COBE: Denmark: Designing for Climate Change.
Wren Room, RIBA
26TH May
COBE, a young practice founded in 2007 in Copenhagen, presented a number of projects that charted an evolving thought process. The initial projects were about questioning the urban situation and responding to diversity and demographics.
These are some images from the Barbara Hepworth Gallery in St Ives, Cornwall.
South East Festival of Architecture
23 May 2009
http://www.hawkesarchitecture.co.uk/
Juhani Pallasmaa, the Architectural theorist and writer, states in his seminal book Eyes of the Skin that “life enhancing architecture has to address all senses simultaneously and fuse our image of self with our experience of the world…articulates the experiences of being in the world and strengthens our sense of reality and self. To him Architecture is a whole bodily experience and the architecture that considers this is holistic (Pallasmaa, 2000). In times where the Architect is more in touch with a computer screen than the sense of the world, it often hard to find buildings that attest to Pallasmaa’s discourse. As you may have read in previous articles on Boidus there are some works which do match the dialogue of Pallasmaa such as those by Peter Zumthor, Sarah Wigglesworth and Carlo Scarpa.
Recently, as part of the South East Festival of Architecture Richard Hawkes, and his family, threw open the doors of their new house nestled amongst the shallow hillocks of Kent. You may be familiar with Hawkes’s home as it was featured on Channel Four’s Grand Designs. More recently Boidus ran an article on the discussion that took place between Hawkes and Kevin McCloud at the Grand Designs Live Event at Excel.
Culture secretary rejects Robin Hood Gardens listing appeal
Read Will Hurst article here
Good or Bad? Start the debate!
Landed at J’burg at 0835. Took off for Gaborone at 1200.
Landed in Gabs at 1300. Temperature 26 deg C.
WATCH THIS SPACE
Image of Unite D’habitation by Wayne Andrews
Le Corbusier is widely thought to be the most acclaimed Architect of the 20th century and Le Corbusier: The Art of Architecture, at the Barbican Gallery sets out to illustrate this. At this point I wish to say that I have never been the biggest fan of Le Corbusier due his influence on post war Architecture in Great Britain. I attended the exhibition hoping to change my point of view.
Anderson Luis de Abreau Oliveira was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2007 for a reported £17 million. He seemed an exciting prospect indeed; although he had only played 18 games for Porto (he missed five months because of a broken leg), there was enough evidence on youtube to believe he could become a devastating attacking force.
Video clips showed the cornrowed youngster dashing forwards, displaying scintillating skills that drew the inevitable comparisons to his compatriot Ronaldinho. However, after only a short time at Old Trafford it became obvious that Sir Alex has reined him in, to the extent that he sometimes plays in a defensive midfield role for the reining Premier League and European Champions.
This may seem like a negative move by the Scotsman, but it would be folly to doubt the coaching skills of Ferguson. With Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes coming to the end of their glittering careers, United identified Nani and Anderson and their 21st century replacements. Whether Nani will improve enough to justify his transfer fee (also around the £17m mark) is another article completely, but Anderson is slowly but surely growing into a quality player.
He does not display the tricks and flicks that fans expected, but he has boundless energy and his tactical awareness is improving by the game. His distribution is still sloppy and the way he gives the ball away is infuriating, but it is hard to look past his invaluable contribution to the heart of the United team. His work rate is up there with Carlos Tevez, Darren Fletcher and Park Ji-Sung, and if he loses the ball with a wayward pass you can be assured he will soon win it back with a well times tackle or interception.
Click picture for youtube video
He rarely displays it, but Anderson must be one of the fastest players at United. A 50 yard run against Aston Villa last season displayed this, as he saw a gap open up and burst through, getting into the area and shooting at the goalkeeper. He is also stronger than one would imagine, and uses his body well.
But one question looms large over the Brazilian’s head: will he ever score? He has had numerous chances to shoot from range, but like Scholes these days chooses to pass and retain possession. When he does shoot, we can see this is the right decision. The likelihood of Anderson scoring a goal for United seems about as realistic as the chances of Gareth Bale winning a Premier League game for Spurs. It would be nice for him to add a goal scoring dimension to his game, and in time he probably will learn the composure necessary for finishing at the highest level, as well as the positional sense to get him in dangerous positions. Will he manage is before the end of the season?
Kevin McCloud poses a question to the audience, “Who here likes this house?” 99% agree they like it. There is one dissenting voice in the crowd, and McCloud asks why. “I like the traditional look”, comes back the answer. This is a good place to begin a discussion of Richard Hawkes’ Crossway house as featured in the latest series of Grand Designs.How do we approach the design of a home? Do you pursue the vernacular tradition of the local area or do you push the boundaries? Do you make a statement? Do you pay head to planning? Maybe you do all these things. McCloud is keen to remain ever populist in his answer to his own question. He lives in an old house with its own character and he wouldn’t have it any other way. However here is the point. Whether it is the Hall house, a Georgian Townhouse or a grandiose Victorian pile, the house has always set its own typology. The 21st century house of now need be no different. Like those classic examples the house of today should give a nod to its contemporaries without resorting to mimicry.
Crossway. Photo by James Brittain from Crossway website
Kevin McCloud outlines the scale of the task…
26 million homes contributing 27% of the country’s Co² emissions.
Government carbon reductions of 80% by 2050.
As you can see the scale of the challenge is huge and it was debated at the Great British Refurb, Grand Designs Live last Thursday. McClouds panel included Ed Milliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Paul King of the Green Building Council, and Colin Butfield of WWF.
Top: Campaign Logo for the Great British Refurb
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