06/16: Seattle
[2014 Archive] 06/11: Turning the Corner
The 200' by 600' grid of Manhattan is broken and carved up by a few avenues, with this building here on 6th Ave in Soho. The street grid is a bit skewed, resulting in an acute angle at the intersection. If you look closely, behind the giant billboard, you can see the brick courses meeting... Continue Reading →
06/04: RCR Barcelona Library
The term 'contextual' can be used in a number of ways to describe a piece of architecture. Material choice, scale, type of program, essentially any shared aspect between two buildings becomes the frame with which they are compared. During a study abroad semester in Barcelona I had to look at a public library designed by... Continue Reading →
06/03: Potemkin Village
A quick walk in Washington DC tonight revealed an absurd sight with preparations taking place by the convention center for imminent demolition and construction. The two story structure is braced externally by steel, and the windows and doors are boarded up with plywood, plywood that has been pasted over with images of pristine wooden doors... Continue Reading →
05/30: Mosaic
I few pictures from the NYC Subway system and from Tipaza, an extensive Roman ruin in North Africa.
05/29: Ground Zero
I visited the World Trade Center site today, which is still mostly under construction. The PATH station looks like post-war London Brutalism, a crude version of something Alison and Peter Smithson might have designed in the scarcity of the late 1940s and 1950s. The Calatrava Station, which will replace the existing temporary structure, is looking as... Continue Reading →
05/28: Miss Rockaway Armada
During late August 2011 there was a small band of barges along the banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. They were the Miss Rockaway Armada, hosting a festival along the river. I missed the festival but enjoyed walking past the boats every chance I could. The group has done other flotillas, but their website... Continue Reading →
05/25: Indigenous House
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 →
Adam Achrati 