of independence from Belgium this June, the book offers a different reading of the nation’s complex colonial past. Photographs of the once-glorified and now-abandoned factories, missions, prisons, mines, military sites and harbours built by the Belgians shed light on the stark realities and consequences of colonization.

The title of the book is a rephrased reference to Congo belge (en images), a book published in 1911 that idealized Belgium’s “contribution” to the African nation. Between 2003 and 2006, De Keyzer journeyed to the Congo following the “Guide Du Voyageur du Congo Belge”, a 1954 touristic guide that portrayed Congo as the ideal holiday destination with brand new infrastructure and stunning scenery. In juxtaposition, De Keyzer’s shots of decaying structures and buildings ravaged by war reflect on the repurcussions of imposing a culture, be it through architecture or religion, on a foreign people. As did many colonizers, the Belgians were trying to replicate a small version of their own country in the heart of Africa.

An exhibition featuring photographs from both publications is on show at the Photo Museum in Antwerp, Belgium until mid-May.

All photos ©Carl De Keyzer | More at Magnum

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via We Make Money Not Art

We’re really excited about the new unveiling of the Archigram’s archives, with more than 4,000 drawings, models and audio tapes produced by Archigram that have been catalogued and digitised over the past years. After 40 years of being stored in garden sheds, under beds and in cupboards, the archive of the 1960s collective Archigram will be available to the public on a special website.

Despite its serious background, Archigram became a synonym for the fusion of pop and architecture. In 1961 the first issue of the magazine Archigram appeared, edited by David Greene, Peter Cook and Michael Webb, in an edition of 300 and printed on large-format paper. It was a low-budget publication, but highly self-consciously saw itself as the mouthpiece for a young generation of architects, planners and artists, presenting new solutions for existing urban-design problems. With Peter Cook’s quote “The pre-packaged frozen lunch is more important than Palladio,” the group defined their position in the early 60′s, when architecture and cities were in need of big changes.

David Greene wrote in 1961:

A new generation of architecture must arise with forms and spaces which seems to reject the precepts of ‘Modern’ yet in fact retains those precepts. We have chosen to by pass the decaying Bauhaus image which is an insult to functionalism. You can roll out steel – any length. You can blow up a balloon – any size. You can mould plastic – any shape. Blokes that built the Forth Bridge – they didn’t worry.

The US critic Michael Sorkin defined Archigram’s influences as a combination of Britain’s heroic engineering heritage – Crystal Palace, the Dreadnought, the Spitfire, the Forth Bridge and the work of Isambard Kingdom Brunel – with Buckminster Fuller’s technocractic idealism and vernacular images of Marvel Comics and The Eagle, Meccano, sci-fi films, pop music, funfairs and pop art. “Bewitched by nomadic fantasies, Archigram argued that an architecture based on mobility and malleability could set people free,” he wrote. “This notion of consumer choice combined optimised technology, a post-Beat hitchhiker’s sense of freedom and the giddy styles of customisation found in Detroit.”

One of its strengths was the diversity of a group in which the six core members and their collaborators came from very different backgrounds with different skills and enthusiasms. “The overlap was an enjoyment of teasing,” wrote Cook, “teasing the architectural extremity, and most of the architectural language.”

After publishing the second issue of the magazine, in 1962, group projects soon developed out of their work on the publication, such as the exhibition Living City in London’s ICA, in which Archigram re-staged the City as a living organism. Projects like Walking City, Instant City and Crushicle followed. In 1964, with Plug-in City, Archigram presented the ultimate in megastructure: held by the diagonal struts of the supporting structure and connected by communicating pipes, are a mass of residential towers, office structures, honeycomb theatres and information silos. The buildings are crowned by cranes, with which the individual modules can easily be moved and exchanged.

With all this fascinating background and after visiting Archigram’s exhibition in Valladolid we cannot wait for April 19th to arrive to finally witness the official unveiling of their archives HERE.

So, THE FINAL COUNTDOWN STARTS NOW… Three days to go!!

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All images: dpr-barcelona [Ethel Baraona + César Reyes]

Vladimir Shukhov was born in a town of Graivoron, Belgorod Oblast, into a petty noble family. He was a Russian engineer-polymath, scientist and architect renowned for his pioneering works on new methods of analysis for structural engineering that led to breakthroughs in industrial design of world’s first hyperboloid structures, lattice shell structures, tensile structures, gridshell structures, oil reservoirs, pipelines, boilers, ships and barges.

We can read at his biography:

Shukhov always found time for a passionate hobby photography. The Photographic works of Shukhov opened new trends ahead of their flourishing of Fine art photography. He made photos in various genres: reporting, city landscape, etc. About two thousand photos and negatives made by Shukhov have survived until this day.

After the October Revolution Shukhov decided to stay in the Soviet Union despite having received alluring job offers from around the world. Many signal Soviet engineering projects of the 1920s were associated with his name. In 1919 he framed his slogan: We should work independently from politics. The buildings, boilers, beams would be needed and so would we. In the later 1930s during the Great Purge he retired from engineering work but was not arrested or persecuted.

Caption: Double curvature steel lattice shell by Shukhov in Vyksa, 1897

Caption: Shukhov Towers on the Oka River, 1988.

Besides the innovations he brought to the oil industry and the construction of numerous bridges and buildings, Shukhov was the inventor of a new family of doubly-curved structural forms. These forms, based on non-Euclidean hyperbolic geometry, are known today as hyperboloids of revolution. Shukhov developed not only many varieties of light-weight hyperboloid towers and roof systems, but also the mathematics for their analysis. Shukhov is particularly reputed for his original designs of hyperboloid towers such as the Shukhov Tower.

Caption: Shukhov Radio Tower. 1919-1922, Moscow.

Caption: The world’s first steel tensile structure by Shukhov (during construction), Nizhny Novgorod, 1896.

Among others, Shukhov’s projects were:

- An oil pipeline, the first in the Russian Empire, between Balkhany and Cherny Gorod near Baku (12 km, 1878 complete, used by the Branobel). By 1883 the total length of Shukhov-designed oil pipelines in Baku exceeded 94 km, transporting 30 thousands barrels of oil per day. In 1894 a similar pipeline network was built in Grozny. Shukhov designed the first Trans-Caucasian kerosene pipeline between Baku and Batum (835 km long) and Grozny-Tuapse pipeline (618 km long).

- A superior design for water-mains. Shukhov designed complete water-supply systems for the cities of Tambov, Kharkov, Voronezh and many others. In that age of infectious diseases his water-supply systems literally saved thousands of lives.

- A superior design for oil-tanker barges (less than half of the metal previously required), 84 150-meters long barges were built (mostly for the Volga river) as well as the first Russian sea-worthy oil tanker ship. His approach to the ship strength analysis (using the model of a shell on an elastic foundation) was absolutely novel for that time.

- Shukhov-designed inexpensive oil tanks with the bottom calculated as a membrane on elastic foundation. They became very popular among oil-producers of the Imperial Russia. By 1881, 130 such tanks were built in Baku alone.

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Recommended reading:

The Shukhov Tower Foundation web-site

Vladimir Shukhov at wapedia

Docomomo International y la Fundació Mies van der Rohe organizan un ciclo de debates en el marco del programa “Coup de Dés”, una oportunidad para abordar la arquitectura y el urbanismo del movimiento moderno en las ciudades mediterráneas orientales y para analizar las intervenciones contemporáneas. El objetivo es ofrecer un panorama de la praxis arquitectónica en la región mediterránea.

El programa incluye dos conferencias introductorias, seguidas de la presentación de cuatro proyectos por sus autores, con los comentarios de los críticos. Las presentaciones propiciarán un debate conducido por un moderador, en el cual podrá participar el público asistente.

Las conferencian correrán a cargo de Ana Tostoes (Lisboa) y de Sibel Bozdogan (Estambul). Los arquitectos que expondrán proyectos son Massimiliamo Fuksas (Roma), Emre Arolat (Estambul), Agni Petridou (Nicosia) y Craig Dykers (Oslo y Nueva York). Eyal Weizman (Londres), Suha Ozkan (Ankara), Theoharis David (Nueva York), Francis Rambert (París) y Mohammad Awad (Alejandría) ejercerán de críticos.

Imagen: Biblioteca Alexandria de Snohetta

La edición del 2010, comisariada por Xavier Costa, bajo el título de “Mediterranean Cities”, tendrá lugar los días 16 y 17 de abril en el Pabellón Mies van der Rohe (Avenida Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, 7, Montjuic).

Las conferencias serán en inglés. La entrada es gratuita. Dado que el aforo es limitado, es necesario realizar inscripción previa en: info@miesbcn.com.

Drop City was an artists’ community that formed in southern Colorado in 1965. Abandoned by the early 1970s, it became known as the first rural “hippie commune”, as described by John Q McDonald. It was  one of the most famous countercultural experiments in communal living of the decade and was famous for its early use of the geodesic dome and Zome architecture, Drop City won one of Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion awards.

Three of the original founders of Drop City met as art students in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1961. They referred to their practice of painting rocks and dropping them from a loft window onto the busy street below as “Drop Art.” Naming their community after their gravity-driven art was the easy part; building it a little harder. But having recently attended a lecture by Buckminster Fuller and now joined by a would-be dome builder from Albuquerque, they began with scrap materials and visionary optimism. The use of recycled materials not only provided shelter, but they also emblemized the group’s refusal to participate in consumerist society.

We can read at the wiki:

Soon the community grew in reputation and size, accelerated by media attention, including news reports on national television networks. The peak of Drop City’s fame was the Joy Festival in June 1967, which attracted hundreds of hippies, some of whom stayed on. With the complex of eight domes and geometric buildings constructed, Curly and Jo, the only official owners of the property, signed it over to a non-profit corporation consisting of the entire core group (then about a dozen). The deed stipulated that the land was “forever free and open to all people”.

According to Mr. Bernofsky, Drop City’s geodesic domes, which came to symbolize alternative living in the late 60′s, were, in retrospect, a mistake, as they helped to attract the nationwide attention which lead to the demise of the community. And he stresses “…we were not models, hippies, or a commune. Those trademarks are strictly the invention of establishment media”.

And we can read at the CLUI site:

After becoming what one of the more notorious denizens called “a decompression-chamber for city freaks,” and with the people that originally founded the community long since departed, Drop City was slowly vacated. Today, much of the property has been developed, though the last of the iconic domes was taken down only in the late 1990s, by a truck repair facility which now occupies a portion of the site.

Above the 1st dome that became the residence of Jill Speed and poet John Curl, after being painted by Linda Fleming and Dean Fleming- artists from Park Place gallery, NYC, who co-founded the “Libre” artists community near Gardner Colorado. Click here to look inside John Curl’s recent novel,”Memories of Drop City” (2007).

Caption: 2nd dome at Drop City, initially the kitchen dome

We can see above the Icosadome, designed by Richard Kallweit and Clark Richert (1965), which initially served as the kitchen pantry and later as the chicken coop.

Drop City’s founders called themselves “droppers” in reference to their original and self-stylized form of conceptual art.  The term “Drop Art” was coined well before the era-branding slogan, “Turn on, tune in, drop out.”

At Drop City, debris and building remnants from the original settlement remain at the site today, though it is not inhabited. By 1977 it was abandoned, and the members of the non-profit who were still in touch decided to sell off the site to the cattle rancher next door. The last of the iconic domes was taken down only in the late 1990s, by a truck repair facility which now occupies a portion of the site.

From time to time, we love to feature awesome or interesting websites we find during those rare moments of procrastination… We just discovered Amazing Futures, a compendium of great images related to the past and, as we understand, using this background to predict the present and future. Mostly all images have no related info, where they come from or the events they are associated with, but they are so diverse and interesting that it’s definitely worth a look.

Caption: Le Corbusier teaching

Caption: French nuclear testing in the South Pacific.

Some times the web has hidden links or even sounds and it’s a great experience to surf through the older posts and try to discover interesting information that may well come from those hidden links. Until now, we discovered two classifications or tags: Future and Amazing.

Caption: AmazingFuture Mixtape 2010 — 01 by Mantas T.

There are inevitable references to the atomic bomb, NASA artefacts, biologycal research or futuristic architecture designs, as all of these were concepts that changed the conception and meaning of the word “future” in the past decades.

Somewhere, hidden in page 12 there is a note that says: Follow us on twitter. So, if you want to have a great time and just discover some random and interesting images and links… why wait? Jump to Amazing Future right now!!

As Rosa Barba says: THE FUTURE LASTS ONE DAY!

De nuevo nuestros amigos de mateoarquitectura comparten con nosotros una gran noticia: El World Trade Center de Cornellà, obra del arquitecto Josep Lluís Mateo, ha recibido el Primer Premio Aplus 2010 en la categoría “Arquitectura para el trabajo”. Veamos la reseña del proyecto:

En el Bussines Park de Cornellá, Barcelona, promovido por el World Trade Center, se deben de proponer alternativas arquitectónicas basadas en la lógica funcional ya ensayada y experimentada por la propiedad en relación con los conceptos urbanísticos previstos.

La propuesta se dirige fundamentalmente a las siguientes cuestiones:

PLANTA TIPO. Banda construida de 16m de luz alrededor de un patio. Las escaleras y los ascensores como elementos añadidos a la estructura, para evitar su impacto en esta. La lógica de la planta permite una gran flexibilidad de operación con espacios alquilables de medidas muy diversas con mínima repercusión de los elementos comunes. Los vestíbulos de planta disponen de luz natural y se cuidan especialmente los acabados.

PATIO. Es el elemento central de nuestra propuesta. Por una parte es el espacio emblemático del edificio que le da un tono diferencial. También es un espacio con específicas demandas energéticas. Por ello, se pretenden fundamentar las propuestas en modelos tradicionales mediterráneos bien presentes y operativos a la nuestra cultura.

El patio interior se piensa como espacio naturalmente acondicionado, siguiendo la tradición mediterránea y no lobby acristalado y climatizado propio de los espacios comerciales nórdicos. En palabras de Mateo: “Entendemos el patio formado por una secuencia compleja y articulada de elementos.”

1. El Atrio: Altura de tres plantas y acondicionado con materiales naturales (madera) ubica el control, el conserje y el directorio.

2. Gran Patio Cerrado: la primera parte es dura, pavimentado con piedra arenisca y protegido de la lluvia.

3. Gran Patio Abierto: Abierto con un jardín mediterráneo con vegetación autóctona que remata la perspectiva. Esta parte se protege del sol, pero permite la ventilación natural generando un microclima naturalmente acondicionado, preparado para nuestro clima cálido.

CERRAMIENTOS. La envolvente exterior se basa en la calidad antigua del zinc y en la relación (oposición) al contexto en que se encuentra. Expresividad nula en las superficies y fuerte claroscuro en los voladizos que protegen las ventanas expuestas al sol.

2004-2007 – Cornellà / Barcelona

Colaboradores externos:

Concepto estructura: BOMA, Agustí Obiol
Instalaciones: Grupo JG
Protección contra incendios: Francesc Labastida
Paisajismo: Manuel Colominas

Todas las fotos: Pedro Pegenaute, www.pedropegenaute.es

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El próximo 25 de mayo tendrá lugar la entrega de los premios en el Hotel Hesperia Tower de Barcelona, como reconocimiento a los proyectos más innovadores, personalidades y profesionales más destacados del sector de la arquitectura.

Delangle is a French photographer that has studied photography at the department of the University of Paris between 1989 and 1994, then he began working as a photographer for the student newspaper, and since then has worked as a freelance photographer, focusing on landscapes and architectural photography. Here we have talked about the magnificent CERN building and now, we just discovered this fantastic photographic work, so here they are:

Frédéric comments at his web-site:

CERN is a series produced between June 2007 and June 2008 on the site of CERN (European Centre for Nuclear Research) near Geneva on the border between France and Switzerland. The diptychs are made up of an image to 100 meters underground in the particle accelerator and an image produced on the surface after traveling 27 km from the ring to the surface.

It is amazing to see and compare the relationship between the surface and the underground construction, sometimes seems related and sometimes you can’t even imagine, looking at a bucolic landscape, that there’s one of the most powerful buildings in the world down there… as in the next image:

If you want to enjoy more of Delangle’s work, you can visit his website.