New Documentary Implodes Urban Housing Myths

Pruitt-Igoe. Cabrini-Green. Mellifluous hyphenates that have evoked, in turn, hope, pride, fear, terror, shame, and utter disappointment in utopias, razed. In The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, filmmaker Chad Friedrichs wades through the thicket of emotions aroused by the infamous public housing project, built in the early 1950s by the St. Louis Housing Authority, to examine what comes between optimism—for 33 pristine, Minoru Yamasaki-designed high-rises that promised to solve the problems of overcrowding in a then-booming inner city—and disillusionment, with a vertical ghetto that, just two decades later, was leveled and declared unfit for habitation. This documentary is complex and fascinating: a chilling clash of Modernist zeal, postwar urban decline, and racial tensions that plays out through an incredibly rich (and masterfully edited) collage of archival footage and the individual stories of a handful of former Pruitt-Igoe residents, who share their memories against a backdrop of optic white. “So much of our collective understanding of cities and government and inequality are tied up in those thirty-three high-rise buildings, informed by the demolition image,” notes Friedrichs in his notes on the film, now playing at the IFC Center. “Too much of the context has been overlooked, or willfully ignored, in discussions of public housing, public welfare, and the state of the American city. Pruitt-Igoe needs to be remembered and understood—in a different way that it has been—because the city will change again.”


The Pruitt-Igoe Myth is now playing at New York’s IFC Center. Click here for a schedule of upcoming screenings nationwide.

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Cox Architecture & Design’s Helix Bridge Gives New Meaning to "Design DNA"

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That’s Singapore’s trippy Helix Bridge, designed by Australia-based Cox Architecture & Design after they beat out 35 other entrants in a design competition sponsored by the city-state. Constructed as the final link in a walkway surrounding Singapore’s Marina Bay, the bridge also doubles as an outdoor gallery for local children’s drawings and paintings. (Beats being stuck to the front of the ‘fridge, sharing magnet space with takeout menus.)

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Alain de Botton plans temples for atheists


Dezeen Wire:
writer Alain de Botton has announced plans to build a series of temples for atheists in the UK. The first will be a 46 metre-tall black tower designed by Tom Greenall Architects and constructed in London to represent the idea of perspective. 

The move follows the publication of de Botton’s latest book, Religion for Atheists, and his Living Architecture social enterprise to construct holiday homes by the likes of MVRDV, Peter Zumthor and NORD Architecture.

Read more about Living Architecture on Dezeen here.

Here are some more details from Alain de Botton:


Alain de Botton – A Temple for Atheists

Author Alain de Botton has announced a bold new plan for a series of Temples for Atheists to be built around the UK.

‘Why should religious people have the most beautiful buildings in the land?’ he asks. ‘It’s time atheists had their own versions of the great churches and cathedrals’.

Alain de Botton has laid out his plans in a new book, Religion for Atheists, which argues that atheists should copy the major religions and put up a network of new architectural masterpieces in the form of temples.

‘As religions have always known, a beautiful building is an indispensable part of getting your message across. Books alone won’t do it.’

De Botton argues that you definitely don’t need a god or gods to justify a temple. ‘You can build a temple to anything that’s positive and good. That could mean: a temple to love, friendship, calm or perspective.’

De Botton has begun working on the first Temple for Atheists. Designed by Tom Greenall Architects, this will be a huge black tower nestled among the office buildings in the City of London. Measuring 46 meters in all, the tower represents the age of the earth, with each centimetre equating to 1 million years and with, at the tower’s base, a tiny band of gold a mere millimetre thick standing for mankind’s time on earth. The Temple is dedicated to the idea of perspective, which is something we’re prone to lose in the midst of our busy modern lives.

De Botton suggests that atheists like Richard Dawkins won’t ever convince people that atheism is an attractive way of looking at life until they provide them with the sort of rituals, buildings, communities and works of art and architecture that religions have always used.

‘Even the most convinced atheists tend to speak nicely about religious buildings. They may even feel sad that nothing like them gets built nowadays. But there’s no need to feel nostalgic. Why not just learn from religions and build similarly beautiful and interesting things right now?’

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto/acaa

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

The rear facade of this hillside house by Japanese architect Kazuhiko Kishimoto slides opens to reveal a graduated terrace with a sweeping view of the sea.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Located on a sharply inclining slope in Kanagawa, Japan, the three-storey Wind-dyed House appears from the top-floor street entrance to have only one floor.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Louvered shutters surround the glazed exterior walls and a shallow-pitched roof sits over the building on a set of wide timber eaves.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Kitchens and dining areas occupy the uppermost level, while staircases both inside and outside the house lead down to rooms on the middle floor below.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

The lowest floor is the smallest and contains just a hobby room and storage area.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Other popular Japanese houses we’ve featured recently include a spiralling house on stilts and one with three layers of walls and ceilings – see them here.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Photography is by Hiroshi Ueda.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Here’s some text from the architects:


Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Wind-dyed house

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

A residential building located halfway up a cliff, overlooking the ocean. Thick clumps of trees that grow along the slope of the land surrounding the house cast a series of organic silhouettes that make the slope seem to come alive.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

We decided that the appropriate form to build would be as low-lying as possible, while also allowing the architecture to become embedded in the surrounding landscape according to the contours of the terrain. This would allow us to minimize the impact of the building on its environment.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

The design of the walls plays an important role in creating the overall sense of presence that a building projects. As such, we also tried to prevent the walls of this house from becoming surfaces that would obstruct or impede movement and sight.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Glass and screens along the enclosed perimeter of the house gives the second floor of this residence a certain transparency. Slender, deep-set eaves cast deep shadows on the facade of the building, softening the impact of the building’s physical presence in relation to its environment.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

The various components of the building were structured in order to allow the inhabitants to enjoy a different view of the outside on each level. The first floor features a stone floor and concrete walls finished with plaster, while the Japanese paper screens fitted inside the glass reflect the shadows of plants and trees. The hard-edged surfaces and finishes coexist with the soft, muted tones of the Japanese paper.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

The second storey, in contrast, features an open-plan living space, the entirety of which can be opened up towards the ocean. A series of wide eaves stand between the outside of the house and the interior, which is articulated into smaller sections by a row of pillars.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Going down the staircase-shaped terrace allows one to gradually draw closer to the outdoor landscape. The section that divides the two different elevations on this floor provides seating throughout, functioning as a unique Japanese-style verandah (engawa).

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

A steel-reinforced concrete structure was used for the second floor, and a Vierendeel bridge structure allowed us to float a large, thin roof on top. The pillars consist of square cylindrical poles (measuring 75mm across) made of solid iron arranged in a densely packed formation using wooden modules (900 x 1800mm). By creating several areas of low-level rigidity, we were able to do away with the need for braces.

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Location: Yokosuka Kanagawa
Date of Completion: July 2011
Principal Use: Private House
Structure: RC, Steel
Site Area: 454m2
Total Floor Area: 286.93m2 (54.86m2/B1F, 131.22m2/1F, 100.85m2/2F,)

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Architecture : Kazuhiko Kishimoto / acaa

Wind-dyed House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto:acaa

Structural Engineer: Takahiro Suwabe

Dezeen Screen: Sur Mesure by FREAKS freearchitects

Sur Mesure by FREAKS freearchitects

Dezeen Screen: this movie shows how French studio FREAKS freearchitects stuck huge dimension arrows onto the facade of a building by architects Oscar Niemeyer and Jean Prouvé in Paris in a bid to educate the general public about the importance of architecture. Watch the movie »

Dezeen Screen: Museo ABC by Aranguren + Gallegos

Museo ABC by Aranguren + Gallegos

Dezeen Screen: this movie by Spanish agency impresiones [de arquitectura] shows Museo ABC, a brewery in Madrid that’s been converted into a museum by Spanish architects Arranguren & Gallegos. Watch the movie »

Grimshaw to design new masterplan for Wimbledon


Dezeen Wire:
British architects Grimshaw have been selected by the All England Lawn Tennis Club to design a new masterplan for Wimbledon, home to the annual tennis championships.

Due to complete in 2020, the proposals are commissioned following the conclusion of the tennis club’s 1993 Long Term Plan developments, which included a new roof for Centre Court by architects Populous.

You can see more projects by Grimshaw here, including a decommissioned blast furnace converted into a museum of steel.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

The zigzagging wooden roof of this market hall in Majorca snakes around a plaza and over a car park entrance before sloping down to meet the ground.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

Completed by architects Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro, the Inca Public Market and new plaza replace an older market hall that formerly occupied the site.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

The building also accommodates small shops and council offices plus an underground supermarket and car park that are located beneath the public square.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

Louvered windows diffuse daylight into the timber-framed hall, while wooden panels clad the base of the building’s exterior.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

You can see more stories about markets here, including a concrete fish market in Istanbul.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

Photography is by Jose Hevia, apart from where otherwise stated.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

Above: photograph by Jaime Sicilia

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

Here’s some more information from Charmaine Lay:


Inca Public Market
Charmaine Lay / Carles Muro

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

The demolition of the old market building has offered the opportunity to rediscover a new public space in the heart of the city of Inca, just a few metres away from the Main Street and the Town Hall.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

The proposal tries to obtain the maximum possible amount of public space while accommodating the different requirements of a varied programme: car park, supermarket, retail shops, council offices and public market. A public space that aims at supporting the present and future activities of this place.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

The car park and the supermarket are located underground, while the rest of the required programme rises from the ground reaching its maximum height with the council offices.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

Beginning at one end of the site, the wooden paving detaches itself from the ground in order to cover the entrance to the car park. This wooden strip continues as a kind of pergola that runs parallel to the street, wrapping the main public space of the square, before transforming itself once again –unfolding into three sloped planes– to become the roof of the market.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

A final horizontal stretch covers the building containing the retail spaces and the council offices. This strip will become the main element of continuity throughout the project and reflects upon the surface the hidden structural bays of the car park beneath.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

The market is understood as a covered plaza that is continuous with the public space surrounding it. The folds of the market roof allow for the natural light and ventilation desired.

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

Location: Inca (Majorca)
Client: Ajuntament d’Inca (Inca City Council)
Contractor: Dragados [first phase] / Melchor Mascaró [second phase]

Inca Public Market by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro

Architects: Charmaine Lay, Carles Muro
Collaborators: Miquel Mariné (Project Architect)
Susana Aristoy, Juan Carlos Castro, David Domínguez, Raphaël de Montard, Alfredo Peñafiel, Gisela Planas, Anna Tantull, Ferran Vizoso
Structural engineers: GMK Associats [design stage] / BOMA (Lluís Moya, Xavier Aguiló) [site] Services engineers: Instal·lacions Arquitectòniques (Albert Salazar, Cristian González)
Quantity surveyors: Forteza Carbonell Associats (Jordi Carbonell, Xavier Arumí)
Site surveyor: Héctor Fernández

Design Museum by John Pawson

Design Museum by John Pawson

London’s Design Museum have unveiled designs by British architect John Pawson for their new home in the former Commonwealth Institute building in west London.

Design Museum by John Pawson

Top: new design museum, second floor
Above: new design museum, second floor showing the permanent exhibition 

Due to open to the public in 2014, the £80 million plans include galleries for permanent and temporary exhibition spaces, an auditorium and a library, which will accompany a separate housing development by Dutch firm OMA.

Design Museum by John Pawson

Above: new Design Museum, entrance foyer

The former Commonwealth Institute, which was completed in the 1960s, hasn’t been used for over ten years but will retain its hyperbolic paraboloid roof structure in the refurbishment.

Design Museum by John Pawson

Above: new Design Museum, exterior view

New glazed entrances will lead in towards the galleries located on the ground floor, basement and second floor, giving the museum three times the exhibition space of its current home at Shad Thames on the Southbank.

Design Museum by John Pawson

Above: existing Commonwealth Institute building, exterior view

See all our stories about the Design Museum here and listen to our podcast interview with John Pawson here.

Design Museum by John Pawson

Above: existing Commonwealth Institute building, interior

Visuals are by Alex Morris Visualisation. Photos of the existing building are by Luke Hayes.

Design Museum by John Pawson

Above: existing Commonwealth Institute building, interior

Here are some more details from the museum:


£80m PLANS UNVEILED TO CREATE WORLD’S LEADING DESIGN MUSEUM IN LONDON

The Design Museum today unveiled plans to create the world’s leading museum of design and architecture at the former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington, London. Designs for the site have been produced by two of the world’s most innovative architectural practices: John Pawson has redesigned the interior of the Grade 2* listed building and OMA has planned the surrounding residential development.

The move will allow the new Design Museum to become a word class centre for design, nurturing British talent and its international influence on design of all kinds. It will bring the museum into Kensington’s cultural quarter, where it will join the V&A, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Royal College of Art and Serpentine Gallery, creating a platform for the promotion and support of the next generation of creative talent.

The new building will open to the public in 2014, giving the Design Museum three times more space to showcase its unique collection. The museum aims to double its visitor numbers to 500,000 a year, and will greatly expand its education and public events programme with state of the art facilities.

The 1960s Commonwealth Institute building has lain dormant for over a decade. Its refurbishment will give a neglected London icon a new life and purpose and will revitalise an important area of West London. In July 2010 the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea granted planning permission to Chelsfield Partners and the IIchester Estate to modify the Grade 2* listed building and for a residential development. The design team for the new project has been assisted by Lord Cunliffe, a leading member of the original architectural team for the Commonwealth Institute in 1958, and by James Sutherland, the building’s original structural engineer.

The new Design Museum, which is an £80 million project, will open in 2014. The Design Museum fundraising target is £44.66 million of which it has secured more than 60% through the support of a number of individuals and trusts and foundations.

The Museum announced today that The Dr Mortimer & Theresa Sackler Foundation has pledged to support the project, making a generous donation to create The Sackler Library, a learning resource at the heart of the new Design Museum. Other major donations include The Conran Foundation, which has pledged £17m, The Heritage Lottery Fund which has made a first stage grant towards an application of £4.95m, The Wolfson Foundation, The Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement, The Hans and Marit Rausing Charitable Trust, The Atkin Foundation and, in addition, a further £2.75m has been raised in early stage fundraising from a small number of individual donors.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, said “It is immensely exciting to see the plans for the new Design Museum at the Commonwealth Institute in Kensington. The UK leads the world in design and architecture and it is entirely appropriate that we should be creating the world’s greatest Design Museum at this iconic London landmark. The new Design Museum will be a truly outstanding visitor attraction, learning resource and celebration of the best of British creativity. It is only through the generosity of others that this has become possible and I would like to extend my gratitude to all those who have made this possible.”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said “From the Olympic Park to the new bus for London, our city is a hotbed of creativity, the epicentre of design, and deserves a world-class museum to celebrate the amazing work being created here in the UK and around the world. Housed in an iconic architectural landmark and offering state of the art learning facilities, this new museum puts design firmly in the spotlight and will become a must see destination for visitors as well as designers and students.”

Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum, said “This is an important step forward for the Design Museum. We are very excited by all the work that John Pawson and the rest of the design team have done. They have put forward a brilliant strategy to bring the former Commonwealth Institute back to life, which will allow the public to see the essential qualities of this historic listed building, and make a wonderful new home for the Design Museum.”

John Pawson, architect, said “The most exciting thing about the project is that, at the end of it all, London will have a world-class museum of design, with galleries for permanent and temporary exhibitions, education spaces and a library. There is particularly nice symbolism in the fact that in making this legacy for future generations, we are saving a work of iconic architecture. I hope the result will demonstrate that you don’t need to demolish old buildings to make wonderful new public space.”

Reinier de Graaf of OMA adds “In conceiving a new future for London’s former Commonwealth Institute, we pay tribute to a period that continues to inform contemporary architecture.”

Sir Stuart Lipton, Chairman, Chelsfield, said “We are delighted to be supporting the Design Museum to realise its vision of becoming the world’s leading centre for design and architecture. Britain’s designers are taking the lead internationally and it is fitting that there will be a world-class centre for design and architecture in London.”

ARCHITECTURAL STATEMENT
JOHN PAWSON

A centre of design for London

The goal of the project is the creation of a world-class museum of design in the heart of London, with galleries for permanent and temporary exhibitions, education spaces and a design reference library. The architectural vision developed to realise this goal has been profoundly shaped by the fact that the new Design Museum’s permanent home is within the skin of an existing building – the Grade 2* listed former Commonwealth Institute, designed by Robert Matthews, Johnson-Marshall & Partners, which opened in 1962. Driving the process of reclaiming this iconic example of post-war British Modernism as a contemporary cultural space has been the wish to preserve and enhance its inherent architectural qualities for future generations of Londoners and visitors to the city. The outcome should be a building that feels as though it has retuned itself.

A new public space in Holland Park

This process of natural evolution and readjustment begins with the character of the relationship of the new Design Museum with its setting in Holland Park. Freedom of access will allow the public to move comfortably from the green spaces of the park to the interior spaces of the building in a relaxed, open and instinctive manner. In line with the wider design strategy for the building, greater transparency is introduced on the north and east facades. Glazed entrances are created to the ground floor foyer and the existing stained glass windows, currently installed on the south façade, are relocated to the north façade, adjacent to the new entrance from Holland Park.

Dynamic spatial experiences

Once inside, visitors will be naturally drawn up through the atrium space towards the hyperbolic paraboloid roof structure – the defining architectural gesture of the original design. The central staircase leads to the mezzanine level – an echo of the original dais, at the centre of the exhibition building. As in the original building, this level offers a chance to view the whole building, as well as providing space for exhibiting a key piece from a visiting exhibition or the permanent collection. As one moves upwards through the central void, so the framed view of the roof will widen and transform, assisted by the enlarged openings in the top floor slab, creating a dynamic experience that will change according to the time of day and the light conditions. Providing sightlines to all of the building’s principal spaces, the central void acts as a key medium for orientation and navigation. From the entrance foyer, a visitor will see the entire route through the building, winding up from the central platform around the opening at first floor level to the permanent exhibition space on the top floor and the sweeping curve of the roof. The material palette is purposefully restricted, with concrete terrazzo floors at basement and ground levels and hardwood used for the remaining floors and also for wall panelling.

Layout

The programme is split between five floors, providing a total around 10,000m2. The museum’s main exhibition space is located on the ground floor, together with the café, bookshop and design store. The first floor contains the administration and learning departments, design reference library and an area of open storage where the museum’s collection may be accessed for research purposes. An exhibition of the permanent collection, designed by Studio Myerscough, is located on the top floor, where the roof soars up to 16m above one’s head, alongside the restaurant, event space and the members’ room, all of which will enjoy views over Holland Park. The second exhibition space and the auditorium are located at basement level, which also accommodates curatorial spaces, workshops, kitchen and back of house areas.

Opening up sightlines to the hyperbolic paraboloid roof

In the existing building, the central concrete section of the roof rises up through the building on two structural supports, arches over the central space and then down towards the top floor. The floor slab opens up around the structure, allowing it to pass through to the floor below. To give the central roof structure the same freedom, two new openings are formed in the new top floor slab. The larger opening relates to the central void and an additional smaller opening visually connects The Sackler Library on the first floor to the permanent exhibition space. The creation of the second opening allows further views up to the roof from the first floor level, as well as allowing views into the workings of the museum for visitors to the permanent exhibitions on the second floor.

Horizontal elements

A key part of the design rationale is for the floor slabs to be clearly expressed as strong horizontal elements. The slab edges are therefore finished in white, as in the original building, contrasting with the timber walls and defining the volumes of the first and second floors. To reinforce this idea, all volumes, including the lift cores on the top floor, are located around the perimeter of the building.

Structure

One of the key elements to the building is the structural design developed by Arup to retain and preserve the original roof structure. These complex proposals will allow the internal floors of the existing building to be demolished, a new basement to be built across the site and the new structure of the museum building to be constructed under the roof.

The existing fabric of the building has shaped how the new structural design has developed. The rhythm of the edge support mullions sets up a typical structural grid of approximately 9m x 9m. Shear walls, built in as part of the service cores distributed through the building, will brace the structural grid.

A series of piles, temporary beams and trusses will be built around and through the existing structure to support the internal roof support columns and the roof edge support mullions. The external walls and internal structure will then be demolished and the new structure built up around the temporary works until it can support the roof. The temporary supports will then be removed and the new structure completed, to allow the fit-out work to commence.

Michigan State University’s Broad Art Museum Opening Delayed Over Ill-Fitting Glass

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Well if this just isn’t the way of the world, particularly within the building industry, then we don’t know what is. After carefully maneuvering big hurdles like raising enough money, and much smaller ones, like cleaning up some graffiti, the long awaiting opening of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University and its new home designed by Zaha Hadid, has been delayed due to a factor few would have likely considered: glass. The Lansing State Journal reports that because Hadid’s building features panels upon panels of glass that make up the structure’s exterior, the builders have found that some of the 1,000 pound pieces aren’t lining up just-so and will need to be sent back to the manufacturer. The original opening was scheduled for just a few months from now, on April 21st. That’s now been pushed back to “sometime in the fall,” which is the new estimate based on how quickly they can get the correct glass. Fortunately, the paper reports that the delay isn’t expected to add to the expense of the already pricey building. To help bridge the gap until its later opening, the museum plans to launch The Virtual Broad Art Museum sometime next month.

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