a secular retreat

all imagery from living architecture blog

as many [or not so many] readers know, we here at taow are big, slobbering fans of peter zumthor and whatever is released from his office into the wild blue yonder. we just recently noticed the update over at the living architecture blog regarding 'a secular retreat' that the zumthor is currently working on. at first glance the concept model images seem crude and elementary, but rough texture and the hand made quality of the presentation is not only a trademark of PZ's craftsman background, but maybe that is the entire point of the project...

after all the chosen title 'secular' brings to mind some intriguing concepts [and meaningful interpretations] for a house:

Not specifically religious.

(Christianity) Not bound by the vows of a monastic order.

Temporal; something that is worldly or otherwise not based on something timeless.

Happening from age to age.

Long-term.

(astrophysics) Of or pertaining to long-term non-periodic irregularities, especially in planetary motion.

(atomic physics) Unperturbed over time.

[all definitions from Wiktionary]

but we must say that the suspense is killing us--what is the material palette? where is the site? is it this place mentioned in the photo caption called chivelstone, great britain? how many obscure places do we have to travel to see zumthor's projects? ; ]

in the between time, this vague and brief description will have to suffice for now:

Peter Zumthor is frequently described as the greatest architect at work in the world today, and has recently been awarded the internationally prestigious Pritzker Prize. He is famous for his baths at Vals in Switzerland, as well as for his Bruder Chapel outside Cologne in Germany and his Kolumba Museum in Cologne itself. He is a master of craftsmanship, and an expert in the use of natural materials, which gives his buildings an eternal quality. For Living Architecture, Zumthor is designing his first project in the UK – a hill-top retreat, to which people will be able to go for periods of sustained work and reflection.

model view 1 - dining room

model view 2 - kitchen & dining room

model view 3 - corridor

Peter Zumthor discussing structural concepts with structural engineer

Jane Wernick for the 'chivelstone' secular retreat

[a glimpse into the plan hidden in the background?]

Stay tuned...

be sure to check out the other houses on the blog...

we are particularly interested in the shingle house and the in-between house.

___________________________________________________________________

Clyfford Still Museum: The Final Design

In my inbox Tuesday afternoon:

Clyfford Still Museum: The Final Design

Brad Cloepfil, Allied Works Architecture

Since the schematic design unveiling, the museum design has advanced in exciting ways. Cloepfil will detail innovative solutions conceived to present Still's artworks.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010; 6pm
Denver Art Museum - Sharp Auditorium

[All images courtesy of Allied Works Architecture & Clyfford Still Museum]

___________________________________________

biennial of the americas

The curator for the Biennial of the Americas, Paola Santoscoy, checks the progress of remodeling in the McNichols Building in Civic Center last week. Santoscoy was hired in January. ( Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post )

the denver post does an article on the curator of the upcoming biennial of the americas, which will take place in denver starting July 2010 and last until August:

The Biennial of the Americas is a month-long cultural celebration of innovation, imagination and the artistic achievement of the Western Hemisphere, hosted by the city of Denver.

the main exhibition will be hosted in the old McNicols building in civic center park, and is currently under a stealthy renovation.

the museum of contemporary art, denver botanical gardens, museo de las americas and denver museum of nature and science will all be hosting sites for a multitude of gallery events, symposiums, roundtable discussions and lectures on the topics of art, architecture, design, innovative technologies, poverty, energy, climate change, material culture, and community cohesiveness by 35 participating countries from the western hemisphere.

if it sounds monumentally epic in scope to anyone else then i suppose it probably is--so why aren't we hearing more about it?

there once existed a website called 'ingoodwetrust', highlighting bruce mau as the chief curator of the biennial 2010, but evidently it no longer exists.

we will be watching closely for the upcoming opening event.

_______________________________________________________________