They're onto us...

Amanda's brother was in town this weekend. Since Friday was kinda relaxed, we decided to go out in Brooklyn and take it easy. So, once again, we spent our Saturday night at Savalas for the Mad Suspect party. As always, it was a lot of fun, except for the pot-cake that was being passed around from some party. Towards the end of the night, a woman began walking around taking notes. Then, I noticed another woman taking pictures. Upon confrontation, we determined they were from the NY Times doing an article on "Brooklyn Dance Parties". Cool enough, some more exposure for the Thug Wizzardry. Here are some shots:

In Chrysalis

Le Corbusier is, in many ways, the father of modernism. While modernism may not need an introduction, Corbusier does. Through all of his architectural investigations; Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp, Villa Stein, Maison Domino and his book 'Towards a New Architecture', Corb looked at Architecture as a machine for living. Breaking down fundamental Architectural tectonics to slab and ceiling with little vertical obstructions, Corb created new dichotomies in the way in which a building's programme can influence design. In our office, this is what we took as a precedent for our "newest old" project. A while back, a client came to us with a design problem: 'how to liven up a space that is 3,000 sqft with only 4 windows. The space is practically a cave. We decided to create an object, or machine for living, that would transform the occupants to focus on the object and not on the lack of natural light. In the Corbusien sense, we moved the bathrooms into this object and created 'dynamic living spaces' around this sculptural piece. With it's red skin of shimmering plaster, the shape glows in the space that is practically all white except for the kitchen cabinetry and hardwood flooring. Here are some initial renderings:

Respect the Architects

So every once and a while, it's interesting to make correlationships between Archtitecture and different creative fields. Architecture has been teamed up with musicians; see The Venice Biennial for Architecture (year 2000), DJ Spooky and Lebbeus Woods (AIA NY 2006) and the lecture led by Christopher Janney at Cooper Union (2005), ect. It's interesting to see how large-scale forms can influence smaller, more intimate forms. ‘Respect the Architects’ is another such pairing in a sense. The following movie interviews Tinker Hatfield in an attempt to pick his brain about his role at Nike and development of the Air Max 1. Hatfield states the Pompidu centre in Paris was a precedent for the studies of the Air Max 1. Images courtesy of SlamXHype and here's a link to the video via lamjc

Architecture on Air

Architecture on Air is a new kind of academic lecture series featuring podcast interviews available on the college's website, www.coa.uncc.edu, and iTunes. This unusual format is by design as the series is meant to focus on helping students build a more nuanced and attentive language with which to describe the built environment and their own work (as opposed to fixating on images). Architecture on Air will be available worldwide to our alumni, friends and prospective students. Each 45-minute interview will "launch" at set times throughout the semester with a unique event: for example, "Skateboarding to Architecture" will upload with a student skateboarding exhibition in the salon. Downloadable files will archive on the website and include interviewee biographies and links. Architecture on Air builds on feedback from CoA students and enlists their help formulating interview questions. The series covers architecture, history, theory, industrial design, urbanism, allied professions, social discourse and the role of architects in contemporary culture. Add it to your iTunes podcast list here.

Make ya head hurt

Trouble & Bass have been hitting NYC for a while now with mixes available here. This crew, headed by Mathhead, Zack Shadetek, Star Eyes [of Syrup Girls], Curses [who is this guy/girl?... heh], Passions and Drop the Lime bring NYC and Brooklyn the bass-heaviest grime, dubstep, electro house, hyphy, techno and drum n bass in the area. Check out their monthly party at Boogaloo in South Williamsburg... Amanda and I missed the last party because we were in North Carolina, but we hit this one up and it was mad fun. Here are some pics. More pics available at the Captains blog and the Trouble and Bass blog...

UniQlo

So UniQlo's opening a store in NY on Broadway on November 10th. Their website shows some renderings of the retail space. It's going to be the largest one in the world. As a part of their effort to extend Eastern design to the Western consumer markey, they are going to have a gallery section of t-shirts by invited Japanese artists you can buy. Probably their greatest achievement is the "container" stores that will begin to pop-up around the city starting this weekend. The notion of a mobile retail store is pretty unique and innovative. As their site claims:

Uniqlo Container Stores Arrive!

The UNIQLO Container Stores announce the arrival of UNIQLO to NYC and are precursors to the 36,000 square foot UNIQLO NY Soho global flagship, due to open in the Fall. The new NY Soho global flagship will be the boldest and most innovative example of modern Japanese style outside of Japan.

Here are some shots:

Mash SF

Saw the trailor for this back in May at the Bicycle Film Fest. Rockin out with one gear and no brake. From Mash SF.com Mike Martin, best known for his fine art and his commercial photography for clients including Nice Collective, Adidas, Nike, and Microsoft, teams up with Gabe Morford, a highly respected skate-boarding photographer. They take a look at the style of fixed gear riding in San Francisco. This film, modeled after skate and surf videos, brings out the skills and beauty of these SF riders. This will surely be a landmark in an already emerging subculture of urban riders.