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

back to nature; constructed ruin

fantastic! urban reclamation project in tokyo.

a 'haunted' house is magically transformed through the power of design. once covered in ivy, the designer stripped the over-growth revealing the structural elements long left to the passage of time.

i admire the restraint - not to completely gut and start anew. the old structure and new surfaces are well-balanced; it helps to tell the story of the dwelling, not simply masking it behind clean white walls.

a quick overview and stream of consciousness ramble, but check out the whole story.

photos courtesy of takeshi yamagishi

THEVERYMANY

I officially started my internship last monday, and I have to say its been quite a work out. Aside from working 10-12 hours a day I'm still trying to find a time to do my laundry. Heres a link to show you all what is going on with theverymany and also who they are.

theverymany

For me its like going back into microcosm, a studio that dealt with prototyping, material studies, and digital fabrication techniques....well I'm getting all that and more.... I will post my plastic wall system up as soon as I get my apartment together.....

I might post a pic or two every now and then to give you a sneak peak since the chances of me photographing the work is high. But of course that is just a "maybe."

tolo house_ alvaro siza

álvaro leite siza vieira's tolo house (son of architect alvaro siza) is based in lugar das carvalhinhas, portugal. it’s a great work manipulating the hillside slope. the result is a superb layering of space based on rigorous, modular abstraction of cubic geometries. organized along a long linear spine the interconnected volumes reveal a unique elevation on each of its four sides.

the project include three bedrooms, a social bathroom, a living room, a dinning room, a small kitchen with a support washbasin, pantry, and even a small outdoor swimming pool. the outdoor patios, corresponding to the roofs of various levels, are connected through a pedestrian path bordering the lot.

the pragmatics of the site [steep topography] in concert with the economic constraints produced a partially buried house. enclosed with concrete provides high thermal barrier, while the revealing some cubes references the surrounding cliff faces. the plan layout attempts to preserve the pre-existing trees; hence the rotations in plan adapting to the natural morphology of the terrain…

you’d never even notice this house as you approach from car at the highest part on the north end of the project. a stone footpath provides access from the south, at the bottom of the hill: a more rustic option. additionally, the concrete spaces take advantage of the site’s southern exposure: receiving optimal southern exposure.

visual tension is created through the manipulation of concrete and wood. carving reveals light adding drama to the sculpted cubes cascading down the hillside. the material palette is simple, clean, and reserved: concrete, wood, white surfaces.

“the roof functions simultaneously as pavement support for the gardens: similar to the traditional threshing floors and patios in the northern regions of the country with hilly terrain.” its fragmentation only adds to its allure.

photos found @: fernando guerra

TO NYC: Peter's story.

Thursday, July 29th 2010.

I woke up late for work, in a panic I quickly got ready and drove to the office. Today was the day I fly out to meet Marc Fornes, and all I could think about is how exciting it would be to work with him. I finally get into the office around 8:30, my boss is already waiting to brief me on changes for our new project. I started immediately on the changes only to later run into horrible printer issues. Thinking to myself "God why! its already 12:30" fixing presentations was one thing... I still have two competitions to finish before 3!. 2 o'clock runs around, I start to panic. Everything has been pushed behind schedule and my plane leaves in a couple of hours. My co-worker is struggling to get his competition model finished and the bossman asks if I can stay behind...and disaster strikes. I have not told my boss before hand I was flying to NYC....

After a moment of silent had passed, and a few awkward statements were said I was on my way to finish packing for my flight! Riding quickly down the highway I thought to myself that was the worst of it! traffic all of a sudden slowed down to a screeching halt...

CRASH!!!!

I had gotten my self into an car accident....I thought to myself wow....it hasn't even been 3 weeks since i got into my last fender bender.. and twice I was rear ended and pushed into the car in front of me... I immediately get out and look at damages on both cars, the man in front gets out and yells at me "HEY, i have to get to work." I looked to the car behind, the windshield had blown off the car. I started walking towards the car and again the man yells out "HEY!, do you have some paper i can write my info down and leave." In that instance something in me snapped and I turned around and yelled "Stand there! Wait! and when i'm doing helping this person out of their car i will talk to you!" The door starts to open, and the women starts to get out. I helped her out and talked got our information straight and eventually left the scene.

Alex eventually comes to pick me up at my house, we had decided to take his car to the airport and drop it off there for the weekend. I tell him my situation and we have a hardly laugh about my misfortune...at that point I had made a terrible joke, "hey, Alex just watch our planes going to be delayed as well." We both laughed and went on our way to the gate. After sitting down for not even 5 mins we hear "for flight 508 leaving for Laguardia airport. Your flight will be delayed until 9:30 PM." Alex looks right at me, "Omg, peter....your just a troll today.." I laughed and told him to leave me alone, I already had a bad day.......

Heres an image of the Art museum designed by Sanaa.

I finally found a spot to put this.

2A_Em IN NYC!

2A_EM FINALLY GOES TO VIDEO!

Finally recieved my new HV40. Heres an sample of what it can do, footage was taken roughly a month ago.

PS: learning premiere/workflow was a real pain in the butt....

UPDATE: holocaust memorial design competition

the results are in. we didn't place - unfortunately, but you can't expect too much for pulling together a submission in a few days... unless you're h.van_oudenallen. congrats and good luck!

luckily we had some interest from our fellow students that lightened the load a bit.

we held off posting our actual submission, until now. our process work can be found here. now, with the passing of time, we post our submission:

In such a small space, line, forms, and gestures are limited… What do we have then, but light, time, movement, and material? With this premise in mind, we ask ourselves not only, “what does a memorial mean, but also what does it do.”

We are not survivors of the Shoah. We don’t pretend to know the intensely personal feelings associated with the experience; we can only speculate. In a short time, little direct experiences will be left. Therefore we sought to distill the fundamental essence of a collective conscious.

We propose a place of peace, perhaps a place of discomfort, a place of reflection, a place where senses stir memories. These qualities will always be remembered, be shared, be alive, broadcasting the memory and the universal message “never again” long after the last survivor has left.

It is our hope that through simple actions we can influence profound reactions.

thanks again to all those that helped!

experiential journey

come get struck by lightning

[when]: this weekend!

fri and sun

[what]: lightning bolt - presented by jackpot gallery!

[where]: [studio deep end]

315 n plankinton

check em out! it's going to be a stellar party.

plus you can support a local band and local gallery

... and hear good music!

hope to see you all there!

frustration

after reading this article i was expecting to see BP's stock plummet. to my amazement it's only dropped about $1. wtf?! why would anyone still be on board with this tycoon of corner cutting?

since 2007 BP has been trying to revamp their image. casting themselves as exemplars of safety. but, as this nytimes has reported in a pointed article, this has clearly not been the case after a series of catastrophes and blatantly ignoring warning signs. the company is destroying the natural ecologies of north america; an explosion in texas, shoddy construction on a mega-platform in the gulf, spills in alaska, and the most notorious - the deep water horizon explosion in the gulf last april.

and after all this, our government is still allowing BP to run headlong into more risky operations, jumping through loopholes and ravaging our natural ecologies. responsibility has been shifted all around for the last 3 months, and we still don't have a solution. oil is still gushing into gulf waters. the monster is still loose. i can't believe it.

for an abbreviated overview check out the time line. it frustrates me to no end. BP has the capability, capital and resources to do things right, yet they're hypnotized by the all mighty bottom line. where are the values?!

we need to curb our addiction. if these events don't offer us the opportunity to seriously reconsider our energy options and shift to more sustainable, alternative forms i fear loosing hope.

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

nu frm blu

big bang, big boom

i really enjoy this artist's work. this is not the first example to show up on 2A_eM... the dedication still blows my mind. ten months since the last video, big bang boom showed up on vimeo yesterday and getting tons of love.

the wall murals really start to interact nicely with the found object sculptures in concert with time lapse photography.

described as: "an unscientific point of view on the beginning and evolution of life... and how it could probably end." it reminds me of pearl jam's music video; do the evolution - from way back in '98.

enjoy:

Kengo Kuma installation

what an amazing installation!!! GO KENGO KUMA

honestly reminds me of final fantasy games... but maybe thats just me...

Heatherwick Studio and Thoughts

Heatherwick-Studio

Shanghai World Expo Pavilion

Inside each rod lies seedling

Designs like this make me wonder about the design process. While Inspiration is drawn from life, landforms or experiences people tend depict only the aesthetic or functional understanding. After seeing this design I wonder if there is more to it than that. A vision produced simultaneously in our minds subconscious from the overflow of thoughts from studying inspiration.

Also can vision only be created by thoughts on life or can they be produced by imagination developed by others?

Link

"the problem with technology...

... is that everyone has it."

bruce mau's incomplete manifesto for growth

"Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau’s beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are how we approach every project."

some highlights:

well, you get the picture. they're all great insights. i encourage browsing the entire list of 43.

5 student films_ re: design

hooray! thanks to spirit of space, each of the groups participating the mp3: forecasting mke for the urban age now have video 'cuts.' these short clips help explain the five projects a little more clearly, cogently and succinctly than if you were to ask any of us point blank. all five are embedded below, please do some clicking.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

charge my car, not my phone [bill] please

with all the hype of electric vehicles becoming a reality we are going to start facing real life logistic questions very soon.... namely, how and where will we charge these suckers?

telekom austria has recently finished with a prototype for converting obsolete infrastructure into something that could help answer the charge-up dilemma.