Today on AD Architect James Dixon leads us on a walking tour of San Francisco, highlighting the captivating details found in its storied architecture. From the iconic Transamerica Pyramid and Hallidie Building to Postcard Row, the Presidio and more – discover the history behind San Francisco’s most famous buildings and neighborhoods through James Dixon’s expert eye.
Category Archives: Buildings
Cities: The Skyscraper Boom In Miami, Florida
Miami’s skyscraper boom is happening on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
Miami, city, seat (1844) of Miami-Dade county, southeastern Florida, U.S. A major transportation and business hub, Miami is a leading resort and Atlantic Ocean port situated on Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River. The Everglades area is a short distance to the west. Greater Miami, the state’s largest urban concentration, comprises all of the county, which includes the cities of Miami Beach (across the bay), Coral Gables, Hialeah, North Miami, and many smaller municipalities and unincorporated areas; together, these make up the southern section of Florida’s “Gold Coast.”
Cover: The Architectural Review – October 2022
AR October 2022 – The Energy Issue
In the beginning, there was energy. Everything since then, has been an exercise in transforming energy from one state into another – food becomes labour, gas becomes electricity, fossil fuels become architecture.
In this month’s keynote essay, Barnabas Calder writes: ‘In the millennia before fossil fuels, the circular economy was the only economically viable way to operate’. Recognising that architecture is formed from the fuel we extract to create and sustain it could be a transformative way of thinking about our built environment.
This issue seeks to make visible the often obscured links between buildings and the energy sources they are built from, and around.
French Architecture: La Tête Carrée Library In Nice
Approached to design the new municipal office in Nice, architect Sasha Sosno had a clear vision: a giant building shaped like the bust of a man with a solid box for a head. How to actually build it would require a brilliant blend of architectural innovation and improvisation.
La Tête Carrée Library, is a massive sculpture that stands at a staggering 85ft (or 28m) in height and was designed by French artist Sacha Sosno and made by two architects – Francis Chapus and Yves Bayard – for the Central Library in Nice. Entitled “Thinking Inside the Box,” the work is an accusatory and clear metaphor and hasn’t always been the most beloved work in the city, with locals often citing it as “ugly”. However, in spite of this, the building remains a fascinating tourist attraction and extraordinary structure, housing four storeys of offices and three storeys of book shelves.
Sosno, a sculptor and peer of other famous local artists such as Henri Matisse and Yves Klein, had long held hope to build such an unusual construction-sculpture but only got a chance to do so in 1997 when his idea was chosen for an administrative office of Louis Nucéra Library. Inaugurated in 2002, it was the first inhabited monumental sculpture in the world.
Located on the corner of Promenade des Arts, La Tête Carrée looks out over Place Yves Klein from the Jardin Maréchal Juin, a small public garden full of colourful flowers and a few more (albeit far, far smaller) sculptures. During the day, it simply looks like a massive sculpture of a head but, if you’re passing La Tête Carrée at night, it is lit from within by a lighting scheme devised by French light artist Yann Kersalé and you can make out the floors of the library inside.
Design: The Architecture Of Baseball Stadiums (AD)
Hey, batter batter! Michael Wyetzner of Michielli + Wyetzner Architects returns to AD, this time breaking down the architectural details found in baseball stadiums around North America. From some of the earliest homes of the national pastime to current multi-billion dollar behemoths, Michael offers up expert insight on what makes each of them distinct.
Architectural Tours: New York’s Greenwich Village
Architectural Digest takes you to New York City for an insightful walking tour of Greenwich Village with architect Nicholas Potts. From jazz clubs and coffee shops to the dramatic arch at Washington Square Park and the landmark buildings on Waverly Place, “The Village” continues to exist at the nexus of New York’s past, present, and future.
Come along with Nick as he explores the architectural details hidden in plain sight. Check out Nicholas Potts here:
Website: https://nicholasgpotts.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicholasgpo…
Blenheim Palace: Britain’s Answer To Versailles
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire — the seat of the Duke of Marlborough — is one of the outstanding palaces of Baroque Europe, and was planned as both a residence and national monument.
Towards the end of the day on August 13, 1704, John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, exhausted by an intense day of fighting near Blindheim, a village on the Danube, famously scrawled a note to his wife on the back of a tavern bill: ‘I have not time to say more but to beg you will give my duty to the Queen and let her know her army has had a glorious victory.’ The battle of Blenheim — as the name has been anglicised — was, in fact, a confrontation between a Franco-Bavarian army and the forces of a grand alliance of European powers, including the Dutch republic, Austria and Britain, over control of Spain and its empire. It was the first major defeat inflicted on a French army in the field for 50 years and was crowned by the capture of Louis XIV’s commander-in-chief, Marshal Talleyrand, who waited in the Duke’s coach as he scribbled his hasty message.
Although the plans of the building changed considerably over time, something close to the final design was published in the first part of Colen Campbell’s Vitruvius Britannicus (1715). As described by Campbell, ‘the manner is grand, the parts noble, and the air majestick of this palace, adapted to the martial genius of the patron…’ This latter quality was celebrated both in the ornament of the building with military trophies and its original title, ‘Blenheim Castle’.
Fig 5: The Saloon is overlooked by figures representing the four Continents and the marble doorcase is ornamented with an imperial eagle. Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, photographed for Country Life Magazine by Will Pryce. ©Country Life
Both Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor were well versed in medieval castle architecture and their knowledge of it shines through the spectacular outline of this building, its great angle towers and the rugged articulation of the masonry. Yet this is really a Classical castle suitable for a general of Britain in its newly assumed character as an Imperial power and second Rome. Borrowing Hawksmoor’s description of Castle Howard, as ‘the seat of one of the chief nobles of Britain, it is both a castle and palace conjoined’.
Cities: The Skyscraper Boom In Toronto, Canada
Canada’s biggest city is experiencing a skyscraper boom. Toronto, the capital of the province of Ontario, is a major Canadian city along Lake Ontario’s northwestern shore. It’s a dynamic metropolis with a core of soaring skyscrapers, all dwarfed by the iconic, free-standing CN Tower. Toronto also has many green spaces, from the orderly oval of Queen’s Park to 400-acre High Park and its trails, sports facilities and zoo.
Architecture: National Mall In Washington DC
Architectural Digest takes you to Washington, D.C. for a walking tour of The National Mall with architect Nicholas Potts, highlighting some complex architectural details hidden in plain sight. The development of our nation’s capitol was drastically reimagined by 1902’s McMillan plan, implemented primarily to improve the design of the city’s monuments and parks.
Nick Potts brings this evolution to life, highlighting some remaining vestiges of 19th century D.C. while explaining how the city changed around them – including the White House itself.
Design: ‘Structures’ By Foster + Partners (2022)
Our latest Structures book showcases the work of our structural engineering team through a selection of integrated projects including Apple Marina Bay Sands, Singapore; Tocumen International Airport, Panama; Le Dome Winery, France and more.
View the Structures book here: https://bit.ly/3uOtVja
Boomers Daily 