The-Lefthander

(Possible other. Via l'épaisseur des images via @laperiferia.)

Venice Architecture Biennale 2010: two enormous girders slice through the Arsenale exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale thanks to Madrid architect Antón García-Abril of Ensamble Studio. (more…)

For the exhibition Still Action -- on view at the School of the Art Institute's Sullivan Galleries in Chicago until October 2nd -- Brandon Pass designed, built, and installed (the last two with Nick Bastic) a kinetic wall installation for artists Elissa Papendick and Libby O'Bryan to "challenge and broaden the curatorial process as an artistic practice."



Inspired by anthropologist C. Nadia Seremetakis's concept "still-act" ("moments when a subject interrupts historical flow and practices historical interrogation"), on each Friday the gallery hosts different artists "who instigate aesthetic experiences that leave viewers with a heightened sense of awareness."



As can be seen in the image at top, the wall installation is more of a work surface than an armature for artistic expression, fitting with Papendick and O'Bryan's focus on curating for their residency. Some relatively mundane activities take place when the wall is opened as a desk (meetings, coordination, etc.), but all of the curatorial elements are then tucked away when the wall is closed.





These drawings illustrate how pieces hinge in plan and section, not just projecting from the wall but protruding through to modify both sides of the wall simultaneously. For example, the desk surface extends through the wall to become a small stand for a microphone and coffee or tea; curating and interviewing happen on either side but are interdependent on the same movable elements.



Function in the realm of the exhibition and the artists' tasks aside, I prefer the image of the wall in the closed position. Over time it probably won't have the unadorned appearance of above, but the combination of panels, reveals, and hardware give it the appearance of a cabinet of curiosities, or something like Ben Nicholson's Teloman Cupboard. One may not envision a simple desk and other accoutrements when open, instead letting the mind wander to whatever slender artifacts may lie behind the plywood. Regardless it's a small but dynamic and influential element within its surroundings that addresses the needs of the curators and over time the other artists as well.

The University of Michigan leadership committed this summer to seek LEED certification for every new construction project of at least $10 million. The new Ross School of Business building is full of environmentally friendly technology.



NPR discusses LEED. NPR

The 36th Annual Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition has just been announced. This year's jury includes Archinect's own Nam Henderson. www.krobarch.com | via Bustler View the results from 2009, 2008 and 2007

[Image: An outdoor greenscreen for Sony Studios].

Right around the corner from our new apartment here in Los Angeles is an outdoor greenscreen owned by Sony Studios. Something was being shot there the other night, for instance, complete with what amounted to an artificial moon held by crane at least sixty feet above the rooftops, glowing amidst evening fog like a new installation by Leonid Tishkov.

There's something oddly Holodeck-like about having a greenscreen literally just two buildings away from us—as if at any point we might sneak out into what seems like a derelict parking lot, with some odd props scattered here and there, only to be propelled into bullet-time, the world around us dissolving in a hail of miscomposited imagery.

It's the new urban Baroque! Install greenscreens everywhere in an optical infrastructure for the 21st century—a DIY industry of everyday special effects, little greenscreens popping up beside trees, in alleyways, behind buildings, atop roofs, the entire urban environment camera-ready and pierced like St. Sebastian by the arrows of parallel worlds, our cities become effects labs and every sidewalk a set.

We'll host greenscreen parties, illegal raids on this empty parking lot at midnight to stage the elaborate counterphysics of our unacknowledged parallel lives.

[Image: The greenscreen peeking out from the canopy of a tree].

What, for instance, could Google Street View do with this? Every sixth billboard in Los Angeles chroma-keyed to show a new city laminated atop the existing one, phasing in and out like camouflage and opening strange new optical possibilities for urban design in an age of composite imaging.

This winery by Hungarian architects Plant sits at the foot of a volcanic hill in Hungary and is clad in concrete panels indented with the pattern of grapevines. (more…)

West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation seeking Project Manager in West Hollywood, CA Donald Blair Architects seeking Junior Architect in New York, NY View thousands of active job listings in our jobs section | Post a Job

Lighting design legend Ingo Maurer was the curator of the first EcoDesign prize awarded at this year's Habitare EcoDesign exhibition in Finland. The prize was split between four designers including Samuli Naamanka (above) for his Biodegradable Roll lampshade made of sugar.

Hopkins’ redevelopment plans for Greenwich Market would do “real and significant harm in an exceptionally important location”, a public inquiry into the proposals heard today (Tuesday).

Venice Architecture Biennale 2010: Philippe Starck, Aldo Spinelli and Carlo Colombo (above) are among the latest designers to create pieces for Riva 1920 made of reclaimed oak mooring posts from the Venetian lagoon. (more…)

Rejected wood held together by metal bands results in Keep, a series of unique dining tables that are part of Muuto's new collection.

Arup has put 600 staff on notice and expects to cut at least one sixth of them by Christmas.

BUJ Architects is making a second attempt to win planning for a skyscraper on the Isle of Dogs.

Studio Kuadra has have recently completed the Memorial for Jewish Deportation in Borgo San Dalmazzo in Italy. The Memorial consists of a concrete slab raised from the ground bearing the name of 20 survivors whilst the plaques on the ground commemorate the remaining 335 prisoners.

Recycling exhibition carpet into seating was the winning idea at the Habitare Design Competition, whose main judge was Swiss designer and professor Alfredo Häberli.

This house with a pool on its first-floor terrace is by Japanese firm NRM-Architects Office and overlooks a stream in Hyougo, Japan. (more…)