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…
The NYT’s new issue of T Design for spring is now online. Check it out!
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
Radar Seventeen: Waterpod – For more funny videos, click here
Thanks for Emily Blank for sending this over. What I love about this project is not only how beautiful their idea of sustainable living but it also shows how they use creativity and the arts for living and how powerful they can be…for more: Waterpod Project via Climate Change and the Arts There is a lot more on youtube!
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
Video Wallpaper by Sean Capone of Supernature
Last week was Armory week and I have to admit that it was so enormous that I had trouble getting through the whole thing. That said, the highlight of my week was definitely the opening night benefit at the MoMA. Why you ask? MoMA always throws a good party, especially when they include amazing music by the Walkmen, Human Rights and DJ Justin Miller and “video wallpaper” by Sean Capone of Supernature. This time there was an added bonus: William Kentridge: Five Themes, the large-scale retrospective of nearly three decades of the master’s work.
Kentridge is probably one of my favorite visual artists. An extremely cultured man hailing from South Africa, Kentridge’s medium is mostly charcoal and animation with stints in video and opera. To me, someone who grew up around classical music, the highlight of the exhibition was “Sarastro and the Master’s Voice: The Magic Flute”, a final maquette used for testing the large scale projections created for his production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in 2005 in Belgium. The maquette is a 1:10 scale model of the set and includes projections and models of figures on a miniature scale. For more on the work here is a very informative interview done when it was commissioned for the Deutsche Guggenheim in 2006.
“Sarastro and the Master’s Voice: The Magic Flute”
Another must see is the third theme “Parcours d’Atelier: Artist in the Studio” where Kentridge films his process of creating works with charcoal and then combines live action and animation to show the process.
For more on the Kentridge exhibition at MoMA visit: http://moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/964 and for a full review of the Armory Show see NYT: Ahoy From Nudes, a Pirate and Scrooge McDuck
Yesterday, was the presentation of Alexander McQueen’s last collection, 16 pieces he personally tailored before his passing. Even though these are the last, the parent company of McQueen, PPR, has announced that they would keep the house open and continue the business.
I show these because they represent exactly what McQueen was famous for and everything I love, the intersection of Fashion and Art. Inspired by a range of works from Byzantine art and Old Master paintings to the carvings of Grinling Gibbons, the fabrics were created by digitally capturing entire works of art and weaving them into the fabrics. As would be expected the show was quite somber with what WWD called “solemn, funereal and even a little spooky.”
For more: WWD: Alexander McQueen RTW Fall 2010
Saw this and love it! Reinhard Dienes, the acclaimed furniture designer, has designed an exclusive line of Cardboard furniture with Fashion4Home. Not only is this 100% environmentally conscious because its made of recycled cardboard but they are extremely stylish and affordable. For more: freshhome: Cardboard Furniture Can Look Good, Here is the Proof
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
