Anish Kapoor

Marcus du Sautoy discusses the exhibition and there is an interview with Anish Kapoor about the exhibition in Kensington Gardens, London which is on until 13th March 2010. Worth going when there are a few clouds and sunshine...
See exhibition website and
Serpentine gallery site for further information.

Croation Pavilion

'The pavilion structure is in the form of a cargo of 32 tons of welded wire mesh, with more than 40 layers spaced so that they form a solid volume with approximate dimensions of 19m x 9m x 5,5m. Inside the volume is a carved out space shaped by varying contours that form the main space as well as protrusions and openings toward the outside. Almost invisible form a distance, the structure reveals itself with different densities of steel mesh, transparencies, and vision lines, forming stunning visual effects and experience of space by very simple means.' e-architect
Croatian Pavilion
article and images

Venice Beinnale

Hylozoic Ground videos

An interview with Philip Beesley about Hylozoic ground, and a longer 40 minute version of this below (unfortunately this comes with an advert to start) then more info on this interview on this link

Cloudscapes

Tetsuo Kondo Architects and Transsolar (climate engineering company) Cloudscapes for the 2010 Venice Beinnale, is an indoor artificially generated cloud: “cool dry air at the bottom that keeps the cloud floating, hot humid air in the middle to fashion a dense fog and hot dry air at the top.”
Tetsuo Kondo Architects

Consumerism Series

BBC World Service radio series exploring consumerism: 'In this special series of programmes on consumerism, the BBC World Service travels the world to uncover how we spend, what we spend and why we spend. Is it true that we now equate personal happiness with material possessions? And, if so, who is responsible for promoting this way of thinking?'
Listen Again available on each section in the menu on the left.
Consumerism

Olafur Eliasson 'Your Split Second House'

Olafur Eliasson's installation at the Venice Biannale, water sprays momentarily caught within light.
2010 Biannale
Guardian article on the 2010 Biannale
further images of the 2010 Biannale

City of Memory

City of Memory - New York stories is an on-line repository of memories developed by City Lore.
'The cliché, said Jake Barton, Local Projects’ founder, is that there are eight million stories in the city. But really, he said, “it’s kind of more like there’s eight million different cities, each created within each of our memories.” That, he added, is the idea of the site: “What does the city look like when you’re seeing it not just through an official lens, or your own lens, but seeing it through the lens of what other people have experienced?”' New York Times
City of Memory
also see City Lore's own site with further projects relating to place, cultural identity and memory City Lore and a further project Place Matters

James Turrell exhibition

James Turrell exhibiton at the Gagosian Gallery, Britannia Street, London until December 10th. If you have not had the chance to see any of his work with light and illusion we recommend it.
Gagosian Gallery

Architectural Consumerism

Francis sent me this piece about consumerist development, where housing has been built just to sit empty for years in the hope of profits, but just destroying habitats. link

Ruin Academy

'Finnish architect Marco Casagrande has successfully converted an abandoned apartment block into the Ruin Academy in Taipei, Taiwan. The Ruin Academy is operated in co-operation between Casagrande Laboratory / Finland and JUT Foundation for Arts & Architecture / Taiwan. It moves in-between architecture, sociology, environmental sciences (including urban design) and environmental art.' See Ruin Academy blog and Francis sent me the following link with more images and plans.

Biodiversity

Horizon on the impact of human society on the Biodiversity of the oceans.
Horizon on BBC iPlayer
The United Nations have declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity - for more information see The UN site and Natural History Musuem

We Live in Public

Josh found this film - We Live in Public - interview below which gives an interesting perspective on society and our relationship with the world. See the film on 4OD here

Unit B in Blueprint

Rodolfo's walking stick was selected as one of the Best Student Projects in Britain by Blueprint magazine.
'The memory of the place is captured by our first impression, precisely at the moment where one’s senses are stimulated, generating a connection between the individual and the city. Before using the walking device we are unable to recognize the beauty and atmosphere of the city. After using the walking device the senses are awakened and the individual is able to identify with the place. What a fantastic idea to have a cup of tea with the aroma and atmosphere of the city you are walking. The mechanism of the device is designed to its details. This will definitely create our better future and improvement in day to day life.' Mami Sayo

See the review of Rodolfo Rodriguez's year 2 work here Blueprint

Philip Beesley: Hylozoic Ground

Hylozoic Ground by architect and sculptor Philip Beesley will be in the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in Architecture. 'Hylozoic Ground is an immersive, interactive environment that moves and breathes around its viewers. This environment can ‘feel’ and ‘care’. Next-generation artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and interactive technology create an environment that is nearly alive. Tens of thousands of lightweight digitally-fabricated components are fitted with microprocessors and proximity sensors that react to human presence. This responsive environment functions like a giant lung that breathes in and out around its occupants. Arrays of touch sensors and shape-memory alloy actuators (a type of non-motorized kinetic mechanism) create waves of empathic motion, luring visitors into the eerie shimmering depths of a mythical landscape, a fragile forest of light.' "...the glass-like fragility of this artificial forest, built of an intricate lattice of small transparent acrylic tiles, is visually breathtaking. Its frond extremities arch uncannily towards those who venture into its midst, reaching out to stroke and be stroked like the feather or fur or hair of some mysterious animal. Beesley’s Hylozoic Soil stands as a magically moving contemporary symbol of our aptitude for empathy and the creative projection of living systems."- Fundacion Telefonica Jury, 1st prize, VIDA 11.0
Hylozoic Ground

Unit B 2009-10 exhibition

Congratulations to Charlotte, Francis, Will, Hannah and James on their first class degrees.

Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition

The RA Summer Exhibition is on from the 14 June—22 August 2010. The architecture room has been curated by David Chipperfield this year and looks well worth a visit. See the BD link for a review and photos and the RA site for opening times etc.

Emoh Ruo, London Festival of Architecture

Australia: Emoh Ruo - Global Practices of Australian Architecture- Exhibitions and Installations, Talks and Debates 19 June - 4 July
'What contributes to the idea of a place as it exists in the mind’s eye? The exhibition proposes that architecture can act like a series of magnifying glasses laid over a map, bringing into exaggerated focus the experiences and elements that define a place.' Emoh Ruo site
This is one part of the London Festival of Architecture which runs from the 19th June to the 4th July 2010. The International Architecture Showcase (of which the Emoh Ruo exhbition is a part) has a series of interesting events, exhibitions and talks during this time and also over the summer.
International Architecture Showcase
LFA 2010 site

Heatherwick Studio Shanghai Expo Pavilion

Charlotte found this excellent video of Heatherwick Studio's expo pavilion.

Clerkenwell Design Week

25th - 27th May 2010
Various locations in Clerkenwell, London - see site Clerkenwell Design Week

Idris Kahn

Colin let me know about the current Idris Kahn exhibition at the Victoria Miro Gallery in London. For more on Idris kahn's work see earlier posting.
'Idris Khan's second solo show ... will consist of two major sculptural installations and a number of new photographic works that interlink seemingly disparate ideas of religion, Minimalism, music and poetry Khan's new body of work has a more formal engagement with the material he appropriates, in order to elicit a kind of lyricism and spirituality using a Minimal aesthetic.'

Victoria Miro Gallery, 16 Wharf Road, London N1 7RW until 24th April 2010

Victoria Miro Gallery

Design Museum- Sustainable Futures

New Sustainable Futures exhibition at the Design Museum from 31st March
'From the world’s first carbon neutral city to a refrigerator which doubles as an aquarium, this exhibition explores a range of products, concepts and projects that address issues of sustainability in their design. Through prototypes, samples, products and film, you can find out more about your impact on the world and how to change it.
Presented around five themes: Cities, Energy and Economics, Food, Materiality and Creative Citizens, this overview shows the changing role of the designer and reveals how design can make a difference.' Design Museum

Design Museum link

Lebbeus Woods - Storm Watch

Very interesting piece by Lebbeus Woods dealing with change and interconnectedness.

'Change is inevitable, as the materials age or tire, or as they are affected by disturbances within or around them. The forces are, in effect, at war with the materials; they want to overcome them; they want to be free of materiality, to flow into the world’s vast oceans of energy, from which they will be reborn again and again, in countless cycles of transformation. Such an understanding of architecture conditions our outlook on the world and leads to the construction of a knowledge-system based on concepts and processes of transformation.... Because the structure acted as a field and not as collection of independently stable, ‘classical’ objects, the failure of any element reduces the tension in the entire structure. The idea of transformation in a tension field is linked with inter-dependence of the elements in the field, and, more accurately, to their inter-connectedness. The field changes as an integrated whole, whatever its size or scale.' Lebbeus Woods

more here

Anti-Smog Tower

Vincent Callebaut has designed an anti-smog tower for Paris. The 3D's are far more successful than the elevations, but well worth a look for the techniques used.
'to filter air particles and harvest wind and solar power... The project is divided in two; a “Solar Drop” located on top of abandoned railway tracks and a “Wind tower”. The Solar Drop is designed to transform polluted into clean air through a system of filters covered with titanium dioxide which break the pollutant particles...The Wind Tower equipped with turbines in its entire façade produces enough energy for the neighborhood and houses a museum and learning center on renewable energies.'
anti-smog tower

eVolo Skyscraper Competition

'The Nested Skyscraper adapts to climatic, urban, and programmatic conditions with the use of advanced materials and robotic construction. Its form and building method derive from the carbon sleeves and fiber-laced concrete performance. It is a composition of multiple layers of louvers which thicken and rotate according to solar and wind exposure.' Ryohei Koike, Jarod Poenisch's proposal for the Nested Skyscraper took third place in the eVolo Skyscraper Competition. The winner was a proposal for a vertical prison and second place went to a proposal for a water purification tower.
Nested Skyscraper - third place See the links below for further projects.


Elena Batueva's Wind Tower: 'The module consists of vertical-axis wind turbines and uses rotors that run vertically. It is a sort of wind power station, a clean and sustainable fuel source that does not run out and brings no harm to environment. In comparison with widely-spread horizontal-axis wind turbines, vertical-axis turbines can continue to produce power even in high wind conditions without risk of getting damaged and they do not need to be pointed into the wind to be effective – these are the essential qualities for the climatic zone taken up by Moscow.'
Wind Tower

Vertical Prison - first place
water purification skyscraper - second place
Nested Skyscraper - third place

eVolo Competition -scroll down the page to see the entries

Ackroyd & Harvey

Heather Ackroyd will be giving a lecture on Tuesday 16 March 12.15pm in Willow 10, Headington Hill Hall Campus

'Sculpture, photography, architecture and ecology are some of the disciplines that intersect in the work of Ackroyd and Harvey. Nature and structure, control and randomness are juxtaposed in their work to reveal a time-based practice with intrinsic bias towards process and event.'
web site

There is also a 1 day ART-CULTURE-SUSTAINABILITY SYMPOSIUM on Tuesday 23 March with BETH CARRUTHERS -from Canada and ALEX ARTEAGA -from Berlin and Barcelona
11-1 Beth Carruthers, 2-4 Alex Arteaga, 5 -7 Beth and Alex in dialogue with each other and the audience. Buckley Building, BG01, Gipsey Lane Campus, Headington Road, Headinton, Oxford.

geoengineering

John found this site - Next Nature:
"Recently some scientists in Britain have recommend planetary ‘geoengineering‘ to avoid climate change. And as politicians are listening, it is time to explore the options. New Scientist published this rather lovely diagram of the effectiveness and viability of nine different geoengineering schemes, from space mirrors to planting reflective crops."

Gordon Matta Clarke

"While the work of Gordon Matta-Clark defies easy categorization, his ideas have exerted increasing influence on architects and visual artists during the decades following his death in 1978. His Garbage Wall (1970) was a sculpture born of a performance piece, and his cuttings in buildings, such as Bronx Floors (1972–1973), were sections of abandoned buildings cut out for exhibition in a gallery."
Gordon Matta Clarke Archive
Pulitzer Arts

Chicago DeCarbonization Plan

"...strategies include "Smart Infrastructure," a look at how energy can be generated, stored, distributed and shared; "Mobility," an assessment of transit and connectivity; "Water," which examines how this critical resource is used and conserved; "Waste," an assessment of citywide processes and systems for reducing, recycling and disposal; "Community Engagement," which proposes various programs to engage citizens in the green agenda; and "Energy," an examination of existing and new energy sources."
chicago info

Tide

Luke Jerram's installation Tide:
"As the earth and moon move through space and time around the sun, our position also changes within this shifting triangle of spheres. Tide is a live installation controlled by the altering gravitational field of the Earth caused by this spatial relationship."
TIDE

Aeolus - acoustic wind pavilion

Charlotte found this design for a wind pavilion by Luke Jerram:
"The use of Aeolian wind harps has been selected as a suitable technology. Long tensioned strings will resonate with the wind and will be heard by visitors inside the space (see the films below). The ambition is to sonify the three dimensional landscape of wind, using a web of Aeolian harps, almost like cats' whiskers picking up the shifting landscape around the building. The public will be able to visualise this shifting wind map from within the space by interpreting the sound around them."
Luke Jerram

3D possibilities

Will found this animation by Alex Roman, apparently it is all modelled and only the skies and people are real footage. Quite incredible. Animation