Friday, September 28, 2007

Contemporary Architecture Flickr

I was trying to locate some european architecture images when I bump into this contemporary architecture flickr slide show! I bet you can spend whole day just watching these. Over 7,140 images of contemporary architecture. This is a great share.to find out more...
We found 2,993 results for photos tagged with european and architecture. to find out more...
We found 11,504 results for photos tagged with asia and architecture. to find out more...
and more...

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Tokujin Yoshioka Design

"My idea of a structure in the future is against common beliefs, not to secure strength using hard materials, but to systematically organize small and light fibers so as to gain miraculous strength in the structure of the architecture.

It is similar to the principle of a Japanese art of "Aikido", in which the defender gains the resistance and strength by diverting the force through this graceful and circular movement.

This is my dream and a new proposal of architecture for the future." to find out more...

Passage & Image by Tokujin Yoshioka from http://www.tokujin.com/architecture

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Norbert Wangen

In places where space is limited, the cooking area might to have to merge with the living, the new concept evolves.
"The kitchen of the future is, more than ever, the nucleus of the home - a communal area for social activities, a place for friends and family to gather. The concept of the hearth being the heart of the home, is still valid today, and is enhanced by advanced technology that defines the kitchen in an essential and logical form." to find out more...
Passage & Image from http://www.norbert-wangen.com/catalogue.html pg 2

Monday, September 24, 2007

TJEP

"Frank Tjepkema is a designer but actually always wanted to become an astronaut. Not surprisingly, at a very young age, while other children were making their first drawings of flowers and bees Frank would be conceiving his first rocket designs. At first these were naive interpretations of archetypical rockets, resembling the one used by Tin Tin, but soon adults were quite astonished by the level of engineering and sophistication this young child was demonstrating. Frank was designing fully equipped machines neglecting no details. He went as far as to resolve problems like: how one would go to the loo when floating in outer space. His solution for this problem obtained him his first international patent with the RTD (retroactive toilet device). This resulted in a second place at the International Little Genius Trophy in '74. Frank had just turned four. When reading his first 'real' book at the age of six, The Little Prince from Saint Exupery, it wasn't without utter astonishment and deep disappointment that Frank was confronted with the fact that one could travel to the stars without using a rocket, nor a telescope, nor anything material. It is only much later that Frank came to realize the impact this revelation would have on his design work.While Frank was developing rockets Janneke Hooymans wasn't exactly playing with dolls! The first signs of her interest in design manifested at the age of three as she started building constructions out of empty milk pack's her father would bring back from work as a milkman. At first she produced very simple Mies van de Rohe type architectural constructions that soon became quite sophisticated, adding colors, and detailed textures that she would cut out of the cardboard. The milk packs made place for wood from the tree's her father would chop down, indeed, he was a lumberjack in his spare time. She hoped the tree houses would prevent her father from chopping down more trees. By the age of eight she crafted beautiful tree houses she liked to call dream machines, neglecting no details. The houses were conceived in such a way one could easily stay their a week without coming out of the tree thanks to an ingenious water collecting system based on morning dew. One particular tree house was so good it gained second place at the official 1982 International Tree House awards. The tree houses were popular with the neighborhood kids. They became their prefered place to hang out. The adults became quite jealous and frustrated as they couldn't fit in the houses, only getting to see and not experience how wonderful they were. Frank and Janneke met at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the 90's. In 2001 they officially joined forces as Tjep. in a common adventure aimed at adding quality, energy and amazement to the world.See résumé and the rest of this site to discover what happened next." to find out more...
Image & Passage from http://www.tjep.com/studio.html

Thursday, September 13, 2007

PGCC

"The RM25bil Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) will feature architectural themes that synthesise local symbolism and historic forms with contemporary-style designs.
Asymptote Architecture principal Hani Rashid said he spent over a year researching Penang’s culture, history, social patterns and way of life before designing the project.
“We design the buildings to blend with the surrounding hills and greenery,” he told a media briefing yesterday.
Rashid and his team – comprising about 60 architects, engineers, and technicians from London, New York and Hong Kong – spent four years designing PGCC, which is being developed by Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd on the present 260-acre Penang Turf Club site.
"[1] to find out more...
"PGCC, envisioned to be one of the world’s first zero-carbon city, will be modelled along the lines of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre.
To be developed by Equine Capital (indirect shareholding), the PGCC will be one of five high-impact projects for Penang State under the NCER."
[2] to find out more...

Passage [1] from http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/12/business/18854243&sec=business
Passage [2] from http://malaysiacity.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/penang-global-city-centre/

Image from http://malaysiacity.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/penang-global-city-centre/

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Suyama peterson Deguchi

"George Suyama, FAIA, founded our Seattle-based practice in 1971 and quickly became known for innovative designs that draw from the rich traditions of Japanese and Northwest Contemporary architecture. The hallmark of our internationally published work is its mastery of scale and proportion, sophisticated detailing and restrained material palette. Our pursuit of timeless and elegant design is recognized by numerous awards and established our reputation as one of the leading architecture firms in the Pacific Northwest.
Renamed Suyama Peterson Deguchi in 2003, the firm has a professional staff of 16 located in a Belltown studio that houses our offices as well as the SuyamaSpace gallery and our new retail venture, 3 X 10. Our firm offers a comprehensive range of services from architecture to interiors and furniture design. Our award winning projects range from prized private residences to experimental retail boutiques." to find out more...


Passage & Image from http://www.suyamapetersondeguchi.com/architecture/introduction.asp




Thursday, September 06, 2007

Design problems and solutions

Today is a great day~!
Got an email from my lecturer and email from Ghazali and design development on the service apartment.
Lots of solutions on design issues raised by the experience developer.
1. Glass internal wall replacing brickwalls that results tight corridor space.
2. Stacked air-conditioning units at upper duplex level, serving the living, the room below and the room above
3. Reducing unnecessary space at staircase at liftcore
4. Building facade enhancement with design thoughts collaborated with fins element for fire fighting requirements.
5. Most important of all~ thinking out of the box, resolve issues with design thoughts~!
Sometimes we need some brain twisting before answering simple questions.
Problems are solutions.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Jonathan Yuen

An interesting web design you cannot miss ~!!
"I strive for simplicity of values and functions in creativity and aesthetic success. I value and push for truthfulness, personality and substance in design. And above all, beside bringing food onto the table, I pursue design as a tool to contribute myself as part of the species for the better of the surrounding in which I live and share. Influenced by my culturally diverse home country and background, one of my main intereestes lies in flusing Eastern and Western visual cultures in design and art." to find out more...

Passage from http://www.jonathanyuen.com/main.html

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Building a Career in Architecture

"Earnings of Architects: Median annual earnings of wage and salary architects were $60,300 in 2004. Recent graduates working on internships will earn much less. Those starting out in private practices will go through a period of time when they are operating at a loss.*
Use the
Salary Wizard at Salary.com to find out how much architects currently earn in your city." to find out more...
Passage from http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/occupations/p/architect.htm

Monday, September 03, 2007

Mecanoo

"10 Statements of Mecanoo
1. Land as an expensive commodityThe difference between Los Angeles and Tokyo is obvious to everyone. Los Angeles, the city of the twentieth century, designed for the car which is literally given more room than people are: there are more square metres of car parks than of built-up areas. There is an abundance of land and it is almost valueless. This will be bound to change in the twenty-first century. Tokyo, the gigantic village of millions of people and public transport. Every square metre has been thought about and put to use, above ground and below it. Land is very expensive, even more expensive than the houses and buildings that stand on it. The Netherlands, a country with a high population density and a shortage of land. At the same time the country that wastes its land because the price of land is much too low. The result is a lack of intelligent solutions such as dual use of land, inventive combinations of infrastructure and building.
2. Love of natureThe Netherlands, the most malleable country in the world. The land of water, wind and clouds. The Dutch landscape is not static, but it is changeable with contrasting ingredients: order and chaos, polders and lakes, canals and wetlands, dykes and river forelands, wet and dry. With the help of engineers you can build everywhere. There are no limits, the land is so malleable that you can destroy it too.Nature has an irreplaceable value and beauty, many colours, materials and textures. I want to draw on the wealth of water, skies, trees and leaves, grass, stones and rocks. I use materials like wood, bamboo, zinc, copper, concrete, glass and steel in compositions full of contrasts.
3. Collective responsibility for sustainabilityThe Netherlands is a country with a very strong tradition in the field of collective responsibility for the management of the water. Unambiguous agreements regulate the land and the water – literally, because otherwise we would all drown. The collective responsibility for water management should be extended to a collective responsibility for the sustainability of how the country is ordered. After all, that too is a question of the survival of us all..
4. Wealth of urban planningIt is as if we have forgotten the wealth of urban planning possibilities for housing. The house with a garden and a car in front seems to be the greatest good on earth at the moment. Society consists of very diverse types of family and an ageing population, and it is multicultural. The steadily expanding potential of technology, communication and services will become part of new ideas about housing and care and homes for work and recreation too. The acquisition of mobility, the car, calls for integration in new urban planning typologies without dominating or disrupting the public space. We must design buildings and houses that, like the time-hallowed Dutch villas, can stand up to the big changes in use and beauty.
5. Cooperation as challengeInteresting developments in architecture are produced by those who manage to create the freedom to experiment and to work together within the fragmented practice of design and building. As a result of changes in the design assignments, architects increasingly carry out their profession in collaboration with other disciplines. In order to achieve the aesthetic of mobility, I want to work with road and hydraulic engineers and landscape architects. This means experimenting with combined programmes, constructions, water and materials, but emphatically without the loss of the architect’s own role and responsibility.
6. Director and script writerThe Van Nelle factory, the Rietveld Schröder house and Villa Mairea are traditional examples of innovative architecture resulting from an inspiring relation between client and architect. Times have changed and the placing of commissions has become more diffuse, consisting of forms of association between the government, property developers, investors and consumers. The architect no longer supplies the design alone. The architect performs the role of director and script writer in a more hybrid process. The architect tries to find out what the client really wants by means of ideas, images, atmospheres, scale models and drawings.
7. Handwriting and languageDiscussion about style is interesting, but not essential in the long run. The best example of this is the composition of two houses that we developed for Alvaro Siza in The Hague: one in the style of the Amsterdam School, the other in the style of Neue Sachlichkeit - two styles that competed with one another in the Twenties and each thought it was the true one. The beauty of the project lies in the combination of introverted and extroverted, heavy and light, tactile and abstract. Style is an outdated phenomenon. Architecture needs a handwriting that can write in different languages in order to be able to respond adequately to each location and assignment.
8. Composition of empty spaceThere are no rules for making a composition. The most I can do is to refer to a Japanese book describing the rules for arranging and serving a meal. Working with unambiguous geometry and symmetry is strictly prohibited because it is not exciting. Space, or rather empty space, is an essential part of composition, rhythm and elegance. The space between contrasting forms, round and square, long and short, big and small, brings out each form better, and this is true in architecture as well.
9. Analysis and intuitionYou can try to analyse everything, but a lot is just a question of intuition. The work of David Hockney has always appealed to me. I detect a non-dogmatic, optimistic attitude to life in his work, and the courage to experiment in art with new techniques. An attitude like that is a source of energy and resilience within the complex force field of architectural practice. And the combination of analysis with intuition is worth its weight in gold for architecture.
10. Arrangement of form and emotionCharles and Ray Eames were able to combine technical, human and playful aspects in a single solution. They experimented with new materials for their chairs and discovered their limitations as they went along. That led them to look for new solutions all over again. They were designers without dogmatism, and never lost sight of comfort. They are the uncrowned king and queen of arrangement. Their work has a permanent inspiring value. Their house was built in 1949 in the hills of Santa Monica near Los Angeles, in a beautiful situation behind the eucalyptus trees. It shows what happens when you combine the technical with the sensorial. Architecture must appeal to all the senses and is never a purely intellectual, conceptual or visual game alone. Architecture is about combining all of the individual elements in a single concept. What counts in the last resort is the arrangement of form and emotion.."to find out more...

Passage from http://www.mecanoo.com/
Image via http://www.mecanoo.nl/Default.aspx?tabid=135&pcode=A401&subs=false