concrete + ants = amazing

so this has been around for a bit, but still pretty incredible.

complex network of subterraneon highways, side roads, branching to fungus gardens and rubish pits... who knew ants were little architects.

arch_week + student work

something i hope to be a part of in the future... may be wishful thinking. but it's good to set goals.

[clever map.]

anyway. ny_AIA is presenting "exemplary" student works from 14 of the nyc area architecture schools. it's at the center for architecture. the event opens on saturday [oct 2] and will run as part of architecture week 2010 [oct 2 -10 = 8 days a week].

a group of us from coreI will be migrating over the bleecker and w.3rd street around 4 to hear the deans roundtable!

if you're around, it'd be a kick to see you there!

prefab weekend retreat

nice photo essay and pre-fab project!

rem koolhaas comes to GSAPP; hurry space is limited

lectures, as with all things in nyc, are a whole different ball game. waiting in line for over an hour that crawled up a stairwell - wrapping around and around and around... at least there was beer. we ate dinner on the stairs, in single file, whiling shuffling around for the half dozen head counts. space is limited when the big names come, but i squeaked into wood auditorium just in time to see the shiny head pass into the hall.

published 30 years after delirious new york, al manakh [cont'd], released in may, is the second in the series of [???]. the chronicle - which is designed to fit into a mailbox - attempts to dive deeper into the desert and address new challenges facing the gulf region in a post 9.11 and financial meltdown age.

"some interesting things happen when you wonder deeper into the desert." i'd like to get my hands on a copy, it's convenient that the avery library is right under my studio seat!

a collaborative between oma + amo, archis, pink tank and the nai. oma has a clever little 26s video revealing the whole 536 pages. [thanks sangwook for the photo!]

This is a very interesting view of Detroit.

Just a good supplement to our project artifacts. Also interesting about his project is that it shows the density quite beautifully.

Sukkah City.

I was given a chance to work with THEVERYMANY on their Sukkah city competition the project contained:

49,722 holes
25,000 rivets
10,420 text
5,257 unique parts
120 hours of CNC
60 sheets of walnut veneer

Half of it being coordinated/built by yours truly.
Due to the nature of this type of competition research and development was rushed and the need to produce halted further research time needed to study strengths and weakness of material used "Veneer".

We had divided the Sukkah into several parts for construction purposes. Assembly took place and as we added on layers, as the increase of weight steadily grew we could slowly see the feet buckle. After putting on the second to last part, the feet remained the same and we were confident that the sukkah would last the competition.

The design had succeed in almost every aspect we needed to think about except transportation. The ride on a flatbed truck over Manhattan bridge turned out to be too much for the Sukkah and when it had arrived it had collapsed onto itself.

This was a good lesson to learn but quite a hard one to swallow.
So I'm going to grab a beer see you all again.

Peter in the New York Times

Our Peter featured in the New York Times!


go!

GSAPP: lectures

below is a link to Columia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation [GSAPP] lecture series.

if you're in the nyc area, please stop by and get me out of studio for a bit. there promises to be some extraordinary presentations this semester.

including;
patrik schumacher, partner @ zaha
a three part ecogram series focusing on africa
andrew freear, director of rural studio
the underdome sessions, in conjunction with studio-x
a conference: the north american anthology, including patricia patkau, shim + sutcliffe, rick joy
etc., etc. etc.

enjoy the events

story of the day

i found this quite amusing. i signed up to receive a story of the day [courtesy of storypeople] after a brief exposure from a friend in brooklyn. i found it relevant to my life... sort of.

design flaw:

one of those rare
bumblebees who agreed
with the engineers about
not being able to fly so he
mainly sits around &
watches the other bees
work themselves to death

san ysidro land port of entry: miller + hull

in this day and age of massive and spectacular digital output it's great to see a firm sticking to their artistic integrity.

i've been checking in with miller + hull since i started studio. a professor introduced me to their work and after seeing the correlation between his [professor] work and their [miller + hull] work i'm beginning to see some of the influence has made it's way into my hand... through a different process, but with the same aesthetics. all i can say is, woohoo.

however, i am enamored with their watercolors in addition to their works of design!

the images are from a new project for the san ysidro united status land port of entry. it will be constructed in three phases and are on target to achieve LEED platinum certification thanks to energy efficiency, water conservation strategies, and an integrated design process. more impressive is the fact that this project is the first to be open 24/7/365 to achieve this LEED status in the united states.

the site sees 20% of the border crossing traffic into the united states. 34 lanes of traffic! the complex is both a welcoming center, first impression of the country, and critical facilities for national security. craig curtis - partner at miller + hull - "this project will set a new standard for land ports of entry, not only for surpassing general service administration's sustainability goals but for enhanced processing of visitors and increased security measures." who knows, maybe border crossing could actually be an enjoyable and memorable experience - for the right reasons.

construction starts next year.... four masts rising 100 feet support a 275 foot canopy made of ethylene tetraflouroethylene - the same material that clads the national aquatics center from the 2008 beijing olympics. this means; rain and sun protection but also allows natural light to pass into the officer's booths.

thanks to a 700,000 gallon rainwater reclamation system the site will cut water consumption by over 12 million gallons annually = 100 households.... nice work out in the desert.

outlines of the future phases and more in depth information on the sustainable features can be found aqui.

be wise