uzzitu blog

"Less is More"

2011-08-02T11:11:00.001-07:00

Architectural record just published an example of great architecture in a fantastic site in Massachusetts. The architect's approach to the site is very gentle and enhance all the views of the site and its topography, the layout also works pretty well.

When I started to look at the pictures it just call my attention the over use of wood, in this case red cedar.
There is not other distinguishable material other than wood. I would be thinking about using either contrasting materials or something similar if the idea was to have some sort of homogeneity.
I feel that the indiscriminate use of a material like "wood" or any other material is not very sustainable; if we all agree that green design is part of good design. It just doesn't feel right even when the wood comes from the most sustainable forest in the world or the owner has all the resources to pay for them.

One of our responsibility as Designers/Architects is to help our clients to make the best selection of materials. Where we as a responsible designers feel comfortable while at the same time help our clients with their project goals and vision.
http://archrecord.construction.com/residential/featured_houses/2011/07/Bluff-House-slideshow.asp?slide=15

The Tallest Building in the World

2011-08-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

Wow! and also the most out of scale building in the world. Honestly I don't understand this type of buildings. I guess the only purpose of these buildings is to demonstrate superiority and power. They are right; the world economy and power is shifting to that part of the world. Having those "mega-structures" are a complete aberration to the urban landscape and the human scale. Not human at all. The Tallest Building in the World

Semi-rigid car by emergent

2011-07-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

This is what I call innovation in new techonology that could be applicable in Architecture. http://www.dezeen.com/2011/07/07/semi-rigid-car-by-emergent/

Texture is Architecture

2011-03-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Don't tell me that this is not cool!
Galleria Center City by UNStudio

Japan EARTH QUAKE

2011-03-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

If you really want to do something and help people affected by the earthquake. Help this great architect and human being with his shelters design and construction. Shigeru Ban

Color

2011-03-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned about my article of color and uses . In the mean time enjoy colors in your life!

Some thoughts about Patterns, Textures and forms

2011-03-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent project where one solely element creates: Form, color, texture and even the furniture itself. There is not need of paint, furniture or decorative elements. The pattern of wood pieces protruding from the wall in different sizes and directions creates the whole rich environment necessary to showcase a product in a unique way. Patterns, textures and forms

Following first article about human exploitation in Architecture

2011-03-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

We all need to be aware and spread the voice about this very important problem in our field.
Artist united

Exploiting Students in Architecture

2011-03-10T10:54:00.000-08:00

I really want to post this article the way it is because I agree totally. Something need to change in the way we are doing things. How are we forming the next generation of architects and how we had been doing in the past. Star Architects Urged to Stop Exploiting Students

2011-02-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

Big towers for me are like white elephants: Plain, expensive, cold, unimaginative, out of scale, boring,etc. This one is a really nice white elephant + the materials forms and design really deserves a recognition that not all towers are boring. 0-14 TOWER

Jean Nouvel's Desing for the National Museum of Qatar

2010-04-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't been amaze by a project of Jean Nouvel in a while, but this project, really call my attention. Circles are really hard to use and he uses the circles in a very dynamic and almost abusive and disorganized way, but with a great result of forms. I haven't seen the interior spaces, wondering how he solved them.
I like the movement and rhythm of the circles, at least on the model looks great. I will be curious about the materials and systems he will be using to keep that continuity of movement around the hole project.

National Museum of Qatar

Adi Zaffran Weisler

2010-04-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

He is an artist in Israel, his work is characterized by the reuse of materials. I am pro of the reuse and re invention of old objects and materials. In this case, the artist is creating jewelry made out of used bullets. Yes, it is very creative but the material he is using means more than a simple artifact in the day by day life. A bullet is a material that has a violent history behind it specially in that region where Palestinian and Israelis are constantly fighting and killing each other.

This an statement of what is happening in his day by day life and that I admire. I am not quite sure if I would have one of those. Freaks me out!

Adi Zaffran Weisler

Edgartista

2010-04-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

I found this artist very talented. He mixes the architectural work of different famous architects to create this great forms and some of them even look like monsters.

He has some of an Escher style in his drawings but his compositions are amazing!!
Edgartista

Eco Kitchen

2010-03-11T14:17:00.000-08:00

The super mega Eco Kitchen. I want one of this.

http://dornob.com/a-side-of-worms-futuristic-auto-composting-eco-kitchen/

2010-03-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

How well do you want to make use of the space or You don't have enough space to keep all your books organized???
Get inspired!!!

http://dornob.com/fantastic-floor-to-ceiling-whole-wall-bookcases-shelves/

Solid Objectives

2010-01-29T10:48:00.000-08:00

I am always looking for interesting projects and studios. I found this studio very interesting and love the project of the Chapel. http://so-il.org/.

Monocoque

2010-01-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

Blaine Brownell a leader in new materials, had posted this in his famous material website "Transmaterial".
I found it a very interesting material and some how futuristic technology that might change the way we build things. Love it!!
http://transmaterial.net/index.php/2010/01/08/monocoque/

The material of the year

2009-12-07T10:41:00.001-08:00

Bustler is a design website and they published this very interesting article about the best materials according to Material ConneXion, which I am not very fan of them, since as far as I remember you need to pay some sort of subscription to see the materials on line. Any how, the materials they selected are outstanding!! See bustler article below.

Global materials consultancy Material ConneXion announced last week the launch of its first annual MEDIUM Award for Material of the Year, naming UK-based company Concrete Canvas’ Concrete Cloth as the inaugural winner.

Click above image to enlarge
Winner of MEDIUM Award for Material of the Year 2009: Concrete Cloth by Concrete Canvas

The award recognizes materials juried into the company’s materials library within the past year that demonstrate outstanding technological innovation and the potential to make a significant contribution to the advancement of design, industry, society and economy.

Click above image to enlarge
Example for rapidly deployable military structures using Concrete Cloth

“The MEDIUM Award for Material of the Year is an opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary breadth and scope of materials innovation today,” says George M. Beylerian, Founder & CEO of Material ConneXion. “The winner is distinguished not only for its technical ability, but for its capacity to make a lasting impact on our lives.”

Click above image to enlarge
Example for rapidly deployable disaster relief shelters using Concrete Cloth

Concrete Cloth’s groundbreaking cement impregnated flexible fabric technology, which allows it to be quickly and easily molded and set into shapes, is a natural choice for 2009’s winner. “With the simple addition of water, Concrete Cloth makes it possible to create safe, durable, non-combustible structures for a wide range of commercial, military and humanitarian uses,” says Dr. Andrew H. Dent, Vice President, Library & Materials Research at Material ConneXion. “This innovation is especially remarkable for enabling the construction of rapidly deployable shelter and food storage structures in disaster relief situations,” Dent adds.

Click above image to enlarge
Example using Concrete Cloth for molded drainage systems

As one of the world’s leading global materials consultancy and library of innovative and sustainable materials, Material ConneXion has unparalleled insight into the materials, processes and emerging technologies that are having the greatest impact on design worldwide. In addition to Concrete Cloth, the company is recognizing eleven Material of the Year honorable mentions whose exemplary material innovation makes them particularly worthy of note.
Among them are Abtech Industries’ groundbreaking Smart Sponge technology, which is making enormous strides to combat water pollution by enabling the safe and effective removal of oil from water, and Objet Geometries’ Connex 3D Multiple Material Printers, whose cutting-edge rapid prototyping technology enables multiple material types with different properties to be formed in the same object.

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Honorable Mention: Prototypes from Connex 3D Multiple Material Printer by Objet Geometries

Great advances in sustainable material innovation can be seen in materials such as Arkema’s Pebax Rnew, an elastomer comprised of up to 95% plant-based materials that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions when compared to equivalent fossil-fuel based products, and in Cellucomp’s Curran, a high-strength biofiber formulated from degraded carrots with a stiffness that rivals carbon fiber. Solutions like Milliken Chemical’s Millad NX8000® are significant for allowing companies to choose more sustainable materials previously unspecified because they didn’t meet their designs standards.

Click above image to enlarge
Honorable Mention: OCTAMOLD by OCTAMOLD Technologies

Other honorable mentions, such as Innegrity’s Innegra S fiber, Momentive’s Performance Materials’ LSR 7070, and OCTAMOLD Technologies’ OCTAMOLD are recognized for increasing construction capabilities, improving performance, and lowering costs in a wide range of applications - from sporting goods and military equipment to transportation design.

Click above image to enlarge
Honorable Mention: Metal Architectural Surfaces by Quin Arts & Media Science

Cutting-edge processes including Keil Gmbh’s Xylogramm, Vestige Veneer’s Infigure and Quin Arts & Media Science’s Metal Architectural Surfaces are recognized for pushing aesthetic boundaries and transforming architectural and interior spaces by achieving extraordinary visual and dimensional effects in a wide range of mediums.
Material ConneXion will mount an exhibition of the MEDIUM Award for Material of the Year 2009 winner and finalists in its New York City showroom from January 11 - February 19, 2010, giving the public an opportunity to see and interact with these extraordinary innovations in person.

2009-12-04T11:55:00.000-08:00

This a studio that design and research on new technologies to improve the qualities and functionality of the buildings. Which is something that I am very interested right now.
They are contributing in to the creation of "active buildings", by that, I refer to a building that reacts to the physical phenomena of the environment in a mechanical way. By this approach, the building is no longer a passive-fix object, but more like an object-building that reacts and protect the people that live-works inside it.

Each part of the building system could be "smart" in the sense that they could react not just as a cover; but as systems of integrated mechanical functions that are constantly behaving according to the weather and seasonal climate changes, for example. It could behave on anything we can think of.
www.adaptivebuildings.com

Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne Switzerland

2009-11-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

A friend told me about this project: The Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne Switzerland, which is currently under construction.

The project held a contest which involved several world-renowned architects. Zaha Hadid, Herzog and de Meuron, Jean Nouvel, Abalos and Herreros, OMA, etc. Just to name some.
The Architects selected were SANAA, Kazuyo Sejima and Nishizawa Rue.

I am not an expert in design criticism but I dare to say that almost all the designs proposals that participate on the competition, involved a big massive structure that would compete with the beautiful and clean landscape of the city. In contrast the selected architects proposed a design that I daresay blends with the landscape. The feeling I gave it is a piece of paper that has fallen into the landscape and that has been folded and transformed to create different spaces. Fluidity, continuity and simplicity are qualities hard to achieve.
http://learningcenter.epfl.ch/page46308.html

taipei pop musical center

2009-10-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

Really interesting project.

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/7980/nabito-architects-taipei-pop-music-center-proposal.html

Interesting material + conference

2009-10-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

Salmon Leather is a noble and versatile material, made by repurposing salmon skin which was previously discarded by the commercial salmon industry. The leather has aesthetic and physical qualities, not only is it very tough, it is highly flexible.

The thickness of the leather is in the range 0.4 - 0.6 mm. Different seaming and adhesion techniques are applied to fashion large panels or rolls of leather, available in virtually any colour combination.

From the 17th of October, Material Matters presents, in collaboration with Materia, more than 350 material samples of the latest collection 2009. Els Zijlstra, founder of Materia, will give a lecture about biomimicy & materials at Saturday the 24th October during the Dutch Design Week.

www.materia.com

Finally a competition for Helmets!

2009-10-19T11:52:00.001-07:00

If you are those type of persons resilient to use a helmet because the design sucks! There is hope!!
http://www.dexigner.com/product/news-g19018.html

Solar Decathlon

2009-10-19T11:34:00.001-07:00

The best of the solar Decathlon.
http://www.jetsongreen.com/2009/10/20-beautiful-solar-powered-houses.html

2009-10-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

Interesting article about the use of materials in Fashion.
http://www.cashmere.ca/wcc/english/2009.php

Edupunks

2009-09-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

Excellent article in Fast Company about the so call Edupunks. Sounds radical but I have the feeling that there is going to be a revolution on the education, no doubt about it. Architecture is definitely part of it.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/138/who-needs-harvard.html

2009-09-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Last month I was in Argentina as every year to visit friends, family, and always looking for the latest in fashion and design. To my satisfaction, I always find interesting creative proposals in some corner of the city. There is always a new gallery with interesting architecture, a hairdresser with an original touch, where for example besides hair cut is also a bar, a shoe shop with unique designs and clothing designs with colors, prints or original fabric. It's very interesting to see the variety of creative proposals in this city and with a reasonable price. For now my favorite store this year is called ZULEIKA, a shoe shop and accessories with imaginative and fun. Judge for yourself. Even the name I like!