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:

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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。

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afterrabbit

Centro de Tecnificación Deportiva

A pure geometrical yet very beautiful integration into the landscape.

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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

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