Jennnnnnga...

From ARBITARE.

Next Generation House is a small housing module for weekend use, located on the edge of a forest overlooking the River Kuma at Kumakura, opposite the temple of Shibatatehime.

The client is a timber merchant. The small pavilion, a 4x4 m cube, is made by assembling solid Japanese cedar blocks kept in place by their own weight and connecting metal cables running through vertical drill holes. Some of the inside cubes are laid off-centre to create shelves, small living areas and even steps to move from one level to another.

Offsets in the wall cubes also create windows with views of the surrounding countryside. The oblique glass windowpanes are held in place with plastic plugs. The mobile sheets are in transparent acrylic. Two roof skylights provide extra natural light – an architectural feature over which Fujimoto takes special care. At night, artificial light visible from the outside helps to dematerialise the cube by mixing the warm tones of wood with the amber glow of incandescent bulbs, emphasising the ways in which a structure made up of heavy wooden elements can seem so light and airy.

Sou Fujimoto (Japan, 1971) architect. He lives in Tokyo, Japan. His children’s mental health centre won an AR Award in 2006. He has taught in several Japanese universities. In addition to his work as an architect, he writes for international magazines like A+U. He is currently working on a series of housing projects: House N, Tokyo Apartment and the Future Primitive House.

He had a pretty interesting start at the ripe age of 20. Worthe a quick read HERE.

An oldie to start the day...

If cars were designed by architects...

Your car would be designed based on what kind of road you live next to. This process would take several years, even though there are already many cars on the street you live on. After your car is designed, your town government will have to approve it. Then your neighbors may complain and force you to redesign your car. When the design is finally finished, your car will be built from scratch. Parts will be sent to your garage, where the workers will then proceed to assemble your car. This will take 50% longer than you expected, and cost 100% more than expected.

The finished car will look nothing like some of the older cars, although it will run on the same engine. It will look very impressive from the front, less so on the side, and even less so on the back. This is because all parking is tail-in.

Every few years you will have to repaint your car, both on the outside and on the inside. Periodically you will reupholster your car. The car itself will last over a hundred years if properly maintained, though you may need to strengthen the frame by adding steel bars to the outside.

Eventually when you want to get a new car, you will have to dismantle the old one first. If you're lazy you can simply blow up the car.

I drink to support the environment...

Waters Winery in Walla Walla, Washington (say that five times fast) has just opened a $2 million bottle of goodness with their 5000 square foot winemaking facility and tasting room. Designed by Seattle's Boxwood Architects, the facility utilizes day lighting, insulation and a whole heap of recycled materials.


Just like the age-old tradition of winemaking, the building is wonderful in it's simplicity. It went back to the basics of construction, using simple methods to reduce heating and cooling loads by relying on sun-insulated concrete. The 80% recycled steel structure surrounding the 17" thick walls is left exposed, thus utilizing the available space. Huge linear skylights also flood the fermentation room, reducing the winery's electric bill by 60%.

Waters Winery Founder Jason Huntley (also Founder and Managing Partner of Huntley Thatcher Ellsworth, Ltd.) is banking on this venture to set him apart, considering Walla Walla has 100+ wineries throughout the area.

Boxwood Architects isn't exactly new to the vino game. They've also designed wineries for August Cellars, Brian Carter Winery, Carlton Winemakers' Studio, Carlton Winemakers' Studio II, Col Solare Winery, Distefano Winery LTD, Dundee Winery, Hightower Cellars, Nicholas Cole Cellars, Reynvaan Winery, Stillwater Creek Vineyard Visitor's Center, Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Center, and Washington Wine Company.

Hell, if you're going to specialize in an area of architecture, grape facilities sounds like a heck of a lot more fun than corporate commercial.

From their website:

BOXWOOD'S APPROACH TO WINERY DESIGN is based on an inclusive process that features teamwork, strong listening skills, and collaboration. This process involves establishing a clear direction and vision during the initial stages of programming, conceptual layout, preliminary cost estimating, and project scheduling. We are committed to the exploration of alternatives combined with structured decision making, so that project participants become engaged in collaborative problem solving rather than vested in opposing solutions. We recognize that wine industry projects are often driven by tight budget and schedule parameters, and require a proven project approach, as well as effective management to be successful. A combination of setting appropriate goals, bringing the right people together for input on specific project issues, correctly sequencing project milestones, and persisting with patience and enthusiasm is critical to achieving finished solutions on time and within budget.

Boxwood's role is to help raise issues, coordinate the process, document our conclusions, facilitate discussion throughout the team, and eliminate guesswork.


What's more is that that Waters Winery is also a member of the Walla Walla Valley Vinea, a sustainable trust dedicated to responsible winemaking.

From their website:

The Winegrowers Sustainable Trust: Is a voluntary group of winegrowers that have embraced a covenant with environmental, economic and social sustainability concurrent with their production of grapes and wine.

Sustainable Wine Growing: Is a holistic system of recognized cultural production methodologies that employ environmentally-friendly and socially responsible viticultural practices that respect the land, conserve natural resources, support biodiversity, exercise responsible relationships with workers, neighbors and the community and provide continuing economic and biological vineyard viability.

Mission: To develop and implement a sustainable vineyard management program, synonymous with the Walla Walla Valley, internationally recognized for its strict environmental standards and high quality farming practices.

That's Ecofantastic!!! Day 2...

This whole week I will be honoring ecofantastic items...

Ecofantastic: A product/method/ideology so absurdly priced/developed/formulated that its irrationality transcends any purposeful usage and/or implementation into the present-day green movement, to the point of almost becoming fantasy.

Ecofantastic: The notion that green buildings are inherently good for the environment...

Normally, I would try to sum this up in my own words, but Geoff Manaugh at bldgblog has written a much better article than I could ever pen. So here's an infographic summary of the article instead:




Some highlights from their article:

Unless a "green" building actively remediates its local environment – for instance, scrubbing toxins from the air or absorbing carbon dioxide – that building is not "good" for the environment (see: Kunstler's eyeysore of the month, see: 9800 sf house). It's simply not as bad as it could have been...

If the U.S. military had solar-powered Abrams tanks, or hydrogen fuel-cell-powered long-range bombers, or wind-powered bases in the Middle East, would the sustainable design community be encouraging them to build more and more of the things? Probably not. But when a multimillionaire developer puts up a skyscraper in the center of London, or Paris, or New York, full of space devoted to, say, investment banking, with a few arbitrary wind turbines on top, the sustainable design community actually gives that person free publicity and encourages him or her to build more. There seems to be a moral issue here.

Keep reading

Building takes peaces....

Architects for Peace asks that all professionals of the built environment provide 1% of their time to pro bono work.

Their pro bono services provide options to those who could not otherwise afford them. At the same time, such work encourages public discourse in relation to building and environment, forcing Architects and Planners to immediately ask: What impact will this building have on these people, their health and their city (as should be the process EVERY TIME). Truly a great way to promote education, participation and environmental reclamation.

How It Works:

Architects for Peace pro bono service acts as a bridge between community groups, non-profit agencies and charitable organisations that need architectural services but cannot afford to pay for them (the ‘Clients’) and professionals of the built environment who are prepared to work with these groups free of charge (the ‘Service Providers’). The roles of the Service Providers (arch-peace’s members), the Clients and the Arch-Peace pro bono team are explained in detail below. The main contractual relationship is between Clients and Service Providers, with Arch-Peace providing a linking and facilitating role. The process is illustrated in the following flow chart:


Now, I only wish we could get a forum similar to their "Transported" for the City of Columbus and their City Planners. I've all but given up on biking to/from work for safety reasons (not to mention two of our staff were struck by cars during Bike-to-work month). I still take the bus whenever I can, but the hour and 15 minute commute for a 10.6 mile trip leaves something to be desired.