Gabrielle Golenda
Outside of sports stadiums and mini-golf courses artificial grass is often considered taboo. From in door offices to pop-up restaurants, new examples of artificial turf point towards a new acceptance, and even pleasure in the artificial. Architects and designers are celebrating the good points — forever green, resilient, low-maintenance, and in some cases safer — rather…
Roundabouts have long since been associated with the European driving experience. More recently, the se circular one-way road junctions are being used not only to help traffic flow efficiently without the need for signals, but also as a platform for new urban interventions that connect pedestrian, bicycle, and car traffic. From multi-colored glass pavilions to football…
Far from the days of Woodstock, the rise of festival culture has evolved from niche grassroots gathe rings to massive multi-faceted events. Growing in scope and size, these art and music focused events have provoked a new typology in ephemeral architecture, spaces that are meant to be experienced in situ: the festival pavilion. Given that the…
In the past few decades, in addition to the traditional role of collecting, preserving, and sharing collections, galleries and museums are increasingly becoming involved with supporting local, national, and international communities. Beyond exhibition spaces, cultural institutions house a myriad of mixed-use spaces, including process labs, artist-in-residence wings, and immersion rooms. Given that today’s cultural institutions…
Under most circumstances, bike lanes, bridges, and tunnels are designed around the existing network of sidewalks and streets. Fortunately, there are instances where cycling is not only being considered at the initial stages of urban design, but put at the forefront to create advantageous public spaces. Around the world, innovative thinkers have dreamt up newfangled…
Whether a museum is pursuing an acquisitions policy to expand its collections or simply to bring eme rgency exits up to code, extensions provide a unique opportunity for architects to create meaningful structures that are not secondary. For those who enjoy an afternoon at a museum, these projects show how expansions can offer more than mere…
The Convent of La Tourette was the last building Le Corbusier completed in Europe. Characterized by a reinforced concrete skeleton that frames three panes of glass, a non-uniform cadence of light and shadow appears like a visual interpretation of a musical composition. In his book Cosmos of Light: The Sacred Architecture of Le Corbusier, Henry…
With the advent of mobile and ever-increasing reach of data networks, the very notion of the cloud h as taken on a new meaning in contemporary culture. The omnipresent yet radically decentralized concept may seem at odds with buildings, but rest assured the word perfectly captures the philosophy of New York City-based Clouds Architecture Office. Established…
In a recent interview with the Japan Times, Japanese architect Jun Igarashi cites a specific example of traditional Japanese interiors, the engawa, as spaces between being outdoors and indoors. Traditionally in old-style Japanese buildings, this engawa manifested as a seating area that acted as a buffer between the garden and the interior. The engawa plays…