House of Orphans by Helen Dunmore  Amazon (.com) (.uk).

This is an interesting book because it is by a British author but the novel is set in pre-revolution Finland. As such the author faces the challenge of making the characters and settings both believable and accurate without bogging down the story with too much detail. So the art of storytelling the signs of a good writer are abundant here. Infact from my perspective Dunmore has managed to bring realistic characters to life as well as bring out Finnish Archetypes without them overshadowing the story. The clash of Swedish Fins and Fins through the references to nature versus civilisation for example or of the struggle between political and social world views going on at that time. This is a book that perches historically on the edge of the abyss of civil war and even later the struggle for survival of the winter war.

The novel for me dissolves a little at the end with the characters drifting off into the crowd, also the central character of Eeva is never dealt with for me fairly in this novel. Mostly she is the subject against which others characters thoughts are reflected. So this book feels like it could and should have gone in a number of different directions at the end.

However I had an ulterior motive for reading this book in that it could be added to a list of books about Finland (about Finnishness) that  allow you to understand the Finnish psyche a little better. Something Dan Hill in relation to designing for a Helsinki housing block called Method Designing. This book would slide into the required reading category in understanding Finnish politics even up to the present day as it highlights something of the route to independence that Finland took.

These polls or surveys of best places like the ones in Monocle magazine for instance seem to be limited in that they don’t , indeed can’t, include for those things that can’t be statistically analysed. But how much of the love of a place comes from these things important as they are? It was still nice to be ranked top though, and I do think in a limited sense it’s a good sign and deserved too.

I now have a huge backlog of half written posts some about what I’ve seen or read over the summer so hopefully there will be alot more activity here now again.

“Analytical study shows that the ancient masonry mortar is a kind of special organic-inorganic composite material,” Zhang said. “The inorganic component is calcium carbonate, and the organic component is amylopectin, which comes from the sticky rice soup added to the mortar.”

Detail of Wigert Summerhouse in Brekkestø, Norway by Wenche Selmer (taken from the book Norwegian Wood – the Thoughful architecture of Wenche Selmer / photography by Frode Larsen) (via)

This photo of a beautiful detail sums up something of the Scandinavian Summer, long days by the water, living with nature, escape from the burdens of city life.

(...)
Read the rest of Walking the Line (714 words)

• Kiruna the city that’s cracking apart.
• Subterranea Helsinki
• Jørn Utzon Lecture Report

This book takes nine practices from the U.S.A which are by their nature different from a standard architectural practice and look at how they work.
Some things are about the practical building relationships during a project for example LTL have revised contractual relationships to retain quality control. SHoP retain a financial interest in some of the projects they design.  Servo are a little similar to Ocean which has a strong connection to Helsinki.

Otherwise mostly these practises are in some way using computers, their methodological use of them and transformation of them to open up new possibilities, the work of Chris Hoxie with his various collaborators is a good example. But that’s more of a subtext to the wider enquiry of how Architects work and how that might change in the near future.

It’s not strictly a book about the buildings which these Architects make but about the processes that the Architects use in order to arrive at the buildings. This then is quite a rare book in that it looks at the process of Architecture and is not much focused on the end result.

This book could be seen then as a cross section in that it is organised by type, eg into essays, images, interviews, even construction documents. Its also a cross section by intent, meaning it gives you a deep insight into how these contemporary Architects work today, and by implication how we all might work tomorrow.The interviews succeed the best in shedding light these designers processes , the drawings and photos provide some background flavour but don’t go much beyond that.

This is an optimistic book one where it’s subjets are all in different way changing the process of architectural design itself some more and some less on the edge of traditional idea of an architectural practice. If you aren’t an Architect or Designer this book is of limited value and won’t sit well on a coffee table however if you are then this is a book that is worth diving deep into.

Herzog and DeMeurons’ hotel design for the centre of Helsinki has been rejected. Earlier this month on 3rd April the city council voted against the scheme and it looks like a study of the whole area will take place before another competition is announced. I’m not sure but I’m guessing that that this will probably mean the end for the whole of the current South Harbour scheme.

This would have been only the second time a foreign Architect would have built a major building in Finland and it’s a little disappointing if not inevitable that it won’t go ahead. Inevitable in that for several years already this has been the most controversial site in Finland and it seems no one can get a project off the ground there. This proposed Hotel was also drawing much critisism from Helsinki residents and professionals also, only the city planners seeming to back it.

I’m not sure the Herzog and DeMeuron project was best suited there either but I think the city could have looked at some alternatives, like locating it in the Jätkäsaari area instead. There a suitable place over the water could have been found for a brave design in terms of materials which could have added something to the often times too polite modernism of the last few years in Helsinki.

• Interview with Jacques Herzog.
• South Harbour scheme.
• Photo is by Herzog and DeMeuron click on it for full size

Note: The following post is by my Father Graham Martin. He sent this to me after a conversation we had over the phone. I don’t remember exactly what we started talking about but we ended up with Dad telling me about this passage by a famous French author about the Eiffel Tower which had been newly erected in his beloved Paris and had enraged him so. I really wanted to know what he said, it seems so many of the worlds great landmarks start off life being despised.  Being a retired French lecturer of course helps a little when you want to translate some french so here it is with my dad’s comments of course.

(...)
Read the rest of Against the Eiffel Tower (1,663 words)

The first showing of M.C.Escher in Finland is now at the Amos art gallery. With a film and most of Eschers best loved wood cuttings and prints on show it is a real treat. What I love about Escher is his play with dimensions. He shows with his illusions on the paper the difference between reality and its representation and he is able to incorporate the dimension of time into his pictures by defying reality, for example ascending and descending with its infinite stair loop.

Gombrich in his seminal book Art and Illusion showed how art moved from portraying reality ‘as it was’ to ‘how it appears’ and then in turn with the invention of photography and film moved away from the format of representation. But Escher by using the rules of perspective moves us to see the tricks behind the portrayal of space in Western art. He is playing both with us and with reality, and this makes him special indeed singular in the  art world.

I think there is much to learn from and be inspired by the ideas and implict demonstration by Escher of the inferiority of one sense alone in the understanding of space and I wish more of that thinking, that type of questioning, was present in our design culture at the moment.

update: Lee in comments to this post said Ecosia is a scam. I’ve had a look at this (see article here and here).  It seems Ecosia is a for profit organisation but looks quite legitimate and worthwhile to use. It is always worth checking these things out however, and there are plenty of other search engines out there which do much the same thing. eg. Ecosearch, Goodsearch, to name just two which we could all look at and utilise.

update 2: Read the comments to this post before you do anything else! There are plenty of big questions surrounding Ecosia once you start to look at them and as to whether its the sort of business you would want to support. Look carefully into these environmental search engines and if in doubt don’t use them. The best advice may be to make a donation to a good charity instead. WWF.

The Art of Simon Page, just fantastic. Check out his international year of astronomy set also.

The Nomeculture of a city is basic on one level in that it would be impossible to navigate without it. But it is also an ephemeral layer, it reveals history and cultural attitudes that become enshrined and hidden in named spaces.

History

Helsinki’s nomeculture started officially in 1820 when the street names were only in the Swedish Language, but by 1833 Russian Language signs  in the Cyrillic alphabet began to appear alongside the Swedish Names, natural enough as Finland was then annexed into the Russian Empire. It was only in 1906 that the first Finnish language street names began to be added at first in Töölö.  In 1945 a committee was established to name streets officially.

Block Names

In 1810 a Stokholm regulation required the numbering of all sites in blocks bordering on streets. Corner buildings had to have street signs added to the side of the walls, but with the additional requirement that the name of the block should be added.  Apparently the names of the blocks in Stokholm in the centre are still well known. In Helsinki in 1820 when the names of the streets were ratified it seems they followed the Stokholm tradition and named the blocks also. Domestic and wild animals were used as well as names of flowers in old Helsinki whereas in the Uusimaa suburbs the names of fish and birds were used. But by 1910 Helsinkis blocks were no longer given names along with their street names, it seems this had died out from common usage. In the last few years Helsinki city has reintroduced the names of the traditional blocks at least back to the centre of the city with block names indicated alongside the street names.

In 2003 the position of Nomeclature designer was established in Helsinki City Planning Department, this person has responsibility for naming streets, districts, parks, marinas, schools, hospitals even bus stops.

• helsinki planning department

Read voraciously, many books at a time. Only then will you hear the conversation taking place among them. (via)

But how can a person who can achieve so much also be so self destructive and incompetent in other areas of life? A new theory of behavioural genetics might be of help to Matti. It’s called the Orchid hypothesis and it says that while most of us are born ‘dandelions’ in that we can take root almost anywhere and thrive, some are born ‘orchids’ and in many situations don’t thrive, but in ideal conditions can be truly remarkable.

In other words the things that helped to make Matti one of the best ski jumpers and athletes in history also may contribute to his inability to fit into society normally. Anyway Finns cherish Matti as an orchid already, if he were to become suddenly well adjusted we would have lost a well loved institution.

He also has a great turn of phrase able to utter delphic truths in the great sportsmen tradition.

• Tekemätöntä ei saa tekemättömäksi
  What is not done, cannot be undone
• Jokainen tsäänssi on mahdollisuus!
  Every chance is an opportunity!
• Huominen on aina tulevaisuutta.
  Tomorrow is always the future.
• Elämä on laiffii.
  Living is life.
• Se on ihan fifty-sixty miten käy.
  The odds are fifty-sixty.
• No pilluhan se on aina mielessä mutta hypätään nyt ensin!
  Pussy is always on my mind, but I’ll jump first (when a reporter asked Matti what he has in his mind)
• Rakkaus on kuin lankakerä ? se alkaa ja loppuu.
  Love is like a ball of wool ? it starts and it ends.

(quotes via)

But here is an idea lets try to make this award and designation more than just an excuse to sell some Aalto vases or Harri Koskinen block lamps (note to iitala never reject anything he designs again!). There is a chance with this award to invigorate the base of finnish design, startups and urbanists. Not just to advertise the top down framework Finland has created in the last few years, but create something from the bottom up.

Definitely networked urbanism has a part to play in this, but not centrally planned like songdo and not just a new way of organising activities but new ways of organising relationships within the city. Also maybe I’d like to add many other sorts of activism, whether its urban farming or community generation. This city has the right conditions to meld these things and shape city and design thinking globally that could, just maybe, put Helsinki in the centre of something and belie its geographical location. Here’s to dreaming the future!

1. 23.4% Karjasilta, Oulu
2. 21.4% Koivuhaka, Kokkola
3. 17.3% Lutakko, Jyväskylä
4. 15.0% Sundsberg, Kirkkonummi
5. 13.8% Tammela, Tampere
6. 9.1% Arabianranta, Helsinki

Cino Zucchi Architects have updated their masterplan for Pasila redevelopment. It would add up to forty story 160m high skyscrapers to the Helsinki skyline, at the moment the highest buildings are about 100m high. Pasila was planned and built as an expansion of the centre of Helsinki, infact as early as Eliel Saarinens’ masterplan which identified it as a new location for a central railway station and expansion of the urban centre.
Anyone who knows Helsinki however knows that while it has many offices and housing, as a functioning part of urban Helsinki life the 70′s and 80′s development has pretty much failed. Judging by the scope of the Zucchi masterplan we will get some good buildings but not a significant improvement to the city.
(photo by Cino Zucchi Architects)

Nine up and coming Finnish Architecture practises have a book publication out called Newly Drawn – Emerging Finnish Architects (website).

The firms involved are; Hollmén Reuter Sandman, Verstas, NOW, Anttinen Oiva Architects, Lassila Hirvilammi, Avanto, ALA, AFKS and K2S. The link to buy the book is here.

• Antti Möller-  Introduction.
• Otso Lapila from Oranssi – How the squatters deal with property owners and officials.
• Joseph Mulcahy – Argentina cooperative factories.
• Jaakko Lehtonen and Joseph Mulcahy – Urban farming (dodo) and DIY camp at the Pasila railway yard.
• Bastian Zeiger – Earthships – building with wasted resources.

I had a great time listening to a small but enthusiastic group of people talk about altering the city for the better themselves, and crucially there seems to be an avenue to do this legally and creatively as groups like Oranssi have shown over the last few years. Hopefully I can participate a little as these potential projects get off the ground.

Oslo based architect firm Reiulf Ramstad Architects (nice website – no flash!) is working on a plan to build the world’s highest building ever constructed fully in wood in Kirkenes, Norway. 16 to17 floors in height, all built in natural materials with the aim of being CO2-neutral. Looking through the proposal quickly it looks like it could be a new urban model for smaller Scandinavian cities although its been done elsewhere before. (via)

But although georss doesn’t seem to have got off the ground much Geospatial data and mapping in other fields has alot. With google crowdsourcing and up scaling their production of 3d buildings and cities on google earth for example and extra layers being added to google maps I thought I would provide a google map and earth (kml) feed to this site. Its a good way of looking round old articles and consuming them in a geo specific way and also linking on and out with other information from the web. The links are here and at the bottom of the site.

Both the links will automattically update as new information is added, let me know what you think.

• google maps link ( anyone who is not familiar with google earth should start here!)
• kml network link

In Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, a Quechua Indian told me that everything one does in life involves looking forward while going backward simultaneously. This I didn’t understand. I said, ‘What do you mean, going backward?’And he said,’Well, it’s very simple. For us, for the Quechua, the past is in front of us. It’s in front of us because we know the past and we can look at it. And the future is behind because we don’t know what it brings so we move into the future, but we move backwards.’ The expression is ñawpaman puni. -David Tuchsneider 1992:63-64

A beautiful concept that we are facing backward while moving forward that seems enshrined as it is in the Quechua language a quite deep insight. But I note now while I’m studying Finnish in my spare time that languages have many and subtle differences in their attitude to space and time and grammatical systems are by nature going to constrain your thinking about space if you rely on them.

Helsinki Underground Masterplan above for full size image go here.

(key:blue is planned underground space and grey is existing, orange is possible future)

Underground churches, gyms, ice hockey pitches, running tracks, water processing plants, shopping malls, bus stations the list goes on and on. Infact according to regulations buildings over a certain size must provide some sort of bomb shelter, it’s often unavoidable not to build underground.

Probably the best known underground areas are around Central Station which is home to a network of metro stations shops and tunnels that connect much of the city centre together and allow you to arrive and move through the centre of the city without surfacing at all. Also because when new facilities are built they are connected back into the existing underground system it expands out like the roots of a tree. A good example of this is round Kaisaniemi metro which links underground station with shopping mall within an existing building that joins up to an atrium made from a filled in urban block which in turn links through to an underground cinema. Here the underground city tunnels back into the urban fabric above ground also.

I think this is one of the most impressively urban things about Helsinki which otherwise is a quite a centrally planned and unobtrusive small city. This ‘deep urbanism’  is where Helsinki distinguishes itself as being different, and the fact that the city has an official underground city plan reflects this attitude to some degree.

I hope that the new harbour redevelopment includes for some sizeable public facilities underground that can continue to expand the city below ground too.

Central Station underground

photo by mattitianen

Below are a list of some the larger underground structures in Helsinki:

Temppeliaukio Church

Temppeliaukion Church

Temppeliaukio Church was built into solid rock in 1969. One of the better modern buildings in Helsinki. The sides of the church let water through on purpose when it rains allowing for natural water flows down the side of the church.

Itäkeskus underground swimming centre

The underground swimming centre was carved into bedrock in 1993. The spa-type underground space contains a 50-metre swimming pool, whirlpool baths, saunas, a gym, etc. The facility can be converted into a shelter for 3,800 persons.

Viikinmäki underground wastewater treatment plant

photo by sameli

Helsinki Water has centralised all of its wastewater treatment operations into the Viikinmäki wastewater treatment plant. The total volume of excavated rock was 1,200,000 m3. The first phase (1,000,000 m3) was excavated in 1988-91 and the second phase (200,000 m3) in 2000-01.

Otaniemi – underground spaces
Over 50 underground spaces, including the national film archives, the underground shelters of the Dipoli conference centre and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Helsinki University of Technology campus area connection tunnels, Laboratory of Rock Engineering test tunnel, etc.

Western metro expansion
Länsimetro is 13.9-km long twin tunnel and 7 new stations. Construction is estimated to start in late 2009 and the project is expected to last four years at most. The westbound metro line will be completly underground

KEHU – Helsinki Service tunnel

2.5-km service tunnel across the city, from east to west, under the historical centre of Helsinki. Construction scheduled for 2006-10. The tunnel will be used to service shops, restaurants, offices and hotels in the area.

Underground coal storage and district cooling
Helsinki Energy’s underground coal storage facility in Salmisaari was built in 2001-03. The project also included an underground district cooling centre, a power station and 3.5 km of tunnels. The total excavated volume was 550,000 m3. Each coal silo is 65 metres high and has a 40-metre diameter with a circular plan cross-section. The volumetric capacity of each silo is 81,000 m3.

Airport transit (Kehärata)
Airport transit is a new rail section connecting the city centre to Vantaankoski local track with the main northbound rail track. The whole project consists of 18 km of new double track and 8 new stations. Of this, 8 km of track and 4 stations will be fully underground.

Päijänne Water Tunnel

The Worlds’ second longest continuous Rock Tunnel which brings fresh water from Lake Päijänne to Helsinki. (wikipedia / homepage)

District Heating System

The whole city has a district heating system which supplies over 90% of Helsinki’s heating requirements. This system is supported by a massive underground tunnel network of more than 40 km of multi-utility  tunnels.

Hartwall Arena

Subterranean full size ice hockey hall

Suomenlinna Tunnel

See the excellent post at Locating Helsinki about this. A service tunnel that connects one of Helsinki’s most important islands to the mainland. There has been talk about expanding the metro here one day.

Crazy Ideas:

Helsinki Tallinn tunnel

References:

WTC

Helsinki Underground City

rumors

helsinki underground masterplan

Finnish Tunneling Association

My Helsinki Subterranea flickr set

• c_life : City as a Living Factory of Ecology (Winner)- by Arup (London) / Sauerbruch Hutton / Experientia / Galley Eco Capital
• Cradle of Innovation: WSP Group(London, UK) / Heatherwick Studios / B&M Architects /JKMM Architects / Space Syntax / Helsinki University / AA Palmberg Ltd / Pekka Himanen / Pauli Aalto-Setäl
• Low Carbon-High Urban: Peter Rose & Partners / Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates / Guy Nordenson and Associates/ Matthias Schuler, Transsolar Climate Engineering / Mobility in Chain / ARO Architectural Research Office
• Rebuilding 2.0:  REX / Croxton Collaborative / NOW (New York, USA) / Transsolar Energietechnik / Magnusson Klemencic Associates / Bureau Bas Smets / 2×4 / Arup New York / Front / Jonathan Rose Companies
• ReciproCity: Bjarke Ingels Group, BIG (Copenhagen, Denmark) / Vahanen / ARUP Foresight Innovation / Transsolar Energietechnik / Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit AoA / Masu Planning / Passiivitalo.fi / Pasi Mäenpää / Mikko Jalas

In May 2000 I was fired from my job as a reporter on a finance newsletter because of an obsession with a video game. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.

From here the stage is set for Rossignol to take you on a semi-autographical tour of the real life world of the games industry. The book is basically split into three.  London, Seoul and Reykjavik with a conclusion ‘home’ added to the end. Splitting the book up into cities reflects not just in the geography of Rossignol’s travels but the subjects of the book.  London is more autobiographical and is much more about the gaming industry about the transforming power of the game in peoples lives although I wasn’t entirely convinced about all of this. Anything that generates so much money must by definition mean that people can make a living in it, that it becomes an industry by default anyway. But it acts as a way into the world of gaming well enough.

That gaming is capable of Feeding back into the real world for example in Luis Von Ahn’s  ESP game or Nina Ferrerman’s looking at mapping disease spreads within computer games illustrates one of Rossignols’ key insights that there is a two way street between gaming and reality. That they can alter each other that they may be diffferent in different parts of the globe in different situations. Seoul shows this effect really well the computer gaming bars of S.Korea perhaps setting a standard for East Asia which is quite different to Europe and the U.S.

That games can be a feedback process and this process may not be directly related to that of playing the game. Suddenly for me the book started to spark across different ideas and subjects and really came alive at that point. The third part Reykjavik deals mostly with Eve Online which for many reasons is quite different from most other online games and is capable of emergent behaviour, even in real life. It brings me onto a quote from Will Wright in the book which really helps to sum up the bridge I felt between Architecture and Gaming reading this book.

When we do these computer models, those aren’t the real models, the real models are in the gamer’s head. The computer game is just a compiler for that mental model in the player. We have this ability as humans to build these fairly elaborate models in our imaginations, and the process of play is the process of pushing against reality, building a model, refining a model by looking at he results of looking at interacting with things. – Will Wright 2006.

I’m tantalised and seduced by the beauty of the Architecture of video games, also not a little jealous of their freedom and power where in real life Architects seem constrained by conditions, culture and themselves too often.

There is something more in this book too, that the process of gaming might open up new avenues for architects themselves. That we find ourselves in an age where Simulation starts to replace representation not only as a narrative structure but in design and conceptual terms that may in turn effect Achitecture, cities, even cultures. This  seems to be a powerful message in the book which Rossignol only begins to touch on. I look forward to the follow up to further investigate this new frontier.

• Interview with Jim Rossignol by bldgblog.
• Jim Rossignol blogs here and there.
• Ok I’m off to try Mirror’s Edge.

If a city doesn’t have sufficient density, as in L.A., then strange things happen. It’s human nature for us to look at one another— we’re social animals after all. But when the urban situation causes the distance between us to increase and our interactions to be less frequent we have to use novel means to attract attention: big hair, skimpy clothes and plastic surgery. We become walking billboards.

He just writes so well about the world. I might need to add his new book Bicycle Diaries to the wanted list. (via)

update: I checked back today (17.09.09) and they have a feed now. Nice work!

click on image for slideshow

The Rosetta disk is an archive of  1,500 languages  that can comfortably be held in the hand. The underside of the disk has,

.. over 13,000 microetched pages of language documentation. Since each page is a physical rather than digital image, there is no platform or format dependency. Reading the Disk requires only optical magnification. Each page is .019 inches, or half a millimeter, across. This is about equal in width to 5 human hairs, and can be read with a 650X microscope (individual pages are clearly visible with 100X magnification).

The disk is contained in a sphere the bottom piece of which is made of stainless steel and meant to be etched with information unique to that disk the top half of the sphere is a glass lens that magnifies the top of the disk. Through this magnifying glass you can read the text of the major languages spiral down and reduce in size smaller and smaller.

The text begins at eye-readable scale and spirals down to nano-scale. This tapered ring of languages is intended to maximize the number of people that will be able to read something immediately upon picking up the Disk, as well as implying the directions for using it

The casing is beautiful with the words spiralling down into the orb, the underside of the disk presents an equally dazzling grid of multicoloured pixels. But what I really love about it is the spiral of words that pulls you in deeper into the sea of languages a kind of parallel with Pieter Brueghals the Tower of Babel, which pulls you up a spiral all the time while God splits the languages of those who ascend over and over again. The process of the real life preservation and the mythical creation of languages is almost exactly the same. Both reach a point in the spiral where understanding fails….

The dream is to preserve and keep these languages and be able to rediscover them over the Milenea as many will have died out already before we reach the end of this century. A micro fossilisation of knowledge frozen in time.

References:

• Rosettaproject
• TheLongnow
• sciencetumbled
• spencerlowel (who took the photos)

A wonderful post and map (seen above) from Locating Helsinki about the coast at the centre of Helsinki and how it has changed, and Darren found a list of islands some of them shown on the image above which have disappeared. Another set of large changes are due to take place over the coming years also with the industrial port being moved and urban redevelopment happening in it’s place. Click on map for a larger view.

It’s the first time that the evolving projects of Helsinki’s old harbour have given me genuine cause for optimism that real quality work is being incorporated into a masterplan that has all too often seemed from here to be cherry picked urban images without any real direction. This project could help to change that situation.

The contest is open to architects, planners, designers and artists who want to contribute to progress in making the world more habitable by developing a proposal capable of responding to emerging challenges in areas such as ecology, information technology, socialization and globalization, with a view to enhancing the connected self-sufficiency of our cities.

Also last week I started a flickr group Finnish Architecture and Google Map of the same name, the flickr group is totally public and just drop me an email to be able to edit the google map. Hopefully these two places can be for collaboration and discovery for everyone.  Read on for the map.

(...)
Read the rest of Geo Finland (7 words)

strangely, the individual floors of a pagoda are not rigidly attached to those immediately above and below. They are simply stacked on top of one another like a pile of hats. The only force holding them together is gravity. Meanwhile, their loosely fitted joints allow each storey to slide horizontally independently of the others. (via)

New research has thrown light on a group of megalithic structures in the North of Finland suggesting they may be laid out according to astrological ideas.

(...)
Read the rest of Finnish Stonehenge (266 words)

• Map: Finnish Stonehenge

• aktt_notify_twitter: no

Playa Architects has won a competition for Mårtensbro School in Espoo. With a central open atrium space courtyard and varying levels curved in form on plan and section it looks very promising. Click on the image for a slideshow.

• Map: http://www.lewism.org/?p=1302

  The Around project from Sequence Point software has just launched in beta for nokia’s n97 phone.  It describes itself as augmented reality in that it adds a layer of information to whatever you are looking at through your phone. Thus in effect it means that pulling information from the cloud onto the city in real time is now here, albeit in a relatively buggy user unfriendly version at the moment. It’s another step for  the ‘street as platform‘  concept that city of sound wrote about last year.

  At the moment it can fetch data from only two providers, ovi maps from nokia, and geonames which if I remember correctly pulls info from many different sources including wikipedia. So for example as shown in the image above landmark buildings are shown through your phone screen and you are able to click on the buildings to get further information from wikipedia for example about the building you are looking at.

  This is pretty basic for a start but think for a moment that when through rss, buildings publish their data feeds, or newsagents sell papers through your phone with rfid technology, or you are notified that a friend is walking your way, that the information of the street becomes physically viewable, and usable what the potential of this project really is. In terms of information distribution, visualisation , and interaction then it is loaded with promise and it could help engender a new form of civic life. (via)

  • aktt_notify_twitter: yes
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  One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/07/29/the-around-project/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2009/07/29/robin-hood-gardens-video/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/07/29/robin-hood-gardens-video/#comments Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:38:04 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1298 Johnathan Glancey makes a video in the Guardian which for once is an open and honest look at whether Robin Hood Gardens is worth saving or not.
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  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/07/29/robin-hood-gardens-video/feed/ 0 51.5070343 -0.0823975 http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/24/university-oath/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/24/university-oath/#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:35:31 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1295

  I propose that Aalto University should stand for …..an unconditional respect for life, and for the conditions that support life. (via)

  John Thackara proposes a new kind of oath for the forthcoming Aalto University based on a viewpoint that we are part of the Earths’ biological system not apart from it, and that the whole understanding of our development should shift to being sustainable in a wider sense. Read his excellent article fully to get an idea that what John means and how design and learning should contribute to more resilient and adaptive systems.

  2 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/24/university-oath/feed/ 2 http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/16/pixel-city/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/16/pixel-city/#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:47:17 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1267
  A procedurally generated city or in other words a city generated purely by code by Seamus Young. Click on the image above to watch the video.
  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/16/pixel-city/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/15/powerkiss/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/15/powerkiss/#comments Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:10:57 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1205 Powerkiss is a Finnish Startup which integrates power charging of your mobile phones and other gadgets into pieces of furniture with no requirement for cables. The future for this should be huge just put your laptop or mobile down on a table to charge it, you will no longer have to think about charging your devices, they will just power up when you put them down. Powerkiss are quite far down the road of integration as well, they have collaborated with Martela which is bringing to market a couple of tables later in 2009 with wireless charging integrated into them, as you can see from the  photo below it looks almost boringly normal except for the graphics on the top informing you how to use the table.

  (...)
  Read the rest of Powerkiss (28 words)

  3 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/15/powerkiss/feed/ 3 http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/14/county-of-london-plan-1945/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/14/county-of-london-plan-1945/#comments Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:51:16 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1225

  I found a set of images from the  County of London Plan 1945 booklet which marks a milestone in visualising and planning for cities. Already being produced before the end of WWII when it came out in 1945 the brainchild of Patrick Abercrombie. The set on flickr is however missing a great map of Social and Functional analysis of London which probably prefigures the common idea that the city is made up of a ‘city of villages’ , also worth noting the ideas about redeveloping the South Bank, an area which is still being struggled with today.

  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/14/county-of-london-plan-1945/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/13/gaming-the-city/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/13/gaming-the-city/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:15:10 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1203 Did SimCity  programme a whole load of computer geeks with the failed assumptions of 60′s planning? Me, I think the idea is good but the wrong way around. Actually getting lots of people thinking about urban design or gaming the city is a fantastic concept and each iteration of the game has added complexity and difficulty. Maybe SimCity is the best thing that happened to planning? Personal disclaimer: I was addicted to simcity2000 back in the day….
  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/13/gaming-the-city/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/12/harvesting-the-air/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/12/harvesting-the-air/#comments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:16:28 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1232 What if our buildings could harvest power from the air, not wind or solar but literally out of thin air? Its not as crazy as it first sounds with cities literally spewing out  electromagnetic radiation from TV, Radio, and Mobile phones constantly. That’s just what Nokia is doing right now,  actively researching this for future generations of Mobile phones.

  It’s also not a new idea, in fact the first station to harvest the power from the atmosphere has already been built and now stands derelict in a plot on Long Island for sale for $1.6 million. (map)

  (...)
  Read the rest of Harvesting the Air (375 words)

  • Map: Wardenclyffe Tower
  One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/12/harvesting-the-air/feed/ 1 40.9480591 -72.8983459 http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/08/usa-flood-control-system-should-go-dutch/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/08/usa-flood-control-system-should-go-dutch/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:00:23 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1192

  Flood control systems in the Netherlands are built to withstand storms of a severity seen once in 10,000 years, in the US the levees are built to stand up to storms of a severity anticipated once in a century. (via)

  As storm season comes around in the USA Mary Landrieu a Senator from New Orleans wants the USA to move over to a sytem like in the Netherlands of managing water instead of just building levees. It’s really most about a change in mindset, from merely opposing nature to trying to manage it and cope with it where possible. Where all urban design incorporates water management into its basic structure.  Louisiana, Florida and Georgia could all benefit from such a change.  But I won’t be holding my breath.

  update: mammoth took this post and wrote an excellent article about the Dutch water management system, bulwarks and flux.

  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/06/08/usa-flood-control-system-should-go-dutch/feed/ 0 29.9265804 -90.1242828 http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/28/down-20/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/28/down-20/#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 18:39:20 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1175 The construction of new buildings fell in Finland by 19 per cent in January-March. (sigh) I have a feeling it’s going to get worse before it gets better. (via)
  
  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/28/down-20/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/16/unsung-hero/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/16/unsung-hero/#comments Sat, 16 May 2009 18:13:21 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1161

  And now MPs are feeling morose. Tough! They’ve had plenty of opportunities to do the right thing by parliament and by the people. At every juncture they behaved in the worst possible way. They refused legitimate requests, they wasted public money going to the high court, they delayed publication, they tried to exempt themselves from their own law, they succeeded in passing a law to keep secret their addresses from their constituents so as to hide the house flipping scandal … (via)

  Remember a democratic society is an open society, so we’ve got to keep watching those bastards. Thanks to Heather and the other journalists who pursued this story.

  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/16/unsung-hero/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/15/j%c3%b8rn-utzon-lecture-report/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/15/j%c3%b8rn-utzon-lecture-report/#comments Fri, 15 May 2009 18:48:29 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1165

  Last Thursday night I went to see Adrian Carter give a lecture about  Jørn Utzon. It was a warm and poignant lecture given by a friend and colleague and I can’t think of a better tribute to Utzon that he could have given. It provided a timely reminder that Architecture is the power to stir emotion and create relationships between people and places, and that Utzon had that ability above most, so not much more need be said.

  Some things I didn’t know also came up of course, that Utzon went to work for Aalto but after only six short weeks found out his wife was pregnant with their child and had to go back to Denmark. I did know already that it was Eero Saarinen who arriving late for the jury on the Sydney Opera House competition picked Utzon’s entry from the rejected pile and said it was the winner. I didn’t know however that so possessed he was with the project that he went back to his hotel that night and drew the perspective view of the building from the harbour that Utzon himself had neglected to submit, in an effort to persuade his colleagues that it was the winning project.

  Utzon doubtless pursued a kind of purity of design that had it’s kindred spirit in nature and tried to engineer his projects in the way nature evolves form. Its clear to me many of his spaces and places he made are analogous to natural spaces, of clouds passing overhead, of the roof as tent or enclosure with a kind of bottom up philosophy of served and servant spaces that provided an order that was natural rather than preconceived. That he wasn’t designing buildings in the same way as say Gehry does is clear, and it’s part of what makes his Architecture timeless and so hard to emulate today.

  The drawings Utzon’s studio made of the structural solution that was found after two years of fruitless calculations are beautiful and by Rafael Moneo (photo) a then newly qualified Spanish Architect, it makes me wonder what is the Architectural Equivalent of the Bacon number?  In the Modernist movement you could use Aalto quite easily to map the connections between Architects the world over. Here the connection is tangible both in a personal and professional form.

  The issues of the Opera house budget came up and the tensions between Utzon and Arup the structural engineers,  first over the authorship of the structural solution something that Cecil Balmond would know something about and then on their continuing role in the project once Utzon had resigned. Although the Opera House made his name it also broke it in terms of his ability to get further work, there was some, but it could have been so much more.

  Adrian Carter instigated and now runs the Utzon Centre which tries to promote the ideas of  Jørn Utzon.

  The photo above is of the sketch made by Saarinen that helped Utzon win the competition and can be found online at Yale’s Saarinen database here.

  One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/15/j%c3%b8rn-utzon-lecture-report/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/08/amsterdam-weekend/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/08/amsterdam-weekend/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 09:03:15 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1144

  We spent a weekend a couple of weeks ago in Amsterdam, so I was back in the city I lived in for two years after being away for seven. It struck me being back there again how strong the memories came back. From the pea shooter rat-a-tat of the old bike coming up the street behind you. To the smell of the streets, briney, dirty and rough. I remembered again how busy Amsterdam was compared to the comparative emptiness of Helsinki and the organic quality of the city at eye level. Hardly any building line is straight, or repeated. It feels like the city sways with the canals, moves with the muddy earth beneath on imperceptably slow waves. Contrasted with Helsinki which feels planted motionless  on the hard rock beneath. The shabby chique of the nine canals seemed a little more chique this time around but otherwise everything was mostly as it was. A beautiful city full of the undiscovered around every corner.

  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/05/08/amsterdam-weekend/feed/ 0 52.3751717 4.8890877 http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/29/j%c3%b8rn-utzon-lecture-in-helsinki/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/29/j%c3%b8rn-utzon-lecture-in-helsinki/#comments Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:14:20 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1147

  There is going to be a Jørn Utzon Lecture in the Atheneum on 14th May at 5pm given by Adrian Carter the Director of the Utzon centre. Drop me a line if you are going to be there.

  6 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/29/j%c3%b8rn-utzon-lecture-in-helsinki/feed/ 6 http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/21/svenskar/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/21/svenskar/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:38:42 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1142 The Swedish speaking finns or Svenskar constitute an important minority in Finland, but their genetic origins are a little uncertain (see wikipedia), there being much argument about how much immigration from Sweden happened and how much assimilation into the language of government was made. A study just made appears to confirm that there was a significant amount of immigration into Western Finland to the Swedish speaking areas. (via)

  The Finnish population in Northern Europe has been a target of extensive genetic studies during the last decades. The population is considered as a homogeneous isolate, well suited for gene mapping studies because of its reduced diversity and homogeneity. However, several studies have shown substantial differences between the eastern and western parts of the country, especially in the male-mediated Y chromosome. This divergence is evident in non-neutral genetic variation also and it is usually explained to stem from founder effects occurring in the settlement of eastern Finland as late as in the 16th century. Here, we have reassessed this population historical scenario using Y-chromosomal, mitochondrial and autosomal markers and geographical sampling covering entire Finland. The obtained results suggest substantial Scandinavian gene flow into south-western, but not into the eastern, Finland.Male-biased Scandinavian gene flow into the south-western parts of the country would plausibly explain the large inter-regional differences observed in the Y-chromosome, and the relative homogeneity in the mitochondrial and autosomal data. On the basis of these results, we suggest that the expression of ‘Finnish Disease Heritage’ illnesses, more common in the eastern/north-eastern Finland, stems from long-term drift, rather than from relatively recent founder effects. (link)

  
  

  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/21/svenskar/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/09/finland-heroin-country/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/09/finland-heroin-country/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:45:27 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1132 That little old granny crossing Mannerheimintie infront of you may just have been a heroin addict. Between 1930 and 1950 Finland consumed more heroin per capita than anywhere else on earth.

  In Northern Europe we were really the odd men out. Finnish heroin consumption was many times higher than that of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland – and just to put that into perspective, we are talking the combined figure of those four countries.

  It was given liberally out during WWII also, see the amazing  story of  Aimo Koivunen a commando during the war and one of the first Finns to overdose on speed. The reason for there being so much use of Heroin in Finland is because it was a prescription drug present in many popular medicines of the time. But when Finland wanted to join the UN it phased out use of the drug quite quickly.

  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/09/finland-heroin-country/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/02/the-skate-house/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/02/the-skate-house/#comments Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:05:42 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1115 The Skate House by Archivirus is a penthouse apartment in Athens turned into a skateable home. The ramp is fully integrated into the home creating a spatial flow for skating or walking (via).
  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/04/02/the-skate-house/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/21/new-finnish-embassy-in-japan/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/21/new-finnish-embassy-in-japan/#comments Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:02:13 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1107

  external view (images copyright Lahdelma & Mahlamäki)

  Architects Lahdelma & Mahlamäki have won the design competition for a new Finnish Embassy in Tokyo. The project is notable for the semi-opaque all glass facade which is patterned. In so much as it conveys an atmosphere or even an imagined landscape by a layering through the different glazing it could be a great project.  Here is a link to the embassy page which annouced the winner, but it leaves a little questionmark as to when the project will be completed.

  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/21/new-finnish-embassy-in-japan/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/12/dynamic-helsinki-website/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/12/dynamic-helsinki-website/#comments Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:35:49 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1094

  The international real estate industry will gather in Cannes, March 10-13 for the MIPIM fair, I’d imagine it will be a sombre affair taking place as it is agaisnt a backdrop of a projected world recession. But Greater Helsinki is bringing an exhibition stand there and it is a historic time for the city as the largest change in Helsinkis’ structure is going on now. When the cargo ports were transferred in 2008 from the city centre to Vuosaari, some 250 hectares of waterfront area were vacated, and here Helsinki will  build 4,5 million floor sqm for housing and almost 2,5 million floor sqm of commercial space. This means homes for about 100 000 people and jobs for tens of thousands. Six urban development projects will be on display at MIPIM. They are Jätkäsaari, Kruunuvuorenranta, Kalasatama, Arabianranta, Finlandiapark and Pasila, and there is website that covers them called Dynamic Helsinki and you can download the pdf brochure too.

  Taken seperately most of these urban projects detailed would be a little uninspiring but together they form a coherent whole which has shortcomings but I think acts as a good basic blueprint for modern urbanisation as opposed to the indiscreet suburbanisation that we see mostly in Helsinki. However against the backdrop of what will probably turn into the first great world depression, it is hard to see at the moment how this vision will be achieved. No doubt the general urbanisation seen in Finland since WWII and continuing since may actually accelerate as Finlands’ traditional industries like the paper and timber industry continue to shrink. This means that the plans for greater Helsinki may not be affected much even as smaller towns and cities in Finland bear the brunt of the economic pain.

  Regardless the marketing of dynamic helsinki of which Richard Florida would no doubt approve has started to take place. I’m partially optimistic the vision is achieveable even if we are yet to see the pain first.

  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/12/dynamic-helsinki-website/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/11/no-new-building-in-finland/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/11/no-new-building-in-finland/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:28:22 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1091 No new private apartment building projects were started in Helsinki , and the equivalent of only three apartment blocks in the whole of Finland were begun between October last year and February this year according to HS.  There is a cold wind blowing so button up!
  3 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/11/no-new-building-in-finland/feed/ 3 http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/10/bad-british-architecture/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/10/bad-british-architecture/#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:20:46 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1086 Bad British Architecture a new blog saying things that need to be said, really rudely, a new must read.

  I hate how noone ever talks about how bad British architecture really is. I hate the bastards who make these buildings. So here I am, taking the piss out of them.

  No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/10/bad-british-architecture/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/06/simulated-ice-field/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/06/simulated-ice-field/#comments Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:29:37 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1066

  Korkeasaari the island that is Helsinki Zoo the most northerly zoo in the world has made a very ambitious 100 million euro redevelopment plan designed by Beckmann-N’Thepe who have a great track record of innovative zoo design. Just look at their simulated environment for Vincennes, France. The photos show a kind of simulated ice field or  glacier, and while it could be seen as a little bit of a cliche to design the thing like a giant piece of ice in Finland we haven’t got one of those yet so why not?  The interior shots are particularly enticing. Oh and I love the idea of putting a cablecar from the shore over to the island they should put a whole system of those around in Helsinki. All Images by B N’T. (via)

  • Map: http://www.lewism.org/?p=1002
    

    
    

    Ola Kolehmainen, member of the Helsinki School a loose collective of artists, has an exhibition on at Kiasma at the moment. His work consists of heavily cropped photos of Modern Architecture, that instantly abstracts them and concentrates the qualities of space, light and surface. What I like about the pictures in particular is that by forcing an abstracted view on the you Ola reveals details you wouldn’t otherwise see.

    Click on the above image for a slideshow. (All photos are from Kiasma website and copyright Ola Kolehmainen.) A building is not a building at Kiasma 26.02.2009 – 26.04.2009

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/03/04/ola-kolehmainen-at-kiasma/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/27/how-to-design/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/27/how-to-design/#comments Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:20:47 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=1016

    Always design a thing by considering it in its next largest context…a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan. Eliel Saarinen

    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/27/how-to-design/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/20/goodbye-dubai-hello-dubai/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/20/goodbye-dubai-hello-dubai/#comments Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:45:06 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=996 A fantastic rant against Dubai and an eloquant rebuttal ( it’s along time since I’ve read such good comments on a blog post).
    3 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/20/goodbye-dubai-hello-dubai/feed/ 3 http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/10/genetic-map-of-europe-2/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/10/genetic-map-of-europe-2/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:22:25 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=892

    Another map and model of predicting where a person will come from in europe based on his genetics.(via) It is only based on common variations and not rare ones so the chances are that the map can be made more accurate in the future at least until the genetic pool gets more mixed up with the increasingly common sight of mixed nationality marriages (even in Finland!).

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/10/genetic-map-of-europe-2/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/06/tegnestuen-vandkunsten-win-alvar-aalto-medal/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/06/tegnestuen-vandkunsten-win-alvar-aalto-medal/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 10:08:26 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=971 The tenth Alvar Aalto Medal was awarded to the Danish architectural practice Tegnestuen Vandkunsten on 03.02.2009. I took a few photos of their conversion of a torpedo factory a little while ago. (via)
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/06/tegnestuen-vandkunsten-win-alvar-aalto-medal/feed/ 0 55.6789932 12.6054382 http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/04/the-ghost-map-by-steven-johnson/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/04/the-ghost-map-by-steven-johnson/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:10:12 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=901 The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
    Amazon.com | uk
    Compare a bacteria with a human, with a city, with the planet. Weave in two personal stories and the clash of ideas and of the inherrant messiness of progress, and you may get the outline of this book. The Ghost Map is at once a real map, but also a metaphor for progress, for navigation of the future using the past. The scale at which this book is written jumps all the time and could have collapsed in on itself because it constantly pans and zooms through its subject matter, yet it always stays focused and gripping.

    The books main story are the events around an outbreak of Cholera in London in 1854 around Broad Street, Soho. Two very different people, John Snow and Henry Whitehead, became entangled in the outbreak and eventually through their efforts the battle against Cholera was won, mega cities became possible and the foundations for modern epidemiology were laid. But to sum it up thus would be to rob this book of its layered approach and the way it branches out to touch on lots of other subjects.

    (...)
    Read the rest of The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson (461 words)

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    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/04/the-ghost-map-by-steven-johnson/feed/ 1 51.5140457 -0.1367930 http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/03/learning-and-drawing/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/03/learning-and-drawing/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:43:48 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=951

    Drawing itself is a part of learning: learning to use one’s eyes to see more intensely -Henry Moore (via)

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/02/03/learning-and-drawing/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/30/jump-london/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/30/jump-london/#comments Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:17:08 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=931 A documentary of Sebastien Foucan the originator of parkour or free running jumping London. (via)
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/30/jump-london/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/28/snow-angels/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/28/snow-angels/#comments Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:50:49 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=907

    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 town square and saw a couple in their mid-thirties. The woman was lying in the snow making a snow angel and the man was taking photos of her. They were smiling and laughing in a state of innocent excitement I’m not used to seeing in adults. It made me smile, it makes me smile every time I think about it actually. The man told us they were from South Africa and had never seen snow before. Photos of the trip are here. The photo above is of  St.Marias’ Chapel bell tower beside the ski slope.

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    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/28/snow-angels/feed/ 1 67.8251953 24.7944260 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/23/white-paint/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/23/white-paint/#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:24:20 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=904 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.
    3 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/23/white-paint/feed/ 3 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/22/holmenkollen-ski-jump/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/22/holmenkollen-ski-jump/#comments Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:17:40 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=863

    
    
    
    

    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.

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    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/22/holmenkollen-ski-jump/feed/ 0 59.9642944 10.6669092 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/21/renewable-energy-and-housing/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/21/renewable-energy-and-housing/#comments Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:56:04 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=812

    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 very interesting because it put  sustainable living at the top of it’s agenda. The housing fair consisted of  3 blocks of flats and many detached and semi-detached houses, and was almost entirely self sufficient in power and heating using two key strategies.

    The first was that of a heat pump system linked to a set of seabed pipes which help to heat the houses in winter and cool them in summer.

    The average temperature of the sediment at a depth of a couple of metres was measured at 8-9°C, even in the middle of winter. This was twice as high compared with sediments on dry land. The seabed sediment stores the sun’s warmth efficiently, thanks to its composition and the body of water on top of it…. In the summer, the devised system can be used conversely to cool down buildings.

    

    The second is  an energy plant for the new housing that is the first SOFC fuel cell power plant in the world and it is powered by methane gas from an nearby rubbish dump. 30% of the energy from the plant is converted into electricity and some 60% into heat. Wärtsilä the company that makes the new system hope to be selling them on the market by 2010.

    • Vassa Housing Fair
    • SOFC Powercell info
    • HS Article
    • map of site
    • Map: #
    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/21/renewable-energy-and-housing/feed/ 1 63.0750618 21.6466713 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/16/minature-concrete-buildings/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/16/minature-concrete-buildings/#comments Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:32:43 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=708 Cute miniature concrete buildings by push+pull. (via) I love the fake drain planter.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/16/minature-concrete-buildings/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/15/white-death-by-robert-edwards/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/15/white-death-by-robert-edwards/#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:21:07 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=692 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, in the West at any rate. Added to this the  Eastern Front and the allies vital alliance with Russia is so little remembered in these notions of that war. (...)
    Read the rest of White Death by Robert Edwards (602 words)

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/15/white-death-by-robert-edwards/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/15/2008-roundup/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/15/2008-roundup/#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:23:52 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=804 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.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/15/2008-roundup/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/14/slussen-proposal/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/14/slussen-proposal/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:14:12 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=766

    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 would work in practise.

    It’s an interesting comparison to make between the Slussen proposal and Helsinkis’ Koivusaari schemes.

    Links:

    • watch the video
    • NOD
    • BIG
    • SLUSSEN
    • AMNP
    • DavidReport – an excellent summary.
    • Map: #
    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/14/slussen-proposal/feed/ 1 59.3215141 18.0725536 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/14/koivusaari-ideas-competition/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/14/koivusaari-ideas-competition/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:34:31 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=761 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.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/14/koivusaari-ideas-competition/feed/ 0 60.1635933 24.8479843 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/13/espoo-hospital/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/13/espoo-hospital/#comments Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:57:52 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=710
    
    
    
    
    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 environment human scale and wellbeing in the widest sense considered makes this a rare and very welcome project in my opinion.
    • Map: #
    5 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/13/espoo-hospital/feed/ 5 60.1756744 24.7024879 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/11/curbed-goes-to-moscow/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/11/curbed-goes-to-moscow/#comments Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:02:51 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=685

    Joey: That’s about 5 buildings in one.

    Lockhart: And 6 of them are ugly.

    (via)
    

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/11/curbed-goes-to-moscow/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/09/better-mortgage-systems/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/09/better-mortgage-systems/#comments Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:43:00 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=677 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 house buying and repaying system and the Danish system looks pretty good to me.

    …The second feature of the Danish system is that mortgage-holders can also buy the bonds in the market and use them to redeem their mortgages. This is useful if a rise in interest rates (or a fall in house prices) causes mortgage-backed bonds to trade at a discount. Redeeming their bonds allows homeowners to reduce the amount they owe.

    The comments in the Economist article are also worth looking at.

    Its interesting to me as a kind of multiple expat how certain systems in countries are seen as unassailable when they can and should be updated regularly to try to improve them. Maybe they should be more like computer software?

    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/09/better-mortgage-systems/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/07/my-music-2008/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/07/my-music-2008/#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:10:46 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=655 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 almost exclusively through my Hi-Fi, so it’s mostly not scrobbled,  and comparing even 320 kbit/s through my ipod connected to my amp is a different experience from a cd through same amp and speakers, so tracking my listening and fully enjoying uncompromised audio still don’t seem to me to be able to be satisfactorily brought together.

    My lastfm profile is therefore a little skewed towards electronica than my actual real listening although if you look at the list below of what I bought last year you will see it still makes up the majority of my purchases.

    A list of the records, in all formats, I bought last year (deep breath!), there must be some I’ve missed and I’ll update if I ever spot them.

    (...)
    Read the rest of My Music 2008 (820 words)

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/07/my-music-2008/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/05/where-is-the-good-new-architecture/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/05/where-is-the-good-new-architecture/#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:22:58 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=556

    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 early to say, a quick look at the emerging Architecture lists from AR for example and you will see much interesting work which maybe hasn’t had the exposure the they deserve yet…

    For 2008 in  Scandinavia the biggest and most important project was probably the Oslo Opera House by Snøhetta (photo above). The next few years though big projects will be fewer and more thinly spread, but as ever I believe some of the best Architecture being produced now is not necessarily budget related.

    3 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/05/where-is-the-good-new-architecture/feed/ 3 http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/01/sennett-and-the-city/ http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/01/sennett-and-the-city/#comments Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:17:52 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=681 A great article about Richard Sennets’ thinking about cities, his big insight and equally large oversight.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2009/01/01/sennett-and-the-city/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/22/star-wars-a-new-heap/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/22/star-wars-a-new-heap/#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:48:51 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=647

    Thirty years after the premiere of Star Wars, the strange chimpanzee crossed another threshold. For the first time in fifty-five hundred years of building cities, more of humanity now lives in them than in rural settlements. In the coming years there will be countless master plans for new mega-cities in Africa, Asia, and South America. We can only hope that these plans will be drawn by disciples of Jane Jacobs, students of Robert Morris, admirers of Robert Smithson, and fans of Star Wars. (link)

    4 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/22/star-wars-a-new-heap/feed/ 4 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/19/antikythera-mechanism/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/19/antikythera-mechanism/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:08:36 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=619 Decoding the Heavens is a book about the Antikythera mechanism a 2000 year old device that could conceivably be called the worlds first computer. There is a nice short video of the man responsible for rebuilding it describing what it does.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/19/antikythera-mechanism/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/18/religious-debates/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/18/religious-debates/#comments Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:20:51 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=612 A huge page of links to debates about the existence of god.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/18/religious-debates/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/17/facebook-fear/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/17/facebook-fear/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:19:42 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=610 Last week I took the plunge and joined facebook although maybe I shouldn’t have ( & it’s strangely addictive!).
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/17/facebook-fear/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/16/archinect-t-shirts/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/16/archinect-t-shirts/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:01:52 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=598

    Archinect has a new set of t-shirt designs just out and I just ordered my steel on asphalt. I like the latest designs alot more than the ‘architecture sucks’ design which ‘sucks’ and has been around since forever. Archinect T-shirts.

    • aktt_notify_twitter: no
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/16/archinect-t-shirts/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/15/20-worst-album-covers-of-2008/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/15/20-worst-album-covers-of-2008/#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:35:28 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=596 It’s the season for lists and this years 20 worst album covers is a set of terrible album covers, with some brilliant one line put downs.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/15/20-worst-album-covers-of-2008/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/12/waterfront-hotel-approved/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/12/waterfront-hotel-approved/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:49:39 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=589 According to HS the proposed waterfront hotel by Herzog and DeMeuron has been approved and it’s almost all over for the objectors. The mayor stated that it was nice to get a major building financed by private money, and I guess they thought that the project would inject some life into the whole harbour regeneration which is needed. I’m sure this will remain the most controversial building project in Finland for many years whatever happens next. (HS article) (previously)
    2 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/12/waterfront-hotel-approved/feed/ 2 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/11/old-maps/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/11/old-maps/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:54:51 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=582 A beautiful set of very early world maps and nice article about them. From a time when a map was just as much about your world view, religious convictions and contacts, as about your map making ability.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/11/old-maps/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/11/a-new-nation/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/11/a-new-nation/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:47:33 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=585 Greenland Population of 57,000 has voted for independence from Denmark, although full independence is probably about 10 years away.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/11/a-new-nation/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/10/climate-change-made-by-man/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/10/climate-change-made-by-man/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:45:51 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=579 OK so unfortunately the web is full of crazy people with their zombie arguments, where loudly worded statements seem to drown out careful investigation into a subject. Particularly if it doesn’t correspond with your worldview. A good example of this is Climate change. Evidence for climate change caused by man is overwhelming full stop. Watch these two videos. Then try playing global warming sceptic bingo. There are plenty of deniers (comments in this article are worthy of reading carefuly) out their but read their sources and the way they have made their calculations and it soon becomes apparent how biased they are. Better we try to get on with fixing our own problem don’t you think!
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/10/climate-change-made-by-man/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/09/nimipaiva/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/09/nimipaiva/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:44:07 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=576 It’s our Daughter’s Name Day today (Nimipäivä), something only our neighbour remembered because coming from the U.K. the practice of name days has died out (if it was ever alive!). When I was growing up I associated it with saints days in predominately Catholic countries. It seems I was slightly wrong and at least Orthodox Christian countries also celebrate this which I guess might indicate pre christian origins.

    Anyway the official Name Days of Finland is published by the Almanac Office at the University of and contains all Finnish official Name Days lists (Finnish, Swedish, Sami and Greek Catholic).

    So I thought I’d try to establish the name day for our son whose name is not ‘Finnish’ and therefore not covered in the official Finnish list. Wikipedia name day also gives an American name day calendar which started in 1982. Interestingly the 1982 and 2008 days for my son’s birthday are different, but the latest one seems good enough for us. That’s January 21st.

    Another thing worth mentioning, that the more I looked at these lists, their differences and indeed similarities, the Swedish and Finnish ones seem totally aligned for instance, I can’t help thinking this is all mostly based on nothing more than precedence.

    Other Links:

    Happynameday | americannamedaycalendar

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/09/nimipaiva/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/08/waterfront-hotel/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/08/waterfront-hotel/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:49:16 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=568

    Herzog and DeMeurons’ proposed Waterfront Hotel on Katajanokka will be opposed it seems tooth and nail by the Finnish Architectural Establishment. Last Thursday a Revised Scheme was handed in to the City Plannning Authority , while a couple of hours earlier a petition from 34 Architetcure and Planning Professors lead by Juha Leiviskä oppposing the scheme was handed in.

    I’m not really surprised by this opposition, since I first posted about this project it seems to be that the tide of professional opinion in Finland has turned almost totally against it, and while I think the cladding design is innovative and potentially world class the planning of the building into the public waterfront space appears missing among other concerns, in what is the most controversial building plot in the whole of Finland.
    

    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/08/waterfront-hotel/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/04/lost-america/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/04/lost-america/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:32:38 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=547

    Lost America is night photography of the abandoned west.

    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/04/lost-america/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/03/buildings-as-skateparks/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/03/buildings-as-skateparks/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:54:11 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=560

    Following on from my review of Skateboarding, Space and the City, Wired has a nice article about some recently finished buildings in which the Architects have conciously included for skate design. The Oslo Opera House by Snøhetta where skateboarders were consulted;

    “We spoke to them about surface textures and the areas they prefer,” architect Simon Ewings.

    Also the Phaeno Science centre by Zaha Hadid and a park in Barcelona by FOA were designed with skaters in mind. Read the full article in Wired.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/03/buildings-as-skateparks/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/03/open-source-food/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/03/open-source-food/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:16:34 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=542 Lots of great recipies, and a nice user interface it must be  open source food yum yum.
    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/03/open-source-food/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/02/venice-floods/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/02/venice-floods/#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:38:03 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=539 Yesterday Venice was being hit by the biggest flood it has had in the last 20 years (1.56m). An underwater dam called the MOSE project to help protect the city is due for 2011. The dam consists of a series of gates 20 metres wide and up to 30 metres high which lie at the bottom of the lagoon and would be inflated to prevent a flood. Why we should save a city which threatens to become no more than a ghost town you can see by watching Francesco da Mostos’ Venice.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/02/venice-floods/feed/ 0 45.4340820 12.3415947 http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/01/jorn-utzon-dies-aged-90/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/01/jorn-utzon-dies-aged-90/#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:51:43 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=534 Jørn Utzon RIP you will be missed.

    update: Deyan Sudjic has a well written obituary in The Guardian & The Economist.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/12/01/jorn-utzon-dies-aged-90/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/30/site-change/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/30/site-change/#comments Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:17:48 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=486 I have just updated this site with a new theme which I made myself. It’s heavily inspired by Openswitchs’ theme of about six months ago which he moved on from pretty quickly but I really loved. I however saw similar designs by Extralogical, eightface, and binarybonsai all which have in some part inspired me to go to a single column layout.

    This being a blog its really about the content and writing and I hope the new theme will help focus everyone on that, well me at least.  The format should help me also make asides in a better way and differentiate between shorter link posts and proper articles. The sidebars are at the bottom with a thinner one for shorter lists and wider one for text and longer more structured lists.

    Also I wanted to have a go and do a little CSS, I also got pulled into some PHP as well, and it made me realise how much like a building a webpage can be, I could go off on one with a debate about structure/decoration compared to php/css rant but I’ll refrain from proving to you all my own madness.

    The Design is called Rorschach, for a few reasons, and it’s a Sandbox theme with a couple of tweaks. It’s unfinished at the moment and comments and single page in particular are legible but not set out that well. Spacing is a bit wonky in explorer, I’ll fix and tweak this over time though and try to clean up the css as I go. So pay a visit to this site, have a poke around and please tell me what you think.

    Some sandbox Resources:

    • Check out op111.net for a great starter on how to choose your minimalist design.
    • Plaintxt of course for THE sandbox.
    • Themeshaper the blog is a great resource and Thematic should be on everyones shortlist for a theme.

    Phew! this monkey has been on my shoulder for a while, glad that’s out of the way. Oh and thanks to kickflop for the php code for the date alteration and everyone on the sandbox forum.

    5 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/30/site-change/feed/ 5 http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/29/rip-palast-der-republik/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/29/rip-palast-der-republik/#comments Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:09:17 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=521 RIP Palast der Republik. A strange and unwanted temple to communism has been demolished. There is a great short film which will tell you why the Palast der Republik and its demolition is important and divides opinion so strongly.
    4 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/29/rip-palast-der-republik/feed/ 4 http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/28/21st-century-atlas-of-world-architecture/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/28/21st-century-atlas-of-world-architecture/#comments Fri, 28 Nov 2008 07:52:35 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=510 The Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century Architecture is out for Christmas (isn’t it about 92years early?). The Times does a nice little review of this coffee table bound volume. I particularly like the bit about the Nordics, although Sweden is conspicuously absent.

    Norway, Finland and Denmark: for consistent quality, these three are always in the top ten: wealthy, design-literate nations, with quality buildings, though their architecture, heavy on sublime engagement with nature, can lack passion.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/28/21st-century-atlas-of-world-architecture/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/27/job-cuts/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/27/job-cuts/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:21:27 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=506 Construction company Skanska to cut 600 jobs in Finland, YIT is doing the same. I sense the ground about to disappear below our feet as the construction industry approaches a state of coma. The signs are not good.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/27/job-cuts/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/27/architectionary/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/27/architectionary/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:18:57 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=501 Architectionary for definitions, CAD blocks and Sketch up tutorials. (via)
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/27/architectionary/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/26/sundsvall-art-centre/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/26/sundsvall-art-centre/#comments Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:59:55 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=478

    Harri Mäkiaho a Finnish Architect has just won a competition for a new Art Centre and Theatre in Sundsvall, Sweden. The entry was called Kräfta. The Swedish Architects Association has a page on it with some good images and plans. It’s a really nice project and deserved winner, and the jury description is mostly quite accurate.

    However rather that the jury calling it completely original I believe it as a strong development of recent themes in Finnish Architecture, JKMM’s Verkatehdas springs to mind as do a couple of recent schools. This does not detract from the scheme, actually in my view it adds to it. By developing successful methodology and adapting them you have a blueprint for an excellent building without having to raise it to the level of virtuoso artistic creation wholly original. Anyway Sundsvall is getting an excellent building.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/26/sundsvall-art-centre/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/21/kim-h%c3%b8ltermand/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/21/kim-h%c3%b8ltermand/#comments Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:14:06 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=464

    Some really great non figuritive photography here by Kim Høltermand Lots of contemporary Danish Architecture I’m really enjoying looking through his site, trying to pick my next desktop background. (via)

    2 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/21/kim-h%c3%b8ltermand/feed/ 2 http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/18/stair-porn/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/18/stair-porn/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:06:55 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=460 Stair Porn oooh yes baby!
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/18/stair-porn/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/17/locating-helsinki/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/17/locating-helsinki/#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:10:43 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=456 The serendipity of the web lead me to Locating Helsinki, an excellent blog that documents urban Helsinki in all its quirks and small wonders. My favoutrite so far is the rather roughly built ski jump that sits on a hillside between two big developments.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/11/17/locating-helsinki/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/20/helsinki-biennale-2008/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/20/helsinki-biennale-2008/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:42:40 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=449

    Helsinki Biennale 2008 is going to be a World Fair. We have secretly built pavillions and all that shit in the cellar of Design Museum Helsinki. The World Fair will take place 25.10.2008–25.1.2009. It will be noisy, magnificent, and über gigantic. More than 50 most interesting artists from Finland and over 100 of our favorite artists from abroad. If sleep is the new black, Helsinki Biennale 2008 is wearing all white!

    Aki-Pekka Sinikoski, Head of Helsinki Biennale

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/20/helsinki-biennale-2008/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/19/skatebaording-space-and-the-city/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/19/skatebaording-space-and-the-city/#comments Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:35:24 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=413 Skateboarding, Space and the City

    by Iain Borden

    amazon.com|.uk

    Iain Borden effectively tells the history of the rise of skateboarding, board and boardpark history and the evolution of skateboarding itself. Lefebvre‘s The Production of Space is the main jumping off point for this book but necessarily reinterpreted through the attitude of skateboarders to the city. Actually its better than that because it really well explains how space is a personal production by necessity in a city whether actively engaged in or not.

    The effective telling of skateboarding subculture also gives this book the edge and authority to challenge the politics of city planning at the most basic level. I like it particularly because its theory rooted in practice, not just a post-modern abstract philosophical theory bootstrapped onto architectural thought like so many post-modern theories over the last 20 years. Its not often that this tightrope between theory and reality is so deftly navigated in Architectural discourses and the result is a book that has something to say to everyone.

    7 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/19/skatebaording-space-and-the-city/feed/ 7 http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/16/saarinen-under-threat/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/16/saarinen-under-threat/#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:43:50 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=429

    Gabion has an article on Saarinen’s London Embassy and how it is under possible threat (via). But the support is by no means unequivocal, and that’s par for the course in the UK especially where most Architectural critics still can’t seem quite to escape from the Pevsner monologue whispering to them in their heads.

    It contrasts greatly with the gushing over Corbusier provoked recently by a big retrospective of his work in Liverpool. I don’t buy it. Corb was great but also greatly flawed, as David Byrne wrote really well about in his journal.

    It’s not even that le Corb’s form of Cartesian logic in design was fundamentally formulaic but that it also misrepresented itself. Corbusiers image of modernism doesn’t match up to Saarinens enquiry from fundamentals that go into his buildings, which unlike Corb’s, unite technology and engineering into the Architetcure not merely subsuming them.

    Le Corbs buildings in other words speak eloquently of an imagined machine-made rational future while being mostly hand built with traditional technology. While Saarinens buildings really did investigate and innovate with technology while conveying the aspirations of what was required and appropriate for the building.

    Don’t get me wrong Le Corbs legacy can be picked over but his place as a great Architect is undeniable, its just I’d take Aalto over Corb, and Saarinen over Mies any day of the week……OK I feel much better now I got that off my chest, rant over.

    Other Links – Yale’s Archive of drawings for the US Embassy. The photo above is from that Archive and is a set of alternative sketch’s made of the elevation.

    update: only U.S. firms will be eligible to design the new U.S. embassy.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/16/saarinen-under-threat/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/10/close-encounters/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/10/close-encounters/#comments Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:49:40 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=427 Timothy Ryback had a closer encounter than he would have liked with the subject of his new bookHitler’s Private Library: The Books That Shaped His Life. While Looking through an Architectural History of Berlin he recounts what he discovered between pages 160 & 161

    a wiry inch long black hair that appears to be from a moustache

    Enough to give you the shivers. (via)

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/10/close-encounters/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/07/shanghai-expo-2010-finnish-pavillion/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/07/shanghai-expo-2010-finnish-pavillion/#comments Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:34:08 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=415

    The Finnish Pavillion at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 will be built to a design by JKMM. Called ‘Kirnu’ which I think translates as (milk?) churn. A somewhat understated iconic design with a really promising internal space that opens out to the sky. I quite like it but……

    I wonder however how relevant expos are to the Architectural debate nowadays in the age of starchitects, blogs and the international media. With national borders never lower for Architects at least in these big projects there seems little differentiation or dialogue in the expo buildings of the last 20 years.

    I can think of only a handfull of expo buildings in that time that have been remebered when the expo closes its doors. Whereas some of the buildings of the prewar expos have been hugely influential even while no longer existing. They probably serve a different function nowadays anyway being basically stage settings for countries as buisnesses.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/07/shanghai-expo-2010-finnish-pavillion/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/01/open-house-helsinki-2008/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/01/open-house-helsinki-2008/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:12:28 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=408 Open House Helsinki is on 02.10.2008 this year. A good Finnish and English programme also. Highlights for me look to be  the visit to the ‘Bunkkeri’ and Lecture by Bjarke Ingels of (BIG).
    2 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/10/01/open-house-helsinki-2008/feed/ 2 http://www.lewism.org/2008/09/19/fortress-finland/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/09/19/fortress-finland/#comments Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:20:45 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=399

    When the Russians controlled Finland they built a nationwide network of fortifications. Afraid of a Barbarossa style attack and capture of the then Capitol St. Petersburg. Helsinki was also fortified although most of these fortifications were never used. Now much is destroyed or ignored, while some houses have old fortifications running through their gardens.

    Links

    Krepost Sveaborg – A great site to find out about the Helsinki Fortifications in particular.

    HS has taken some photos (list) of how they are now – zoom out on the map to about 10km and you will see what I mean.

    Finland for Thought there are some good comments here too.

    hugovk has some good photos.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/09/19/fortress-finland/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/09/05/genetic-map-of-europe/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/09/05/genetic-map-of-europe/#comments Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:46:20 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=383

    Biologists have made a genetic map of Europe which as you can see roughly resembles Europe Geographically.

    The map also identifies the existence of two genetic barriers within Europe. One is between the Finns (light blue, upper right) and other Europeans. It arose because the Finnish population was at one time very small and then expanded, bearing the atypical genetics of its few founders.

    A couple of things come to my mind on seeing this map. One is the surprising genetic distance between Sweden and Finland, although Finland was part of the Swedish Empire for over 400 years, suggesting that Swedish immigration over that time really was small. Also that Poland faces Finland on the map but where do the Eastern Eurpean states figure, countries like Estonia for example, and it would be really interesting to map Russia onto this too.

    Via  actHeliski & NYT

    Also found a periodic table of Europeans.

    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/09/05/genetic-map-of-europe/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2008/09/02/tactile-maps/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/09/02/tactile-maps/#comments Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:14:34 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=366

    The image above is of a tactile map made by the Inuit of parts of the coast of Greenland. It seems the Inuit mapped their territory by songs, legends and these tactile maps. It also shows how the empirical world of space as the empty side of a binary relationship with place is badly flawed.

    The Inuit like the Aboriginal songlines show in these artifacts that place can equate to person hood and space. That they are embodied in a personal and spatial relationship to a whole.

    I saw these hand maps and also thought of my mobile phone which has gps built in. Now wouldn’t it be possible to make gps phones become like tactile maps buzzing and vibrating when you take a wrong turn for instance. Moving through space would become an experience of touch not just vision.

    via tightgrid & middlesavagery (& the images)

    

    3 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/09/02/tactile-maps/feed/ 3 http://www.lewism.org/2008/08/22/is-it-feasable/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/08/22/is-it-feasable/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:07:11 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=370 A great sketch of The Architects from Smack the pony (via). Maybe its a bit too close for comfort watching if you are an Architect or engineer!
    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/08/22/is-it-feasable/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2008/08/15/nightlands/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/08/15/nightlands/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:21:57 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=356

    Nightlands Nordic building by Christian Norberg-Schulz.

    Amazon (uk|us)

    
    A tip off from a reader of this blog sent me to this book for which I will be eternally grateful. First I should start with a warning you that this is not a coffee table publication, the pictures are sparse and in black and white. However if you want to really get a feel for Scandinavian Architecture, indeed to really get under the skin of the differences between Scandinavian Architecture and the rest of the world then this is the book to start with. Not only does it give a convincing picture of ‘northerness’ but it paints a credible narrative of not only the primordial origins of Scandinavian Architecture but the differences within the Scandinavian countries too. It’s theory but unlike much Architectural theory it strives to be to the point and understandable. It’s well written too with some great, almost poetic texts. If you like theory but may not be immediately interested in Scandinavian Architecture get it anyway as it is often able to eloquently speak of the universalities of Architecture, for example;

    Architecture, in other words, is a form of understanding of the given environment. As such, it consists in explanation of the unity of life and place, in order that we may understand where we are, how we are, what we are. When successful, architecture becomes the art of building and thereby representation of an inhabited landscape.

    This books grand conceit is the construction of a narrative of the different Architectures of the Scandinavian countries, and that it basically succeeds in its aim to show the unifying and differing gestalts in Scandinavia is a credit to the author.

    One question that arises, that the book doesn’t cover, is what about in this post-modern age where Architects roam a lot more freely across national boundaries and Architectural internships are often served abroad how are national architectures affected? Finland for example seems very much inward looking still, with almost all of the emerging Architects offices having served out their apprenticeships for better or for worse in Finland. But what about Denmark for example which seems so influenced at the moment by Dutch Architecture with people like Bjarke Ingels having worked for Rem Koolhaas in the Netherlands? The sort of national architectural historical arc that Architects are described as being within in this book may already be about to be a thing of the past.

    3 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/08/15/nightlands/feed/ 3 http://www.lewism.org/2008/07/05/wuxi-opera-house/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/07/05/wuxi-opera-house/#comments Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:44:13 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=352

    Finnish Architects PES, have beaten 3XN from Denmark, von Gerkan, Marg und Partner (GMP) from Germany, M.A.O. from Japan and Architecture-Studio from France to the new Wuxi Opera House. The project should be completed by 2010, I guess they want it ready for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/07/05/wuxi-opera-house/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/07/04/finnish-pavillion-1900/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/07/04/finnish-pavillion-1900/#comments Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:36:24 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=353 The Finnish Pavillion at the 1900 Paris World Fair has been recreated digitally by the Media Lab at the University of Art and Design Helsinki (TaiK). The building was drawn by architects Eliel Saarinen, Herman Gesellius, and Armas Lindgren.

    Wearing circular polarization glasses and using a mouse the visitor is able to access a space created using stereoscopic a display. The virtual model of the pavilion can be examined both inside and outside. Spatial sounds make the experience feel real, as if one would be moving inside a historical building. Inside the pavilion model there are digital three-dimensional replicas of some artifacts that were exhibited in Paris.

    You can visit the virtual reconstruction in Helsinki in Design Museum Fennofolk – New Nordic Oddity exhibition during 11 June – 28 September 2008. Makes me wonder if there is an Uncanny Valley for immersive 3d visualisations. Its a certainly a step up from the Recreation of Aalto’s 1939 Pavillion which seems now to be offline.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/07/04/finnish-pavillion-1900/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/30/aalto-university/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/30/aalto-university/#comments Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:23:03 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=351 The Aalto University has been created in Helsinki. Made up of the current Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economics and the University of Art and Design, its doors will open August of 2009. Its quite big news because of the groupings these represent. Design, Technology and Economics meaning that policy makers in Finland clearly think that for Finland economically the way ahead is with technology based design in different disciplines.

    Apart form being forward thinking to take this attitude, its of course a little controversial, how influential will the economics department be on the artists so to speak, and how well can they or should they integrate? I think there is probably a deeper underlying trend also and that is not only design as a key economic leader but that design and high technology are more and more integrated subconsciously into our daily lives and this is a common theme universally across disciplines.

    3 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/30/aalto-university/feed/ 3 http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/25/deadlines/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/25/deadlines/#comments Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:24:34 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=350

    I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by. -Douglas Adams

    If everything’s under control, you’re going too slow. -Mario Andretti

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/25/deadlines/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/18/living-room-for-helsinki/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/18/living-room-for-helsinki/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:31:07 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=347 Juha Ilionen a Finnish Architect has a website of 31 proposals for the centre of Helsinki. Living room Helsinki is all in Finnish but covers a series of different interventions into the fabric of the centre to improve it and create or add to existing public space with a variety of functions. Some are larger proposals and some are little vignettes which would add almost imperceptibly except for the very immediate residents around. Overall I love this series of proposals and hope and wish someone in the planning office in the city has the foresight to implement at least some of them.
    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/18/living-room-for-helsinki/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/16/most-liveable-cities-2008/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/16/most-liveable-cities-2008/#comments Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:25:28 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=348 Monocle a magazine I like (wish I could love it, but can’t just yet) has published their annual review of most liveable cities (also see this ft article). Helsinki is up to no.5 (I think it was something like no.12 last year).(...)
    Read the rest of Most Liveable Cities 2008 (40 words)
    3 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/16/most-liveable-cities-2008/feed/ 3 http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/11/mapping-the-invisible/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/11/mapping-the-invisible/#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:28:47 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=345 The Norwegian Collection of Potential Architecture is beautiful idea about preserving and distributing the unrealised projects of Norweigian Architects. Like ruined Simulacra.

    Archigram’s Walking Cities, Koolhaas’s Parc de la Villette, Mies van der Rohe’s Project for an Office Building in Friedrichstrasse in Berlin, Boullée’s Newton’s Cenotaph, Le Courbusier’s Contemporary City for Three Million Inhabitants and Sverre Fehn’s Royal Theatre in Copenhagen are all examples of unrealised projects that have influenced the world in different ways. Never built, but still representing significant contributions to the development of the discipline, of cities and of society.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/11/mapping-the-invisible/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/11/laituri/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/11/laituri/#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:31:38 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=346 Helsinki City Planning Department has a new public exhibition space, cafe and forum in the Centre of Helsinki called Laituri on Narinka square. The city which really boomed once after WWII is changing again over the next few years drastically and there are massive plans being made. This is a place where they can be shown, and debated which is really great, hopefully it can be a great forum for debate on the future of the city.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/11/laituri/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/10/finnish-architecture-0607/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/10/finnish-architecture-0607/#comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:52:15 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=342 Every two years the Museum of Finnish Architecture (MFA) puts on an exhibition of the best 25 buildings by Finnish Architects over the previous two years. 0607 Started last week in Helsinki and is shortly opening in Paris in their Architecture centre also, but I have assembled a guide to each building in the exhibition just in case you aren’t in Helsinki or Paris this summer, or are in Finland and actually want to visit a building or two. Its a kml which you can download in google earth or view in google maps (see the links at the bottom of this post). I have visited some of the buildings already and thought to write a few words about it before I go.

    Firstly I think its a fair reflection of where Finnish Architecture is today and the only building I know about and that I’m surprised is not in is the Kotilo or Seashell house by house by Olavi Koponen. Private houses and public competition lead schemes provide most of the best work with Sandels Cultural Centre by Juha Leiviskä being one that stands out for me in particular, maybe because I have visited it.

    Housing is again the week link in the exhibition, and shows up I would say are major weaknesses in the housing market in Finland. Apartment blocks here really are basically terribly boring. Both the construction method which is universally precast elemental block design and the conceptualisation of these designs is monotonous in the extreme non of the invention and risk taking evident in Danish housing at the moment are on show here. Even a cursory look at 0607 and then the previous buildings published in the previous two exhibitions in 0504 and 0302 would show you that in this area Finnish design is stagnant, staid and doesn’t serve the public well at all. A notable exception is the Triadi apartments by Huttunen–Lipasti–Pakkanen architects, was it a private commission? – I’ll see if I can find out .

    Also why not a proper website for this exhibition and the previous ones? If you want to market Finnish Architecture design to the world you must include this method. It was actually done better previously see Finland Bygger website which covers Finnish Architetcure between the years 1992-97 before this current bi-annual format was launched. This format is, I think, an excellent way to provide a continuously updating overview of the Architecture scene here, the missing exhibition website is a big oversight however if you want to push Finnish Architecture internationally.

    The kml I have made is a network link so when I update locations and descriptions after I see the exhibition in person, the file will also update automatically, in the meantime I hope you find it interesting. I will also at some point soon add the previous two exhibitions to the file. It is also worth noting that at the moment Google Earth has surprisingly bad imaging outside of Helsinki. Tampere and Turku Finland’s next biggest cities and with populations approaching 200,000 have no good satelite data at all, please google I hope you can change this soon.

    FINNISH ARCHITECTURE 0607 is at the MFA between (4.6.2008 – 28.9.2008)

    0607KML (GoogleEarth network link)(Googlemaps)

    3 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/06/10/finnish-architecture-0607/feed/ 3 http://www.lewism.org/2008/05/27/going-going-gone/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/05/27/going-going-gone/#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 18:31:48 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=341 In the last ten years nearly 200,000 Britons have emigrated away from the UK (including me!). I guess most of them have gone to the English speaking new world somewhere , but where should they have gone?  Of course the answer is Iceland which is currently first in the UN index of human development making them the happiest people on earth. Finland is 11th just ahead of the USA at 12 and the UK at 16. But why Iceland, personally the weather would put me off, but quoting this guardian article there are some pretty strong reasons for making the case for Iceland;

    It is the country with the sixth highest GDP per ca pita in the world; where people buy the most books; where life expectancy for men is the highest in the world, and not far behind for women; it’s the only country in Nato with no armed forces (they were banned 700 years ago); the highest ratio of mobile telephones to population; the fastest-expanding banking system in the world; rocketing export business; crystal-pure air; hot water delivered to all Icelandic households straight from the earth’s volcanic bowels; and so on and so forth.

    So there you go plenty of reasons to move if you need them!

    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/05/27/going-going-gone/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2008/05/07/40-under-40-2008/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/05/07/40-under-40-2008/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 17:23:41 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=340 The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies has announced the winners of its annual trawl of Europe for this continents upcoming talent 40 under 40 2008.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/05/07/40-under-40-2008/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/24/a-tribute-to-j%c3%b8rn-utzon/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/24/a-tribute-to-j%c3%b8rn-utzon/#comments Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:49:54 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=339

    Jørn Utzon is 90 years old this year and the Danish Architectural Press’s Architectural Magazine dk asked some Architects to send him a sketch greeting and they obliged. The result is dk 2008 02 a fantastic issue given over mostly to sketchs of Utzon’s some never seen before, and to sketches and letters to the Architect by other leading Architects, the issue I guess will be hard to get hold of for most people but arcspace has a small excert of some of them that is wonderful to look at. Someone has also put up a gallery of his work on flickr (via). So Jørn Utzon happy birthday and thank you.

    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/24/a-tribute-to-j%c3%b8rn-utzon/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/23/housing-prototypes/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/23/housing-prototypes/#comments Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:04:36 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=338 A realy nice web resource for Housing Prototypes, each project has extensive text, images, drawings, and references. You can also search by Architect, location and building type. I’ve seen and used this site a few times but kept loosing the address, buried deep in my del.icio.us links no doubt.
    2 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/23/housing-prototypes/feed/ 2 http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/22/frank-lloyd-wright-interview-57/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/22/frank-lloyd-wright-interview-57/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:44:35 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=336 An interview with Frank Lloyd Wright from 1957. Not so much interesting from the point of view of any Architectural insight so much as social commentary. Fifty years ago now Wright who in his time was socially anti-establishment seems much more in tune with modern times than the intervewee, who sponsored by a cigarette company tries to get Wright to say something bad about McCarthy and good about Chaplin, and who believes that the youth of America are going to shit.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/22/frank-lloyd-wright-interview-57/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/21/the-age-of-the-cube-is-over/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/21/the-age-of-the-cube-is-over/#comments Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:57:41 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=337 Paola Antonelli and Benoit Mandelbrot talk about the end of the age of the cube and fractal architecture;

    This has been for me an extraordinary pleasure because it means a certain misuse of Euclid is dead. Now, of course, I think that Euclid is marvelous, he produced one of the masterpieces of the human mind. But it was not meant to be used as a textbook by millions of students century after century. ….I don’t feel that Euclid is the way to start learning mathematics. Learning mathematics should begin by learning the geometry of mountains, of humans. In a certain sense, the geometry of…well, of Mother Nature, and also of buildings, of great architecture. (via)

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/21/the-age-of-the-cube-is-over/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/16/magnetic-north/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/16/magnetic-north/#comments Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:02:08 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=335 Johnathan Meades is surely a great contemporary commentator on art and culture. His latest programme Magnetic North is an engaging look at what makes Northern Europe distinct from Southern Europe and why we shouldn’t always automatically look south for our inspiration. The last part covers Helsinki really nicely but its worth watching through in its entirity. You can see both episodes on you tube at the moment as well as many other shows by Meades. (via)
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/16/magnetic-north/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/14/living-on-purpose/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/14/living-on-purpose/#comments Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:06:27 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=333 My Dad has a new book out on 24th April 2008, called Living on purpose. I was back over at my parents a few weeks ago and Dad was kind enough to give me a copy which I have read already. It’s really excellent and if you are interested at all in life’s bigger questions, like the current clash of science and religion, the theories of consciousness, and the existence of good and evil this book I thoroughly recommend.

    Although I don’t agree with everything in the book I think its major strength apart from the excellent quality of the writing, is that it offers an alternative perspective to the clash between organised religion (most of them plainly ridiculous in their base beliefs) and the scientific materialists view of this world as purely a giant machine with no purpose.

    Its a life affirming and thought provoking book so order it now.

    Buy your copy from floris or amazon |uk|com.

    2 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/14/living-on-purpose/feed/ 2 http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/10/nuage-vert/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/10/nuage-vert/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:58:50 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/?p=328
    Nuage Vert the industrial size art installation and visualisation over the centre of Helsinki over the Ruohlahti power station came to the end in February. The concept was simple, to project a light onto the smoke stack of this coal fired power station, the greater the wattage consumed the smaller the visual image. The artwork not only was a visual success but some data from Helsinki Energy shows it was effective in reducing consumption so well done to them.(...)
    Read the rest of Nuage Vert (132 words)
    One comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/10/nuage-vert/feed/ 1 http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/02/erik-asmussen-lecture/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/02/erik-asmussen-lecture/#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:08:37 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/02/erik-asmussen-lecture/ A Lecture on Erik Asmussen by Gary J. Coates hosted by the Alvar Aalto foundation (details here) is on the 9th April 5pm at the Ateneum. I would love to know more about the Architectural ideas developed from Rudolf Steiner theories he used, but I’m not sure if I can make it, so if anyone is definitely going and wants to report back let me know.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/04/02/erik-asmussen-lecture/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/12/germanys-great-pyramid/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/12/germanys-great-pyramid/#comments Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:11:01 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/12/germanys-great-pyramid/ A new global monument is being planned in Dessau Germany its a giant pyramid that could be 150m high, but it wil be built with human remains, it has a capacity of millions of people, and will take people of all faiths. Obviously there is a website where you can already sign up and reserve your plot for your death.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/12/germanys-great-pyramid/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/11/south-harbour/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/11/south-harbour/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:55:21 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/11/south-harbour/

    ALA architects have produced a new masterplan for the South Harbour. This area really should be the centrepiece of Helsinki for the visitor as well as contributing to the urban centre for the average resident. The connection to the sea established by the original plan and somewhat undermined since will be improved greatly by the ALA masterplan by bringing the park down to the sea and making a new bridge connection with new facilities on either side of the harbour, its all pretty sensible and should add up to a smooth but large transformation of the area. Also included is a plan for a luxury hotel by Herzog and DeMeuron which will probably draw more headlines and which looks like a bit of shiny transplanted nationalism (on plan it looks like the a swiss cross), its hard to tell if it will be any good but I generally really like H&DM projects so hopefully will get built also. Its the shiny building in the image above.

    

    As an aside the plans for Helsinki over the next few years when looked at together are quite staggering, I’ll need to make a post here soon about this slow drip of new projects and what we can expect greater Helsinki to be like in ten years time. There are no real Supermodernist signature buildings by the Starchitects but much smaller scale building which will add up to quite big changes for Helsinki.

    (All images are copright ALA Architects)

    5 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/11/south-harbour/feed/ 5 http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/08/oslo-ski-jump-push-needed/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/08/oslo-ski-jump-push-needed/#comments Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:18:18 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/08/oslo-ski-jump-push-needed/ Julien De Smedt’s competition win for Oslo’s new ski jump (previous article) needs a little push to help it get off the ground. The Architectural Record reported that the project is in jeopardy. JDS have set up a petition website and are due to make final presentations to the city to try and save the scheme. I really hope they can build it, as I think it should be a magnificent project. Go here to find out more and add your name to the petition.
    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/08/oslo-ski-jump-push-needed/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/07/city-library/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/07/city-library/#comments Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:46:51 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/07/city-library/

    On Friday 29.02.2008 Anttinen Oiva Architects won the competition to build a city centre campus library for the University of Helsinki completion is slated as 2011-12. It looks pretty good to me. I Really like the dynamic facades using brick and glass, to match the materials of the street but also conform to the location and program. Its a bit more lively than standard for a big project in Finland which is good too, and I’m waiting to see how they link up with the existing sublevel strees around the metro there.

    4 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/07/city-library/feed/ 4 http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/06/childs-colours/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/06/childs-colours/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:48:20 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/06/childs-colours/ Babies see colour differently than adults researchers have found, babies brains process colour information in pre-linguistic parts of the brain, but adults process colour in linguiostic parts of the brain, which means adults see colour filtered through language. It also means at some point there is a change over in our perceptions of colour. (via)

    “As an adult, color categorization is influenced by linguistic categories. It differs as the language differs,” said Kay, who is renowned for his studies on the ways that different cultures classify colors. He cited recent research on the ability of Russian speakers to detect shades of blue [pdf] that English speakers classify as a single color.

    No comment]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/06/childs-colours/feed/ 0 http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/04/page-123/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/04/page-123/#comments Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:16:40 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/04/page-123/ John Hill of A Daily Dose of Architecture Tagged me with this meme;

    1. Pick up the nearset book (of at least 123 pages).

    2. Open the book on page 123.

    3. Find the Fifth Sentance.

    4. Post the next three sentences.

    5. Tag five people.
    

    Due to my daughters age and strong hands, all books which I used to leave in (not so) neat piles around the house when not in their proper place on the bookshelf are precariously on the shelf in the living room, waiting only for an addition like S, M, L, XL to wrench the shelf off its brackets. The nearest three piles you see in the photo are all being read by me at the moment. They are The Winter Book by Tove Jansson , White Death by Robert Edwards, and Mart Stam’s Trousers by Crimson edited by Michael Speaks and Gerard Hadders published by 010.

    So to keep to Architecture my usual blog topic the quote from Mart Stam’s Trousers follows;

    Everybody knows what everybody else was doing. It was an extremely small community of architects contaminating one another. Eventually you get an outbreak like the 1927 Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart.

    I’m not actually really reading this book at the moment but got it out because of the threat of demolition of the Smithsons seminal Robin Hood Gardens. There is an interview made for this book with Peter Smithson and I wanted to reread and see if he mentioned Robin Hood Gardens (he doesn’t). The quote interetingly is from that conversation and is actually Peter Smithson speaking about the birth of modernism, however, out of context it could serve as a description of the Architecture blogging community if you know what I mean.

    Tagged by me are;

    Jukka, darren, Sarno, Igor, Christoph

    4 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/03/04/page-123/feed/ 4 http://www.lewism.org/2008/02/29/36/ http://www.lewism.org/2008/02/29/36/#comments Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:52:07 +0000 lewism http://www.lewism.org/2008/02/29/36/

    36 9 today, thanks to everyone that has sent a card or sms especially the friends with whom I haven’t been in touch with recently.

    2 comments]]> http://www.lewism.org/2008/02/29/36/feed/ 2