LLOVE

LLOVE, the exhibition where you can stay for the night
It is an exhibition, but you can stay for the night. You can choose whichever room you like and spend a night in luxury with a smile.

Location: Daikanyama i Studio. Ebisu-nishi 1-36-10, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo(1 minute walk from Daikanyama Station)
Period: 22 October (Fri) – 23 November (Tue)
Inquiries: info@llove.jp
Visiting the hotel rooms:
- on appointment (telephone number will be announced on the HP)
- from 29 October until November 3, the rooms will be open to public from 12 until 17hrs
Entrance fee: none

(to find out more..)

text: http://llove.jp/en/
images: http://www.excite.co.jp/ism/concierge/rid_23175/pid_1.html

afterrabbit

Another Scale of Architecture - Junya Ishigami

Seen from dezain.net, that Fomal Haut has uploaded a photo set of Junya Ishigami's exhibition at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, called 'Another scale of architecture', a well conceived name.

Often dealing with the elements and scales, Ishigami-san has never failed to amaze me by his unique perspectives in architecture, which are extremely powerful and intriguing.

While the collapse of his exhibition piece at Venice Biennale was utter pity (winning a price with it was such a glorious consolation he deserved), we can see in this exhibition that he has taken lightness to a whole new level (and scale) so unbelievable if not actually seen by oneself. The vastness and details are just overwhelming.

See the photoset HERE.

previous post on Junya Ishigami:

- slender and (but) heavy

- a review on [small images] - junya ishigami

image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fomalhaut/sets/72157625119007922/

afterrabbit

White Roofs, Reflective Roofs

A reflective roof coating or white roof, is the best known and most applied of all Green Roof Systems. These systems reduce roof temperatures and thereby save electricity, and are great for almost every application, including residences, apartment buildings, condominiums, townhouses, retail buildings, schools, malls, and hi-rises.

White roof systems involve applying a fluid directly onto the roof. A superior acrylic roof coating waterproofing component and super tough polyester-mat as the reinforcement component is normally used. Compared to most re-roofing alternatives, this system provides an efficient, high-quality solution at a fraction of the cost.

Some of the benefits of white roof systems are:

(to find out more..)

text: http://www.nycgreenroofing.com/

image: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/white-roofs-figh-climate-change-chui.php

afterrabbit

Sperone Westwater Gallery - Foster + Partners

Sperone Westwater celebrates the opening of its new gallery on the Bowery in New York with an inaugural exhibition by Argentinean artist, Guillermo Kuitca. Nearly 35 years after its conception, Sperone Westwater continues to exhibit an international roster of prominent artists working in a wide variety of media. Its new building, designed by Foster + Partners, doubles the exhibition area and pioneers an innovative approach to vertical movement within a gallery setting.

Responding to the compact 25 by 100 foot site, one of the features of the project is a 12 by 20 foot moving gallery, which connects the upper four exhibition floors and allows visitors to move gradually between levels. It is a prominent feature along the Bowery, visible from the street, its gentle pace contrasting with the fast-moving traffic. At any given floor, the exhibition space can be extended by parking the moving room as required, with an additional elevator and stairs providing alternative access..

(to find out more..)

After SANAA, another brilliant art gallery in the form of a skyscraper, is completed on the Bowery by Lord Foster.

Put aside the beautiful proportion of the building.

From altering the scale of the entrance lobby to temporarily increasing gallery spaces, the 'red box' idea is delightful & surprising each time its variety of potentials are revealed, both sensational & practical.

One of the most boring and daunting aspects in spatial design, freight lift in this case, is made the coolest thing in the Sperone Westwater Gallery.

See Lord Foster discusses the design:

text from: http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/416/Default.aspx

images: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/architects/foster_partners.htm http://www.dexigner.com/design_news/sperone-westwater-gallery-opens-on-the-bowery.html

video: http://construction.com/video/?fr_story=1af841a83ffdfbcebac3f79abec2dcc0505985ce&rf=bm

afterrabbit

UIA2011 TOKYO

September 25 to October 1 in 2011

Theme: Design2050

“Climate Change” is one of the most crucial concerns of the global community, stimulating active debate around the world about the post-Kyoto framework. Some governments have proposed a reduction in the world's greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent or even more of 2000 levels by the year 2050.
“Population” is another serious issue. While the global trend has been population explosion, Japan is experiencing a drastic shift towards an aged society due to low birth rates, and this is occurring in many other countries as well. These outcomes of 'FORECASTING' are the major drivers of change in 'DESIGN' for quality of life in a sustainable built environment.
Looking back to 1933, “The Athens Charter” drafted by Le Corbusier et al. at the CIAM that year became a worldwide urban and architectural formula throughout the 20th century. However, we have failed to replace this charter for the 21st century and the vision of a sustainable future remains intangible..

(to find out more..)

text & image: http://www.uia2011tokyo.com/en/about/theme/

afterrabbit

Autodesk Offers Students Free 3-Year Software Licenses

Autodesk is extending the license terms for all free versions of the student software related to its online Education Community from 13 to 36 months.
This license term extension applies to over 25 products available for free download on the Autodesk Education Community.
The license term extension is part of Autodesk's continued effort to support students' pursuit of careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, including architecture and manufacturing.
Today's students face a challenging job market, and Autodesk's goal is to ensure the next generation of designers, engineers and digital artists have access to the same software that professionals use every day.

(to find out more..)

text: http://www.dexigner.com/digital/news-g21380.html

image: hhttp://students.autodesk.com/

afterrabbit

Fridgeezoo - APPARE STORE

watch GIF slideshow:

watch youtube:

Surprisingly small size, it doesn't take up a lot of space in the fridge:

It greets you when the fridge door is opened, and starts complaining when the door remains open for too long.

Apart from this, the cute product by APPARE STORE doesn't have any realistic practically, you can think of it as a waste of resources... in a way.

But for me, I'd love to get one of these (I said they're cute).

Sometimes it is more sustainable to seek such kind of small happiness in life, of which the sources can be the most common and trivial things around you.

In fact, there're many products like this out there, given their relatively small sizes and lack of complications.

What about architecture?

images: http://www.apparestore.com/gadgets-apps/fridgeezoo/

afterrabbit

Palmyra House - Studio Mumbai Architects

Located outside of Mumbai on the Arabian Sea, Palmyra House was built as a refuge from the bustle of the busy city. The 3000 sq ft. house consists of two wooden louvered structures separated by a courtyard and pool, set inside of a functioning coconut plantation. Anchored to stone platforms, the structures overlook a network of wells and aqueducts that weave the site into an inhabitable whole. Living room, study and master bedroom are contained in the north volume, while the south volume contains the kitchen, dining, and guest bedrooms. Set in the plaza between the buildings, the pool provides a channel for swimming towards endless vistas of palm trees to the east and the sea to the west. (to find out more..)

Brilliant example of how modernism can be so rustic and natural.

Here's another 2 projects which I like so much from them: Tara House & Reading Room

Studio Mumbai Architects

text: http://studiomumbaiarchitects.blogspot.com/2007/12/palmyra-house.html

images: http://studiomumbaiarchitects.blogspot.com/2007/12/palmyra-house.html http://inhabitat.com/2010/05/28/stunning-palmya-house-showcases-local-sustainable-materials/

afterrabbit

Rainbow Church, Waterfall

A selection of personal favourites among Tokujin Yoshioka's designs found in his recent exhibitions.

- Rainbow Church -

Tokujin Yoshioka in front of his 9.2m high prisms-wall, which looks rather like a waterfall of lights.

'Everything was difficult. Starting with the selection of the venue... maybe about a year ago the museum contacted me to ask whether I was interested in presenting the project with them. I didn't confirm and looked for an alternative venue for 'Rainbow Church'. Just three months ago I finalized the proposal.(...) The building has a high ceiling, but to build 'Rainbow Church', I had to modify the walls to make the right angle in order to install the prisms. It is 9.2 m high and 500 crystal prisms are used to create the effect I wanted. We spent a week to build it.' - TY

Prisms arranged in different directions to produce richness in effects.

Optical effects of a prism, just one of the basics of optical sciences we learned in high school.

Watercolour sketch of the "Rainbow Church" concept by Tokujin Yoshioka.

Next,

- Waterfall -

"Waterfall" , 2005-2006. Note the incredible shadow cast on the floor.

'Waterfall was commisioned by a private collector. It has been installed in Tokyo since then. It has never been revealed to the public. The initial idea I had for the project was to cut the middle part of the waterfall out. I sorted out the material first. The table is made of a giant optical glass, so it is very special.' -TY

Was it given a wrong name? This one doesn't look like a waterfall compared to the one above. More like a slowly flowing spring, and an incredibly clear one.


Beautiful cut-out piece of water.

--

While I often think he's too much of an upmarket designer (glass, crystals, etc.), hmm...

Still, this guy is no doubt masterful - in capturing the senses of 'time' & 'moment'.

Utilizing his signature palette of transparent materials, he triumphs at producing atmospheres that are much stronger than the material selves. Thumbs up.

TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA INC.

text: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/10045/tokujin-yoshioka-spectrum.html

images: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/10045/tokujin-yoshioka-spectrum.html http://www.excite.co.jp/ism/concierge/rid_13311/pid_1.html http://www.excite.co.jp/ism/concierge/rid_16932/pid_1.html

afterrabbit

Erm.. Performing Centre, Expo 2010 Shanghai

I always had that strange deja vu looking at this Performing Centre for Expo 2010 Shanghai.

And I thought what was it, something as straightforward as the UFO couldn't have caused deja vu.

Until...

Yes.. the soap on the tray, right in front of the w.c.

It makes a lot senses if the architect has done the conceptual sketch when he's... ahem.. shitting.

The architecture strongly resembles many more things, like Doraemon's favourite pancake 铜锣烧 (below), etc.

Whatever the inspiration might be, it's just cool.

images: http://www.chenzhen.me/2010/01/expo-performance-centre/ http://news.sina.com.cn/s/p/2008-12-16/075016855616.shtml

afterrabbit

Lucèste - 谷尻誠 & Toshiba

Lucèste (Luce: Light + Celèste: Heavenly)

is a collaborative spatial-lighting installation between Makoto Tanijiri and Toshiba currently installed at Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2010, Italy.

The design created a soft, edgeless realm where space and distance seems to disappear. At once it may feel strangely claustrophobic, at once it appears deceivingly boundless.

Another main player here is LED lighting technologies from Toshiba. Located at the (no, not ceiling) top of the space is an elliptical hole through which LED light shines in. And colour changes smoothly over time, giving a variety of conditions to the space resembling the inside of a womb, egg, cocoon.. stomach?

You as a new baby who've just come to the world with nothing at all, gaze out to the first ever beam of light and the unbelievably colourful world.

images: http://www.excite.co.jp/ism/concierge/rid_15231/ http://www.excite.co.jp/ism/concierge/rid_15159/

afterrabbit

Buildings or Cities without light

Previously, we saw how lights create an image of a city. But have you wondered how buildings looked without lights? Earth hour was the perfect opportunity to.




1. Beijing
2. Greece
3. Hong Kong
4. Cairo
5. Tokyo

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8590756.stm

ling

Japan - The Strange Country

I'm getting much fond of these cool, Jap-ish flash videos. And they're quite abundant on Vimeo

Japan - The Strange Country (Japanese ver.) from Kenichi on Vimeo.

From the author, Kenichi:

---

This is my final thesis project. I created info-graphic, motion piece. My objective is to make Japanese people to think about that everything happening here in Japan, isn't that normal. So I created this video from foreigner's point of view, rather than Japanese people's point of view.

Both English and Japanese versions are available. (No, English version isn't available at the moment.)

By the way, please don't call me racist, because I am one of short, small eyes Japanese ;P

大学の卒業制作で制作した映像です。（日本語版）
日本で生活していると、当たり前すぎて気づかない「不思議な事実」を、海外で生活した経験も生かし、外国人の視点から統計とともに映像化しました。
笑いつつも、「なんか不思議だな」と考えてもらえれば幸いです。
日本語版と英語版を制作しました。

---

afterrabbit

Centro de Tecnificación Deportiva

A pure geometrical yet very beautiful integration into the landscape.

---

Dubbed the Ring, the center provides research and training facilities for water and mountain sports. To minimize its impact on the natural setting, Sánchez García concentrated its programmatic elements (classrooms, workshops, documentation and information centers, guest rooms, cafeteria) in a narrow structure 656 feet in diameter, then finished it in a reflective steel skin. He elevated the building on steel columns, minimizing foundation work, and built it in six months using prefabricated industrial elements. The perfect geometric form is marked at irregular intervals by access porches, while a running track occupies the roof. (to find out more)

José María Sánchez García

The circular organisation ensures distances and autonomy between individual programs. Also offered to these spaces are their very own, unique connections to the landscape.

While raised above ground, the building is kept very close to the uneven contours, creating very intimate relationships between architectural space and the natural landscape.

text: http://archrecord.construction.com/Features/designvanguard/2009/09JoseMaria/slide_1.asp

images: http://www.jmsg.es/index.html

afterrabbit

Cheers, to SANAA

I've been busy (and lazy) but I can't stop myself from making this entry, right now.

"SANAA has today been announced the 2010 Pritzker Laureate"

Yes, I can repeat this line many times, calmly.

And I love them, especially Sejima.

Even though I have weird, probably repulsive feelings seeing my heroes walking up to the thrones, I'm genuinely happy for them.

It's probably me not yet ready for this change..

Anyhow, I don't want to start knowing them as the Pritzker Laureates.

Nishizawa-san will always be Nishizawa-san.

Sejima-obachan will always be Sejima-obachan.

They are not architects who stand above and look down on the commoners.

They're like kind neighbours across the street, showing me the beauty of ordinary, all the time.

I will always love them.

西沢さんと妹島おばちゃんがずっと大好き

And the First-Love of a Lifetime - 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Arts Kanazawa

一生のハツコイ　「金沢21世紀現代美術館」

afterrabbit

Kuala Lumpur Railway Station & The Railway Administartion Building

Replaced but not forgotten- Kuala Lumpur Railway Station

The emergence of the spanking new KL Sentral, quietly marked the end of a glorious era for the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station as a central transportation hub. However, this station continues to charm locals and tourists alike with its illustrious history and grandiose style.

Architect: Arthur Benison Hubback
The outer classical facade gives no hint of its inner steel structure.Completed in 1910, the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station was an epitome of British colonization and opulence.

Hubback styled the facade to the Neo- Moorish or Mughal fashion. A style which enjoyed popularity in the late- 19th Century and early century colonial India. A purely Western invention,

The structure however was fairly advance, using steel frames and trusses. This method of construction was fast, easy to assemble and save cost. Hubback made use of the fact that sunlight was abundant in Malaya by inserting skylights in the roof to provide ample natural lighting to the platforms below.

In 1986, refurbishment works on the extended platform, which served as a link between the old station and the adjacent Dayabumi Complex, took a more modernist approach. Large concrete pillars were constructed as supports to a space frames system roof. Today the marked contrast of styles between the two parts of this station can be liken to our nation's history. The old vernacular Western front alludes to our colonial past, while the new foreshadows a dawn of a new nation.







The use of skylights to introduce natural lighting.


The roof of the added platform uses space frames.


Column detailing

The Railway Administration Building




Pantheon detailing


Column detailing


Corbel arch

ling