Green ArchiTEXT

"Past Futures, Present, Futures": Reimagining New York City

Exhibition: October 6, 2012 - November 24, 2012
Past Futures Opening: October 5, 7pm
Present, Futures Opening: October 26, 7pm

Past Futures, Present, Futures presents 101 unrealized proposals for New York City, dating from its formation to today with 101 reenactments by invited artists, architects, writers and policy-makers to create alternative visions for the present and future of the city. With the belief that art and architecture, beyond the production of new forms of capital or building solutions, have the power to re-imagine new forms of collective aspiration, the exhibition will present a past and future historiography of novel ideas in New York to open discussion about relevant actions in the city, their vectors of desire, methodologies, limits, audiences and agents. READ MORE >>

via storefrontnews.org

Timelapse: Urban | Digital Urban

Cool video shot by cinematographer Chris Scarafile using a Bolex with intervalometer - via digitalurban.org.

Chris Scarafile Time Lapse - Urban from Chris Scarafile on Vimeo.

Polytopes: The Architecture of Soundscapes

Composer Yannis Xenakis' radical new sound universe and sound architecture for 20th century music is the inspiration for a unique symposium organized by the MediaSCAPES program at SCI-Arc on Wednesday, February 23, 7pm.

Staging new electronic and visual music to a discussion with composers and performers, this symposium links the relations of sound experience, sound inherent structures and mathematics to architecture and space. Organized by the MediaSCAPES post-graduate program at SCI-Arc, the event is dedicated to a public audience and students interested in imagining the fusion of contemporary practices of architecture with media, music making and art. READ MORE >>

The Museum of Possibilities

What balloons have to do with civic engagement and open-source cities.

By Maria Popova

We love public space, that priceless petri dish of human interaction. It’s the lifeblood of any city, and the reason we left LA for New York. Unfortunately, much of it remains un- or underutilized, with cities failing to engage people in interacting with and in public space.

To prevent this disconnect when inaugurating its Quartier des Spectacles, the city of Montréal came up with an exceptionally inspired solution: The Museum of Possibilities — a wonderful daylong pop-up installation inviting visitors to share their dreams and visions for the future of the space by jotting down their ideas on pieces of paper and attaching them to colorful balloons. READ MORE >>

via www.brainpickings.org

Intelligent Life: People Meet In Architecture

By Beatrice Perry and Benjamin Barfield Marks

There is something distinctly mercantile about the Architecture Biennale in Venice. Walking down the long waterfront of the Arsenale, or around the shaded paths of the Giardini, national and independent pavilions roll out their wares to court the visitor’s attention. The sheer scale of the event goads participants to extraordinary lengths to stand out. The result is engaging and often entertaining. As much a social event as creative forum, the biennale's theme this year is apt: People meet in architecture.

The brainchild of by Kazuyo Sejima, a Japanese architect and the biennale's first female president, the theme has inspired participants to not only showcase projects but also create experiential environments. The prize for best national pavilion has rightfully gone to the Kingdom of Bahrain, which has come with a project that addresses its rapidly changing coastline. The pavilion, curated by Noura Al-Sayeh and Fuad Al-Ansari, features three former fishermen huts that have been transformed into public coastal living-rooms, designed to be used as versatile meeting spaces along the country's receding shoreline. The result is a thoughtful mix of cultural appropriation, environmental conscientiousness and structural recycling—the main themes of this biennale.

Many of the national pavilions exhibit design solutions to regional problems. Switzerland's pavilion, for example, is dedicated to bridges—the feats of engineering and design that have allowed the country to solve the problem of meeting in mountains. Japan's pavilion, meanwhile, is dedicated to Tokyo’s fluid physiognomy. Called "The Metabolising City", this exhibition considers the way the city's architects have designed buildings and public spaces that are flexible enough to withstand a very fast pace of change. The presentation is dynamic, immersive and theatrical. READ MORE >>

via moreintelligentlife.com

Stanley Greenberg: City as Organism, Only Some of it Visible

PHOTO: Copyright Stanley Greenberg, Courtesy Gitterman Gallery, New York

UrbanOmnibus just featured an excellent interview with photographer Stanley Greenberg:

Stanley Greenberg’s photography explores hidden systems, infrastructures and technologies, both state-of-the-art and antiquated. New York City’s unseen workings, the region’s complex water systems, architecture mid-construction, physics labs, telescopes and a decommissioned dam have all been the subject of Greenberg’s careful eye. Though his projects range in location and scale, his curiosity about how things work and his enthusiasm for sharing the concealed with his audience is constant. Part urban exploration, part “Unseen Machine,” part historical document, his art offers an uncommon view of the built environment and encourages us to look at our surroundings in a new way. Greenberg has published three books: Invisible New York: The Hidden Infrastructure of the City; Waterworks: A Photographic Journey through New York’s Hidden Water System; and Architecture Under Construction; and is currently raising funds on Kickstarter for the printing of Time Machines. Starting November 11, you can see Greenberg’s photographs of the Culver Viaduct on view in the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Artist and Artifact: Re|Visioning Brooklyn, an exhibition of works created in response to items in the BHS archives. And keep an eye out for an exhibition of his work at Gitterman Gallery in the fall of 2011. But first, read on as Stanley Greenberg talks to us about issues of access and security, the role of the photographer in inspiring transformation, and the public’s right to know.

via urbanomnibus.net

TreeLife: An Exhibition of Modern Eco Tree Houses

IMAGE: The Cool Hunter

The Cool Hunter presents "TreeLife", a new interactive exhibition of modern eco tree houses designed by the world's top artists, designers and architects – coming to London's Green Park in 2011.

The world's first major public exhibition of 'green design' treehouses, TreeLife will bring the biggest names in international architecture, design and art into the one public place for the first time, showcasing cutting edge green and sustainable design.

via www.access-agency.net

Adaptable Structures: the work of Toh Shimazaki Architecture

Toh Shimazaki Architects will open their thoughtful new exhibition entitled ‘Adaptable Structures’ that illustrates the development of new approaches to the evermore pressing issue of adaptability in architecture. The exhibition, in association with Blueprint, will be held at the Toto gallery, London from the 20 September to 4 October as part of London Design Festival.

via www.blueprintmagazine.co.uk

John Maeda: Laws of Simplicity for Design and Business

Let's Colour Project: Transforming Rio, Paris, London

Dulux's 'Let's Colour' by Euro RSCG London. It's fantastic: a crack team from Dulux travels the world, partnering with local communities to rejuvenate areas of urban decay. Apparently brand representatives, bloggers, Dulux executives and creatives from the agency visited Jodhpur, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, London, among other cities.

Armed with brushes, ladders and cans of paint, they created a 'colour movement'. They organised groups of people in these challenged communities who then set about beautifying their houses, streets, squares, schools and even a multi-story parking lot.

...

What was once depressing becomes delightful. What was once dark becomes bright. What was once scary becomes welcoming. The grey is out, the gloom is literally gone. Progress from each city was documented by members of the team via their Twitter feeds and a video and photo journal was compiled at the campaign blog (www.letscolourproject.com). Very moving indeed.

via www.contagiousmagazine.com