Steidl – In Edward Burtynsky’s recent photographs, produced across the African continent, the patterns and scars of human-altered landscapes initially appear to form an abstract painterly language; they reference the sublime and often surreal qualities of human mark-making.
While chronicling the major themes of terraforming and extraction, urbanization and deforestation, African Studies conveys the unsettling reality of sweeping resource depletion on both a human and industrial scale.
From natural landscapes to artisanal mining and mechanized extraction, several distinct chapters culminate with China in Africa: a series depicting the economic inroads being made by China, including the interiors of gigantic newly built manufacturing plants. This project brings together the work of seven years, presenting the latest installment in Burtynsky’s ongoing œuvre.
The Local Project (December 20, 2022) – By creating a sub-tropical modern architecture garden home, Justin Humphrey Architects employs concrete, timber, dark tones and green life to respond to the client’s brief.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Extraordinary Garden Home 00:11 – The Architect’s Favourite Aspects 00:40 – A Queensland Location 01:08 – The Well-Travelled Clients and their Desire for Sub-Tropical Modern Architecture 01:26 – A Strong Form and Sense of Materiality 01:48 – A Walkthrough of the Home and its Materials 02:29 – The Spine of the Home 03:00 – The Owners 03:20 – A Response to Natural Light 03:39 – Accommodating for Entertaining 03:56 – Implementing Passive Design Principles 04:50 – Seeing the Clients Grow into the Home
Desiring a family home that was equal parts building and garden, the clients needed a home that could provide privacy and areas for entertaining. Handling the combination of public and private spaces with ease, the architect has also challenged the traditional entrance sequence of the home. From its exterior, Cove House strikes a formidable presence, yet with its singular floating plane roof and plant life,
Cove House establishes itself as a modern architecture garden home. To create a modern architecture garden home, the architect has offset the concrete and dark tones of the exterior with warm timber battens to soften the entrance. Starting the house tour, the green landscape spine runs down the centre of the home, separating the public entry and the private living spaces. Additionally, the green spine guides guests towards the rear of the home, where the living and entertainment spaces are situated.
Contributing to the interior design of the Cove House, concrete and timber are combined to establish a flowing effect from outside in, honouring the client’s appreciation of climate-responsive materials and architecture. Answering the client’s love of boating and water, Cove House embraces open plan living and joins with the natural reserve, Coomera Island, which sits opposite the home. By opening the rear glass doors, the owners can increase the entertaining size onto the back deck and the passion pit – a curved lounging area that embraces outside living.
Providing the clients with a space to grow into, the modern architecture garden home also offers privacy from its neighbours on either side. Following critical passive design principles for the modern architecture garden home, the large roof-span provides wide-set eaves that protect from rain, provide deep shade during summer and curate cool breezes through the home. Additionally, the natural stone floor and concrete were employed as a thermal mass element to help regulate the home’s temperature all year round. As the house ages, Justin Humphrey Architects has specifically chosen the material palette to influence an alternative approach to address the natural climate setting.
Wall Street Journal (December 19, 2022) – In recent years, the city’s railyards have seen severe bottlenecks as the supply chain choked up nationally. With $3 trillion in goods traveling through Chicago every year, the city is the busiest rail hub in the U.S. WSJ breaks down how important rail is to the region, and how vulnerable the system is to a work stoppage like a strike.
Gagosian (December 19, 2022) – As part of Sessions, a spin-off of Gagosian Premieres, composer and saxophonist John Zorn and bass guitarist and producer Bill Laswell perform an improvised work in Sterling Ruby’s exhibition “TURBINES,” at Gagosian, 522 West 21st Street, New York. Zorn is celebrated for his experimental approaches to composition and improvisation in forms ranging from classical, jazz, and ambient music to rock, metal, and hardcore. Here he plays saxophone while Laswell, a prolific and diverse musical collaborator known for his involvement with the band Material among many other projects, plays electric bass. The duo responds to Ruby’s new abstract paintings, which create a sense of flurried motion through the energetic convergence of materials.
Gozo is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, one of 21 that make up the Maltese archipelago. Inhabited for thousands of years, it shows evidence of historic immigration and rule by the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Sicilians, French and British, among others. It’s known for its Neolithic Ġgantija Temple ruins, rural hiking paths, beaches and scuba-diving sites.
Comino is a small island of the Maltese archipelago between the islands of Malta and Gozo in the Mediterranean Sea, measuring 3.5 square kilometres in area.
John Carroll (December 2022) – East Kilbride is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country’s sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland’s first new town on 6 May 1947.
Mains Castle lies just to the north of East Kilbride, and is easily visible from the public path around the loch of the James Hamilton Heritage Park. It is a free-standing rectangular tower house on a mound, with a square caphouse providing access to the wallwalk in one corner of the tower. Historically there were additional buildings clustered around the tower, but there are no traces of these now. Mains Castle is privately owned and is occupied.
CBS Sunday Morning (December 2022) – We leave you this Sunday morning with reindeer in northern Finland, prepping for their big night! Videographer: David Cohen.
Northern Finland is the northernmost part of Finland. Administratively it comprises Finnish Lapland and the provinces of Kainuu and Northern Ostrobothnia. This region is very sparsely populated even for Finland – while it covers almost half of the country it has a population slightly larger than the city of Helsinki.
Insider Food (December 17, 2022) – From the big screen to fashion catwalks, the French macaron has become a pop culture icon. And it’s thanks to Ladurée, the French company credited with inventing the colorful cookie over 130 years ago. Today, Laudrée has turned its colorful macarons into a cookie empire.
Insider Business (December 17, 2022) – Moroccan rugs are valued around the world for their complex patterns and thick wool. A large rug can take months to weave, but the women who complete each step by hand usually receive the least profit. Selling directly to consumers is challenging, so artisans often rely on middlemen who sell the rugs for several times more in big cities. Online, Moroccan rugs can sell for several thousand dollars.
Insider Food (December 17, 2022) – From the big screen to fashion catwalks, the French macaron has become a pop culture icon. And it’s thanks to Ladurée, the French company credited with inventing the colorful cookie over 130 years ago. Today, Laudrée has turned its colorful macarons into a cookie empire.
Boomers Daily 