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MODELING THE SWISS RE TOWER
The design for the Swiss Re Tower by Foster and Partners draws on advances in digital technologies to develop ideas that we first explored in the Climatroffice design with Buckminster Fuller in the early 1970s. — Published 2005.0504
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TIMELY WATCHWORKS
If "Swiss clock maker" conjures an image of quaint craftsmanship conducted in gingerbread workshops, think again. The oldest active watch making firm in the world, Vacheron Constantin, recently celebrated the opening of a new headquarters building that looks as sleek and trim as any 21st-century timekeeping technology. — Published 2005.0209
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THE HYPERBOLIC BRICK OF ELADIO DIESTE
Uruguayan engineer Eladio Dieste would not have realized his brilliant, innovative works had he relied on the conventions of ordinary practice. Instead, he began from first principles. In the hands of this extraordinary engineer, adherence to first principles did not inhibit but rather enhanced the search for sound forms appropriate to the demands put upon them. — Published 2004.0929
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SCREENS TO INFINITY
In the 1950s, Austrian-born sculptor Erwin Hauer designed and built architectural screens and walls whose complex and intriguing geometry attracted much admiration at the time. But they have been largely forgotten, and some have even been destroyed. Here are his thoughts on one example of this extraordinary work. — Editor — Published 2004.0707
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BRIDGING BRASILIA
The growing city of Brasilia needed a third bridge over a lake that separated half its inhabitants from their places of work. In response to a competition, architect Alexandre Chan and structural engineer Mario Vila Verde, both from Rio de Janeiro, produced the winning concept: a daring, dancing variation on an ancient structural form. — Published 2004.0609
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GEHRY'S DISNEY CONCERT HALL
Crowning Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles, the stainless steel curves of the Walt Disney Concert Hall (WDCH) by Frank Gehry shine in the Southern California sun. They shine in quick flashes glimpsed through nondescript high-rises, throwing fortuitous reflections among the shadows. The taller forms stretch up and out toward the city, while the lower forms bend down toward passersby. — Published 2003.1217
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AUSTRIAN ALIEN
Something unexpected has appeared on the bank of the River Mur in Graz, Austria. Between the red brick roofs of neighboring historic buildings, "the friendly alien," as it is locally known, has landed in Austria's second largest city. — Published 2003.1203
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MOSHE SAFDIE PEABODY ESSEX ADDITION
Moshe Safdie's architecture continues to intrigue. Buildings such as the National Gallery in Ottawa, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, Exploration Place Science Center and Children's Museum in Wichita, Kansas, and the Vancouver Public Library in Canada each exhibit the Israeli-born architect's passion for complex geometries, elegant materials, and urban place-making. The new $125 million addition to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, is no exception. — Published 2003.0820
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LONG-SPAN STRUCTURES
When is a span a long span? One answer is: when, as a consequence of the size of the span, technical considerations are placed so high on the list of architectural priorities that they significantly affect the aesthetic treatment of the building. — Published 2003.0326
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NEW CURVE IN SYSTEM CEILINGS
Design for the school cafeteria has come a long way since the 1960s and 1970s when sterile, unimaginative "lunch boxes" were the norm. Today, school designers and administrators are more aware of how aesthetics can affect the learning environment. As a result, architects are increasingly incorporating expressive design elements into the construction of school rooms, including cafeterias. — Published 2003.0205
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Some Architecture with Curves page: [
