In The Real World: The Consequences of Modernity in Japan at the Venice Biennale
<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/99954463">http://www.vimeo.com/99954463</a>
In “The Real World,” the Japan exhibit at the Biennale, curator Norihito Nakatani unearths how this critical movement expressed itself through Osamu Ishiyama, Toyo Ito, Terunobu Fujimori, and other Japanese masters whose works strove to connect to the human of “the real world” rather than contribute to the failed utopias of modernism. Interviews with this group of architects bring to light the desire that they had to positively impact society, and how they attempted to materialize that desire in their early works. The objects found inside the pavilion articulate the storytelling behind the process, leaving their interpretation open to visitors.
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“We were sensitive to the
way in which society was becoming more consumption-oriented and gave
serious thought to how we ought to respond to that change without simply
accommodating ourselves to it.” -Toyo Ito
“I was entering a dead world, which would never see the light of the day. I wanted to treat that dead world as if it were alive, or to put it another way, to try to create a different reality.” - Terunobu Fujimori
Under the title of Fundamentals, Koolhaas’ Biennale asked
national pavilions to focus on their respective countries’
relationships with modernity, the movement that has, for better or
worse, shaped the contemporary city. In the case of Japan,
modernity was expressed in a unique way, as architecture was
instrumental to the rapid industrialization and growth that the country
experienced after World War II. This growth resulted in the first
architectural avant-garde outside of the Western world. By the 70s, as
this movement reached its peak, local architects, historians, artists
and urbanists began to look at modernism in a critical way, questioning
its impact.“I was entering a dead world, which would never see the light of the day. I wanted to treat that dead world as if it were alive, or to put it another way, to try to create a different reality.” - Terunobu Fujimori
In “The Real World,” the Japan exhibit at the Biennale, curator Norihito Nakatani unearths how this critical movement expressed itself through Osamu Ishiyama, Toyo Ito, Terunobu Fujimori, and other Japanese masters whose works strove to connect to the human of “the real world” rather than contribute to the failed utopias of modernism. Interviews with this group of architects bring to light the desire that they had to positively impact society, and how they attempted to materialize that desire in their early works. The objects found inside the pavilion articulate the storytelling behind the process, leaving their interpretation open to visitors.
“You’ve got to try to make an impact
on the times you live in, and you’ve got to do it through your work, not
through words.” – Osamu Ushiyama
“Actual objects continue to possess tremendous energy – much more so than photographs or models.” – Tsutomu Ichiki
More about the “In the Real World” after the break:“Actual objects continue to possess tremendous energy – much more so than photographs or models.” – Tsutomu Ichiki
Amsterdam’s Glass Music Hall Faces Demolition, Seeks Home
Designed by architect Pieter Zaanen and structural designer Mick Eekhout, the Glass Music Hall sits in the center of an existing space, defying stereotypes about what glass can do. Being a hard material, the reverberation time in a blunt glass hall would be approximately 5 seconds. However, this number was brought down to 1 or 2 seconds in this instance, proving glass can be used to create a fantastical acoustical environment.
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Ricardo Bofill Wins the The Noble Qur’an Oasis Competition
The design of the center, which is meant to foster the research, study and transmission of the Qur’an, takes geometric inspiration from traditional Islamic cities:
“The first Islamic city had a circular
plan, with all spaces being enclosed in the circle representing the
elemental symbol of unity and the ultimate source of diversity in
creation. This traditional city, or rather the idea of this city, serves
as the base and the essence for the creation of the Islamic modern
city. Such a background has led us to choose a circular concept as the
main representational shape of the project for The Noble Qur’an
Oasis. This unique civic and cultural landmark, with its sleek,
minimalist design, is a symbolic container where the Islamic science and
culture will be displayed.”
Read the architect’s description of the winning design, after the break.
Happy Birthday Michael Graves
Graves started his own practice in 1964 in Princeton, New Jersey, and has taught at Princeton’s school of architecture for more than 40 years. A prolific architect, Graves has also met with considerable success as an industrial designer, producing products for companies such as Target and Black & Decker. He is highly decorated, having won such prestigious honors as the Nation Medal of the Arts (1999), the AIA Gold Medal (2001), and the Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture (2012). On the anniversary of his birth, we invite you to look over our collection of some of his best work and check out our video interview with him, after the break.
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Assemble Architects and the Coming-of-Age of the Pop-Up Project
Inside “Open: A Bakema Celebration” – The Dutch Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale
<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/99259316">http://www.vimeo.com/99259316</a>
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“We consider Bakema not so much an architect of
buildings, but an architect of a new idea of what Holland could be–a new
national identity, a new national landscape…with an architect in the
center of this particular ambition.” – Guus Beumer, co-curator of the
Dutch Pavilion at the 14th Venice Biennale
Guus Beumer and Drik van den Heuvel, curators of “Open: A
Bakema Celebration,” sat down to speak with us about this year’s Dutch
Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. With the help of graphic designers Experimental Jetset,
Beumer and van den Heuvel created an emblematic, stripped-down,
research-focused display of a particularly Dutch idea: the “Open
Society.” This was all conveyed within and around a 1:1 model of
architect Jaap Bakema’s Lijnbaan Shopping Centre (Rotterdam 1954), constructed within the Netherlands Pavilion.
The hope, as Dirk van den Heuvel explains, is that “the
elements of Bakema…may be useful, inspiring for our own practices
today. Elements that he developed in questions to housing, planning,
modernizing… I think when you come here you will recognize that there’s
lots of affinities, interesting things that we still work with and that
we will work with in the future.”
After you watch the video, make sure to read the curator’s statement, and see images of the pavilion, after the break.
BIG Maze Opens at National Building Museum
The 61×61 foot maze, housed in the building’s grand atrium, will be open to visitors until September 1st. See more images and video, after the break…
World Interior of the Year Award Announces Best Interiors of 2014
The nominees will compete against each other from October 1st to the 3rd at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore (see this year’s architecture shortlist here). More on the interior nominees, after the break.
Happy Birthday Philip Johnson
Johnson was described by Pritzker jurors as someone who “produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the environment. As a critic and historian, he championed the cause of modern architecture and then went on to design some of his greatest buildings.” In 1932, along with Henry-Russell Hitchcock, he curated the Modern Architecture: International Exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art - at that moment, “The International Style” was born, and the course of modern architecture forever altered.
Johnson’s work was not limited to modernism, and in 1984 he designed the iconic AT&T building in New York (today the Sony Building), a 197 meter tall postmodernist sky scraper. The building became infamous for its ornamental style and resemblance to Michael Grave’s Humana building. Another iconic building designed by Philip Johnson, together with John Burgee, is the Puerta de Europa in Madrid, two leaning towers that have become an icon of the Spanish capital.
Design Contest Announced for New Thames Bridge at Nine Elms
More on the competition after the break
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Bekkering Adams Create Hanging Installation in Venice
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Peter Zumthor & LACMA Unveil Revised Museum Design
The change comes in response to criticisms that the previous design would put the neighboring La Brea Tar Pits at risk, threatening their status as an active paleontological research site and a popular tourist destination. The shape of the new design removes this risk by withdrawing from the boundary with the adjacent tar pits, without compromising on floor space in the museum.
More on the revised design after the break
Russian Character Competition Won by Concept for a ‘Dacha in a Dvor’
Design studio Megabudka has won the Russian Character competition, an open contest to design a culture and education centre for the Moscow suburb of Butovo Park. Their concept, entitled “Dacha in a Dvor” plays on the typically Russian idea of
the Dacha, a seasonal home located outside the city that has been a
part of Russian culture since the reign of Peter the Great.
The
design by Megabudka consists of a cluster of buildings arranged around a
“Dvor”, or central courtyard containing apple trees and recreational
spaces. As a whole, the design aims to bring the joys of seasonal rural
life to the outskirts of Moscow, with a single flexible space shared by
the whole community.
More on the design after the break
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