Times Square to become a pedestrian zone

Step in the right direction for other major cities to follow. Will definitely help to make Times Square more accessible to being a tourist attraction, as it will allow more space for people to stop and gaze and absorb the atmosphere.

"The heart of New York, Times Square, underwent surgery yesterday as work started to create a pedestrian zone in an area renowned for clogged traffic jams. The idea is relatively simple, with vehicles being barred on Broadway between 42nd and 47th streets.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has pushed for the plan as a way of handing part of the so-called "crossroads of the world" over to pedestrians. Bloomberg has pushed hard, although in small increments, for a greener city, by building more bicycle lanes and promoting clean energy projects.

His transport commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, sought inspiration in Copenhagen, where she hired urban planner Jan Gehl as a consultant."It will make the street work like it should," Sadik-Khan said this week. "It's good for traffic, it's good for businesses and we think it is going be a great deal of fun."

via: www.theage.com

Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO Sets

This could get me back into Lego, although not quite as accurate as the originals.

"The LEGO Group and Brickstructures, Inc. to produce and distribute Frank Lloyd Wright Collection® LEGO® Architecture Building Sets. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation announced today that The LEGO Group is now the exclusive licensed manufacturer of Frank Lloyd Wright Collection® LEGO Architecture sets.

The LEGO Group and Adam Reed Tucker of Brickstructures, Inc. officially introduced the LEGO Architecture line in 2008. The line currently consists of six buildings – now including two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous and recognizable buildings, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and “Fallingwater.”

With models developed in collaboration with architects, LEGO Architecture works to inspire future architects, engineers and designers as well as architecture fans around the world with the LEGO brick as a medium. Builders of all ages can now collect and construct their favorite worldwide architectural sites through these artistic replicas.

Both exclusive Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO Architecture sets contain booklets that feature traditional building instructions along with exclusive archival historical material and photographs of each iconic building. The LEGO Group will release the first of the LEGO Architecture Frank Lloyd Wright Collection® sets at the opening of the Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibit: From Within Outward at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on May 15, 2009."

via: www.prairiemod.com

'RIP: A Remix Manifesto' Doco - Feat. Girl Talk

Must see for Girl Talk's insight and performances.

"The films main focus is the terrific mash-up artist Girl Talk: a particlar highlight being the scene where Marybeth Peter, the genial US Registrar of Copyrights, is visibly wowed by the footage of Girl Talk's cut'n'paste studio techniques."

View it at www.opensourcecinema.org

via: www.guardian.co.uk

Push Button House 1

This is pretty cool.

"Adam Kalkin’s Push Button House 1 demonstrates how industrial products can repurposed as architectural elements, or as entire homes.Kalkin’s concept uses hydraulic power to lift and lower the sides of the shipping container, vastly expanding the usable living space. His design incorporates bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchenette, and living area. Though not actually viable for use as a home, Kalkin’s Push Button House is one of many shipping container concepts that utilize an object that might otherwise lie dormant."

via: www.broccolicity.wordpress.com

Foldable Skateboard

"The latest skateboard concept by designer Jin Seok Hwang might look different from everything that you have ever seen or owned in the past! Running or moving like a standard skateboard, the new skateboard by the NYC designer, as suggested by its name “Foldable Skateboard,” folds in half for easy storage as well as transportation."

via: www.broccolicity.wordpress.com

Michael Jackson 'This Is It Tour' - Auditions 2009

via: www.broccolicity.wordpress.com

Friends of the Earth 'Inhale'

"For this Friends of the Earth campaign the image of the back of a car is printed on the lid, with the straw in place of the exhaust pipe. The lid is distributed and used by road-side food stalls. When consumers drink from this cup on the streets, it would be like they were inhaling toxic emissions directly from the vehicle. “Pollution is closer than you think.”

via: www.directdaily.blogspot.com

Dragonfly Vertical Farm, NYC - Vincent Callebaut

"Modeled after the wings of a dragonfly, this incredible urban farm concept for New York City’s Roosevelt Island intends to ease the problems of food mileage and shortage, and reconnect consumers with producers. Urban farming is a growing trend amongst savvy city dwellers today, but in a densely packed borough like Manhattan, growth must come vertically. Spanning 132 floors and 600 vertical meters, the Dragonfly can accommodate 28 different agricultural fields for the production of fruit, vegetables, grains, meat and dairy. A combination of solar and wind power make Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut’s Dragonfly concept %100 self sufficient.

In this utopian superstructure offices, research labs, housing, and communal areas are interspersed between orchards, farms, and production rooms. Plant and animal farming is arranged throughout the Dragonfly’s steel and glass set of wings so as to maintain proper soil nutrient levels and reuse of biowaste. The spaces between the wings are designed to take advantage of solar energy by accumulating warm air in the exo-structure during winter. Cooling in the summer will be facilitated through natural ventilation and evapo-perspiration from the plants.

Exterior vertical gardens filter rain water which is then mixed with domestic liquid waste. Together they are treated organically before being recirculated for farm use, preserving and distributing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. This urban farm, perhaps more appropriate for Dubai than New York, is intended to be cultivated by its own inhabitants, thus closing the loop of self-sustenance."

via: www.inhabitat.com

Graypants Twice Recycled Scrap Cardboard Lights

"Made from stacked rings of corrugated cardboard, Graypants‘ pendant Scrap Lights (which we’ve long admired) are a prime example of the transformative power of good design. The ceiling lamps‘ elegant construction utilizes leftover scraps of cardboard to create a semi-translucent shade that gives off a muted, soft glow. The overall effect is elegant, understated and as far from trash as you could possibly get.

The duo behind Graypants, Jonathan Junker and Seth Grizzle, met as architecture students at Kent State and forged a bond out of their shared love of design. Eight years of collaboration later, they’re now based in Seattle, where Graypants was founded. Together, Junker and Grizzle have produced everything from chairs and tables to buildings and doghouses–all made from discarded and repurposed materials like newspaper, cardboard, and plywood."

via: www.inhabitat.com

Grey Goose Bar - Puresang

"Antwerp designers Puresang have completed the interior of a bar at the headquarters of vodka brand Grey Goose in Brussels, Belgium. Grey goose vodka asked Puresang to design a full operating bar in their headquarters in Brussels. The design became a very exciting play of blue mirrors, cut in triangles and mounted in 3D against the wall to create more depth and tactility in the rather small space. The client asked for a high-roller drinking environment that could also be used as a meeting room. The atmospheric light structure is custom made for this project and reflects the sparkles of ice. Light and projection of light are the main features in this room, creating different perspectives by changing the way you’re located in the space."

via: www.dezeen.com

The Yas Hotel, Abu Dhabi - Asymptote

"The Yas Hotel by Asymptote architects is nearing completion in Abu Dhabi, UAE.The building forms part of the Yas Marina development accompanying a new Formula One circuit. The race track will pass through the complex under a bridge linking the two towers of the hotel. A canopy made of steel and diamond-shaped, glass panels will be supported over the towers and bridge. The 500-room hotel is due for completion in October this year to coincide with the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Opens October 2009."

Local Architects: Dewan Architects & Engineers, Abu Dhabi. (This was by boss's previous company in Abu Dhabi before he started up BEAD architects & Engineers.)

via: www.dezeen.com

Bibliothek Luckenwalde - FF Architekten & Martina Wronna

"Berlin architects Ralf Fleckenstein and Katharina Feldhusen of FF Architekten in collaboration with Martina Wronna have completed a new public library in Luckenwalde, Germany. The project involved the conversion of a former railway station into a public library and includes an extension to the existing building that houses the children’s library. The inclined walls of this annex are clad in shingles made of a copper-aluminium alloy."

via: www.dezeen.com

Anna Wintour - 60 Minutes

via: www.cbs.com

Mr Hudson Feat. Kanye 'Supernova' Video Stills

Looking forward to seeing this and hearing Hudson's new album!

'Made a video for track called 'Supernova' (which will be on my album 'Straight No Chaser') in LA...the whole crew were brilliant! A great atmosphere through out the shoot (which started at 8am and finished at 1am.)...Kanye came down + Estelle made a cameo..I know it's not cool to be happy but i can't help it. Stupidly excited!!!'

via: www.flickr.com

Nike Sportswear Blazer High “White Checker”

This is nice...I'd take a pair!

'A colorway that is often faultless, the iconic white/white color scheme makes its way onto the Nike Sportswear Blazer High seen here. The shoe’s upper features a minimalistic square/checker-like pattern which gives off an almost woven-like look. Available now at Choko but look for it to become more readily available in the coming weeks.'

via: wwwhypebeast.com

Eco-City Melbourne

'The last remaining large-scale vacant site available for development in Melbourne’s CBD has been targeted for an eco-city of the future. The Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL), funded by the Victorian Sustainability Fund, has applied its innovative thinking to transform the land, dubbed E-Gate, into a radical new zero-carbon development, the future of our built environment.

Between the CBD and Docklands, this district will be known as the Ecological Business District (EBD). Professor Chris Ryan, Director of VEIL, believes that in order to transform our economy to deal with climate change, we must target the areas of production, infrastructure, built environments and life-styles. The EBD development aims to support those who choose to reduce their carbon footprint and “all people who live and work on the site will meet Victoria’s 2050 environmental targets twenty-five years ahead of time.”

VEIL ran a series of workshops last year with design staff from the Universities of Melbourne, Monash, RMIT and Swinburne. These creative scholars connected with international and local experts to develop ideas for this new model of sustainable living, based on “living better, consuming less,” to be developed in the next 6 – 10 years.'

check it out at www.ecoinnovationlab.com

via: www.indesignlive.com

On the Bri(n)ck at Graduate School of Design, Harvard University

This is the sort of rapid-fabrication construction process we are currently looking at in a subject called Contemporary Digital Practice, our lecturer seems to think this is possible on full-scale projects and may be the way of the future, very interesting. A good example of this is SHoP architect's 290 Mulberry Street building, New York, which has a CAM brick panel facade which looks pretty amazing. I would definately be interested in doing a studio like this in the near future.

'The Project is the outcome of a synthesis of computer generated design and computer aided construction research at the GSD under the guidance of Professor Ingeborg M. Rocker.The aim of the project was to produce a 1:1 scale wall using the GSD’s Robotic facilites. Going beyond the model scale, and working with the Robotic arm set up new design challenges which were tightly linked to the construction techniques, material constraints, and structural limitations encountered in full scale building modus.

Using a modular unit of the masonry brick the team developed a systematic aggregation creating a wall consisting out of 4100 bricks.The wall’s double layered running bond varies from a straight line to a maximum undulation, which creates an inhabitable space.The emerging space and pattern is the resultant of a set of principles (algorithms) applied to a simple rectangular brick module, taking into account its material and technical parameters.The scale, precision, and vast number of units of the final design scheme necessitated an automated process based on script and robotic construction.

Materials, adhesives, work flow optimization, and production techniques were among the many considerations that had to be researched and tested prior to and during each stage of the process.Ultimately the design manifests the performative potential of bricks, expressed through the wall’s curvature and porosity as it affects the acoustic and visual qualities of the wall-space created.Using digital technology these affects were pushed to a new extreme.'

via: www.dezeen.com

Zaha Hadid for Lacoste Footwear

Hmm...interesting and slightly ugly.

'Having seen a slew of projects from architect Zaha Hadid last year, we now get a look into her tackling a different realm of design, footwear. This latest endeavor into fashion has the designer producing a few designs for Lacoste, including an ankle boot for men and calf boot for women.'

via: www.hypebeast.com

Beautiful Losers x Nike Design = Make Something!

Spit It Out [Imogen Heap Remix] - IAMX

One of Imogen Heap's recent favourite songs, which she remixed for Chris Corner of IAMX, much better than the original, thanks for the heads up vlog!

via: www.youtube.com

Passion Pit Feat. PS22 Chorus in the Studio!

Higher and higher and higher and higher...ohh no-o-oo-o-ooo...

'Michael Angelakos, the main man behind Passion Pit has some big ideas for the band's first full-length. One of those ideas was to bring in a 46-member children's choir from PS 22 on Staten Island (who are no strangers to fame) to beef up some of the songs. What other artists are making bombastic moves like that? Not many not named Kanye or U2. Up above, watch as a whole bunch of kids hopped up on pizza and soda add body to a chorus that will get stuck in your head pretty much forever.'

via: www.thefader.com

*Sneak peak the album at http://www.thevine.com.au/music/articles/thevine-radio-player-+_-passion-pit-%27manners%27.aspx before it is released on the 18th.

Boom Boom Pow Remix - Asher Roth

via: http://hiphopupdate.blogspot.com

'Ye on fake Twitter

via: www.kanyeuniversecity.com

Frank Lloyd Wright: Complete Works

Another big and expensive must have archi book to add to the wishlist.

"Part of an exhaustive three-volume monograph featuring all of Wright’s 1,100 designs, both realized and unrealized. This volume covers the postwar years and the “living architecture” period.

Together with two forthcoming companion titles, this three-volume monograph will cover Wright’s entire oeuvre, from his early Prairie Houses, through the Usonian concept home and “living architecture” buildings, to late projects like the Guggenheim Museum and his fantastic vision of the “living city.” Author Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, who served as Wright’s apprentice during the 1950s, highlights the latest research and gives fresh insights into the work, providing new dates for many of the plans and houses. A wealth of personal photos also illustrates the working routine at Frank Lloyd Wright’s fellowship."

via: www.dailyicon.net

Nike Sportswear Air Yeezy Melbourne Launch

Hopefully they will repeat this event for the next 2 colourways, waiting on the tan ones!

"The Down Under roll-out of the Nike Sportswear Air Yeezy in the first colorway went down without a hitch a special “Night of the Yeezy” party took place in Melbourne, Australia. With a visual theme matching the futuristic Yeezy itself, the shoes were ultimately decided via a raffle. CDs of Kanye West and glow-in-the-dark Sneaker Freaker issues were a consolation for those unable to grab that elusive pair."

via: www.hypebeast.com

49 Cities Book - WORKac

Good looking book, would be handy for the current studio we're doing on density.

"How many inhabitants would Buckminster Fuller’s Tetrahedron City house? What would the density of Rem Koolhaas’ Exodus plan for London, or Superstudio’s Continuous Monument, have been had they ever been realized? How would they compare in scale to Kenzo Tange’s Tokyo Bay project, or to Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse? Which of them would have comprised more green areas? 49 Cities sets out to crunch the numbers of several centuries of unrealized urbanism, all the way from the ideal Roman city to the great utopian projects of the 20th century. Through plans, sections, charts and scale drawings, 49 cities are observed statistically and presented in an unprecedented comparative study, the result of a research project conducted over several years. Despite the fact that these cities never actually existed in their intended form, this overview of utopian urbanism provides a remarkable insight into our understanding of the contemporary metropolis."

(Click here to download 20-page sample PDF)

via: www.storefrontnews.org

Al Hakawati Statue - Dubai

Party in my eye!

"The thyssenkrupp elevator award was a competition which asked architects to develop an iconic tall emblem structure for zaabeel park in dubai. For their proposal visiondivision designed a statue based around al hakawati - a storyteller, whose profession that goes way back in ancient arabic times and still is performed in the arabic world today. the statue will be a home of stories; a children’s library in its base and various spaces for performance and reading inside of the statue.

In every part of the park, small speakers will be set up so people can gather around them and listen to the statue when he recites stories; perhaps great legends from one thousand and one night, historical anecdotes from the city itself and future speculations, all this performed with an animated body language."

via: www.designboom.com

Faculty of Architecture Design Competition - University of Melbourne

It will be interesting to see who enters the competition and what proposals they come up with, just a shame I graduate in 2010 and will miss the chance to experience it. For more info check out http://www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/competition/

"The new building will consist of educational facilities for staff and students, with a total floor area of approximately 18,000m2. The budget for the new building will be approximately AU$90 million for construction and fitout, plus consultant fees; a major portion of this sum has been committed by the University with the balance of the funding currently being sought from Federal, State, and private sources. Construction is anticipated to commence in early 2011, with an anticipated completion date of 2013.

The project is seen as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for the Faculty to achieve strategic objectives relating to the positioning of ABP and the MSD, with a commitment to innovation in relation to the design and delivery of an outstanding campus building. The aspiration of the faculty and the University is that the new building will demonstrate an outstanding level of quality in both the processes of design and development and in the finished product. The resulting design will provide an excellent working environment to encourage high quality research, teaching and learning."

via: www.bustler.net

Italian Pavillion, Shanghai Expo 2010 - Iodice Architetti

"The project proposes a building which integrates a typical model of the Italian urban building, with the architectural structure of the Chinese construction game called Shanghai.The pavilion covers an area of 3.600 square metres and is 18 metres high. Inside it is divided into irregular sections of different dimensions, connected by a steel bridge structure where the connecting galleries are visible. If needed, the structure can be dismantled and reconstructed, on a smaller scale, in another part of the city.

The different sections of the building make up a geometrical variety symbolizing the tradition and regional customs which define the Italian identity: a type of mosaic of which each of the parts show a single picture. The form also highlights the topographic complexity of Italian cities, with its numerous short narrow roads and alleys which suddenly open onto a large square, a characteristic which can also be found in the traditional Chinese urban centres."

via: www.archdaily.com