Beautiful and thoughtful transformation by António Costa Lima Arquitectos. Check out more images here and click on EN once you get there if you’d like to read more about it…unless you speak Italian.
KAI - paper origami razor
I think the tagline should be...Green Shave!
Earthly Pond Service Cntr of Int'l Horticultural Exposition (CHINA) HHD FUN - Architects
I find the stitching, weaving and layering of this immense project oddly hopeful. Feels like cars are not the priority. Also, love what a mouthful the name is. More about this earthwork here.
Country Music - Ken Burns PBS Documentary
We just started watching this and as always Ken Burns masterfully strips away the layers to reveal the essence and details of the American experiment. Highly recommend.
And, Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it.
Treehouses
Several years ago, I was talking with a carpenter at a party about treehouses. He shared that when he was a teen, he and his friends built one about 60ft high - this made his dad slightly uncomfortable so he supplied the kids with a bunch of netting to secure below as a precaution. The kids set it up about 15ft from the base of the tree and spent the summer jumping into it….from the treehouse.
Barn Transformed to Art Studio
Great second life for this structure. See more here.
Solar Covered Carports and EV Charging Stations
Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal titled American Jobs Plan incorporates building 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles + $100 billion to strengthen our electrical grid.
If...Sgt Peppers and the Yellow Submarine had a baby
Emily’s Spring experiment continues.
The Beatles - new doc by Peter Jackson
Looking forward to the August 2021 release of the making of Let It Be album (1969) with the experimental, playful and highly collaborative process of these groundbreakers. Watch 5min. teaser trailer.
JR - French Artist
I love how JR attempts to connect people with spaces and places. His short videos are quite impressive too.
Architects Rebuilt Jojutla, Mexico After Devastating Earthquake 2017
Interesting NYTimes article about the efforts, both well-meaning and misplaced, by the design world and the government to remake a town after catastrophic loss.
Local Activity Center / Marlena Wolnik MWArchitekci (Poland)
It’s good to see how many different uses there are for these relatively small public structures and the connective “hardscape”. See more here.
Tiny Cabins - Croxatto & Opazo Architects (Chile)
These little stacked boxes on a coastal hillside encourage soaking up the ocean views and the natural light. More here.
Weekend House by New How (Prague)
I like the scale of this project and its potential low maintenance material choices. Holds about 10 people, has rough-ins for wind/solar and sounds like the long term plan is for this place to house a family year round. More here.
Peking Man Cave Shelter (THAD)
The roof structure’s elegant form recalls the ancient terrain of the area, mimicking the hillside that once protected the dwellers of this now historic site. More info. here.
Peking Man Cave is the site of a group of Homo Erectus fossils (from approx. 750,000 yrs. ago), discovered in 1929–37 during excavations at Zhoukoudian near Beijing, China.
Toolbox House - YYAA Yoshihiro Yamamoto Architects Atelier (Osaka, Japan)
Love how tiny and organized this project is - it’s under 1000sf and has 3bdrms, bath, office, kitchen/dining and motorcycle storage. More information and photos here.
Side Note: This is the day I got my 1st Moderna vaccine.
Esper Bionics (Ukraine)
Check out here the dozens of things this robotic prosthetic can do. Watch out Skynet.
Stewart Brand - Pioneer
Legendary tech and alternative culture guru, Brand (88) has been at the forefront of multiple movements. We Are As Gods (2020 documentary) tries to sum up his accomplishments. See trailer here.
The Whole Earth Catalog is one of my favorite resources to refer back to from time to time, as is How Buildings Learn, both Stewart Brand publications.
3 things
I like how the wood decking is spaced by every other spindle
The scaled shingles create a playful texture
The entire in-between-space is cover by a glass skylight
Bird houses
Spring is here tomorrow and perhaps I can hardly wait too. Great simple bird houses and graphic renderings by Husos Architects.
