Material Memory
Senses can trigger our memory, but can memory trigger our senses? My grandfather used to tell us stories of the war and his march from Omaha Beach to Berlin. With […]
Category Archives: Mineral
GREEN CAST [vertical green: aesthetic + function exposed]
Project: Green Cast, Odaware-shi, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan Architect/Designer: Kengo Kuma and Associates Sources: http://kkaa.co.jp/ Featured material: Aluminum die cast panels and plant material. This vertical green facade by KK+A leaves […]
Draw on the (Parabolic) Wall
Precedent: Winery Gantenbein (2006) Architects: Gramazio & Kohler, Bearth & Deplazes Architekten Location: Fläsch, Switzerland Process: This project uses a robotic arm to precisely place 20,000 bricks according to programmed […]
Indigenous Architecture
Climate change and sustainability are key considerations for architects when designing buildings in the 21st century. Since the industrial revolution, materials like steel, and more recently concrete, utilize the burning […]
Weathering Facades
Three weeks ago I wrote a post entitled “Weathered” in which I described ways that people deal with the weathering of typical cladding materials on their homes or other buildings. […]
Please Play: the art factor
Playing the Building, a whimsical expression for an art installation that exposes the dignity of the old Jeune Lune Theater for the masses’ pleasure. The artist, David Byrne strips the ornament […]
Energy in Movement
Since before the days of Tesla, we have dreamed of a “free” source of energy – something that would allow us to tap into power that already permeated the very […]
Mirrors
Since the industrial revolution, architects have employed the use of mirrors in buildings across the world. But what is it about mirrors that people love so much? Are we that […]
Urban Camouflage Rethought
Rethinking about the application and ability for camouflage’s potential impact on design and the building industry, I have started challenging some of my earlier thoughts. How do we start to […]
Journey to the Center of a Bathhouse
Every once in a while, I like to indulge in looking back to a rather perplexing creation of Peter Zumthor, the bathhouse at Therme Vals. And what a peculiar bathhouse […]
Adaptive Reuse: Istanbul Salt Repository
“Great architecture has a global language, which can minimize differences of taste resulting from local cultural factors.” -Erginoğlu & Çalışlar Architects Project: Tuzamban, Used by Medina Turgul DDB (2009) Original Use: Salt […]
Suspended Stone
We live with the assumption that anything stone or brick should be directly connected to the ground. In class this week we proved that doesn’t have to be true. In […]
Camouflage This?
For my second attempt at understanding methods of camouflage I decided to study Casa Corallo by Paz Arquitectura. The project is located on a hillside forest in the Santa Rosalia […]
FLOCK [>from typical – innovative surface>]
FLOCK [>from typical – innovative surface>] Material/application: FLOCK Designer: Speziell Studio Sources: http://www.speziell.net/ Featured material: Flocks (plastic or natural fibers) – surface coating In 2003, Speziell Studios unveiled the great […]
RTP/RPD Studios [concrete_dematerialized=glass]
RTP/RPD Studios [concrete_dematerialized=glass] Project: R.T.P. / R.P.D. Studios, Lisbon Architect/Designer: Frederico Valsassina Arquitectos Sources: http://www.fvarq.com/ Featured material: Glass (printed glass facade) The RTP/RDP Studios offers a remarkable example of concrete […]
Material Strategies 
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