Archive for January, 2009
Jump London
A documentary of Sebastien Foucan the originator of parkour or free running jumping London. (via)
Snow Angels
We went up to Levi in Lapland last weekend. Being in the last great European wilderness was breathtaking, it’s a beautiful place a different world away from the bustle of typical human existence. The thing though that will stick most in my mind most was when we were just outside the hotel lobby on the [...]
White Paint
Could the answer to global warming be white paint? I’m really partial to this idea but also a little worried it’s a bit like the ‘if we all jumped off the ground at the same time’ thing.
Holmenkollen Ski Jump
Holmenkollen Ski Jump by JDS Architects is very much alive and onsite. I previously reported the project was in trouble. But it should be ready for 2011. (via) Click on inmage above for slideshow of the latest renders.
Renewable Energy and Housing
I’m actively trying to seek out new information about designing as environmentally sustainable buildings and systems as possible so I dug up something I’d tagged a long time ago meaning to write it up but somehow never managed to do until now. The Vaasa Housing Fair which ran from 11.07.08 to 10.08.08 last year is [...]
Minature Concrete Buildings
Cute miniature concrete buildings by push+pull. (via) I love the fake drain planter.
White Death by Robert Edwards
White Death by Robert Edwards Amazon uk | usa As a British citizen I was brought up with the popular blockbuster WWII films and jingoistic historical notion of WWII being a kind of good versus evil battle. The idea is still somewhat preserved now with the Third Reich being the last word in totalitarian regimes, [...]
2008 Roundup
Every year Building Design publish their top 100 world Architectural practises. 2008s’ top 10 in the list is exactly the same as in 2007, but they have made a nice map this time.
Slussen Proposal
BIG Architects and NOD Landscape Architects have made a major proposal for the Slussen in Stockholm. This area one of the busiest transport interchanges in the city has become increasingly run down and inaccessible to cyclists and pedestrians. But the new proposal would reverse that completely. Watch the video below to see how the proposal [...]
Koivusaari Ideas Competition
Browse and comment on over 100 proposals for Koivusaari at the Laituri website. Part of the redevelopment going along with the expansion of the Metro West into Espoo.
Espoo Hospital
A new Espoo hospital wing by K2S. The building consists of a set of courtyard blocks in freeform shapes with beds facing out into the landscape and services and living (not sure what these are but maybe social spaces away from the ward areas matbe?) facing back into the courtyards. A hospital design with patient [...]
Curbed goes to Moscow
Joey: That’s about 5 buildings in one. Lockhart: And 6 of them are ugly. (via)
Better Mortgage Systems
I have bought houses in Scotland (it’s quite different to England) and in Finland, and thought seriously about buying in Amsterdam when we lived there. Having at least a taste of the different systems and seen the U.S. problems with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae it would be reasonable to go looking for an improved [...]
My Music 2008
I thought I’d try to quantify my music listening for 2008 which was a year of big changes for me as I downloaded more music this year than bought physical copies for the first time. The total number of tracks I listened to through last fm in 2008 was 5679. I still listen at home [...]
Where is the good new Architecture?
The New York Times has a list of the 10 best buildings of 2008. The AR has an as ever excellent list of emerging architecture for 2008 which is more interesting the NYT good but slightly vanilla list. Varnelis asks where the good new Architecture of the 21st Century is, but I think it’s too [...]
Sennett and the city
A great article about Richard Sennets’ thinking about cities, his big insight and equally large oversight.