1/19/24
The Brooklyn Tower
SHoP Architects
Light beams off the facade. A curtain wall hangs from promenade ornate mullion. The rusted gold color of them seems to evoke a rich sense of stature. They are elegant to say the least. Its blue windows stand in stark contrast of its rustic mullions. A symbol of power, the Brooklyn tower stands tall above the Brooklyn skyline. It stands true to itself.
1/18/24
Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
2016
14 Stories of articulated program. Every use on the inside is expressed on the exterior. Three theaters are sloping on the facade. The floor plate are showing on the outside of the building. The floor plates become the motif of the building. The all glass facade plays a dancing game with the extruded floor plates. Each plate is extruded about a foot or more from the glass facade. The colors of the interior are easily visible from the exterior and neighboring buildings. It is gold and red that protrude the surround area. Because of the coloring of the interior it feels like every use is expressed on the outside. Some individual moments are framed.
It is a real testament to human creativity.
The use of a curtain wall allows for panoramic views.
There seems to be no hierarchy of space which is a nice trick they were able to play.
1/15/24
OMA
UniCredit HQ Munich
2023
Lifted high above the train tracks, the UniCredit HQ building in Munich stands strong and recognizable. The four triangular pitched roofs on the main mass juxtapose the columns that lift them. They create a recognizable symbol for the project. Two wider pyramid surround two smaller ones. A red sculptural staircase gives the most pop of color in the project. It is the extension of the egress stair. The mulligan pattern for the curtain wall pyramids goes along with the geometry of the pyramids themselves and not the floor plate. This gives an accentuation of the roof geometries.
1/12/24
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
The Broad Museum
2015
A wrapping screen pattern engulfs the entire mass. There is one perforation where the screen goes behind the glass. The two corners abutting the street are lifted from the ground plain and great spaces underneath. The screen pattern is a parametrically designed repeating window. It is a beautiful indented custom designed offset hole. It is offset enough to keep the interior semi private but not offset enough that light can not enter and escape the building. The effect is a lit up building at night through the perforated screen. It is pleasant to look at.
1/8/24
SANAA
New Art Museum
2007
White towers above the city. Without faced articulation it is impossible to tell exactly how many stories it is but one might guess 18. Simple white boxes shift in space as one approaches the apex. Small slivers of glass cut though the facade. It is more vertical then it is horizontal. Light pours out of the glass. It seems as though the glass openings re slits of light rendered on the facade. Minimal in its detailing. The New Art Museum stands out in the urban context with its lack of facade detailing. It is a statement piece There’s not a lot of glass so the heat gain should be minimal.
1/5/24
SHoP Architects
National Veterans Resource Center
The National Veterans Resource center is made up of two masses. The first a glass box that lights up the street. On the inside of the glass box one sees an ornamental wood working, seeming to hold up the larger mass above. The larger mass above sits on top of the glass so lightly. It gives the illusion of being lifted up by the all glass facade of the first floor. When in reality it is much more likely it is cantilevering from a third mass on the inside of the bottom one.
1/3/23
Diller Scofidio and Renfro
Prior Performing Arts Center (College of the Holy Cross)
2022
A fin breaks away from a threshold. It is received by a glass wall. One sees art on the wall beyond the glass. After walking under the fin there is a low ceiling covered in lights that guides one in to the building. The two fin threshold purposefully denotes the entryway. The entryway is a light play of colors from brown to white.
The massing strategy is a play between two linear boxes. Each seem to deconstruct as they approach their ends. The look as if they are splitting apart. Leaving each box to terminate as disjoined elements and not wholes.
1/2/23
OMA
Museo Egizio
2024
An open space gives way at the Egyptian Museum. The first thing your eye sees are beautiful arched openings which are a door, and two windows. A translucent handrail gives views from the second to the first floor. The classroom space is visible from above. The interior material is a bash rustic brick. The chrome columns juxtapose the old brick. The open floor plan of the space also seems to juxtapose the brick. Light enters from above, washing over the floor and bricks. The ceiling in this space is a grid system seemingly aluminum. In-between what appear to be aluminum members is glass. The brick work around the arched openings seems to be from a different time. Maybe Neo classical / enlightenment? The arched openings are white, giving a strong contrast between them and the brickwork which they seem to be supporting but are probably not. There is a double height opening into the floor below. The floor plate is paneled with aluminum adding another layer of contrast between the old and the new. There is a clear notion of old and new.
12/30/23
SHoP Architects
Uber Head Quarter
Two masses dance around each other. They lay apart enough for a pedestrian bridge to connect them. The colors of the gold and bronze shine in the setting sun. They are miraculous. The two do not share the same height.
The facade is a curtain wall system. Built into the wall glass extruded panels make a statement of depth. Seemingly randomly a window is chosen for this motif. A triangle at the floor plate sticks out of the building. The result is a framing of the triangle that two pains of glass extrude from the bottom to top of the floor. The result is a fully extrude element sticking out of the facade.
Sydney Modern Museum / Sanaa
12/27/23
An array of boxes seems to slope down a hillside. Each box is either white or glass. The roof plains seem to coincide with one another. They are all seemingly green roofs. One or two even have inhabitable stairs on the top of them.
One gets the feeling of a choreographed movement fro the top box on the hill to the bottom. The boxes are haphazardly spread out. It seems there is no logic at all in their placement. Yet there is larger orchestrated gesture that one can see in the placement of the boxes. It is beautiful The color of the green roofs seems to compliment each other well. The geometries on the roofs, of either usable space or greenery, curves in stark juxtaposition to the stark boxes they live upon.
The project is a gorgeous array of boxes set on a hill in a seemingly urban area.
12/28/23
Diller Scofidio and Renfro
MoMA
2019
A box entrance guides people in with an elegant fin element that is jutting out of it. The piece seems to say hello. Carving out space for the entrance, a white threshold welcomes guests in. A full glazing wall, built with shiny aluminum casings, is the first wall the visitors walk though. Its street presence is strong. The full glazing wall allows for the threshold to shine so bright. The juxtaposition between the dark facade encapsulating it and the bright entry way seems to call out a special entrance. People walking down the street are immediately drawn into the space. The creme off-white allows light to bounce off of it in such an endearing way. The coloring of the fin on the underside is colored in by the spot light brightly shining on it. The entrance is a strong motif of fin and threshold. Simple and elegant. Light permeates the building effortlessly. Light textures and materials denote different types of space. Full glazing on the ground floor allows for exciting views into the much used space. The elements feel contemporary. It is a welcoming and elegant entrance.
Tue Dec 26
OMA
Hongik University Seoul Campus
OMA’s newly reveled competition entry, Hongik University Seoul Campus plan. Looks like multiple plans in one. In an effort to bring green space and building density into a tightly packed space the firm negotiates two of the campuses pressing needs. The traditional need for green space its urban campus and the need for more density. OMA does a splendid job of tying the two together. It is an architectural urban plan. The building density comes from A new art center, a multipurpose learning hub, high tech labs and amenities.