Hasta La Ideas

We hope you had a nice long holiday weekend, but now it seems time to get back to normal (or at least a slower version of normal until things really get back to cooking next week). To help you adjust, here’s some miscellany to catch you back up on what’s been going on of late:

Ivanka Trump was likely saved some negative buzz by having a controversy pop up right before the weekend. Designer Derek Lam has accused Trump of stealing the design for one of his wedge shoes for her own line of wedges, issuing a cease-and-desist in the process. The designer says it’s a flat out copy, but Trump has fired back, arguing that the style has been used across brands for years and isn’t Lam’s sole (puns!) creation. “There is nothing iconic about the appearance of the Lam sandal,” a Trump spokesperson said in a statement. Now it’s time for the lawyers to duke it out.

On a sad note, the famous architect who helped popularize modernism and prefabricated housing, Andrew Geller, passed away on Christmas Day, reportedly of kidney failure. He was 87. The NY Times obituary is a good summary of Mr. Geller’s storied career, but if you have the time, we highly recommend reading Alastair Gordon‘s touching piece about the life and work of his close friend.

The battle between Federal Emergency Management Agency and the University of Iowa over buildings that were destroyed during a 2008 flood (including a depressingly now-unusable Steven Holl structure), continues unabated. The university wants to use FEMA’s rebuilding funds to move their art museum to higher ground, both to keep the art safe and to allow them to get said art insured, whereas FEMA only wants to provide funding to rehab the damaged museum (which would render insurance on the art collection impossible). In this latest round, the university has provided FEMA with more information and now is preparing itself for another long wait to hear back.

Finally, Frank Lloyd Wright‘s Fallingwater has now entered the iPad age, with the launch of its own app, offering visitors or architecture fans from afar, to tour the house and learn all its many facts and figures. Here’s the promo video:

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Residents plunging into the swimming pool of this Stockholm house may feel like they’re in an aquarium.

The surface of the swimming pool is located on the deck of the upper ground level, but a large window in its concrete side faces visitors arriving on the floor below.

Designed by Swedish architects DAPstockholm, the three-storey Villa Midgård and its swimming pool are set into the inclining landscape.

Slate wraps the elevations of the house at the lower level, while Corten steel clads the facades of the upper two storeys.

A central crank splits the building into two halves, with different rooms on each side.

One half of the roof is covered in grass and the other half is occupied by a terrace.

Other houses with interesting swimming pools include a remote Australian lodge and a jumbled house in India.

Photography is by Åke E:son Lindman.

Here’s some more information from DAPstockholm:

A multi‐faceted house with a lot of attitude

When the client met with DAPstockholm they wished for a solid, secluded house with a maintenance‐free facade, a sense of ceiling height and a master bedroom with the benefit of morning sun.

They also wished for a solution where they could open up larger windows toward the scenery and have a sheltered space where they could sit and listen to the pouring rain.

This resulted in a multi‐faceted house where the shape and direction of the different volumes are based on various factors such as the terrain, the light conditions, the views and the privacy. The volumes give the house seven different facades.

This and the dramatic nature of the sloping site provide the house with a unique character. Cut‐ outs in the mountain give space for the outdoor seating areas. In the south‐east direction, outside the SPA, one of these creates a significant border between the arranged and the rampant garden.

Click above for larger image

The second floor is suspended above the entrance floor to shadow and protect the yard. Here the infinity pool, made out of dark concrete, make you think of a deep forest lake adding to qualities of a wilderness where the water runs over the pool edge.

Click above for larger image

The facade of the souterrain is made out of slate and the stair from the carport out of limestone. Grass covers the roof of the tallest volume and the roof terrace where it is themed with spruce. The house interior also exhibit materials that are close to nature such as walnut, ceramic granite and marble.

Click above for larger image

“By using living materials the house will become more characteristic with age” says Calle Smedshammar, partner Architect at DAPstockholm.

Project: Villa Midgård
Architect: DAPstockholm
Area: approx 300 sqm
Number of rooms: Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, one toilet, common area, kitchen, living room, cinema, spa, guest room, wine cellar, storage and a tech room divided onto three floors.
Construction and Facade: Cast‐in‐place concrete structure and Corten steel with elements of charcoaled beech wood
Location: Stockholm
Client: Private
Status: Completed 2011
Landscape: In collaboration with Nod Combine
Paving for entrance and parking: White pigmented concrete
Carport: Cast‐in‐place concrete structure blasted into the side of the mountain and covered in vegetation

Les équipes du cabinet Vaumm Architects ont pensé ce “Basque Culinary Center” situé à San Sebastian au nord de l’Espagne. Avec cette école de cuisine au design réussi, les différents facettes et espaces du lieu extérieur et intérieur sont à découvrir en visuels dans la suite.

Previously on Fubiz

• Wuhan Greenland Center
• 747 Wing House
• Tree Restaurant

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“Get smart. Go to the library. Don’t read magazines.” Such was Michael Graves’ advice to young architects last month during a panel at “Reconsidering Postmodernism,” a real doozy of a conference organized by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art in New York. It was Graves’ way of encouraging a broad-based, historically informed approach at a time when “object buildings” and torqued shapes make headlines but not, in his view, an architecture of the city. “Can’t we call this Gaga architecture?” he asked. “Lady Gaga has a different dress everytime we see her.” (To which fellow panelist Paul Goldberger replied, “I did once refer to Zaha Hadid as the Lady Gaga of architecture.”) Graves has plenty of fans at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, which has announced that he is the winner of the 2012 Richard H. Driehaus Prize, established in 2003 to honor “lifetime contributions to traditional, classical, and sustainable architecture and urbanism in the modern world.” Members of the jury (which included Goldberger, Witold Rybczynski, and Adele Chatfield-Taylor, president of the American Academy in Rome) commended Graves’ “commitment to the traditional city—in its human scale, complexity, and vitality—as emblematic of a time-tested sustainability.” He’ll receive $200,000 and a bronze miniature of the Choregic Monument of Lysikrates during a March 24 ceremony in Chicago. The Driehaus Prize has previously been awarded to wizards of classicism such as Robert A.M. Stern, Allan Greenberg, and Demetri Porphyrios.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Norwegian architects Snøhetta have submitted plans for a Maggie’s Centre to provide cancer care facilities in Aberdeen, Scotland.

The single-storey centre would have a curved form, with a hard concrete exterior and a soft timber interior.

The building is proposed beside a field, but would also have its own courtyard garden with a cherry tree at the centre.

Aberdeen City Council are expected to either approve or reject the plans in approximately eight to twelve weeks time.

Maggie’s was founded fifteen years ago to provide support to anyone affected by cancer –  you can see more Maggie’s Centres here.

Here’s some more text from Snøhetta:

First glimpse of Maggie’s Aberdeen

Maggie’s Aberdeen takes a step closer to becoming a reality as initial design concepts are released to coincide with the planning application being submitted to Aberdeen City Council.

The council will now spent 8-12weeks deliberating over the design of the Maggie’s Centre at the Foresterhill site of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary before coming to a decision on granting permission.

This week saw the release of the initial design image of the Centre, as designed by Oslo based architectural firm Snohetta.

Maggie’s Aberdeen will continue Maggie’s legacy of bringing contemplative architectural to hospital sites; providing the all important right environment for Maggie’s to facilitate their programme of emotional and practical support to anyone affected by cancer.

A string of talented architects have now designed Maggie’s Centres, including the likes of Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas. Snohetta will follow in such footsteps to design the latest Maggie’s Centre, and will draw on local expertise to realise the vision of the Centre.

Laura Lee, Maggie’s CEO, said: “We are so pleased that the application is now under consideration by the council. The design for Maggie’s Aberdeen is really striking and encapsulates the Maggie’s brief in providing a space that is homely and full of warmth, whilst sparking curiosity and imagination from its visitors. This is a building that will first and foremost provide the ideal environment for people facing cancer in the region to gain support, whilst also greatly contributing to architecture within the region. Monty’s Maggie’s Appeal has inspired a fantastic response from the community and I look forward to entering 2012 with such a tenacious and supportive team.”

Colin Welsh, Chairman of Monty’s Maggie’s Appeal Committee said: ““This is a real milestone for us and a time to thank all of the donors who have supported the Appeal over the last year when all we had to talk about was the concept of the Centre. I also want to commend all the local companies who are giving services free of charge. We are hoping that being able to see what the building will look like and where it will sit, will give our Appeal further momentum.”

Richard Carey, NHS Grampian Chief Executive, said: “What great progress for Monty’s Maggie’s Appeal to have reached this important stage in development. The initial design manages to be both stunning and modern whilst appearing welcoming at the same time. It will certainly be an exciting and most worthwhile building to have on our Foresterhill site and for the people of Grampian. This is a centre that will be greatly utilised by all in the region affected by cancer and it’s great to take a step closer to that reality.”

Charles Jencks said: “Snohetta, coming from the Norwegian culture, has great insight into the life and landscape of the Scots – particularly Aberdeen, a short hop from Oslo. Their mixture of a warm interior of furnishing embraced by a protective shell strikes just the right balance for Maggie’s.”

Location

The location of the Centre will be at the southern boundary of Foresterhill at the edge of the Westburn field. The enviable location will allow the centre to be connected to the hospital whilst at the same time being set apart and independent.

Building

The building is conceived as a pavilion in its parkland setting. The soft exterior form envelops the whole of the centre, and will be cladded with a hard concrete materiality. Whilst the interior building will be more angular in design but will be constructed from soft timber materials. The centre is primarily on one ground floor level with a smaller mezzanine area devoted to the office functions.

Landscaping

The centre will sit within a grass field, with the existing tree line along the Westburn is to be retained and strengthened by new planting of Maple trees to the western end. To mark the entrance, a group of Beech trees will be planted, contrasting in colour and texture to the existing trees. A courtyard garden will be at the heart of the Centre and will form a secluded outdoor space. The courtyard will be covered with a mix of hard and soft surfaces with a centrally planted Flowering Cherry Tree.