The Architectural Review articles from June 2003

The Architectural Review archives from June 2003

The Asian Art Museum. (View).(San Francisco's new museum)
June 1, 2003... Gaetana Aulenti and George Sexton's contributions have helped to make San Francisco's newly-reopened Asian Art Museum more than simply a museum of art and artefacts. When San Francisco's Asian Art Museum reopened this spring in its new...

Obituary. (View).(Peter Smithson)(Obituary)
June 1, 2003... Peter Smithson died earlier this year. Peter Salter contributes a personal memoir on one of the most influential and inspiring partnerships of the second half of the twentieth century. To know Peter Smithson, indeed the Smithsons, is to...

Browser. (View).(meshed briefs)
June 1, 2003... Sutherland Lyall grabs a liana and swings through the cyber jungle. A price on his head Architecture For All is at www.architectureforall.com. Actually a bit of it is really Architecture for the Fairly Rich because this RIBA + Victoria...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2003... THRESHOLD GENERATION SIR: The problem with Charles Jencks is that he is too old to recognize the new paradigm as anything more than a new opportunity to recount the buildings of his personal favourite architects (AR February 2003). ...

Errata. (View).(Correction Notice)
June 1, 2003... HOTEL JOSEF CREDITS Eva Jiricna Architects' project team for Hotel Josef in Prague, featured in our May issue, was: Gabriel Alexander, Mika Burdett, Christine Humphries, Eva Jiricna, Chris Mascall, Georgina Papathanasiou, Duncan Webster,...

View from Barcelona.(new buildings planned next to the sewage-plant)
June 1, 2003... Barcelona continues its remarkably creative approach to architecture and planning, but some recent developments are becoming socially controversial. The City of Barcelona continues to develop. Following the Olympic Games in 1992, the...

July.(preview of next month's issue)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Next month's issue looks at buildings for high culture--art galleries, museums and performance spaces. It is a familiar theme, but one worth returning to, as historically, culture has always embodied the most expressive and experimental aspects...

Island in the stream: an ingenious floating structure brings drama to the heart of this year's European Cultural Capital. (Design Review).
June 1, 2003... As part of Graz's current role as European Cultural Capital for 2003, a new artificial island has been created in the heart of the city on the River Mur. An artificial island, that is: manmade, alien and stranded. Being free to rise and...

Hot issues. (Comment).(introduction to issue; architecture in extreme climates)
June 1, 2003... Building in hot latitudes presents its own particular challenges, but even the most extreme climates can give rise to intuitive forms of architecture that have an important role to play in the search for a new ecological responsiveness. ...

Star gazing: set in the lunar landscape of Chile's Atacama Desert, this new residential building for astronomers has to contend with harsh extremes of climate.(review of astronomical observatory in Chile)
June 1, 2003... Extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Andes Mountains, the Atacama Desert in northern Chile is one of the hottest, driest places on earth. Sparsely populated and virtually rainless, the desert plateau is made up of salt basins (salars) and...

Outback Barracks: an experiment in prefabrication optimizes orientation and shade to reduce artificial cooling needs.(Townsville, Australia)
June 1, 2003... Townsville is one of Australia's largest military ports, strategically located to command the Coral Sea. In the tropics, well north of Brisbane, the town has a relatively rainless but nonetheless humid climate, largely shielded by mountains...

Tropical perimeter: this housing complex in Singapore mixes Modernism with local forms in response to the tropical climate.
June 1, 2003... Nassim Hill was a favourite location of the early colonial settlers in Singapore and the British Civil Service built a number of early 'Black and White' houses in the area. Several foreign embassies were sited in the wooded enclave. Remote from...

Vital viticulture: deep in rural Northern Spain, this new complex of buildings for a wine estate draws on the simplicity and austerity of Iberian vernacular traditions.(Rafael Moneo designs winery in Navarre)
June 1, 2003... With an expanding repertoire of overseas buildings (the latest being a monumental new cathedral for that most godless of cities, Los Angeles, AR March 2003), Rafael Moneo has become the world's Spanish architect sin igual. Being so...

Desert zenith: Predock_Frane Architects' have designed a new Zen Buddhist retreat in California's arid Desert Hot Springs. (Project).
June 1, 2003... For a community where ritual governs the entire day, Predock_Frane Architects have recently completed this design for a new desert retreat. Responding to the natural environmental conditions found in California's Desert Hot Springs, and the...

Mutu umodzi susenza denga one head alone cannot lift a roof.
June 1, 2003... How a team of volunteer architects and engineers assembled by Feilden Clegg Bradley helped a community develop a prototypical building system, inspiring collaboration, innovation and hope in northern Malawi. In Malawi, a country where it is...

Ethiopian devotions.
June 1, 2003... Christianity arrived in Ethiopia in the fourth century AD and its presence is still strongly felt in the astonishing architecture of the rock churches, in paintings and in ancient rituals that connect the population with history and place. ...

Think tank: in Barcelona, an extraordinary industrial relic from the nineteenth century has been imaginatively and sensitively transformed into a new university library. (Interior Design).
June 1, 2003... Dating from 1990, Barcelona's University Pompeu Fabra is a relative newcomer to the city's educational pantheon, yet today it is considered one of the most prestigious universities in Spain. With a student population of around seven thousand,...

Attic stories: with simple forms and fine materials, new offices give Cadiz's skyline a contemporary lookout post.
June 1, 2003... Through the passage of time, the dense and narrow street patterns of Cadiz have caused the city to rise up to conquer a new realm on top of its buildings. By exploiting the benefits of the warm winter sun and the cool offshore summer breeze,...

High and dry: Rick Joy is perhaps set to become the Murcutt of the northern hemisphere with houses that are sharply honed to respond to hot and dry desert climates.
June 1, 2003... In the house Rick joy designed in a small valley in the Sonoran Desert near Tucson, he used his well-tried arid-climate repertoire of materials (other essays in the genre can be seen in for instance AR November 1998 and AR July 2001). Massive...

Sawaya & moroni. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... Sawaya & Moroni have established fertile working relationships with a number of architects, including Zaha Hadid and Jakob MacFarlane, to create limited edition set-piece furniture that gives free rein to the upper register of indulgent...

EDRA. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... The Favela chair (508) by Brazilian brothers Humberto and Fernando Campana was one of the expensive faux-pauperist follies on show at Edra. Made of scavenged scraps of wood. It shows a functional, if not exactly political. solidarity with the...

Wever & Ducre. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... Belgian lighting company Wever & Ducre launched Scan light-fittings. with-a-twist. Laminated polycarbonace shelves serve as a funky and functional distributor of light creating the impression that the luminaire is floating. Laminated foils...

Ingo Maurer. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... 'The world is at war!" exclaims lighting designer Ingo Maurer excitedly in his quadralingual press release. 'But the show must go on.' he adds, pragmatically. And it does, with a raft of new products, including Little Big Lamp, an...

Wilkhahn. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... German Mobelmeisters Wilkhahn showed Signo, a new conference chair designed by Werner Sauer. Formed from a moulded plywood seat shell with a kite-like backrest of taut stretch fabric, Signo is extremely lightweight, so that businessmen (and...

Segis. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... British designer George J. Sowden showed the Pacific chair (512). Made of polypropylene, it is injection moulded in one shot using the latest airmoulding technology for high strength, material economy and no nasty sharp edges. Colourful and...

Heller. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... Another classic Bellini from Mario. Indoor or outdoor armchair in comfy self-cushioning polymer (514). Pouf and table also available, so collect the set. Also from Heller comes Joe (515). a surreally oversized baseball glove first produced in...

Driade. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... New additions to Driade's Aleph range include the organically-inspired Tipto easy chair designed by Peter Emrys-Rooerts and Christine Harvey. Enquiry 516 www.arplus.com/enq.html

Colombo. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... Never squabble over whose turn it is to change the loo roll again with Isole, an elegant range of chrome bathroom fittings by Anna and Cario Bartoli for Colombo Design. Enquiry 513 www.arplus.com/enq.html

Delight. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... A decided whiff of 1950s coffee bars pervades the Mambo pivoting stool by Archirivolto Design. The gas operated seat is made of blown techno-polymer in a range of translucent kaleidoscopic colours. All you need is the full skirt, red lips and...

Zanotta. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... Zanotta showed a series of beds, a new departure for the firm and part of an in-progress collection. Eco by Emillo Nanni has an all-wood frame (absolutely no metal parts) for that ascetic back-to-nature appeal. Enquiry 518 ...

Arper. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... Lola, is a new stacking chair from Arper designed by the Lievore Altherr Molina studio. A chrome-plated tubular steel frame supports a composite shell finished in oak veneer coated with a matt varnish. Toughness with style-a bit like Humphrey...

Kartell. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... The prize for Best-in-Show for exhibition stands must go to Kartell's groovy candy-coloured homage to the '70s, with Farrah Fawcett flicks for the girls and afros for the boys. Furniture-wise, French enfant terrible Philippe Starck added to his...

Artifort. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... Dive by Dutch designer Michiel Van de Kay is a sleek shell poised on a slim metal frame. Equally at ease in the home or office with a wide choice of upholstery options. Enquiry 524 www.arplus.com/enq.html

Cesana. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... Halfmoon shower cabinet by P. Billekens for Cesena is an elegant sliver of transparent or translucent glass with a teak base, warmer to the touch than conventional tiles. Slim shower and seat fittings come in white. silver, orange and yellow....

Bisazza. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... Bisazza, the entrepreneurial Italian mosaics people. were keen to illustrate the potential of their products during II Salone. As a part of a showcase of designs. Fabio Novembre created an installation entitled 'A Big Heart', a runway-like...

Kallemo. (Product Review).
June 1, 2003... Never has felt, that greatly maligned material, looked (and felt) so sexy as in Swedish firm Kallemo's Flit chair, designed by Susse Fischer and Thomas Winkel. Easy chair with a lightweight steel frame and felt back and seat. Colourful and...

Kawneer UK. (Specifier's Information).(curtain walling and window contract)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Kawneer and CAP Aluminium have completed a prestigious curtain walling and window contract for the Pentland Groups new international headquarters in Finchley, North London. Set against a palette of natural materials including brick, slate and...

Gooding Aluminium. (Specifier's Information).
June 1, 2003... Durable flexible and eye-catching. GA's Versatility Step-Up Stair Trims have provided the perfect stair solution throughout Cheltenham's trend setting 'Q Bars' American Pool and Bar Complex. With a pattern from GA's extensive range of designs,...

Vetrotech Saint Gobain. (Specifier's Information).
June 1, 2003... Specialist glass from Vetrotech Saint Gobain, the world's leading manufacturer of fire resisting glass. is being installed in the largest and most prestigious cruise liner of all time -- the [Pounds sterling]550 million Queen Mary 2. set to...

Sequia Corus. (Specifier's Information).
June 1, 2003... Corus is offering a newly RIBA accredited CPD technical seminar Coatings for Metal Roofing & Cladding. Drawing on over 35 years experience in production of coatings for metal roofing and cladding, Corus aims to provide a greater understanding...

Kawneer UK. (Specifier's Information).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... 'Finger Guard', by Kawneer, is a revolutionary door safety device designed to eradicate the possibility of trapping fingers in the pivoting side of doors when being opened or closed. In response to increasing customer demand, particularly...

Gooding Aluminium. (Specifier's Information).
June 1, 2003... GA's new website is now showing on a screen near you. Gooding Aluminium's picture perfect Project Showcase is the star performer in super cool whiteout with over 250 fantastic full colour project photographs taking centre stage. Easy to...

Spa - Sandtoft Roof Tiles. (Specifier's Information).
June 1, 2003... In the American state of North Carolina a remarkable recreation has recently been completed of Epworth Rectory in Lincolnshire -- the birthplace of john Wesley the founder of Methodism. As the headquarters of the World Methodist Council. the...

Ansong. (Specifier's Information).
June 1, 2003... Maxx comprises a range of luminaries of uniform formal design for a wide variety of lighting requirements. Due to their innovative reflector technology, Maxx downlights are ideal for applications in office environments with PC work stations....

Geoffrey Bawa: the complete works. (Bawa Beatified).(Book Review)
June 1, 2003... By David Robson. London: Thames & Hudson. 2002. [pounds sterling]45 Geoffrey Bawa worked at the cusp of the colonial and post-colonial periods in Ceylon. One of the great strengths of Robson's beautifully produced hook is that he makes...

The evolution of American Urban design: a chronological anthology. (US Urban Maelstrom).(Book Review)
June 1, 2003... By David Gosling. Chichester: John Wiley. 2002. [pounds sterling]34.95 'Urban design is (or should be) an integral part of the process of city and regional planning. It is primarily and essentially three-dimensional, but must also deal...

Walt Disney and the quest for community. (Disney's Model Citizens).(Book Review)
June 1, 2003... By Steve Mannheim. Aldershot: Ashgate. 2002. [pounds]33 Although not written in an enjoyable or stylish way, this little book provides a valuable, largely technical, insight into Walt Disney's approach to tourist planning, a subject very...

School builders. (Poor Report).(Book Review)
June 1, 2003... By Eleanor Curtis. Chichester: john Wiley. 2003. [pounds sterling]50 This is a book destined for the coffee tables of architects who design schools, however educationalists might be more discerning about schools being used solely as a...

A garden folly in the woods of Ontario thoughtfully uses glass and electricity to make subtle comments on nature, and at the same time provides stimulus to swimming. (Delight).(Glass artists SWON work with designer John Thompson to create a unique swimming pool.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... A turn of the century Canadian Arts and Crafts house overlooks Lake Ontario from a small bluff. Its owners wanted a swimming pool and asked designer John Thompson to create one that would relate to the forested terrain. Initial hopes of...