In 1930 the French government celebrated the French Algerian Centennial, marking 100 years of colonial occupation. As part of the event, architect Leon Claro designed the Indigenous House of the Centennial based on a standardized version of the courtyard house found in the Casbah of Algiers. This description is from Dr. Zeynep Celik from her... Continue Reading →
This is the last of three posts of a review of the book After Amnesia: Learning from the Islamic Mediterranean Urban Fabric Colonial interventions receive surprisingly abbreviated attention in After Amnesia's analysis. This is not to say that the role of colonization had been marginalized, nor is it to say the costs of such... Continue Reading →
Petruccioli outlines a number of definitions in an effort to further frame his argument. He differentiates between the linguistic terms langue and parole (the former being all the collective rules of language codified, while the latter is one individual's use of language) to explain the evolution of building types. “A [building] type may be a... Continue Reading →
Part one of a book review of Attilio Petruccioli's book After Amnesia: Learning from the Islamic Mediterranean Urban Fabric. After Amnesia: Learning from the Islamic Mediterranean Urban Fabric (2007) is the culmination of decades of research, interest and teaching of Islamic Mediterranean cities. The author, Attilio Petruccioli, serves as Dean at the School of Architecture... Continue Reading →
I almost stumbled over these rubber tubes strewn across a major arterial road, which are attached to unmarked boxes locked to trees along the median. These are most likely means of tracking and quantifying traffic and car counts. I used to think they could track speed and thus were part of police surveillance. At this... Continue Reading →
Today I graduated from PennDesign with a Masters of Architecture. My sister was kind enough to give me a copy of The Architecture of Happiness as a graduation gift. I hope to enjoy a bit more balanced life and get a chance to read the book soon. A few weeks ago, while reading The Bully... Continue Reading →
Tonight PennDesign had a show to celebrate all the work done over the past school year. The centerpiece was a 'menagerie', netting which had sheets of paper hung from it to catch projected images. It provided an interesting volume for the image to inhabit, as opposed to the usual flat surface. Kudos to Eric Wong... Continue Reading →
Tree eats metal bar.
Urban settings offer a lot of opportunities, with one exception being campfires. Glad to have the chance to buck that trend every now and again.
A quick goodbye to the mess and chaos of studio.
Adam Achrati 