Posts by lewism
Koolhaas Interview in Der Spiegel
These days, when a building is constructed, there is less individual involvement. Take the old SPIEGEL building by Werner Kallmorgen. One can assume that (SPIEGEL founder) Rudolf Augstein saw this building as his personal statement. There was something at stake for him when he had it built. It was supposed to reflect the identity of [...]
So long and thanks Christopher
Christopher Hitchens died yesterday. I happened on Hitchens slapping some inane point down, using almost verbatim the quote below. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of [...]
Portable Cathedrals
Our idea is to offer an alternative to a discourse dominated by the likes of Engadget, Techcrunch, DPReview, Gizmodo et al. Sites like these cover products and services in unparalleled levels of technical detail and with respected in-depth knowledge. Yet they rarely discuss design in any meaningful way or the wider cultural impact of such [...]
100 Estonian Houses
A great, and long post showing again why Estonian Architecture punches way above it’s weight.
B.I.G. in Levi
B.I.G. has won a limited competition for a new Ski resort in Levi in the North of Finland. With a skiable roof and a looping circular plan. Having been to a few Finnish ski resorts including Levi it will be nice to see something different than faux swiss chalet for a change. (via)
South Harbour Results Back
Helsinki’s South Harbour competition has posted the entrants on the web, the results come later. There is alot to chew over here not least that this is the area where the proposed Guggenheim has been proposed to be located, and probably the most controversial development area in Finland right now. You can vote and leave [...]
Ice Cube Talks Architecture
The Eames made structure and nature one. This is going green 1949 style, bitch. Believe that. — Ice Cube (via)
Imre Makovecz
So I just found out that Imre Makovecz the Hungarian Architect had died a few months ago. I wrote my first dissertation on him back in ’92 -´93. In the Summer of 1992 his office was one stop for me on my Eurorail tour. I went to his studio one day, looked round the [...]
Helsinki Dreaming of Tall Buildings
There are a spate of proposed skyscrapers proposed in the Helsinki area at the moment. The most notable of a mostly bland bunch is the still ongoing planning of the Pasila area and now a 33 storey hotel in Jätkäsaari. This hotel design by Davidsson Tarkela is financed by Arthur Buchardt the Norwegian investor who was [...]
Tinkercad
A Helsinki based project called Tinkercad allows you to make 3d drawings which you can then 3d print directly online, all from your web browser. The concept is lovely, simple and integrated. (via)
Timber Construction
Certainly Housing Construction in Finland has a few characteristics that most definitely don’t set it apart from other countries. It is conservative, standardised and utilises prefabrication and concrete to a large degree. Some things are harder to change than others but one thing that just might be changing for the better is in the replacement [...]
Futuro 001
The first Futuro house ever made (of 100 and only 4 left in Finland) has just been bought by the WeeGee gallery in Espoo so it’s future is probably secure. Great news for this Finnish and Architectural icon. If you haven’t heard of the Futuro yet where have you been? It’s THE 60′s UFO house designed [...]
Timber Construction in Finland
Congratulations go to Sitra and HDL there for helping to reshape the fire regulations in Finland. Previously although Finnforest has a 5-storey office and there are some 3 to 4 storey buildings with wooden frames in Finland you couldn’t really go higher. But now the revision of the regulations has prompted SRV and Stora Enso [...]
Helsinki Library Competition
It’s been long expected, but finally announced, there will be an international competition to design Helsinki Library beginning of 2012. The site is in Töölönlahti, in the area between the Makasiinipuisto park and the Töölönlahdenkatu street. update: there is now a website to keep everyone updated about the project. Not to mention Facebook page and twitter [...]
The Future History of the Arctic
The Future History of the Arctic by Charles Emerson (amazon.uk.com) The Arctic is one of man’s frontiers geopolitically, physically and psychologically. Recently the area has been the subject of renewed interest, as the icecaps melt it could be the place where new trade routes open up. Where oil and gas wealth are stored if only [...]
A Real Eco City of the Future
There are other eco cities much talked about at the moment Masdar city or Dongtan to name a couple off the top of my head but Hammarby Sjöstad, a redevelopment in Stockholm Sweden is not one of them. It started out as a redevelopment of an old, barely legal, and much contaminated industrial area, part [...]