Archive for Modernism
April 9, 2009 · Filed under Architecture, Heritage, Modernism, Monuments
It’s odd to think that the Modernist architect Le Corbusier has had a bigger influence on housing in Britain than in any other European country.
Odd because he never designed a building here, and also because so many Britons have long held him in particular contempt. Since the 1970s he has been about as popular around here as the French national soccer team, and more than a few concrete, Corbu-style projects, large numbers of which were constructed after the war to ease a convalescing nation’s housing shortage, have since been torn down or fallen into disrepair.
But as Peter Rees, a longtime city planning officer in London, put it recently, about the whole range of such projects, “They were either blown up, or they’re now loved.”
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Popularity: 19% [?]
April 8, 2009 · Filed under Artificial Landscapes, Cities from Scratch, Creative Cities, Fiction, Modernism, Public Life, Public Space, Social Networks, Visualization
Since the 60s we’ve imagined the combination of computers and our environment would create both utopias and dystopias. Since the 80′s we’ve seen academics, artists and corporate R&D labs prototype these futures from the top-down. Now, hackers are building sensors, bots and software into everything around them bottom-up, fast, cheap and out-of-control. They’re creating environments that react, adapt and respond to us – and perhaps more importantly – each other: The Demon-Haunted World. Matt’s session will be a whistlestop tour of those days of future past and pointers to some practical futures we can start building right now, together.
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Popularity: 34% [?]
February 13, 2009 · Filed under Architecture, Modernism, Planning, Public Space
While Israeli tanks and bombs hit Gaza, a sales video for an apartment tower in Tel Aviv, 40 miles north of Gaza City, pitches the “Neve Tsedek White City Residence.” As photos roll, the voice describes the tower in the heart of the “vibrant cosmopolitan city” of Tel Aviv; it cites “luxurious apartments,” even a penthouse designed by Armani Casa, Milan, a “sophisticated lobby, lounge, and business rooms” for new enterprises. Sharing the same Mediterranean coast, Gaza City and Tel Aviv offer a brutal display of contrasts.
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Popularity: 15% [?]
February 4, 2009 · Filed under Beauty, Heritage, Modernism, Monuments, Starchitecture
Preservationists say they are fighting to protect Brasilia’s signature skyline designed by legendary architect Oscar Niemeyer — from Oscar Niemeyer himself.
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Popularity: 25% [?]
January 24, 2009 · Filed under Heritage, Modernism
For years Russians were happy to raze the buildings of the post-revolutionary years. Now an oligarch is leading the fight to save them.
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Popularity: 9% [?]
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