Meier's model village, with the Getty Center in foreground. (Photo: Scott Frances/Courtesy Richard Meier & Partners)
The Richard Meier Model Museum is officially reopened for the summer running through August 27th. Tours can be arranged through Richard Meier & Partners Architects at 212-967-6060. By way of A/N Blog
For years we have been wondering what they are going to do with the space. They finally decided. Wednesday evening the board approved plans to build a 16 story $353 million University Center. It includes house lecture halls, an auditorium, academic spaces, student lounges, stores and a 600-bed dormitory on the top nine floors. For more: NYT: The New School to Build a Multipurpose, 16-Story Building
Also check out: NYT: Bold Brass and Glass, and the World Inside on Display
Love this post by way of A Brie Grows in Brooklyn. Gary Chang, architect in Hong Kong, took his 300 sq foot home and created a modular apartment that can be used in 24 different ways. For more: NYT: 24 Rooms Tucked Into One
Proposal by BIG + Fugère Architectes
Check out the proposal by BIG + Fugère Architectes for the Musée National des Beaux Arts du Québec. They ended up loosing to the design of OMA but I’m still pretty impressed.
Musée National des Beaux Arts du Québec proposal / BIG + Fugère Architectes by way of ArchDaily
Winning Design by OMA
I’m really into the idea of low cost prefab “units” these days, basically contemporary versions of little cottages that you can add to your property if you need an extra room or guest cottage. Here is one from Olgga Architects called the Flak House. Not sure I would live in it myself but I like the initiative and the cost: 21,000 Euros. Not bad…
Its that time of the year again! Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Sanaa, the team behind the New Museum and the Toledo Museum of Art, has won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. For more: NYT: Japanese Team Wins Pritzker Architecture Prize
On its 40th Anniversary, the Serpentine Gallery in London has commissioned Jean Nouvel to design its 10th Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, “the world’s first and most ambitious architectural program of its kind.” A snippet from the press release on the building:
The design for the 2010 Pavilion is a contrast of lightweight materials and dramatic metal cantilevered structures. The entire design is rendered in a vivid red that, in a play of opposites, contrasts with the green of its park setting. In London the colour reflects the iconic British images of traditional telephone boxes, post boxes and London buses.
The building consists of bold geometric forms, large retractable awnings and a freestanding wall that climbs 12m above the lawn, sloping at a gravity defying angle. It experiments with the idea of play in its incorporation of the French tradition of outdoor table-tennis. Striking glass, polycarbonate and fabric structures create a versatile system of interior and exterior spaces. The flexible auditoria will accommodate the Serpentine Gallery Park Nights and Marathon and the changing summer weather.
Open from July to October the Pavilion will house a cafe, public space and venue for Park Nights, the Gallery’s program for public talks and events.
For more: Serpentine Gallery
Beautiful house on stilts by NAF Architects in Japan. For more check out the post by way of dornob.
Love this little house. Its affordable, environmentally conscious and really chic!
For more: TreeHugger: Modern Modular Done Right from Challenger Living and Challenger Living
How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?
I’ve recently been coming across some great videos on Architecture. Here is another: the trailer for “How Much Does your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?”, a documentary on the career of Sir Norman Foster. For more have a look at the press release from the International Film Festival Berlin where it premiered in February.
