recession killer.

In New York, the most glaring signs of the Great Recession are the stalled construction sites littering the city--boarded up, dusty, and desolate eyesores.

The architecture mega-firm Woods Bagot may have a solution, which they've just unveiled: Temporary, inflatable buildings that let the developers make money while they wait for their finances to shape up. "We tried to re-imagine how you could reuse those sites," Jeff Holmes, the partner in charge of Woods Bagot's New York office, told FastCompany.com. "But it had to be a real proposal. There's been a number of creative solutions in New York and Boston because of the number of stalled states. We took a hard-nosed look at creating something viable."

Stalled sites pose a problem for developers whose financing has dried up in the recession because even when sites lay unused, they wrack up huge tax burdens--as much as $2 million a year. And sites can easily go fallow for 2 to 5 years.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1662273/stalled-sites

Home Office

My Friend Z.T of Zoe-Louise (Bespoke Millinery Service) is currently contemplating the best way for herself to expand her home office, while i know this is definitely not how she intends to have her home office look, it does bring the whole idea of working from home into a new light.

“These SHOPHOUSES captures show the hidden side of working Bangkok few people know: a fascinating world of color, history and industry. I admire Peter Nitsch’s sensitive photography that illuminates historic places that I hope will not vanish.” – Sujata Massey, Author

content from

http://www.dezeen.com/2010/07/14/shophouses-4-x-8-m-bangkok-by-peter-nitsch/

one mans rubbish is another mans treasure.

i am not able to find the website this originally came from but would like to share with you this image i came across earlier today.

always keen on hidden surprises i found this a great example of reusability, the original toilet roll is transformed in to an object of value without added anything at all.

looking at this has made me ponder my final year project starting in sept, and although i originally thought of focusing on a facility to be used along side the 2012 london olympics i am considering taking up the challenge of a compact space, that functions well for its user??

red sky at night shepherds delight.

photos by celina joyce

if the saying is true then tomorrow will be a good day! 

liverpool

the liverpool area has been on my mind alot recently..... (work is taking over my life)lol! but last month i visited Liverpool to explore a few exhibitions, the weather was lovely and staying in a hotel by the docks enabled me to enjoy a few days strolling along the river.


photos by celina joyce

V&A Small Spaces

Terunobu Fujimori

Tokyo, Japan
Beetle's House
MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE ROOM 64B, LEVEL 2

Terunobu Fujimori insists that his buildings should by-pass any architectural style that has developed since the Bronze Age. The charred pine exterior of this elevated teahouse resembles the tough, blackened shell of a beetle. It expresses an avant-garde attitude to architecture that somehow aspires to a primitive state.

The dramatic process of burning the timber panels provides a textured and tactile surface - an extreme materiality. It also preserves the wood and extends the lifetime of the building.

Fujimori sees the structure as a site for a quintessentially 'English' version of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Teahouses often act like pieces of clothing. They are compact spaces that wrap around us like extensions of our bodies. Visitors enter the structure by climbing a ladder barefoot and squeezing through a narrow hatch - a profoundly physical process that momentarily distracts us from our surroundings.

Many of Fujimori's teahouses are designed to re-configure our views of the surrounding landscape. Similarly, 'Beetle's House' offers visitors a unique perspective on this day-lit gallery.

my map reading skills were put to the test finding these structures in the V&A but thankfully i managed it. 

The Beetle house proved a favorite, although i will admit i did not explore inside, as a feared once in the house, i would not able to venture back down the ladders to get me out. 

http://www.dezeen.com/2010/07/13/half-real-by-point-supreme-architects/

some one mentioning no names reminded me that all good things come in small packages this is a point i think is proven well here 


Greek firm Point Supreme Architects have completed an installation for a gallery in Athens that is a half-size replica of the room in which it sits.

no only does this remind me of my not so recent alice in wonderland inspiration but it also reminds me of the recent exhibition at the v&a i visited only a week ago