Revisiting Hans Hollein Schullin 2. In 1982, Herbert Schullin moved his store Schullin 1 (see blog) from the Graben to the Kohlmarkt, and commissioned Hollein to design the new store’s exotic façade, and luxurious salesroom interior (Schullin 2).
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Revisiting Hans Hollein Schullin 1. During a recent trip to Vienna, Austria, I rekindled my connection with two iconic retail projects by Austrian architect Hans Hollein (1934-2014; 1985 Pritzker Prize laureate). I have always admired Hollein’s talent and deeply Viennese approach to the design of these early stores; projects which rapidly became signature interventions in the city center of Vienna in the mid 1970s and gave him the international notoriety that would carry throughout his entire life.
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Metropolenhaus Markgrafenstrasse: A precedent analysis. Just shy of four decades teaching architecture, I proudly continue to learn about my field through in-depth analysis of case studies. Along with precedent studies, this research method is for me a moment of intense engagement that is often triggered by an inkling of interest through a chance encounter.
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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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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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Robert Slutzky. In my second year at the EPFL, the idea of learning architecture through precedents filtered from the appreciation of vernacular buildings to an immersion with visiting guest professors.
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