Atelier_Woodward: 2009

Tuesday, 29 December 2009

AA Jealousy

A talk from Bjarke Ingels at the AA.....

http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/VIDEO/lecture1.aspx?ID=1128

Thursday, 24 December 2009

Palma by Night

Some images of Palma de Mallorca this Christmas time.

Wednesday, 23 December 2009

The rebuilding of bomb battered England after the second world war could be described as rushed, forced and slightly bastardised from where the modernists left off. Material expression was taken in its most literal sense, using the limited materials available, most notably steel and concrete. The contrast from the picturesque English town made these close quarter living towers somewhat alien objects. Wether theses modernist reconstructions of the old England were for the better is questionable. The Architecture on the other hand is some of the most barbaric accepted within mainstream life. In a critical sense this period was one of expression, repetition and an attempt to reach this utopian dream conceived by the europeans from Ledoux to Le Corbusier. In a time where more and more of these buildings are becoming structurally unstable due to there quick and cheap building method I believe we should celebrate the attempts they made for a better life. Pictured is the work of Erno Goldfinger and Denys Lasdun.

Tuesday, 22 December 2009

Cala Mesquida Conservation Architecture

During a visit to a popular platja in Mallorca, I came across a very elegant, simple and environmentally conscious project for the conservation of the sand dunes. The dunes at the beach have been created gradually over the past 200 years and have also become the homes of a diverse wildlife. The area of this beach has within the last 30 years become a very busy resort for surfers and tourists due to its beauty and large crashing waves from the Mediterranean Sea. The largest cause of the depletion and disturbance of the sand dunes is the footsteps and human contact causing them to move and flatten. The project pictured is a fantastic, locally sourced timber elevated walkway that stretches for 800m long. The repetitive structure and elegant shadows creates for a very pleasant piece of conservation Architecture.

Guilllem Nadal

I had a chance to visit the Centre Cultural Contemporani Pelaires in Palma where an exhibition named 'Sediments' by Guillem Nadal is currently on show. This was the first time I have seen any of Nadal's work but it has made a great impression. The Centre Cultural Contemporani Pelaires is situated in a typical Mallorcan terrace building with exemplary details connecting the original and the contemporary intervention. Clean white surfaces are seamlessly complemented by masonry arches and bold orange blushed stone facades. The threshold created with effortlessly thin planes of glass between the artificial interior of the gallery and the exposed nature of the courtyard is similar to some of Richard Neutra's houses, the Ohara house in California particularly comes to mind. The Ohara house was designed for a Japanese family and Neutra felt particularly important that none of the trees were to be disturbed, so there remains a eucalyptus tree in the centre with the building fabric hugging its presence. The tree is celebrated, as is the amazing view across the silver lake district of California. Anyway... the work on display by Nadal is a series of sculptures using part human part celestial figures growing roots beneath them connecting and expanding on human existence and the configuration of life and nature within the human sphere. The placement of the sculptures was essential, entering the gallery space you soon become surrounded by these roots, remnants of dead forests and decaying organic matter come to mind. This work has been inspirational to me and hopefully you will also explore some of his work....

Saturday, 19 December 2009

Arrived in Mallorca! Glass of wine and everything is fine!

Sent from my iPhone

Friday, 18 December 2009

Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects

The T Bailey Offices explore the idea of using the client’s product, pipes used in wind turbine towers in the construction of their headquarters. This 11,700 sq foot office addition adjoins the existing heavy industrial manufacturing plant of T Bailey. All steel fabrication and erection takes place in the plant adjoining the project. This is a fantastic consideration and specificity approach to design, one that is often forgotten and more regularly worked around to produce a similar result. I applaud Tom Kundig for this and find all of his work inspiring. Take a look at the link below for the firm he is a principal of.... Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects.

http://www.oskaarchitects.com/

Renew, Recycle or Ruin

The evolution of Liverpool, still in the ether.

Bjarke Ingels, Yes is More!

Bjarke Ingels of BIG Architects has recently released an 'Archicomic' expressing his 'Yes is More' Manifesto. Ingels is one of the most in demand young architects of our time and is producing some very interesting and experimental work. There is a very good article about him in Icon Magazine that is well worth reading and also a humorous video when he spoke at TED(Added below). Ingels believes in evolution and transformation of architecture, making every project, so to say adaptable and renewable. I had a chance to flick through this book and it poses a very interesting change from ancient type and formal layouts. It is also refreshing to see a change and an attempt to invigorate students or young minded architects alike. Yes is More is well worth a flick through if not a purchase!

Support Structures

I came across this book on the internet as being described 'A Social Philosophy of Buttresses', and it captured my imagination to if there is a support system we rely on. Is this the government, the law, human instinct, goodwill or simply desire. The gothic revolution of structure and construction brought flying buttresses, the pointed arch and towering Cathedrals. The 20th century brought us the Eiffel tower, engineered bridges and the birth of the skyscraper. I came to consider were will the 21st and 22nd century leave us. Will the spirit of Archigram come true, will Rem Khoolhaas become the new Corbusier. With the Burj Dubai as good as complete what will the new 'new' be. Skyscrapers can continue for ever, but this is predictable and boring. I would like to see inflatable and floating shelters, fold out and collapsable housing, transforming and transportable community centers. What will be our new support system..... I would like an architecture that I can wear as my skin, personal and unique to me, recyclable within an instant and free of any ties or structure! The new structure is no structure!