Hello again web viewers. I got ambitious and decided to design on a much larger scale. I wanted to design something very modern and trendy in a money no object environment. The obvious location was Dubai, where money grows on trees and no project is too extravagant. Above you see a rendering that includes a resort hotel, a convention center, a parking garage, a maglev rail line and terminal, even a rotating restaurant in the sky with its own rooftop helipad. As I developed this urban environment I began to feel like the architect in Inception who created all of the virtual worlds that the dream extraction team migrated through. It was just like playing SimCity.

The project’s architecture has an Arabian feel to it with sculptural elements that evoke a cobra while the larger buildings could be seen to resemble the Egyptian Sphinx. Others might see snails moving through the sand. To each his own. Projects by both Mies and Le Corbusier inspired the convention center’s spacial layout, but the actual design is pure randomness. After the fact I realized that the support piers for the convention center resembled the ill-fated “Hands of Victory” sculpture found in Baghdad, Iraq. That sculpture was originally commissioned by the late Saddam Hussein and was destroyed in the war and later rebuilt by US occupation forces.

Hands of Victory Sculpture

As usual a gallery of images of the project can be found below

1903 Gardner museum

The museum opened to the public on Jan 1, 1903. Mrs. Gardner used the building as both a house and a museum, making the fourth floor her personal residence. Today the museum is probably most infamously known for the famous art heist that occurred in 1990 in which 13 valuable Dutch Masterworks were stolen from the walls and remain missing to this today. The heist was believed to be an inside job and the whereabouts of the stolen pieces remain a mystery. Equally famous is the museum’s courtyard with its splendid gardens.

Courtyard

The new 70,000 sq ft addition was designed by Renzo Piano at a cost of $114 million dollars. Included in the new addition are a concert hall, gallery spaces, entrance lobby, restaurant, offices, stair tower and a greenhouse. Below are photos of the new addition.

Winthrop Square Parking Garage, Boston, MA

Hello readers,

It is a new year and for the first post of 2012 I thought I would devote it to a building type that rarely gets any attention, the parking garage. Normally these are structures that are made as nondescript and forgettable as possible; their sole purpose being a place to park vehicles. However when an architect pours his energies into creating something beautiful as well as functional, the results are often exemplary. Below are a few of the more noteworthy parking structures that I have seen.

Of all the places that I have visited, I would have to say that Melbourne, Australia is the city that really knows how to do car parks the best. There are more underground parking facilities in Melbourne than any other city I can think of. The best being the one right on the Uni Melbourne campus. You would never know that there was a garage right below the quad.

Melbourne Uni Quad, Carlton, Victoria, AU (garage underneath)

Here is a quick little building that I designed to function as an office for a sole proprietorship architectural practice. This 274 sq ft building with bathroom facilities and parking is perfect for meetings with clients for a small scale building practice. The building could easily be placed on the architect’s property and serve as a business with a separate postal address, and zoning approval of course. I feel that this out building would complement my traditional home of the year rather nicely.

Niemeyer Center

More Photos of the Niemeyer Center

Hello again readers. I thought that I would design something on the commercial side of things for a change. Until recently, the mall has been the preferred medium for retail commerce. However, the cost of gas, the high rents for mall tenants and online commerce have all helped to kill that beast. Additionally, a greater emphasis is being placed on sustainability and shopping locally favoring smaller community based complexes. The term ‘lifestyle center’ has been bandied around the architectural community as the next generation in retail; a hometown based shopping area that offers shopping and community activities such as movies or climbing walls, etc. My interpretation of the lifestyle center has a very urban edge to it so it would be ideally suited for a city block in Boston or New York rather than in the downtown of a bedroom community.

I started with the sketch above and it easily expanded into an entire complex. I envisioned a 2 floor Nike shoe store occupying the anchor store in my complex (as the building evokes imagery associated with shoes i.e. shoe horn, shoe laces) with two smaller stores and a tourist info booth as well as in a separate building. Additionally an ice cream parlor and a parking garage for visitors would be included all of which are designed around a common courtyard space. I was sick of retail being so bland. If people are going to part with the little money they have, they should do it in enjoyable spaces and not within the confines of a big box warehouse or a dated mall.

Street Elevation

Below are several renderings of the complex

Are buildings with images plastered on them the new trend architecture? A recent article in the Melbourne Age documented this trend popping up in Australia’s biggest cities. Thus far I have yet to see this catch on in the US, but then again not much is really being built here right now. The general opinion of the commenters on the article was decidedly against this trend and I tend to agree with their assessment. This is merely pastiche, or pointless ornament designed to give interest to a drab exterior. These murals will not hold up well over time. Are people really going to want a picture of Pamela Anderson on their house 25 years from now, long after the actress has been even relevant culturally speaking. The article suggests Architecture is just reflecting the ephemeral nature of culture. But given the cost of constructing anything these days, why would someone want something that is going to be dated a year after its built. The true measure of a successful project is how it ages over time.The AIA doesn’t give out awards for buildings until they are at least 25 years old. Many buildings from the recent past (1960s) are today considered ugly and cold. What was once avant garde is now dated and dingy; Boston City Hall is a prime example. That said I do have to admit to liking the office tower project. The face in the building evokes the image of Mustapha Mond from Huxley’s Brave New World
or something from 1984. Ultimately it is all about the image you choose for your facade.

”Good buildings dealing with interesting contemporary ideas in an appropriate, powerful way don’t date because people look at them as extraordinary historical documents that tell a story about their time. Diversity makes a city fantastic.” – Carey Lyon architect and proponent of facade based design

Project Photos

The Age Article

Need a place to put all of that leftover Thanksgiving gravy? This house designed around a moat just might fill the bill. This 3 bedroom 3.5 bath minimalist design is most notable for its wrap around pool/moat that surrounds the public rooms of the house. The house is very bright and airy with its many curtain walls, skylights and courtyard spaces. There are even underwater windows located in the downstairs bathroom and hallway looking into the depths of the moat. For added security, the house boasts its own gatehouse that mimics the profile of the main house. Obviously such a property would be expensive, but in the virtual world of design, we will not let a little thing called money get in our way.

The Icy Gaze

Enough about the movies, back to architecture. The film makers used several houses for the Cullen residence. The first house featured in the movie Twilight was the Hoke House designed by Skylab architect Jeff Kovel for a Nike executive.

The second Cullen house featured in New Moon is located in Vancouver and is currently for sale for just under $3 million dollars. It was designed by architect Brian Hemingway.

Below are more photos from both houses.

Links to Respective Architect’s Websites
Skylab Architecture
Brian Hemingway

My latest creation is probably one of my best designs, even though I normally prefer a more modern design ascetic. This simple yet classic farmhouse comes in at 2221 sq ft with 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. An additional 700 sq is possible if one wished to finish the 3rd floor attic space. The house has an attached 2-car garage and a side entry with porte corchére for visiting guests to use in the event of rain. The house has many high end details from the coffered ceilings in the study & dining areas to the beadboard wainscoting in the bathrooms and mudroom. There are two fireplaces; one the living room and the other in the master bedroom and all rooms have crown molding. The main living area opens onto a patio with a shaded pergola while the front porch offers added outdoor space for relaxation. Below are some photos of the design.

Photo Gallery

Stay tuned for my next post featuring a really cool commercial space.