photos via inhabitat.com

My wife and I have been staring at this treehouse for about 20 minutes now.  We found some blog that had tons of entries on treehouses, and this one was the most captivating to us.  Yellow Pages is actually behind the edifice, but it’s far far away in New Zealand- and it’s booked for decades to come.  I guess pictures will have to do for now.

photos via artbite.fr

I couldn’t resist posting on the sweetest public, park bathroom of all time.  Shuhei Endo (the architect) said that the structure is “‘springtecture’ for its apparently sprung, coiled corrugated-steel enclosure, and as ‘halftecture’ because it is both open and closed.”  I just like the curly metal.

photo via Davide Lussetti

Richard Meier’s architecture takes my breath away.  I could spend hours on his website just looking at pictures of all of the stuff that he’s done.  Having said that, there is one building that I would take above all others: the Jubilee Church.  I wish I could commission Mr. Meier to secretly design the exact building but as a house for me and my family…. and my friends… and you could come visit.  Maybe I’ll do another post on it again tomorrow.  It’s located just outside of Rome, and maybe someday my wife and I will go visit the Jubilee Church and Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame Du Haut in Ronchamp, France.  Both of our construction crushes would be fulfilled.

photo via Barcex

So Wikipedia, like a new sunroom, has turned into an addition to the small cottage that is my brain.  In this Wikipedia, I looked up “architecture” last night and was reminded of things long forgotten.  How rad was Vitruvius??  The article discussed his three principles of architecture being: durability, utility and beauty.  Architecture, to be actual “architecture,” must exhibit all three.  The article also discussed a new principle that has recently been added known as “sustainability.”  Meaning a structure must be healthy for the environment while being built, while being used and while being recycled.  Then there is a quote from our friend Le Corbusier that says, “You employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces: that is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say: This is beautiful. That is Architecture.”

Even though we can’t all be architects (myself included), we can all insert our line of work into the same theories of Vitruvius and Le Corbusier.  The idea is to put a little extra thought into what we are doing- a little more art.  Even though they’re not designing structures, we’ve all heard of ugly businesses out there that could use a little Le Corbusier pumping through the veins of their company.

Almere

Newly added to “The Places I Would Like to Visit” list is  Almere, Netherlands.  I was trying to find a project that I was interested in on the internet, and stumbled upon this website.  I sure wish that it was in English, for I can’t understand it (how about the word “woonwijken”).   But the pictures are sure sweet.  Make sure you make it to the bottom and check out the pics down there.  Anybody out there willing to sponsor a worldwide architecture photography trip??

Photo: Jussi Tiainen, HUT photography laboratory

I just thought this tower was awesome.  It was designed by a student (I’m assuming the student’s name was “Hara”) from the Helsinki University of Technology, and built by a group of eight architecture students.  There’s an interesting lookout from the top because it sits on the edge of the Korkeasaari Zoo in Helsinki, Finland.

Photo: Jussi Tiainen, HUT photography laboratory

The structure and all of the decking is made of wood, and the structure is fastened together with some 600 bolts.

]]> http://thearchitectureprogram.com/2009/03/ville-hara-korkeasaari-lookout-tower/feed/ 1 http://thearchitectureprogram.com/2009/03/cool-city-5-curitiba-brazil/ http://thearchitectureprogram.com/2009/03/cool-city-5-curitiba-brazil/#comments Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:18:03 +0000 Tyson http://thearchitectureprogram.com/?p=239

photo via henribergius

In writing these articles on these cities, I have called them “Cool Cities.”  I didn’t really want to call them “Green Cities” becuase I feel somewhat skeptical about the whole “Green Rush.”  Obviously, there are incredible things that are being done, and incredible things that need to be done, to prevent our daily habits from slowly rotting our planet.  However, I fear that being green has become a trend that people get into because of guilt-trips or hip bumper-stickers on the back of Subarus.  We, humans, tend to get wrapped up in causes that are absolutely wonderful, and we look down on those that aren’t as involved or enlightened.  Our error is that we forget the very thing our important causes should point back to:  humans.

That’s where Curitiba comes in.  Instead of lengthy studies and arguments about “the environment,” when I was studying Curitiba, I found articles on people.  Studies say that 99%  of Curitibans are happy with their town.  99%!  One of the most impressive aspects of Curitiba is its ability to deal with the very poor.  One article says that “Curitiba may have broken the back of its social problems.” This statement comes from program after program helping those in need actually get what they need.  For instance, if you bring in a bag of collected garbage the city will give you a bag of food.  This makes the city, even the slums, clean- and it gives the people that live in the city a sense of pride.  Also, a section of large farmland was purchased by the city and cleared so that homeless people could own a piece of land.  The city helped with materials, but the people had to build their own homes.  The city also provided one hour with an architect so that the homes would be unique and personalized.  Thanks to a dedicated mayor and urban planner, Jaime Lerner, people seem to be at the center of what makes this city unique.

Curitiba is also, of course, green.  There are 150 square feet of green space for every inhabitant (one article I read said 580 square feet per inhabitant?), 115 kilometers of bike lanes, walking – no car- zones, and a world renowned bus system (some 85 cities are working on replicating it).  Here is a city that, to me, has got it right:  Environment- important, Humans- most important.  For a great article on Curitiba check out the article, by Bill McKibben, entitled: Curitiba: A Global Model For Development.

photo by DubbaG

Portland, Oregon is commonly placed #1 among the U.S.’s green cities.  Why?  Categories like “transportation,” “electricity,” “green policy” and “recycling efforts” usually separate the city from the competition.  The City of Portland even has a “Green Building Program” to inspire, support and promote green buildings within the city limits.  Popsci.com reports that “half its power comes from renewable sources, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.”  I went on to Oregon.gov and found a 46 page document produced by the City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development on how to make your business more environmentally friendly.  I read most of it, and it has some rock-solid ideas in it.  Lastly, Inhabitat.com said that Portland, Oregon is “consistently named the number-one city for bicyclists.”  It’s always more expensive to be green, but the idea is that it’s better in the long run; and Portland gets that.  They seem to be leading The United States of America in what is beginning to be called “The Green Rush.”

Andreas Tille

Reykjavik, Iceland comes in as Cool City #4.  Though there’s no order to the way these cities are coming to you on The Architecture Program, Reykjavik was rated #1 by HowStuffWorks.com and  Grist.com.  Some of the incredible actions that this city is taking are:

• Zero fossil fuel by 2050 (using hydrogen instead)
• 72% of total energy needs for the city, currently, come from renewable sources
• Free electricity for electric vehicles
• Free parking for environmentally friendly cars, footpaths will be broadened and the number of drinking fountains and benches increased
• Takes part in Nordic Cities Environmental Indicators Project, which monitors specific environmental parameters
• 500,000 trees will be planted within the city limits
• Pledging to become the cleanest city in Europe
  

All of these comprise what is called the “Green Steps of Reykjavik.”  Not much of a wonder that it’s ranked as one of the greenest, if not the greenest, city in the world.