If George Lucas indeed builds his vanity museum in Chicago, San Francisco's contribution may be that we helped nudge the "Star Wars" creator out of his aesthetic comfort zone for the first time since he started making sequels to his sequels and re-releasing his re-releases.

That's the intriguing twist to last week's announcement of a design team for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on the shores of Lake Michigan. The lead designer will be MAD Architects, a Chinese firm whose lone North American project is a pair of curvaceous residential towers in metropolitan Toronto that could be squeezed metallic toothpaste tubes.

It's hard to imagine a style less like the theme-park classicism that Lucas offered up last fall when seeking to erect and endow a home for his collection of illustrative art at Crissy Field in the Presidio. When decision-makers turned him down after a combustive public competition, Lucas and his $700 million collection were lured to Chicago.

Because of this, some observers in the design world speculate that Lucas is an architectural agnostic. Metropolis Magazine's executive editor, Martin Pedersen, used the word "situational" in a blog post last week to describe the filmmaker's "remarkably flexible taste."

Instead, Pedersen suggested, "He just wants to get the damn thing approved. In architecture-adverse San Francisco - especially in the Presidio - that meant classical architecture."

When I sought to discuss the design shift with Lucas' press team Tuesday, the response via e-mail was a polite, "We decline to comment at this time and will let you know when that changes."

My guess, though, is that the creative vision pursued at Crissy Field is the one dear to Lucas' heart.

The evidence is in the structures that Lucas built for his cinematic empire before selling Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012 for $4 billion.

The Marin resident billed himself as "primary conceptual designer" in press materials for the 2005 opening of his Letterman Digital Arts Center at the Presidio - a 23-acre complex that includes four oversize but immensely tasteful office buildings clad in red brick and white stucco, earnest updates of the military architecture nearby. Skywalker Ranch and Big Rock Ranch in Marin are detailed evocations of a genteel rural West, inflated to studio size.

"There's nothing wrong with replicating old architecture," Lucas told the New York Times in September as he prepared to release his Crissy Field design. "Basically, all of Washington is a mimic of the past."

See the original post here:
Lucas' architect choice for Chicago light years from S.F. vision

5 August 2014

Architects respond to Aucklands housing challenge

More than 60 architectural concepts from a competition to design an exemplary apartment building for a brownfield site in Mt Eden will go on display at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tmaki from 10 August until 12 August.

The medium density housing project will be sited on Akepiro Street, a cul-de-sac overlooking the rail line near the Dominion Road flyover that falls within one of Auckland Councils proposed Special Housing Areas, the districts slated for more intensive residential development.

The competition was organised by the New Zealand Institute of Architects in partnership with developer Ockham Residential and with the support of Auckland Council.

Pip Cheshire, President of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, says the competition and exhibition are opportunites to inform the public about a housing type that is needed in New Zealands largest city but which has encountered some scepticism.

A range of well-designed, infill residential projects is vital to promote community understanding and acceptance of higher density in selected urban areas, which is one of the aims of the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan, Cheshire says.

The large number of entries received in the Akepiro Street competition is proof of architects interest in and commitment to the development of housing models that meet the demands of a more populous city while offering a healthy and comfortable quality of life.

Cheshire says the exhibition, which presents a wide range of creative responses to the competition brief, will also give the public an insight into the architectural design process.

Mayor Len Brown says that the competition is a timely and important contribution to the housing discussion.

Read more:
Architects respond to Aucklands housing challenge

Latest NBR Member Subscriber winner John Monaghan from Eketahuna is NBR's latest winner of New Zealand's richest subscription prize, the all-new BMW 320i xDrive Touring valued at $83,800 Read More

Past Winner Stephen Tubbs is NBR's latest winner of New Zealand's richest subscription prize, a fabulous trip for two flying Business Class with Singapore Airlines and SilkAir to Cambodias newest ultimate "all-inclusive" luxury eco-resort Song Saa Private Island, valued at $59,000 Read More

Past Winner Matthew Horton (right) catching the keys to his new Peugeot 508 from NBR publisher Todd Scott (centre), with Sime Darby Automobiles divisional manager Simon Rose (left) Horton Media Chief Executive Matthew Horton is the lucky winner of NBRs latest subscription prize. Mr Horton won a Peugeot 508 worth $54,990, which brings the publications prize pool total to almost $500,000 since 1999.

Past Winner FMA chairman Simon Allen was the winner of NBR' s latest subscriber prize of a Luxury European Escape courtesy of Air NZ, flying Business Premier to London, with stopovers each way in either Hong Kong or Los Angeles, plus four weeks' accommodation staying at the Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties of his choice. So what did he do with this wonderful prize?

Past Winner Long-time NBR subscriber Peter Merton won a Mini Countryman Cooper S valued at $63,000 in NBR's latest subscriber competition, drawn on February 24, 2012.

Past Winner Congratulations to Justin and Janine Smith (owner-operators of the Oamaru New World) They won seven nights for two on board Seabourn Odyssey valued at $30,000 - Athens to Istanbul.

Past Winner Max and Christine Tarr of Max Tarr Electrical in Palmerston North, winners of the Ultimate NZ Experience valued at $40,000 Three nights for four people staying at each of these luxury NZ Lodges, Kauri Cliffs, The Farm at Cape Kidnappers and Matakauri Lodge in Queenstown. Max has been an NBR subscriber since Sept 1991

Read the original post:
Architects respond to Auckland housing intensification challenge

San Carlos, Calif. (PRWEB) August 06, 2014

Burstorm CAD application for cloud architects is doing for IT what Synopsys and Cadence did for chip design. Said Brandon Abbey CEO, Burstorm, We are proud to have these industry leaders validate our vision and support the team."

Todays enterprise architects use visio, excel and PowerPoint to design complex next generation technology infrastructure. Burstorms CAD application allows cloud architects to consider 100s of design alternatives based on a catalog of over 750 compute, storage, datacenter and network cloud services providers. Furthermore for the first time it allows architects to collaborate in real time across the room or across the globe. The application is being used today by well known enterprise companies to optimize their existing infrastructure, model the deployment of new SaaS applications and to design private cloud infrastructures.

For more information please contact Burstorm at info(at)burstorm(dot)com

See the original post:
Burstorm Raises $1.2M to Accelerate CAD Application for Cloud Architects

ADS - Architects

By: inneractionmedia

Original post:
ADS - Architects - Video

Mahabalipuram Chennai, Tamil Nadu Architects Forum 111
FD Architects Forum : http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ FD Architects Forum is an independent platform for everyone interested in sharing knowledge, insights, facts, images and above all enthusiasm...

By: Manish Jain Luhadia

More here:
Mahabalipuram Chennai, Tamil Nadu Architects Forum 111 - Video

Ghatkiguni Tunnel Jaipur Architects Forum 110
FD Architects Forum : http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ FD Architects Forum is an independent platform for everyone interested in sharing knowledge, insights, facts, images and above all enthusiasm...

By: Manish Jain Luhadia

More here:
Ghatkiguni Tunnel Jaipur Architects Forum 110 - Video

Architects @Resurrection Fest 2014

By: Colacao Scratch

See the original post:
Architects @Resurrection Fest 2014 - Video

With the help of the Billings library TECH Center and a pair of Billings architects one of them in training, the other practicing a group of 10 Billings area teenagers learned last week how to design, render and print everyday items in three dimensions.

The items they created and printed ranged from cookie cutters to light switch covers.

I have always liked designing stuff, so I made a 3-D cookie-cutter that can slice up to 30 cookies with the flick of a wrist, said Brody Schillo, a 14-year-old Billings resident. Asked why he designed such a massive cookie-cutter one that a 3-D printer reproduced much smaller than he designed it Schillo only smiled. I hate doing just one cookie at a time, he said.

He even has a name for his creation The Cutt3r.

Nick Pancheau, an architect with Collaborative Design Architects in Billings, and Logan Hendricks, an architect in training with the firm, led the students through a weeklong course in 3-D design at the librarys TECH Center, which stands for Teen Education and Creation Hub.

3-D printing in many ways is at the forefront of technology, said Andrew Golden, an Americorps VISTA who helped establish the TECH Center, part of the librarys Learning Lab. The kids have been excited and they really caught on quick. They are enthused about using the technology.

There wasnt much hesitation, said Trevor Brooks, another Americorps VISTA. There was a lot of excitement to get in there and learn, and the teachers did a great job getting them past the learning curve. At first (students) had issues just getting anything on the screen, but now theyre making complex models.

Early on during the week, Pancheau and Hendricks took the class through SketchUp, free open-source software that architects use to design buildings and homes and others use to design various gadgets. Pancheau showed students a plastic model designed by his firm and rendered by a 3-D printer of a grain bin transformed into a house. The house was built near Great Falls, and the customer is very satisfied, he said, with whats still known as the Grain Bin House.

Its pleasing to us, he said, to have the house so similar to the image.

Pancheau makes furniture on the side, marketing it as Pare Furniture. He brought in an end table hed built, showing students the journey the piece had taken, from sketch to 3-D modeling, then 3-D rendering (generating an image from a model), 3-D printing and the actual design of the piece.

Follow this link:
Teens, architects team up to study design in 3 dimensions

The early 20th century Georgian mansion in Bethlehem Township's Housenick Park will be examined for restoration by the architectural firm that designed it the early 1900s.

The township commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to pay Spillman Farmer Architects $17,000 to develop a comprehensive plan for restoring the building's exterior and determining what the work will cost.

The Bethlehem firm was one of two considered for the project. The other was John Milner of Chadds Ford, Delaware County, who is also known for restoring historic properties.

What sealed the deal with Spillman Farmer was that it was the firm that designed the mansion and, in its records, still has many of the original plans.

"Spillman Farmer originally designed the house, and they brought with them some of the original drawings and alternate designs," commissioners President Martin Zawarski said. "Having those plans of the mansion should bring a respectful restoration. We're very happy they came forward to do the work.''

The 17-room mansion is within the 55-acre Janet and William D. and Janet Housenick Memorial Park off Christian Springs Road. Janet Housenick gave the township the property, an estate built by her late grandfather, Archibald Johnston, who was a Bethlehem Steel Co. president and Bethlehem's first mayor.

Township Manager Melissa Shafer said after the meeting that Johnston's mansion was designed by Curtis Lovelace, who in the early 20th century was part of the architectural firm of Lovelace Spillman. In the late 1920s the name changed to Spillman Farmer.

Shafer said that in addition to establishing the work and costs associated with an exterior restoration, which would include siding and windows, the architects will also develop a plan to convert the mansion's servants quarters into a bathroom for park visitors.

She said the $17,000 cost is expected to come from the Housenick trust fund.

The commissioners also authorized starting the bidding process for construction of several improvements to the park's grounds, including trail construction, a new park entrance and creating parking lots for both cars and buses.

Here is the original post:
Housenick mansion's designer tapped to study it for upgrade