clog : big to landmark #archive  

CLOG : LANDMARK 2015 #

As our built environment evolves, we must continually decide what is worth keeping. A significant percentage of buildings today—particularly in Western nations—are preserved through imposed guidelines. While there are myriad reasons why a building or site may warrant preservation, being deemed a landmark is one of the most powerful and complicated.

Architecture’s complicated relationship with wider social issues is laid bare through the process of landmarking, in which only one of six criteria—as outlined by the United States National Historic Landmarks program—mentions architectural merit. Furthermore, while structures were previously landmarked after having withstood the test of time, we now consider preserving comparatively young buildings and debate the historical value of unbuilt structures. By designating local, national, and international landmarks and landmark districts, societies officially declare which buildings and places possess cultural value. What are the bases for making these decisions, and what does this mean for the future? With many important buildings facing the wrecking ball and an increasing number of buildings receiving landmark status, it is time to critically discuss how we both let go of and hold onto the past.

CLOG : GUGGENHEIM 2014 #

In 1939 the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation opened its first gallery space—the Museum of Non-Objective Painting—in a former Manhattan automobile showroom on East 54th Street.

Seventy-five years later, the Guggenheim Foundation operates museums in New York, Venice, Bilbao, and soon, Abu Dhabi. Until relatively recently, additional Guggenheims could be found in Berlin, Las Vegas, and downtown New York. Designed by some of the world’s most prominent architects, these museums have often been distinguished as much by their architecture as by the art displayed within. They have also sparked debates ranging from the intrusiveness of architecture in an art museum to the ability of a single building to transform an entire city.

The Guggenheim has transcended the conventional art museum to simultaneously become art collection, international constellation of architectural icons, and brand. And with the open design competition for the proposed Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki currently underway, the Guggenheim’s particularly powerful expansion-minded vigor shows no signs of diminishing.

CLOG : GUGGENHEIM will critically examine the past, present, and future architectural impact of this global institution.

CLOG : WORLD TRADE CENTER 2014 #

Fifty years ago, in 1964, Minoru Yamasaki’s proposed design for the World Trade Center was first revealed to the public. Rising far above the Lower Manhattan skyline, the Twin Towers—centerpieces of the original World Trade Center complex—were intended, in the words of their architect, to “become a living representation of man’s belief in humanity.”

From the beginning, the project was not without controversy. Positioned at the confluence of several transportation routes, an entire district known as “Radio Row” would be claimed through eminent domain and demolished to make way for the new center of commerce. The abstract—arguably overpowering—design invited fierce criticism. Nevertheless, Yamasaki and associate architects Emery Roth & Sons would devote over a decade to the design and construction of the World Trade Center, which proved significant not only as an urban renewal project, but also as an architectural and engineering marvel.

By the time of their destruction, the Twin Towers were one of New York City’s most prominent icons. With the new World Trade Center slowly approaching completion, the importance and irreplaceability of the original becomes more evident. CLOG will therefore critically examine that which has forever been lost: the World Trade Center, Dedicated April 4, 1973.

CLOG : REM 2014 #

Born

Remment Lucas Koolhaas

17 November 1944 (age 69)

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Nationality

Dutch

Alma Mater

Architectural Association

School of Architecture, Cornell University

Awards

Pritzker Prize (2000)

Praemium Imperiale (2003)

Royal Gold Medal (2004)

Practice


Office for Metropolitan Architecture

Selected Buildings

Casa da Música in Porto

Seattle Central Library

Netherlands Embassy Berlin

China Central Television Headquarters

CLOG : PRISONS 2014 #

More than ten million people around the world are currently held in a prison, jail, or some other form of penal institution. According to the World Prison Population List, prisoner counts have been increasing across every continent, with the United States ranked first in incarceration rates. In fact, the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics reported the U.S. prison population at the end of 2012 as 1,571,013—roughly equivalent to the entire population of Philadelphia.

Architecture has an undeniable role within the incarceration systems that shape and control the lives of millions of people twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. While some architects have pioneered new approaches to the design of detention and correction facilities, others have questioned the very ethics of prison design.

As the number of prisons in the United States has more than tripled over the past forty years, and nations such as Sweden are actually faced with the challenge of closing and repurposing correctional facilities no longer deemed necessary, now is the time to critically examine an often overlooked architectural typology: PRISONS.

CLOG : MIAMI 2013 #

The largest city in the southeastern United States, Miami has long been subject to a range of unique forces—natural, political, and cultural—which have brought both booms and devastating busts. Despite setbacks, however, Miami has become a dynamic and broadly American city that mixes the historically Anglo-dominated North and the Latin South, vividly presenting many characteristics of today’s United States: cosmopolitanism, an ever- shifting balance between public and private interests, economic volatility, and environmental tightrope walking.

When it comes to architecture, something is definitely happening in Miami. Not only is real estate and development booming, but recently, significant civic projects have demonstrated a potentially serious public/private commitment to infuse the commons with design and the arts, as seen in the Wynwood Art District and Art Basel Miami. Miami invented a strand of mid- century Modernism, epitomized the design aesthetic of the 1980s, hosted the major intellectual center of the New Urbanism movement, and is now providing opportunities to a new (and hungry) crop of international architects in projects like the Miami Beach Convention Center, Coconut Grove, the New World Center, One Thousand Museum Tower, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, 1111 Lincoln Road, and more.

This issue presents the beginning of a critical discussion on contemporary architecture in a city with a short but vibrant past and exciting future—Miami.

CLOG : UNPUBLISHED 2013 #

Publications—both physical and digital—receive a constant stream of press releases, project updates, and photographs from architects yearning for the validation of having their work published. But still, the vast majority of buildings go unexamined by the critical press. How many times have we seen the same signature project reviewed? How many worthy unknown projects must, by extension, never receive an appraisal?

There are any number of factors to account for this. It seems undeniable, for example, that certain building typologies and regions remain underrep- resented in the mainstream architectural press, and it is perhaps too easy to imagine that this stems from a widespread editorial bias. It would be a mistake to discount the impact of logistics, however. The constraints of time, staff sizes, travel costs, image rights, formatting and layout requirements, and access to information simply cannot be ignored by publishers, editors, and writers. Equally important is the imperative to sell, or at least pay heed to the perceived interests of the readership. Sometimes a building falls by the wayside due to mere coincidence—another project was just published with the same exterior material, the press release came in on the day an editor was out sick, the photographer only took landscape-oriented images, the PDF was corrupted.

At a moment when new forms of publication are emerging and disrupting traditional models—and the definition of what it even means for a building to “be published” is an open question—it is time to analyze what is being pub- lished, why it’s being published, and to examine what is being left out of the conversation.

CLOG : SCI-FI 2013 #

Rod Serling, creator of the 1950s television series The Twilight Zone, defined science fiction as “the improbable made possible.” The same might be said for the practice of architecture. After all, architects by trade conceive of spaces, places, and worlds that do not (yet) exist. Furthermore, the ability to make the improbable possible is held in especially high regard today and is oftentimes what defines an architectural practice as “innovative” in the first place.

It is therefore not surprising that a two-way artistic influence between architecture and science fiction has long existed. Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis depicted a future world in 2026 that drew heavily on contemporary art deco and Modernist building precedents. On the other hand, avant-garde 1960s design practices such as Archigram openly adopted concepts and representation techniques from postwar pulp science fiction. Most recently, a number of designs from significant international offices have exhibited a striking resemblance to science fiction icons, such as the Death Star, demonstrating the impact this genre has had on the creative imagination of a generation.

The feedback loop between fiction and reality remains strong today, with kilometer-high towers rising in the Middle East, new building materials emerging on a seemingly daily basis, and unconventional—if not outright bizarre—shapes blanketing our cities and countrysides. As science fiction continues to both draw upon historic and contemporary architecture while simultaneously influencing future design, it is time to critically examine the improbable made possible: SCI-FI.

CLOG : BRUTALISM 2013 #

A defining architectural style of the postwar era— characterized by severe, abstract geometries and the use of cast concrete, block and brick—Brutalism arguably produced some of the world’s least popular public buildings. The style’s international propagation brought modern architecture to ever-larger constituencies, and some argue that the perceived shortcomings of these Brutalist structures led to the demise of the Modernist project.

While today often admired (and even loved) by architects, many Brutalist projects—Bertrand Goldberg’s Prentice Women’s Hospital, Marcel Breuer’s Ameritrust Tower, Paul Rudolph’s Orange County Government Center, Alison and Peter Smithson’s Robin Hood Gardens, and Gillespie Kidd and Coia’s St. Peter’s Seminary, to name a few—are now threatened with demolition. Judging by the work of many contemporary practitioners, however, the influence of Brutalism only seems to grow. Before the wrecking balls swing, it is time to look back on, debate, understand, and learn from Brutalism.

CLOG is also introducing Michael Abrahamson as guest editor for CLOG : BRUTALISM. Michael is a designer and critic currently based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A Pre- Candidate in the History and Theory of Architecture at the University of Michigan, he also operates a Tumblr photo blog called Fuck Yeah Brutalism.

CLOG : NATIONAL MALL 2012 #

In 2009, nearly two million people gathered on the National Mall to witness the inauguration of the forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama. Almost fifty years ago on the same grounds, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. “America’s Front Lawn,” the National Mall was not only designed for large political and social gatherings but also to collect and showcase America’s culture. Located in the heart of Washington D.C., the Mall is an historic yet evolving example of urban design.

Visited annually by approximately thirty million people, the Mall is also a victim of its own success as its grounds and monuments have been steadily eroded by overcrowding in addition to budgetary and administrative pressures. In response to this decline, the newly-formed Trust for the National Mall recently sponsored a competition to redesign key areas of the National Mall. A number of other significant projects are also underway on or near the Mall including the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Education Center at the Wall, the Eisenhower Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, the Hirshhorn Museum Bloomberg Balloon, and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation.

In an election year when America is debating and deciding its trajectory, it’s time to critically discuss the space that perhaps more than any other reflects what the nation was, is, and wants to be - the National Mall.

CLOG : RENDERING 2012 #

As information is distributed and consumed at an increasingly rapid pace, one of the most effective (or at least pervasive) ways to communicate architectural ideas is through renderings. Typically a perspectival image that can be understood without any knowledge of architectural drawing conventions, the rendering derives power from its accessibility to a wide audience-hence its crucial role in design competitions, client presentations, press releases, and other such public forums.

While these architectural visualizations are certainly nothing new, advances in software and hardware have enabled renderings to be made faster and more realistic than ever before. This presents both an opportunity and a challenge. On the one hand, design concepts can now be tested and conveyed with an unprecedented degree of visual accuracy. Conversely, whether through omission, extreme dramatization, or even intentional fakery, architects now have the ability to realistically depict the impossible. Furthermore, both clients and public are beginning to expect photorealistic imagery even at the earliest stages of a project, when supposed ‘realism’ can oftentimes belie the fundamentally speculative nature of design. Given the importance of these images in mediating between architects and the people they ultimately serve, CLOG will critically assess the state of renderings today.

CLOG : DATA SPACE 2012 #

Over two billion people across the world use the Internet regularly. Every second, 2.8 million emails are sent, 30,000 phrases are Googled, and 600 updates are tweeted. While being absorbed into this virtual world, most rarely consider the physical ramifications of this data. All over the world, data centers are becoming integral components of our twenty-first century infrastructure. These facilities can range from small portable modules to massive warehouses full of servers, from sleek new constructions to the reuse of existing infrastructures.

CLOG : DATA SPACE examines with the significance of this bridge between the virtual and the physical. With over 35 contributions, CLOG explores how this new typology affects the discourse of architecture and the shaping of our built environment.

CLOG : APPLE 2012 #

In June 2011, Steve Jobs presented Apple Campus 2 to the City Council in Cupertino, CA. Due to Apple’s high profile and the scale and iconic nature of Foster + Partners’ design, the online reaction to the circular new headquarters was immediate and strong. While Apple has been constructing retail stores throughout the world for over a decade and has pioneered innovative building technologies, discussion, even among architects, has typically focused on the company’s famed product design. With one of the largest American office projects in history underway in Cupertino, CLOG : APPLE introduces the first comprehensive discussion of Apple’s architecture.

CLOG : APPLE showcases over 50 international contributors, including architects, designers, cartoonists, comedians, engineers and other industry leaders. Highlights include an examination of Steve Jobs’s Eichler-designed childhood home; the evolution of Apple’s store designs; its leading role in innovative glass engineering; the symbolism and urban implications of the new Cupertino headquarters design; reactions to Apple Campus 2 by notable architects and critics; and an interview with one of Apple Computer’s original three founders, Ronald Wayne.

CLOG : BIG 2011 #

CLOG’s first issue focuses on the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), a firm unique in that its rise and rapid output has kept pace with, and is inseparable from, online media. Having emerged from the dissolution of PLOT (the 2001-2005 partnership of Bjarke Ingels and Julien De Smedt), BIG is based in Copenhagen and has published 126+ projects in nearly every major architecture journal, design blog, and popular culture magazine, and has thus far completed nine buildings. In late 2010, BIG established its first full overseas office in New York City.

It is impossible to discuss BIG without considering its principal, Bjarke Ingels. Ingels presents a rare example of a young architect leading a firm that is not only building significant work, but which appears to be having fun in the process. In a profession that is notorious for abusing its youngest members and which often awards “young architect” prizes to practitioners in their 40’s, the fact that-at 36-Ingels is already being mentioned as a potential Pritzker Prize candidate is certainly remarkable. It is unsurprising that Ingels and BIG are admired by the young, especially within the schools. It is equally unsurprising that with BIG’s mounting success and exposure, the firm has begun to attract criticism, especially from fellow practitioners.

It is therefore at a potentially crucial moment in BIG’s development and expansion that CLOG attempts to step back and take stock. Bringing together contributors from backgrounds including architecture, criticism, parkour, engineering, comics, photography, philosophy, and more, CLOG:BIG presents the first holistic, critical examination of Bjarke Ingels and his firm.