The Architectural Review articles from August 2008

The Architectural Review archives from August 2008

Specialisation has its limits.(view)
August 1, 2008... PAVILIONS ARE THE FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH IN LONDON, WITH FRANK GEHRY AT THE SERPENTINE GALLERY, AND AROUND THE CITY FOR THE LONDON FESTIVAL OF ARCHITECTURE; UIA CONGRESS IN TURIN; PETER COOK ENGAGES WITH SWEDEN'S 'CHIRPIES' AND 'COMFIES'; AR...

London: city of summer pavilions. As the 2008 Serpentine Pavilion nears completion ...(GEHRY BUILDS A PAVILION)
August 1, 2008... Conceived as a simple wooden box that creates a street that runs from park to gallery, the eight completed Serpentine Pavilion brings to Frank Gehry his first realised project in England. Suspended in typical Gehry fashion, a series of glass...

... the London Festival of Architecture goes pavilion mad, with over 20 temporary structures across the city.(LFA BUILDS PAVILIONS)
August 1, 2008... In August 2004, The Architectural Review reported on London's first architecture biennale, a 10 day programme of events that focused attention on Clerkenwell, the area in London with more architects than taxi drivers. The second biennale in...

The UIA's international travelling circus touched down in Turin for four days of discourse and design.(THE ITALIAN JOB)
August 1, 2008... Turin, city of Fiat, Nietzsche and The Italian Job, was the latest venue for the triennial travelling circus of the UIA Congress. Appropriately, for such a car-struck metropolis, proceedings took place in the Lingotto Fiere, Fiat's sprawling...

AR travelling exhibition.(Architectural Review)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... While the first entry for this year's AR Awards has arrived in the office, the exhibition of 2007 winners is travelling the world. Organised in Germany by AR Awards sponsor Wilkhahn, the exhibition has been to Hanover and is currently on show...

How many for the tango?(view)
August 1, 2008... What to do about Sweden? The valedictory television time devoted to the late Ingmar Bergman did not dwell on the architectural aspects of his complex private life-but we can enjoy the fact that he could sneak out of Stockholm's Royal Dramatic...

On the wing; Beijing's new airport marks the latest phase in the evolution of a quintessentially modern building type.(comment)
August 1, 2008... Don't let anyone tell you that size doesn't matter. At 1.3 million square metres, Beijing's new Terminal 3 is, according to its architects, the first building in the world to break the 1 million square metre barrier. 'Forget T5, here's T-Rex',...

The dragon spreads its wings: in its huge scale, technical ambition, and speed of construction, Beijing's new airport is powerfully emblematic of China's radical reinvention.
August 1, 2008... The opening this year of Beijing International Airport's Terminal 3 in advance of the Olympic Games, is an auspicious occasion, not only for China, but also for its designers. In 1986, working with Arup's engineers, Foster + Partners completed...

Grace, speed and rigour: Beijing's structure is an elegant model of leanness, fluency and economy.(structure)
August 1, 2008... The structure of Beijing's new terminal uses the minimum of means to achieve its effects. Though the basic format is familiar--a steel canopy over a concrete plinth, glass side screens and internal mezzanines--it is the rigour with which the...

Servicing the dragon: the services strategy is ingenious, energy conscious and executed in record time.(services)
August 1, 2008... The design of the airport's building services was a triumph of planning and execution on a scale probably not seen since the D-Day landings. When the Foster + Partners and Arup competition team was awarded the contract, they were given only...

On site: involving a cast of thousands, building Beijing was a titantic endeavour of will and manpower.(Construction)(Column)
August 1, 2008... In the 15 years since I first went to Beijing, I have seen three entirely different airports, all of them on the same site. The first had the flavour of a provincial Balkan bus station: a single circular terminal, with hard wooden benches, a...

On cloud nine: Michael Webb visited the new terminal just after it opened and discovered a rare oasis of calm and civility.(travellers' tales)(Column)
August 1, 2008... Beijing Airport is an unequivocal masterpiece: the culmination of everything this team has striven to achieve for forty years, in the lucidity of its plan, the boldness of its expression and the audacity of its structure. The world's largest...

Three is the magic number; Catherine Slessor flew from London to Beijing, from airport purgatory to airport paradise.(traveller's tales)
August 1, 2008... The trajectory from Heathrow Terminal 3 to Beijing Terminal 3 is one of those compelling studies in contrasts that neatly crystallises a wider Zeitgeist. Completed in 1961, London's Terminal 3 is a broad but decidedly mongrel church, serving...

The onward journey: Beijing represents the latest leap in the compelling evolution of the airport as a modern building type.(history)
August 1, 2008... All airport terminals are designed to handle people in a state of suspended being. Once past security, you are effectively in C. S. Lewis's Wood between the Worlds, that prototype multiverse of 1955. From there you can conveniently get to any...

Pedigree & form: the work of Norman Foster has appeared in The Architectural Review for five decades, displaying an unparalleled depth and breadth of work across the world. We sample from a rich mix.
August 1, 2008... The first appearance came in July 1967, with the brief publication of the Reliance Controls facility near Swindon. The building had come in at just under [pounds sterling]3 10s per square foot, and the commission had included design of entrance...

Fostering the future: after the triumph of Beijing, what comes next for Foster + Partners?(the future)
August 1, 2008... The word 'brand' is one to use with extreme caution in connection with architecture. It suggests a resort to self parody, and the production of buildings that go through the motions of an applied formula, with the intention of producing...

Credits.(Brief article)(List)
August 1, 2008... Client Beijing Capital International Airport Company Joint venture NACO Foster Arup Architect Foster + Partners: Norman Foster Mouzhan Majidi Brian Timmoney Loretta Law Steven Chiu ...

ARCHITECTURE: BETWEEN SPECTACLE AND USE.
August 1, 2008... Architecture between Spectacle and Use is a timely volume investigating the condition, application and critique of the 'spectacle' in contemporary and modern architecture, citing significant examples, themes and issues concerning contemporary...

HAWAIIAN MODERN: THE ARCHITECTURE OF VLADIMIR OSSIPOFF.
August 1, 2008... This handsome, scholarly survey of the productive career of a Russian-born architect who settled in Hawaii in 1931 and worked there until his death in 1998, accompanies an exhibition that was first presented at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and...

THE ENVIRONMENTAL HANDBOOK.(Book review)
August 1, 2008... By Feilden Clegg Bradley, London: Rightangle Publications. 2007. [pounds sterling]24.99 It would have been entirely out of character -and unnecessary-for Feilden Clegg Bradley (FCB) to publish one of those glossy, uncritical monographs...

AVANT GARDENERS: FIFTY VISIONARIES OF THE CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPE.(Book review)
August 1, 2008... By Tim Richardson. London:Thames & Hudson. 2008. [pounds sterling]24.95 At 50p a designer and [pounds sterling]25 for 352 pages, Avant Gardeners is really good value for money. Here are 50 designers of what author, Tim Richardson, calls...

FLINT FLUSHWORK: A MEDIEVAL MASONRY ART.(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2008... By Stephen Hart. Woodbridge:The Boydell Press. 2008. [pounds sterling]30 English flushwork (essentially knapped flint with the split dark sides facing outwards, framed by freestone dressings) is one of the country's glories. Hart's...

COMMUNITY GARDENS WAS THE THEME FOR THIS YEAR'S CHAUMONT GARDEN FESTIVAL.
August 1, 2008... You can get to Chaumont by plane from Stansted to Tours then a hire car via Vouvray and Amboise. The wonderful Chenonceau is 10km to the south, Cheverny, Chambord and Blois are up river to the east. Villandry is back west beyond Tours. These...

Sutherland Lyall takes off his sandals and socks and dips his toes in the cyber flow.(browser)
August 1, 2008... Modesty and movement What's missing from the current architectural interest in amorphous (or perhaps more accurately a-orthogonal) forms is any sense of movement or transformation. You sort of expect amorphous shapes to morph. You have...

Diary.(Calendar)
August 1, 2008... AR'S CHOICE OF INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS FROM WWW.ARPLUS.COM GERMANY SEP RUF (1908-1982) Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich Until 5 October To mark the centenary of the birth of Sep Ruf, Munich's Pinakothek der Moderne...

Fresh flower, by Tonkin Liu, is emblematic of this year's London Festival of Architecture.(delight)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... One of the most enduring images of this year's London Festival of Architecture is this delightful Pavilion by Tonkin Liu, called Corus Fresh Flower. Having received recognition for Singing Ringing Tree, a musical land sculpture on the hill...