SKIDMORE PASSIVHAUS - In Situ Architecture (Oregon)
This project merges modern design with energy efficiency: high levels of insulation, airtight construction, triple glazed windows, and a super-efficient heat recovery ventilator. Generous amounts of S. facing windows maximize solar gains for most of the year, while motorized ext. aluminum shades can be lowered to block unwanted summer heat gain resulting in comfortable inside temperatures year round. A green roof helps manage stormwater on site, while a roof-mounted PV array provides enough electricity to result in a near net zero sustainable building. Pretty impressive. More here.
Climbers’ Refuge (Italy) LCA Architectti
In the Italian village of Valtournenche, this structure was constructed using a prefabricated timber frame and designed as a contemporary interpretation of the region's typical mountain homes. More on their site here.
Amanda Gorman - National Youth Poet Laureate
Gorman says she doesn't view her speech impediment as a crutch—rather, sees it as a gift, ”I always saw it as a strength because since I was experiencing these obstacles in terms of my auditory and vocal skills, I became really good at reading and writing. I realized that at a young age when I was reciting the Marianne Deborah Williamson quote that 'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure' to my mom."
Step by step : Propagating Succulents
At the moment, I’m a bit obsessed with succulents - maybe it’s their elegant Fibonacci structures or could be their seemingly tough exteriors with gentle interiors. Whatever it is, I found this helpful post from Needles + Leaves for making more from cuttings and leaves.
CNC table detail
This is a good application for computers, automated routers and plywood.
Tower C - Zaha Hadid (China)
Zaha Hadid Architects’ proposal is the winner of a competition at Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters — a business/ financial center for 300,000 employees. The development will include int’l conference venues, exhibition and cultural programs, while also incorporating residential development, a transportation center, botanic grasslands, and a coastal zone with wetlands. More here.
This is the kind of fwd thinking future I’d like to see emerge everywhere.
Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021)
PaaHaa Ranch - Lake Flato Architects
Generous amounts of natural light and real materials exemplify Lake Flato projects. More here.
Rhythm House - Julius Taminiau Architects (Amsterdam)
The rough-sawn wood siding on this project was selected to represent a modern-take on the area's previous agricultural houses. More images and information here.
Boat Update
Happy New Era Everyone!
Started skinning the kayak with nylon - so far so good.
Inauguration Day 2021
Multifunctional Community Centre Bansberia, West Bengal
Lovely, textured and tiny building by Abin Design Studio. And again, I love to see what people do with hardened blocks of clay that fit nicely in your hands and stack so well. See more here.
Jiangyin Greenway - Weaving and Stitching Jiangsu, China
For all the construction that is currently taking place in China, I’m always happy to see when cities there embrace large-scale green projects. More here.
Michael Apted (Director) Feb 10, 1941 – Jan 7, 2021
Beyond directing and receiving critical acclaim for several feature films (Coal Miner’s Daughter, Nell, Gorillas in the Mist, etc.), Apted was best known for the Up series (1964–2019) documenting the lives of a group of British children starting in 1964 and checking-in (every 7 years) on their ordinary to extraordinary lives through 2019.
Champs-Élysées 2.0 (Paris)
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo announces studio PCA-Stream’s accepted proposal for transforming this historic avenue. The PCA plan will split the avenue's 1.2 mile eight-lane highway into bike lanes/walk-ways, as well as, introduce pockets of greenery (over the next 10 years) - with a goal of improving air quality and making it a more sustainable and desirable public space. More here and worth watching the impressive animated fly-by at the bottom of this link on PCA’s site.
Pete Souza - Photographer / Journalist
Souza documented the lives of three presidents. Watch the trailer here for The Way I See It documentary about his impressive and unique perspective of the presidency.
Proposed High Line Extension (NYC) - Diller Scofidio + Renfro
I’ve loved this project since first hearing about it in the early 2000s.
Completed in 2009, the 1.5 mile elevated park was created on a former railroad spur along the west side of Manhattan and designed as a "living system” - part landscape architecture, part urban design.
The newly announced proposed extension will connect the High Line to the new Penn Station expansion allowing pedestrians to walk from the parkway to the station concourse without crossing busy roads.
Kayak Update
Just finished installing the final blocking and hardware elements before skin goes on plus added final coat of urethane to the frame. The temperatures have been below freezing at night and unfortunately the coat did not cure properly (still sticky in places). I’ll research possible solutions.
Girls’ Hostel - Zero Energy Design Lab (India)
Zero Energy Design Lab (ZED Lab) used parametrical design tools to create a facade (2 layers of hollow concrete blocks) to buffer the building from Gurugram’s hot climate and help maintain cooler building temperatures and achieve net zero goals.
More here.
