Pruitt–Igoe was a large urban housing project first occupied in 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri. Living conditions in Pruitt–Igoe soon began to decline after its completion in 1956. By the late 1960s, the complex had become internationally infamous for its poverty, crime, and racial segregation. Its 33 buildings were demolished with explosives in the mid-1970s, and the project has become an icon of failure of urban renewal and of public-policy planning.
November 21, 2016
Pruitt Igoe
Pruitt–Igoe was a large urban housing project first occupied in 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri. Living conditions in Pruitt–Igoe soon began to decline after its completion in 1956. By the late 1960s, the complex had become internationally infamous for its poverty, crime, and racial segregation. Its 33 buildings were demolished with explosives in the mid-1970s, and the project has become an icon of failure of urban renewal and of public-policy planning.
September 25, 2016
Books: Starting your Architecture Library
Every architectural reference library has to start somewhere. Here is a list of the best architecture books to start your collection with.
Introduction to Architecture presents the essential texts and drawings of Francis D. K. Ching for those new to architecture and design. With his typical highly graphic approach, this Ching text surveys the design of spaces, buildings, and cities in an easy to understand graphic format. Readers will explore the histories and theories of architecture, design elements and process, and the technical aspects of the contemporary profession of architecture.
Introduction to Architecture
Francis D. K. Ching (affiliate link) |
Introduction to Architecture presents the essential texts and drawings of Francis D. K. Ching for those new to architecture and design. With his typical highly graphic approach, this Ching text surveys the design of spaces, buildings, and cities in an easy to understand graphic format. Readers will explore the histories and theories of architecture, design elements and process, and the technical aspects of the contemporary profession of architecture.
May 29, 2016
Must See Architecture Films
Louis Kahn
My Architect: A Son's Journey is a documentary film by Nathaniel Kahn on his father, Louis Kahn (1901-1974), detailing the architect's extraordinary career and his family legacy after his death. Click here for a detailed look.
December 2, 2015
Gift Ideas for Architecture Students
Given the holidays are coming and people have been asking what I want for the Holidays, I figured I should post some gift ideas for your favorite architect.
Perfect for the architect in your life. Architectural drawings of 10 famous buildings from classical to classic. Holds 10 oz. Microwave and dishwasher safe.
Architecture Mug by The Unemployed Philosopher's Guild
The Great Architecture Mug |
Perfect for the architect in your life. Architectural drawings of 10 famous buildings from classical to classic. Holds 10 oz. Microwave and dishwasher safe.
November 8, 2015
Tutorial: Drafting Necessities
Drafting Leads
Since everyone uses leads with varying amounts of pressure and the need for depth in architectural plans and renderings resulted in the needs for many different types of leads. B Leads are darker and as you get to 9B they become more and more charcoal like. When starting to draft, always use an H, generally 4H to 9H. They are lighter in shade, with a harder lead that erases the easiest. Just be careful not to write/draw too hard, it will indent the paper resulting in issues with paper texture and eraser. You can also get a ghosting affect when shading.
September 26, 2015
Tutorial: Indesign Tips for Architecture Boards
Intro
Over the many years of creating architectural boards for school there are a few main issues I noticed while learning to create them. Scale was always the biggest issues with students showing a section, plan or rendering too small to be legible during their presentation. This is also true for vignettes or renderings outlining the building's concept. Being Consistent in the creation of your presentation is also important. When the boards come together they need to belong. Font sizes should also be consistent and drawings should be close to the same saturation. Being subtle is the best approach so watch your picture opacity. This will start to create Visual Interest within your boards. Using large Text with your concept words is a good way to reinforce them during your presentation and help tie things together. Knowing what software to use and how to use it is also important in order to create successful drawings and renderings.
August 5, 2015
Tutorial: Software for Architects
The creation of architecture drawings, renderings, portfolios and boards can involve many different types of software and there is software than can can meet all your needs. This tutorial outlines the most prevalent ones and how they might be used. Software is generally broken down into vector line work and image processing. Scale line work is important as a basis of any rendering or drawing. Then diagramming, context, habitation, and its environment can be added.
Cultural Community Hub by KenepaStudio |
There are many different software you can use, different add-ons and software versions and possible ways to use them together to create successful designs. The most prevalent software used for architectural design is AutoCAD, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Revit, Rhino, and SketchUp. Designs typically start to scale, either 2D or 3D and then imported via pdf into another program for tweaking/diagramming/processing, then placed in InDesign for printing.
December 28, 2014
Film: Design Trilogy - Objectified
Objectified is a feature-length documentary film on industrial design, directed by Gary Hustwit. It examines the role of everyday non-living objects in our daily lives and the people who design them. According to Swiss Dots Production, the film is the second part in a 3-film series Design Trilogy, the first film being Helvetica which is about the famous typeface and the third film being the documentary Urbanized which discusses city design.
August 9, 2014
Solar Decathalon 2002: Trojan Goat
Trojan Goat - by Pakesh Patel |
August 7, 2014
BIQ House
BIQ House Rendering - src |
August 5, 2014
P.F.1 (Public Farm 1) by WORK Architecture Company
Designers: Amale Andraos, Dan Wood
Public Farm One, by WORK Architecture Company, was the winner of the Young Architects Program, run by the New York Museum of Modern Art and the PS1 Contempoary Art Center, to design a temporary installation in the courtyards of PS1 in Queens, NY in 2008. This temporary installation was a shift from the previous 40 years concept of the Urban Beach into a new leisure revolution, one that created a new symbol of liberation, knowledge, power and fun for the city. The Urban Farm became the symbol for their "generations' preoccupations and hopes for a better and different future." Since cities have become accepted as having superior benefits to the suburbs, including quality of life and environmental impacts, they now have become the place of experimentation. Public Farm 1 (P.F.1) "is an architectural and urban manifesto to engage play and reinvent our cities, and our world, once again."
P.F.1 - © Elizabeth Felicella |
June 15, 2014
Design Help: Kitchen Cabinet Dimensions
Kitchen with Standard Cabinets - Source |
Kitchen cabinet sizes are largely standardized. Unless you are dealing with custom kitchen cabinetry, which can build cabinets with any dimensions, you will find lower prices and predictable sizing in stock or semi-custom kitchen cabinets. Because kitchen cabinets come in hundreds of sizes, below is a guide to a few of the more common kitchen cabinet sizes.
May 29, 2014
December 29, 2013
Architectural Sketching: Streetscape
Streetscape by Jigsketch |
December 28, 2013
Tutorial: Pencils and Leads
Pencil Grading Chart |
Pencils come with either numbers or letters on them. From the image right, we can see that the letter B signifies the blackness of the pencil, the letter H signifies the hardness, and the letter F stands for 'fine.' In the United States, we use a different system using numbers to identify pencil hardness, ranging from #1 to #4. A #2 pencil, all to familiar to those that grew up in the US is the equivalent to the European HB.
September 1, 2013
August 10, 2013
Tutorial: Setting up AutoCAD Lineweights
Lineweights in CAD can be a bit difficult until you learn the tricks. At my school they taught us that you can set up lineweights in two ways; by layer and by color. You can also use both to setup lineweights, though sometimes they can cause issues when printing. This tutorial goes through the basics of setting up your lineweights in AutoCAD using these two methods.
August 3, 2013
Tutorial: Hand Rendering Elevations
Hand Rendered Elevation |
February 18, 2013
Jane Jacobs: The Life and Death of Great American Cities
5th Avenue New York City |
In Jane Jacobs’ book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, she discusses the particular nature of cities. The introduction focuses on how City Beautiful and the Radiant City differs from how cities truly work and how cities have suffered as a result of these ideals.
February 9, 2013
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