A look into the life of Oscar Niemeyer.
Oscar Niemeyer, was an interesting, man intrigued and accomplished in the realm of Modernist Architecture.
A brief reflection into his past places us into the understanding of some of his Brazilian roots. Born in Rio de Janiero, we have a wild boy of architecture- however, he grew up working in his fathers typography house as a draftsman. This sparking a love for drawing Niemeyer interned, for a few several years, at Lucio Costa.
The use of reinforced concrete became Niemeyer’s one true vice in life. He was both lauded and criticized for being a “sculptor of a moment.” He was a artist, influenced like many great architects, primarly- Le Corbusier, although it wouldn’t be true to say that it ever held him back.
Abstract forms and curves define the beautiful work of Niemeyer.
“I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing, sensual curves. The curves that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on the body of the beloved woman. Curves make up the entire Universe, the curved Universe of Einstein…”
The Pampulha; was a planned suburb in Brazil. Niemeyer and Juscelino Kubitschek worked as a pair to create vastly Corbusian architecture. Critically acclaimed at the time by the MoMa, there are still debates today over its use of the Corbusian manner.
Casa do Baile is said to be the least of bourgeois as it is built on a man-made island.
The overall use of free-form makes the concrete constructed architecture seems to lighten the entire experience of the complex as it transitions a very horizontal piece of architecture into a delicate feminine form, unusual to the world at the time.
The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi; was constructed in the usual Brazilian style while also holding onto the primary language established by Le Corbusier. Withholding such a strong historical and religious meaning it is quite bold as to be recognized as one of the first modernist churches in Brazil.
Bringing the stylizations of Niemeyer to America we can study the United Nations Headquarters in New Your city. To really understand this piece of architecture the façade is a starting point.
Beautiful simplicity in its sensual horizontal lines creates a contrast between its massive verticality. This massive verticality resembling of the buildings that surround it, however the soft and sensual horizontal bands give it a sexy feminine appeal.
A collaboration of celebrated architects as well as Niemeyer worked on this monumental part of architecture located in Manhattan NYC.
PhotoJournal – Barcelona
Series of black and white pictures from the summer of 2012 in Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain.
Nation Wide Competition
Interested in high rise structures, green design, and wood structures?
Timber in the City is a nation wide competition where students can collaborate in groups up to 5 design and enter the competition in hopes to win the cash prize!
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce TIMBER IN THE CITY: Urban Habitats Competition for the 2012-2013 academic year. The competition is a partnership between the Binational Softwood Lumber Council (BSLC), the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons The New School for Design (SCE).
The program is intended to engage students and recent graduates, working individually or in teams to imagine the repurposing of our existing cities with buildings that are made from renewable resources, offer expedient affordable construction, innovate with new and old wooden materials, and provide healthy living / working environments.
If you are interested, collaborate with you colleagues, and ask a professor to be your advisor. This is an excellent opportunity to gain exposure to structural systems that we do not cover here at Wentworth.
Registration for the competition begins March 6.
Deadline for the entry is May 22.
For more information visit: http://acsa-arch.org/programs-events/competitions
If you have any additional questions feel free to contact Bryan Mah or Scott Graham.
This competition is student driven and is not being driven by any department, club or organization on campus. One must be an advocate for themselves if they would like to pursue this competition.
Photo Journal – Venezia Part Two
This post is the second part for Venice’s architecture. Here a quote by Dahpne du Maurier, from “Echoes from the Macabre” about her thoughts of Venice:
“The experts are right, he thought. Venice is sinking. The whole city is slowly dying. One day the tourists will travel here by boat to peer down into the waters, and they will see pillars and columns and marble far, far beneath them, slime and mud uncovering for brief moments a lost underworld of stone. Their heels made a ringing sound on the pavement and the rain splashed from the gutterings above. A fine ending to an evening that had started with brave hope, with innocence.”
Also if you wanna check what’s going on at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2012 “Common Ground” curated by the british architect David Chipperfield, click on the link: http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/
Time to grow up, Suburbia
Retro-Fitting Suburbia with Ellen Dunham-Jones on TED Talk
There is a strive to find a future in the realm of design centered around develop and expansion of spatial analysis in Suburban Design.
Frankly speaking the sprawling effect of suburban life has officially phased out and we have to move into a new world where the sprawl effect is subjugated to urban design and fused creating closer ties and connections.
Reduction of dependence on cars for transportation is vital to the survival of the human condition. Suburbia needs to be a homogeneous tighter knit environment where the qualities of urban design are influential on the community.
With the evident demographic shift the baby boomers with the hockey team size families are phasing out leaving America left with the generations X and Y with focuses away from the huge family household.
The underperformance of Asphalt is nipping at the question; why are there so many unused expanses of parking lot? Why must we build assuming everyday will be Black Friday? We must inhabit these spaces and explore them to the meaningful potential they might hold. Who’s to say they cannot turn into an art gallery, nursing home, university even.
Obviously these parking lots can even find themselves attached to abandoned stores which can be reclaimed and renovated, its time to turn the concept of community design into a motivation, and influence on the community itself.
With the ideologies of many socialists whispering facts of home, work, and the third place in our ear, there must be a progression for the future. Planning rigidly on the metropolitan scale is vital to focus on the –where, design improvement, and quality of space.
Photo Journal – Venezia Part One
This week is all about Venice’s architecture and islands separated by canals and linked bridges. This pictures were taking during the past summer, but scroll down to see how’s Venice right now.
Last two pictures courtesy of ‘Getty Images’
finding inspiration.
The flash of a camera going off, the girding of the train as its tracks squeal to a stop, The sun as it reflects off the dirtiest window, a leaf crunches beneath your foot, a tree half colored green and yellow, two elderly men playing chess in a park, the smile of a small child, the innocence of being alone, and a safety net of your own.
What is your inspiration?
It is something that comes from your heart and your head and when they mix together an idea is born.
Inspiration is an influenced identity holding its own keys and clues to unlocking your own creativity. Only one can be with, their identity can hold their own inspiration.
Solace is a world with which we define the sublime; this obscene sense of loftiness is the environment where one finds they’re own inspiration.
Abstraction of a goal and defuse of the task is the seeding and exploration which we need to situate and feel comfortable. When you take something, anything and fixate and fester upon one thing, you fester upon the most unique and oblique aspect of it you will truly feel inspired.
What inspires you?
Photo Journal – Arquitectura Mediterranea
This post is about Mediterrean Architecture, especifically in the fishing town of Palamos, located in the Catalunya Province, Spain.
Palamos, Catalunya, Spain // Summer 2012
Alex Hogrefe
Alex Hogrefe is a graphic designer/ex-architecture student who is basically amazing. I was shown his site last year, and I was stunned to see the quality of his renderings. Along with galleries displaying his incredible work, he actually posts tutorial videos to help make your work just as awesome. He has also posted his Undergrad and Grad portfolios which are fun (sad) to look through as your working on your own portfolio. Just a heads up, don’t just try to imitate what he is doing because a lot of what he does takes a long time and for our purposes here at school it can be a little impractical. Rather, use some of the tips you can gain from the tutorials in order to bump up the quality of your own work.
Enjoy!
Ben Lewis
Photo Journal – Acropolis
This week is about the Acropolis in Athens, Greece (Constructed just a few 2,500 years ago…)
WAR’s Photo Journal is a place to see architecture and stories through photos. If you wanna check our weekly posts, just click on the tag ‘Photo Journal’ at the end of the post.
Athens, Greece // Summer 2012
Light as an Omniscient Character
The Character
The Liberty Hotel, formally known as the Charles Street Jail, has an omniscient character wanderer that lingers throughout the grand central atrium. The wanderer travels unnoticeably as it slices and cuts through the space. Yet the wanderer is not so glaring, intense, and painful throughout the entire space. The wanderer is actually quite soft and elegant as it scatters throughout. The wanderer creates a unique and mysterious glow that rises up towards the wrought iron frame.
My Review
Magnificent place to go for a delicious meal with a special someone. The restaurant inside, The Clink, has preserved the old wrought iron jail cells. The jail cells are apart of the dining area and become a conversation piece in the space. Being inside the old jail causes the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end because of the eerie memory of the buildings past. Definitely an excellent place to visit and admire for the way in which the designers reflected the history of the jail in order to create a new memorable space.
-Scott R. Graham II
Masdar… the first carbon zero city
an Abu Dhabi base renewed energy system based city designed by Norman Foster.
Offering a low-carbon solutions for a more sustainable future.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Wtze716QY
Photo Journal – Architecture Parisienne
This post is about the Parisian Architecture and some of it’s most important historical landmarks. Like the National Residence of the Invalids (L’Hôtel national des Invalides) where one can visit Napoleon Bonaparte’s tomb, the Tuileries Garden (Jardin des Tuileries) near the Museum of Louvre or the the Grand Palace Museum (Le Grand Palais) one of the world’s largest art exhibition along Winston Churchill Avenue next to the Champs-Élysées.
