Arctic Perspective Cahier No.1: Architecture
August 31, 2010
“The Arctic Perspective Initiative (API) is a non-profit, international group of individuals and organizations whose goal is to promote the creation of open authoring, communication, and dissemination infrastructures for the circumpolar region… it is a transnational art, science, and culture work group consisting of partner organizations from five different countries – Germany, Slovenia, UK, Iceland, and Canada. Arctic Perspective uses media art and the research of artists to investigate the complicated, global, cultural, and ecological interrelations in the Arctic, and to develop concepts for constructing tactical communications systems and a mobile, eco-friendly research station, which will support interdisciplinary and intercultural collaborations.”
- from the API mission statement
Edited by Andreas Müller – Published by Hatje Cantz Press (2010)
Review by Sean Ruthen, re:place magazine
Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature
August 17, 2010
Though great strides have been made in the definition and documentation of sustainable building practices on the architectural scale, there is enormous and untapped opportunity for improvement in the design, functionality and environmental performance of our cities. Sustainable Urbanism looks at the relationships between buildings, infrastructure, urban social systems and nature, giving us both the background and a proposed future for sustainable urban design.
Author: Douglas Farr (Wiley, 2008)
Review by Laura Kozak, re:place magazine Read more
SOM Journal 6
August 3, 2010
“Is architecture turning from a lived existential experience into a mere aestheticized representation? Is life turning from a lived reality into a dream world of virtuality and simulation?”
- from the book’s introduction, ‘The Spectacle and Reality’
Edited by Juhani Pallasmaa - Hatje Cantz Verlag Press (2010)
Reviewed by Sean Ruthen, re:place magazine
Cotton worldwide
July 28, 2010
Cotton pervades our lives, and it is perhaps for this reason that we take its production for granted. Cotton Worldwide offers a powerful glimpse into the lives of those who grow this global resource.
Author(s): Christina Kleineidam, Hans Peter Jost, and introduction by Pietra Rivoli (Lars Müller, 2009)
Reviewed by Ellen Ziegler, re:place Magazine
Visionary Cities
July 21, 2010
Our cities are in crisis and their futures depend on architects and urbanists who are willing to look beyond today’s realities to chart the direction for our increasingly urban world. Visionary Cities
Author: The Why Factor (NAi Publishers, 2009)
Reviewed by Alicia Medina Laddaga
Proceed and Be Bold
July 14, 2010
Samuel Mockbee, one of America’s most loved and lauded architectural instructors, passed away in 2001, leaving Auburn University with the legacy of Rural Studio, the experimental and highly successful design-build program he started in 1992 in Alabama’s poorest county. With the studio inextricably tied to Sambo’s personality, his death brought up the painful question of how, and under whose direction, Rural Studio could carry on, change and remain vital.
Andrea Oppenheimer Dean (Princeton Architectural Press - 2005)
Review by Laura Kozak, re:place magazine
What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs
July 6, 2010
Jane Jacobs’ teachings on urban planning and civic wisdom spurred a drastic change in the way we understand urban landscapes. A new book by Lynne Elizabeth and Stephen Goldsmith revisits her observations and - through the voices of a diversity of writers - discusses how how far they’ve come and where they might lead.
Edited by Lynne Elizabeth and Stephen Goldsmith (New Village Press, 2010)
Reviewed by Lisa Brideau, re:place Magazine
Above the Pavement - the Farm! Architecture & Agriculture at PF1
June 30, 2010
At a time when the convergence of architecture, urbanism and agriculture is becoming increasingly important, Above the Pavement takes a detailed look at WORKac’s P.F.1 (Public Farm 1) installation that took shape in MoMa’s P.S.1 courtyard.
Author: Amale Andraos & Dan Wood (Princeton Architectural Press, 2010)
Reviewed by Ellen Ziegler, re:place Magazine
Modern North: architecture on the frozen edge
June 22, 2010
Hot or cold, the deserts of our globe are the most potent teachers of us architects. These barely inhabitable environs are stimulating mental grounds that bring us into a direct and intimate relationship with the surface conditions of our globe…
- Rick Joy
Edited by Julie Decker - Princeton Architectural Press (2010)
Review by Sean Ruthen, re:place magazine
Subnature: Architecture’s Other Environments
June 15, 2010
Certain natural elements - such as trees, sun and wind - are commonly associated with the contemporary built environment. These, however, represent a small fraction - the most passive and socially accepted - of the nature’s wonders. David Glissen explores the filthy, uncontrollable, and fearsome side of nature in Subnature: Architecture’s Other Environments.
Author: David Glissen (Princeton Architectural Press, 2009)
Reviewed by Erick Villagomez, re:place Magazine
