SpaceInvading
The Steelcase Coordinated Office Approach, ca. 1960s Designer: Steelcase
Location: n/a
 A reprise of the Steelcase advertising posted back in MCM’s first year. See below for more immaculately/absurdly coordinated office spaces from 1960s-era issues of Fortune magazine. → www.midcenturymodernist.com Posted: 01/16/2009 digg | del.icio.us | stumble | email this

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Miyi Tower Designer: Studio Shift
Location: Miyi County, China
 Los Angeles-based architects Studio Shift have designed Miyi Tower as part of a new town south of Miyi County in China. According to the architects, the tower is “designed as an educational building for residents and the multitude of tourists that visit every year,” and will comprise an auditorium, exhibition spaces and restaurants. → www.dezeen.com Posted: 01/16/2009 digg | del.icio.us | stumble | email this

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P_Wall Designer: Andrew Kudless, Matsys
Location: n/a
 This project investigates the self-organization of two materials, plaster and elastic fabric, to produce evocative visual and acoustic effects. Inspired by the work of the Spanish architect Miguel Fisac and his experiments with flexible concrete formwork in the 1960-70s, p_wall attempts to continue this line of research and add to it the ability to generate larger and more differentiated patterns. Starting from an image, a cloud of points is generated based on the image’s grayscale values. These points are then used to mark the positions of dowels which constrain the elasticity in the fabric formwork. Plaster is then poured into the mould and the fabric expands under the weight of the plaster. The resultant plaster tile has a certain resonance with the body as it sags, expands, and stretches in its own relationship with gravity and structure. Assembled into a larger surface, a pattern emerges between the initial image’s grayscale tones and the shadows produced by the wall. → www.materialsystems.org Posted: 01/16/2009 digg | del.icio.us | stumble | email this

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Projects Designer: Jan Kaplický (1937-2009)
Location: Various
 How tragic that architect Jan Kaplický should die on the streets of Prague within hours of the birth of his daughter. And within a few years of what would have been, and hopefully still will be, his greatest architectural achievement, the new national library in Prague. The project, which has yet to begin construction, is typical of the architect – radical, exciting and far enough ahead of its time to provoke a fair degree of controversy. It represents a triumphant return to his homeland for the Czech-born émigré, a vindication of his uncompromisingly forward-looking philosophy and a tragically poetic ending to his remarkable career. → www.guardian.co.uk Posted: 01/16/2009 digg | del.icio.us | stumble | email this

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House by the Water (House in Sanda) Designer: Fujiwara/Muro Architects
Location: Sanda, Hyogo, Japan
Image Credits: Kazushi Hirano Trees, the water… enjoy the weekend! → whatwedoissecret.org Posted: 01/16/2009 digg | del.icio.us | stumble | email this

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