Rauf Yasit est un photographe allemand indépendant. Egalement concepteur et metteur en scène, il vit et travaille à Berlin. Le thème principal de sa photographie est la chorégraphie. Sa collection est à découvrir en images dans la suite de l’article.
Zaha Hadid has paid tribute to “inspirational and enlightening” late German architect Frei Otto, while Norman Foster said Otto’s “extraordinary structures altered the nature of architectural form in the 20th century”.
Foster added that Otto’s “environmentalism, intelligence and foresight have established the defining architectural mentality for the 21st [Century].”
“We first met in Germany early in my career and he became a dear friend,” Hadid told Dezeen, following news that the architect had posthumously been awarded the Pritzker Prize.
“His research and exploration of tensile structures was inspirational and enlightening, and his Pritzker is very well deserved,” Hadid said. “Our joy of this news is some consolation for the loss of a great architect, inventor, educator and gentleman. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.”
Related story: Frei Otto posthumously named 2015 Pritzker Prize laureate
Otto, who died on Monday at the age of 89, was a pioneer in tensile and membrane architecture, developing curved tent-like structures that were designed to harness natural forces and use minimal materials.
Hadid, who has previously cited Otto as an influence on her own architecture, said the fluidity of his work “is as uplifting as it was profoundly inventive – a persuasive manifesto of nature’s logic and unity, demonstrating how architectural design and engineering can emulate nature’s morphogenesis.”
“The more our own design research evolves, the more we learn to appreciate his pioneering works,” she added. “He will continue to influence architects and engineers for generations to come.”
Norman Foster described Otto as an “inspiration”, adding that he had actively supported Otto’s nomination for the Pritzker prize.
“I was deeply saddened to hear that Frei Otto had passed away on Monday,” Foster told Dezeen. “I had specifically written to the Pritzker Jury in support of his nomination for the Pritzker Prize.”
Foster also sent Dezeen a tribute he had written for Otto’s 80th birthday a decade ago. “Frei Otto showed us that architecture need not be burdened by the weight of its own traditions, but could instead be free to express itself through simple but innovative sculptural forms,” the tribute said. “This sense of weightlessness, and of an architecture unbound by convention, was carried over into Frei’s working relationships.”
Foster continued: “Rather than working in isolation, he consistently advocated a freer role for the architect – whether this was as an educator, sharing his ideas with generations of students, or in practice, through valued joint projects with, or providing research support for, other architects and engineers.
“For me, he reinforced the point that architecture is a fundamentally collaborative exercise,” Foster wrote. “His extraordinary structures altered the nature of architectural form in the 20th century, and his environmentalism, intelligence and foresight have established the defining architectural mentality for the 21st.”
Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, who was on this year’s Pritzker jury, revealed that he too had written a personal citation to support Otto’s nomination for the award.
“Frei Otto has created thoughout his life, not only imaginative, fresh, unprecedented spaces and constructions; he has also created knowledge,” read the citation Aravena shared with Dezeen.
“Here resides his deep influence: not as forms that were copied but as paths that were opened by his research and discoveries. His contribution to the field of architecture in that sense, has been not only skilled and talented, but also a generous one.”
Otto’s best-known projects include the 1972 Munich Olympic stadium, the German pavilion for the 1967 World Expo in Montreal, and the soaring steel mesh aviary at Munich Zoo. He was known for his collaborative approach, forming career-long relationships with engineers and other architects, and was among the first adopters of 3D modelling.
From 1964 he led the Institute for Lightweight Structures at the University of Stuttgart, where he spearheaded research into using natural shapes and mathematical patterns to create new lightweight construction methods.
He was named as the 2015 Pritzker laureate – the architectural equivalent to winning a Nobel prize – on Tuesday, becoming the award’s 40th recipient. The announcement was pulled forward by two weeks. A ceremony that was scheduled to take place in Miami on 15 May will go ahead, with plans to celebrate his life and work.
The post Hadid and Foster lead tributes to “great architect,
inventor and gentleman” Frei Otto appeared first on Dezeen.
A school that was destroyed during the 2010 Chile earthquake has been rebuilt by Santiago studio LAND Arquitectos using simple white-painted pine (+ slideshow).
The Santa Rosa School in Constitucion, a city on Chile’s south central coastline, was ruined by the major earthquake that struck on 27 February 2010 – one of the most powerful quakes on record. The tremor measured 8.8 on the Richter scale and triggered a devastating tsunami.
The school lost 50 per cent of its facilities in the disaster and required significant reconstruction, so the city approached LAND Arquitectos, initially to design emergency classrooms, and then – once funding was secured – to rebuild and extend the school, adding a chapel.
The architects collaborated with local non-profit organisations and private sector companies on the project, with the aim to create a functional teaching facility that could also serve as a positive symbol of the city’s recovery from the disaster.
“These permanent solutions where conceived in a way that would not only rebuild the school, but build a better urban piece for the destroyed city,” said the team.
“We asked ourselves: How can we contribute to the reconstruction of the city by re-building a piece of the urban fabric? In addition, how can we build an environment that would improve teaching and learning performance?” they added.
Their response was to include a public plaza and a new chapel in their design, offering a tribute to the victims of the earthquake. The chapel features an asymmetric roof that makes it the tallest building on the site.
“This sculptural element was inspired by typical local rock formations seen along the coast of this city,” explained the architects.
Elements of the existing building were refurbished and incorporated into the project, while new timber-clad structures with tall narrow windows create a new reception area, kindergarten and playgroup facilities, as well as computer suites and dining areas.
The new school buildings were constructed using a prefabricated system of structural insulated panels (SIPs) – a type of composite material that allowed for a quick building time, low construction and labour costs, and minimal impact on the fragile terrain.
All of the structures are clad in planks of pine, which were painted with just a layer of white primer to allow the grey-toned wood to be gradually revealed as the building ages.
“We used local pine wood as the main material for the project and furnishings, promoting and encouraging the use of wood in the reconstruction of the city,” said the architects.
“We wanted to rebuild the city’s identity using materials that are locally accessible and easily replicable building techniques.”
A narrow patio covered with grey flagstones and with integrated seating provides a public area adjacent to the chapel and school entrance. Additional patios at the rear are used as playgrounds, for outdoor dining and as a public carpark.
Photography is by Sergio Pirrone.
Project credits:
Architects: LAND (Cristóbal Valenzuela Haeussler + Angela Delorenzo Arancibia)
Architect in charge: Javier Lorenzo.
Client: Government of Chile
Structural Engineer: Yuri Torres
Builders: Proessa SA
The post LAND Arquitectos rebuilds school
devastated by Chilean earthquake appeared first on Dezeen.
Illustrator/author Christopher Niemann produces the amusing “Abstract City” blog for The New York Times, where he physically holds quick sketches in front of urban scenes and shoots them, as in these photos he took at the MoMA:
Even more fun is the stuff he does in-studio. For his “Sunday Sketches” series, Niemann takes everyday objects and integrates them with watercolors to create wholly original works. Whether it’s food…
…clothing…
…household items…
…or the items in our pockets…
…Niemann’s mind fills in the blanks in clever and unexpected ways. And I especially like when he integrates his own tools into the pieces:
Niemann’s books can be purchased here.
And in the similar-but-different department, be sure to check out Hombre McSteez’s work.
Via Bored Panda
First, the good news. The umbrella home page for Patch looks better than anything we saw there during the AOL era. We’re talking crisp, clean highlighting of current content and an inviting black-and-white thumbnail grid that clicks through to so-called Star Patchers. The new Patch is also looking for reporters across New Jersey.
However, the Hale Global folks might have wanted to think through their grassroots framing of another presently vacant position. Somehow, this doesn’t have quite the right recruitment, headhunter feel:
Patch appears in many ways to have moved towards more of an Examiner model. Having inherited an operation that was doomed by overly aggressive expansion, it’s a minor media miracle for this place to still be Web live and Your-Face-Here, our-laptop-there hiring.
Not much has changed since we first discovered Cabo Chips in 2006—which is good news for fans of the healthy 100% whole grain snack. The Newport Beach, CA-based company channels the spirit of a Mexican beachside cantina in a bag, all without relying……
Continue Reading…
Lors de la Keynote du 9 mars, Apple a officiellement présenté son Apple Watch. La toute première publicité vidéo du produit n’a pas tardé à faire son apparition. Intitulé « The Watch Reimagined » et réalisé par TBWAMedia Arts Lab, le spot fait une démonstration de l’objet sous tous les angles.
Le duo de street artistes espagnols Pichi & Avo ont imaginé un fascinant mélange de graffitis et de rendus de personnages mythologiques inspirés par les sculptures grecques de l’Antiquité. La précision de chaque pièce est impressionnante, les ombres et les couleurs sont parfaitement maîtrisées. A découvrir en images dans la suite de l’article.
China’s days as a major producer of fake designer goods are numbered, according to Design Shanghai’s creative director Ross Urwin.
Chinese consumers are increasingly turning away from copies as they become more aware of the difference between high-quality products and cheap fakes, Urwin told Dezeen.
“I do think those days are coming to an end,” he said during an interview in London, while speaking about the Design Shanghai trade fair taking place later this month.
“The consumer now in China, on average, has that ability to see the difference, whereas 10 years ago – even five years ago – they didn’t,” said Urwin. “They’d see one, then see the other, and they’d buy the one that’s half the price, but wouldn’t notice that the seams were coming apart.”
Related story: Zaha Hadid building pirated in China
However, Urwin warned that copyists are turning their attention away from domestic goods to entire buildings such as hotels.
“They’re turning away from product copying now and they’re copying concepts of hotels,” he said. “Literally replicating hotels that are around the world, in China, but very cheaply.”
British architect Zaha Hadid is one of a number of designers that has already been affected by this shift. In 2013, her Wangjing Soho buildings in Beijing were pirated by a developer in Chongqing.
Based in Hong Kong, Urwin joined Design Shanghai – China’s leading international design trade fair – as its creative director just three months before its inaugural edition last year.
He believes that events like his allow Chinese consumers to see genuine products first-hand so they can make better comparisons between these and the fakes. A growth in the number of Chinese nationals travelling abroad has also helped expose residents to products designed in Europe and the US, according to Urwin.
“I think [copying] was rife 10 years ago, and that was because people were not travelling like they do now,” he said. “They’re a lot more educated now than they were before.”
Despite the increase in consumer awareness, Urwin admitted that western brands are still cautious about exhibiting their work in China.
“A few people said to me about Design Shanghai that ‘we’d love to do it, but we’re afraid of being copied’,” he said. “Do you have a catalogue? Yes. Do you have a website? Yes. What’s the difference?”
Italian designer Stefano Giovannoni recently told Dezeen that there are more than 1,000 Chinese companies currently producing copies of his Bombo Stool.
Design Shanghai will take place from 27 to 30 March.
The post “China’s copying days are coming to an end”
says Design Shanghai creative director appeared first on Dezeen.
When it comes to Brian Williams, The Onion has dropped the parody ball A search of the site reveals a scant amount of post-scandal material and one certifiable chuckle.
However, as far as pre-scandal material goes, the site nailed it via a May 22, 2006 item that today reads spooky accurate and right on the unfunny money. Check out these snippets from “Insecure Brian Williams Only One Who Doesn’t Trust Brian Williams For Latest News:”
Williams, who has been hailed as the new dean of network news journalists by several prominent TV critics and attacked as a “giant phony” by his own mind…
“Last night, we explored the misappropriation of federal funds during our ‘Fleecing Of America’ segment,” Williams said. “Do you know what would’ve made a better subject? ‘Brian Williams: The Sham To End All Shams.’”…
Nightly News intern Jared Kampmann echoed [makeup artist Eve] Hodel’s observation. “This morning, he asked me if his piece on the looming threat of war with Iran was ‘Brokaw-worthy,’”said Kampmann.
In terms of a possible Williams slant for the next Onion item, how about NBC announcing it has traded the suspended newsman to the Jets?
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