sixteen doors...incorporated

all images from www.incorporatedny.com

INCORPORATED is an architecture firm based in NY, but exudes very down-home design sensibilities. their residences showcase an incredibly restrained vernacular modern aesthetic, drawing upon the past for design concepts just as much as they do the present for achieving a sustainable practice. headed up by principals adam, gabriel, and drew--incorporated has a website that is enviable for its clarity, visual playfulness, and superb quality of imagery. the name of the firm not only refers to the idea of inclusion, but also to every detail of their working process. building information modelling, or BIM, is stressed as a crucial art of the holistic approach to design:

"...choices are not made in isolation, but within the context of aesthetics, price, schedule and performance."

part of their all-inclusive nature-- the firm not only does architecture and interior design, but furniture and product design as well.

a residential project that stands out is named "sixteen doors", referencing a literal connection to the openness provided by the main apertures of the building on each side of the building


the rural retreat is a 1350 sf residence located near hillsdale, ny next to the Massachusetts state line. the architects chose to use traditional American stick framing construction, with local finish materials for cladding.


the house itself was treated as more of a "filter" through the site while moving from landscape through shelter to landscape once again.



flanking each side of the house are large patios to revel in the view of the surrounding woods, and provide as an extension to the interior space when all the doors are completely open.


while the structure's orientation to the sun was not ideal to achieve the best views, deciduous trees have been strategically placed of shading during the summer while allowing light to the site in the winter.


additionally-every good architect not only knows how to harmonize a building with nature, but achieve a harmony within and unto itself. all geometries relate to the golden section and corbusier's "le modular".

happy trails.

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TOKYO!

"do we shape cities? ... or do cities shape us?"

In TOKYO!, three of the world's greatest filmmakers come together for an omnibus triptych examining the nature of one unforgettable city as it's shaped by the disparate people who live, work (and even run amok!) inside one enormous, constantly evolving, densely populated Japanese megalopolis - the ravishing and inimitable Tokyo.

Triptych, rhapsody, psycho-geography, omnibus, urban valentine, freak show, mind-walk and many other things, TOKYO! is a fantasy in three movements that will make you see one of the world's greatest cities - if not any city - in unpredictable new ways.

3 films, one each by michel gondry, leos carax, and bong joon-ho are consolidated into a single cinematic tour-de-force, capturing a plethora of amazing images in one of the most dense and dizzying cities in the world. each film is a critical analysis of how the city's inhabitants interact with the spaces around them.

still from the film "interior design" by michel gondry

interior design [gondry] tells of a destitute young couple trying to make it in the hyperactive city, while at the same time skipping from hovel to hovel in search of a place to call their own. their relationship is tested and the film takes a candid look at how humans are affected by the quality of their environment.

stills from the film "merde" by leos carax

merde [carax] is a wildly terrifying story of a man who surfaces on the streets of tokyo from his home in the sewers to wreak havoc on all of city's inhabitants. he terrorizes young and old without prejudice, smells awful and speaks in gibberish that only one man, a lawyer, seems to understand. when an arsenal of weapons is found in the strange man's underground lair, the trial of the century begins with the unique lawyer defending the creature and ends with a strange twist of justice.

stills from the film "shaking tokyo" by bong joon-ho

shaking tokyo [joon-ho] is a story of a young shut-in, or hikkomori, who has remained in solace for 10 years. he survives on pizza, and has brief conversations with his delivery people. one day a new delivery girl comes to his door, and the city is hit by a large earthquake, causing the girl to faint and recover in the shut-in's apartment. in this short duration, he falls hopelessly in love and as time passes, our protagonist hears through another delivery person that the girl has also turned to the hikkomori lifestyle. realizing that she is his soul mate, he makes the courageous leap in leaving his apartment to find her just as another earthquake strikes.

Tokyo from John Aubrey on Vimeo.

Now playing in denver at the mayan theater.
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Pecha Kucha Night Denver: Volume V

In my Inbox today:

*Update: Tonight!, April 21st, will be Denver's 5th volume of Pecha Kucha Night. The event will take place at Buntport Theater, 717 Lipan St. Doors will open at 8 PM, program begins at 8:20. Seats are limited, $5 suggested donation at the door.

Please see the attached flier for a full list of presenters...there will be museum folk, bike guys, architects, artists, actors and a food guru!

Hope to see you there,
Jaime and Angela

--
Angela Schwab and Jaime Kopke
Pecha Kucha Denver
http://www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/denver

happy pritzker peter zumthor!

therme vals, switzerland
photo by tom gallagher

TAKE THE FULL TOUR

one uncommonly know fact is the plan shape of his saint benedict's chapel is a half section of an algebraic planar curve aka lemniscate. the full recognizable version is commonly know as the symbol for infinity.

Lemniscate [compare with the 0.25 black line version]:


The chapel:

the plan [sorry so fuzzy]

saint benedict's chapel
photo by doctor casino at flickr

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stoneflower: the road to thorncrown

E. Fay Jones with "Stoneflower" residence rendering
Photo by Al Drap, Fay Jones Papers, Special Collections,
University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville

if people have heard of the architect e. fay jones, one of frank lloyd wright's more famous contemporaries, chances are they have also heard of the chapel which is considered his masterpiece opus: thorncrown. nestled in a small corner of an ozark woodland, near the town of eureka springs, arkansas--thorncrown's inspiration came from a retired teacher who would always delight in allowing guests to take in the view of the surrounding hills after an invigorating hike. it is essentially a spiritual rest stop for the soul.

the structure doesn't even seem like a building at all, as the light and foliage seem to penetrate and shatter every enclosure suggested by the chapel. one might say that the greatest success of the chapel wasn't the architecture itself, but instead achieving a place to where the the exterior of the landscape and the interior of soul may interact, unimpeded.

"stoneflower" at eden isle, arkansas
photo by timothy hursley

but rarely even mentioned is the project before the masterpiece. why not? isn't each single sketch of michelangelo's figure studies just as important as the sistine ceiling itself? without the study, there would be no result. therefore, we offer a view of a modest home which fay jones used as experimental grounds before the legendary chapel: stoneflower.

designed and built with limited means, the house was a result of an exchange of land for services-a pair of landscape architects traded design work on the surrounding resort community for the particular piece of property. upon hiring fay jones, the budget sat at a meager $25,000 while also contributing physical labor in constructing the house's stone foundations.

lower level floor plan
courtesy of fay jones & maurice jennings

the house contains very unexpected spatial qua lites--an exercise in duality of sorts with the lower level hidden behind stone walls, and shaped in a primitive, cavernous-like way and the more rational upper level possessing qualities such as light, air, tectonic expression. the lower level is certainly more intuitive, but no less refined containing a fireplace, soaking pool, skylights above, and a waterfall emerging from the rock ledge shelves. carl jung might find refuge here...

waterfall and skylight at lower level
photo by balthazar korab

the upper level is almost immediately recognizable with it's volume, proportion and use of glass. although the chapel boasts an amazing number of 425 windows, the residence focuses the daylight and views on the long axis. the high glass openings lead out to an elevated deck having the same exact footprint of the interior space and a view towards greer's ferry lake. the proportions of the house are exactly half of thorncrown, measuring 12'x30' and 24' tall. the height of the vertical wall requires additional lateral stability, resulting in a familiar pattern of bracing near the roof. the lumber at the column framing has been doubled, and set apart to reveal shadows of tectonic mystery of lightness in such a tall room.

view through the living room towards the lake
photo by balthazar korab

main level floor plan
drawing by fay jones & maurice jennings, architects

the separation of the two levels addresses some intriguing ideas about how to build in harmony with the land. it is as if the lower level, made of stone, was always there-- a ruin of some obsolete structure given a new life. the light timber framed upper level seems to hover above the land as the only discernible man-made intervention on the landscape.

long section
drawing by fay jones & maurice jennings, architects

while the limitations of budget may have kept this house from becoming widely celebrated and published, the lessons it taught its creator are widely seen in the halls of thorncrown.

all images are shown from the book "FAY JONES" by robert adams ivy, jr.

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KU studio 804: 3716 Springfield

those jayhawker kids are at it again with this year's pre-fab prototype over at dan rockhill's studio 804 in lawrence, ks. last year's design/build project focused on a re-building effort of the tornado devastated town of greensburg, ks and the construction of a new arts center [pictured above].

the progress and construction photos of last year's arts center can be found on-line along with the progress photos of this year's project weekly updates. so far, the 2009 "schemata" is at week 7, with foundations ready for pouring. here are some 3d renderings of the current project: 3716 Springfield






this year's structure is a slight departure from the previous models, as the focus is directed towards salvaging used materials. it seems to be less pre-fab, and more in-situ based construction. the most obvious noticeable departure is the incorporation of a gabled roof, wrapped with a full body rain-screen. the past pre-fab prototypes have typically been a flat-roof combination of 4 or 5 modules, fit together on-site. and of course there is the goal of achieving the first LEED platinum rated house in kansas when it is complete:

We plan for active systems to be integrated throughout the building, including grey water recycling, solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal heating and cooling...

the wooden slats being shown on the 3d model will be recycled from the cladding of a decommissioned magazine warehouse. even though the labor required to get the wood back to it's original properties will be laborious, the idea of having an old building be fitted for a new life would give some satisfaction for sustainability on many levels [not going to the landfill for one].

keep track of the studio's progress here.


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blogosphere radar

...bouncing back the radar signals, here is a fantastic new blog discovered at this address:

BUILD BLOG

fed with tons of incredible info by andrew and kevin and the rest of the BUILD LLC crew, it has some of the best posts on practicing architecture we have seen in a long time. take a few of these for example:

corten architectural siding

legos: re-thinking construction documents [a personal favorite]

board & batten detailing

rainscreen detailing

architecture and discipline

the authors of the site are not only practicing architects, but partners in a thriving and influential firm within the seattle area called BUILD LLC.

one of the more intriguing aspects about this firm is the design/build project delivery focus. BUILD LLC is not only an architecture/construction combination, but they specialize in crafting furniture, custom millwork, and they even manufacture their own materials with an in-house veneer press!

their project portfolio and these other things could easily get this crew "firm of year" in our book, but the best part about what is coming out of BUILD LLC is the willingness to share their own professional experiences with everyone. this transparency of process is an extremely radical approach in a profession usually perceived as a "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" when trying to explain architectural work to the public. the section on their website about their staff and design process is almost larger than the portfolio pages, including an open letter to the client with their own 9-step process.

BUILD LLC's manifesto

there is plenty of inspirational material there for entrepreneurial minded architects. and thanks to andrew for the shout out on the latest "on the radar" post.

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that ghost time of year again

the deadline to submit applications for brian mackay-lyon's annual GHOST LAB design/build session near halifax, nova scotia will be february 28th, 2009.

GHOST 11 will take place over 2 weeks during june 13th through june 27th, 2009, and rumor is it will be called "boathouse". here are some photos of GHOST 10: "1000 foot house", built last summer:



the structures acted as viewing platforms, looking over the ghost village and the atlantic ocean.

each was built with selective contruction methods to illustrate the unique relationships between the individual places of the structures, the earth beneath, and the horizon beyond.

varying degrees of enclosure, openness and transparency reveal the meaningful nuances inherent in the site.

and for visual effect at dusk, it must have that warm canadian glow...

shobac cottages and studio in this month's issue of arch record.

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new kitchen

pecha kucha night Denver: Volume IV

In my inbox:

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surrender to the landscape

[all photos by stuart isset for the nyt]

the NYT has an article about a 10-year project to build a house in the high deserts of idaho, which attempts to not only fit in with the landscape, but at some times to disappear.  mostly constructed of a modest material of concrete block, the house provides durable shelter in one of the most extreme climates. at the same time, large expanses of glass dissolve these massive walls and making the inhabitant just as much a part of the landscape as the surrounding vegetation.

the house is a great example of how a typical building material can be elevated from its common stereotypes to a precise and artful expression of craft.  the architect, tom kundig [of olson kundig sundberg allen] compares the house to a "tootsie roll pop" -- hard on the outside and soft on the inside" by utilizing recycled douglas fir wall and floor finishes gathered by the client herself.  other accentuations of exposed steel beams and wood joists give an added perception of depth in contrast to the more austere exterior.

more images in the slideshow.  

even more images at oska website.

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