build wood skyscrappers

OMG.
this video is fantastic!  Micheal Green lays out very methodically, and in language easily understandable, why we should be building in wood.  he makes the claim that not only is it possible to build 20 story buildings (hopefully, higher) in wood, but necessary.  think about it, wood sequesters carbon (versus concrete and steel which contribute loads of carbon), large logs burn slowly (fire safety), we can grow them, we can engineer them, and with an increasing amount of people moving to the city, we'll need to house these new city dwellers.  wood feels better, looks better, and is better for the environment - when's the last time you hugged a steel column? or rubbed your hand over a steel panel? (i won't get into concrete, cuz that's a big weakness of mine).  but seriously, why the hell aren't we doing more with mother nature's super material?

PS. super clean graphics! very nice.

VOTE4CENTRIPETAL

vote here!

ofuro

custom japanese ofuro [bath]
bath made of wood.  so nice.  i soak a while in that.
apparently, baths don't come in endless varieties like shoes.  too bulky to store in warehouses and keep on show room floors means only the strongest [sellling] survive leading a lack of diversity.


this deep cedar bath is an elegantly crafted solution for an applicance that takes up plenty of household real estate.




some other examples of ofuros can be seen through custommade:ofuro.

linear house: patkau architects

i've been waiting to hear something more about this patkau project. i first was exposed to the linear house during good ol' boy - kenneth frampton's 80th birthday party at GSAPP. the north american anthology. that was a great day! terrific firms presenting a broad range of work from all over the upper american continent.

so the linear house. ran across it again on archdaily (big surprise there right?). it's this very clean form - a line - nestled in the threshold between old growth douglas firs and a canadian prairie. the house almost disappears into the landscape. i wish the diagram they showed during their lecture would've made it to the web. it captures the essence of the project in such a clear and straightforward manner.

the shadowy palette of the exterior of the fibre-cement panels are contrasted with the luminous acrylic panels on the interior and sky lights. nice touch... and it's pretty bad ass that the whole house can open up via folding panels create a dialog with the surrounding environment; an open air pavilion of sorts.

one thing i admire about these architects is their ability to capture and highlight the essence of site. and, amplify the contextual highlights (orchard, prairie, views between the trees) through clean, simple, well-detailed designs. their sensitivity regarding materiality is always refreshing. in this case, the design reminds me of todd williams and billie tsien's work. the lexicon wood glass, wood and stone is a combination i will always love.

© James Dow

prefab weekend retreat

nice photo essay and pre-fab project!

tobi kahn

tension; sculpture + sketches

i really enjoyed this work. came across this artist on daily serving - great resource for contemporary art.

the artist's works sit in a strange spot between tense and placid. they're so simple and elegant. some work is on digital display now as part of the ratio3 gallery in san francisco.

Mitzi Pederson

Untitled, 2008

Cement and ribbon

Installation view

36 x 36 x 139 inches

Mitzi Pederson

Untitled, 2008

Wood and flitter

48 x 3.5 x 0.75 inches

Mitzi Pederson
Untitled, 2007
Graphite on mylar over paper
11 x 8.5 inches

currently, an exhibition titled; they knew what they wanted spreads across four galleries hosting numerous works curated by robert bechtle.

seth curcio of dailyserving says the following:

"the exhibition exists without many surprises or profound connections, but is interestingly interrupted through the work of sculptor mitzi peterson and the painter garth weiser. the inclusion of peterson and weiser complicates the exhibition through abstraction. these two artists’ work are reductive and formal, but continue to engage the greater exhibition in terms of both landscape and the mundane, adding new dimension to the exhibition and requiring the viewer to actually work to extract content through context." mmmmmmmm...

Mitzi Pederson
Untitled, 2009
Wood, silver leaf, string, and bells

127 x 11.5 x 2.5 inches

home remedies

we moved to riverwest about a year ago. loving the neighborhood. the corner bars. the co-op. the parks. the activism. the artists. the general level of humility and outrage existing in some symbiotic tension.

we moved into a refurbished 'unit' above an emergency sign distributor. the place used to be an old irish tavern. the labels are still on the breaker boxes. a funky mix of wood panelling and cream city brick - painted creamier - keep us warm and out of the wind.

... that be said our rooms were small... so, we put our minds and hands to work. check out the conversion.

[before; up]

[after; down]

no more stuff on the floor.

product_sculpture

this post is long over due, but only recently caught a chance to snap some photos.
for those interested; dimensions are roughly 6' x 8'. it weighs more than you'd care to know, but i've got it up on casters.

i've repurposed some found shipping pallets from a nearby residence doing some remodeling. ripped them down. and integrated a set of 36 plaster tiles i cast from clay, coated in 2 part rubber, and filled with plaster. more on the process.

the piece is rough, raw, and simple connections all honor the same inherent qualities of the palettes. i was interested in using repetition as a visual quality and complement the warm, raw nature of the wood with the white, smooth qualities exhibited by the plaster.

for now. enjoy the photos.

side.01

[plaster]

[full view]

[lighting effects]

[context]

[tile details]

side.02

[wood]

[full view]

[lighting effects]

[latent beauty]

[shadow detail]

comments appreciated...

woods of net

this project is like lincoln logs meets art meets awesome.



the japanese tezuka architects teamed up with tis & partners to create a unique space for net artist toshiko horiuchi macadam. it sits in the hakone open-air museum. no metal was used in the construction of the pavillion. the joinery is derived from thousands years old japanese wooden temples in nara and kyoto.



"this is a permanent pavilion for a net artist, toshiko horiuchi macadam. the artist knitted the net entirely by hands, which is designed for children to crow in, roll around, and jump on the net. it was easy for us to see the artwork being outside even when it cannot be exposed to rain or ultraviolet light. we wanted to design a space as soft as the forest where the boundary between outside and inside disappears. the space attracts people like campfire. the children play inside of the net just as fire and parents sit around and lay on the woods."

work + process

i've been back in school working towards completing a sculpture minor as a supplement to the architectural design degree we three have [or are working towards]. i'd like to share some photos of the work in progress.













'tiles' made from a plaster cast
[clay tile + two part rubber + plaster]













modification for connection













structure + surface













variation_complexity through repetition


the work complete and illuminated to follow shortly.