L: Herzog and de Meuron’s Paris tower, via Designboom; R: Marcel Breuer’s Stillman House, via Curbed.
Pyramid Scheme: Herzog and de Meuron’s controversial triangular tower is set to rise in Paris, having been approved on appeal by the city council. The 590-foot-tall (180-meters-tall) mixed-use skyscraper has been at the center of a protracted row about high-rise architecture in the French capital — H&dM will hope it can avoid gaining a reputation like that of the infamous Tour Montparnasse …
Breuer’s Market: If you’ve ever wanted to own an intact architectural icon, now’s your chance: the stunningly restored Stillman House, designed by modernist master Marcel Breuer, is on the market. An early Bauhaus acolyte, Breuer designed a number of homes in the tristate area; this 1950 residence is regarded as one of his finest, a bargain at $2.5 million dollars.
L: Farnsworth House, via Curbed; R: the White House, via NIA Council.
Architectourism: If you are in need of a new architectural landmark to discover or a city to explore this summer, look no further: Curbed has compiled this handy guide to classic buildings across the country, from Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House to Tadao Ando’s Clark Art Institute. For the ultimate challenge, try visiting all 29!
#WhiteHouse: Speaking of architectural tourism, get your camera phones at the ready — Michelle Obama has lifted the ban on taking photos during tours of the White House (although selfie sticks are still forbidden). While it seems unlikely we’ll see many snaps with Barack himself, you might begin to notice a few interior shots of this iconic residence popping up on Facebook — along with about a million YouTube videos of West Wing walking sequences.
L: “Pulled by the Roots” by Leandro Erlich, via Designboom; R: 3D-Printed Offices in Dubai, via Gizmag.
Uprooted Urbanism: The “City is the Star” art festival opened in Karlsruhe, Germany, last month, featuring a number of thought-provoking architectural installations. The faux construction site is packed with large-scale sculptures including Leandro Erlich’s startling “Pulled by the Roots” — a full-scale domestic house, wrenched from the ground by a crane.
Layering Up: 3D-printed houses are pretty old news by now; the Chinese have that covered. Not to be outdone, Dubai is due to start construction on what is reportedly the world’s first printed office building — rising 20 feet tall (six meters tall) and incorporating 2,000 square feet (186 square meters) of commercial space, the futuristic-looking structures should be completed in a matter of weeks.
Brixel Art: Earlier this week, we noted the rise of the robot bricklayer; now, architect Jason Allerman has handcrafted a combination scanner/printer that reads and writes in LEGO. The “Bricasso” mosaic-maker can currently only process pre-pixelated input images, but it’s worth watching nonetheless …
Top image: “Pulled by the Roots” by Leandro Erlich, via Designboom
