Is space for humans still important in architecture? I was educated by a second generation of faculty who praised the work of modernist architects such as Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Louis I. Kahn, and Mies van der Rohe—and to a certain extent Frank Lloyd Wright as the American proto-modern architect par excellence.
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Structure and architecture. In any architecture school, structure classes are required by NAAB for accreditation. While talented faculty impart knowledge to students, it is my experience with several institutions that most of the structure classes focus on understanding key materials properties and ways to calculate structure. Class sessions are about imparting knowledge to make designs stable and safe, but rarely consider how architects think spatially about structure.
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Hubert Robert copying paintings at the Louvre. I remember the day when I was a student of architecture, and was asked to deliberately copy a drawing (e.g. plan and section). At first, the faculty’s request took me off guard as I thought the act of creating came solely from an inner calling—my genius, my intuition, and my talent!
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Staircase at the National Telephone Company of Spain in Madrid. I have written many blogs on staircases and have always found delight in showcasing their identity. This blog is not dissimilar and will highlight a staircase that I stumbled on years ago while visiting an exhibition on the work of British architect Richard Rogers.
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Kuramata’s Kiyotomo Sushi Bar. During my last visit to Hong Kong, I learned that the Kiyotomo Sushi Bar, designed in 1988 by legendary Japanese interior designer and furniture maker Shiro Kuramata (1934-1991), had been purchased by the M+ Museum of Contemporary Visual Culture (M+).
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Netton Bosson, Gruyères, Switzerland . If there was ever a work of art that I could say had accompanied me during my youth, it is the frescoes that adorn the dining room walls of the Institut La Gruyère, Switzerland; a boarding school located next to the medieval town of the same name. During breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Netton Bosson’s art, with its moral wit and decorative playfulness, gazed protectively over the main room.
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Public fountain in Kaunas Lithuania. The identity of cities is profoundly shaped by the interplay of enclosures, both public and private. These various degrees of interaction contribute significantly to a city’s unique character and the way its inhabitants and visitors experience it.
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Herzog et de Meuron: Between Coffee at Tai Kwun, Hong Kong. Over the last decades, museums have evolved with the realization that patrons demand more than renovated galleries with endless rooms where they can admire provocative and renowned art.
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Sketching as reflection-in-action. I have had ample opportunities in previous blogs to write about teaching as a balance between theory and practice, which I do by merging various pedagogical strategies from my European and American experiences in order to trigger intellectual and professional curiosity among students.
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Cinematographic traveling in architecture. With the importance of translating ideas into space, thinking spatially in architecture remains a significant stumbling block for students studying architecture; especially for university juniors who are for the first time learning about fundamentals of space making.
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