these days we all have something to celebrate!

soon we are 1'000 days online! almost 500 members and according to the counter on the left side soon 100'000 visitors

actually there is another (probably more accurate) counter on the bottom of the site, but as i missed our visitor nr. 100'000 i feel very proud to announce tarrramtaarrraaaamm visitor nuuuuumber 101'000 is: someone hosted by Bulldog Communications GB. jovan, was it you?

and now i'm very excited to wait for nr. 100'000...

nice to see this blog that... vivid ;-)

mark0.at

edit: so far we've posted 588 stories and i dont know how many tons of comments, and all started somehow like that... good old times...

Hi all! I’d like to move your attention on Rome, from the old and the new Pope event, into an architectonic-urban problem (even if we r still talking about several people!): the topic of my last exam: CORVIALE. Do you know Corviale? Corviale is the failure of utopic dreams of an architects generation, designed by the roman architect, Mario Fiorentino. From the desire of the megastructures, starting from the Plan Obus of Le Courbousier for Algeri, trough the Karl-Marx-Hof untill the future cities of the Archigram with Plug-in-City and Walking City and so on ... till the need of residences due cos of the fast expansion for the economic boom in the Italian capital, that was expressed till then with the chaos of the dispersion of illicit buildings in the suburbs. That’s why Corviale was made. 1km of dam to contain the uncontrolled expansion of the city, with its nine floors designed for 1202 apartments of several sizes, plus others illegal in the plan that was dedicated to the services, for approximately 7000 people. The biggest part of 60 hectares available, was left for the green, in fact the residences are concentrated in a huge block and the general services (schools, supermarket, library, multiservice center, gymnasium...) in a little part in front of it. I think the problem that has caused the sickness of living of inhabitants, first of all is managerial, but the guilt of architecture is that Fiorentino wasn’t thinking about socialization spaces among inhabitants with different cultures and from different counties. During the 30th anniversary from the beginning of the construction, the debate was divided between someone who wants to destroy it (like it happened for Pruitt-Igoe Housing by Minouru Yamasaki in St Luis), and someone who wants to reconvert it into other functions or requalify it (I agree whit the last two thoughts). I’m sure that around the world Corviale is not the only exemplary, and I’m asking u if u know some other (good or bad working) examples or know how u would approach on this case.

More information are available in my prof.’s website, drawing, texts, photo... (but only in italian sorry) w3.uniroma1.it

or something in thisone: www.osservatorionomade.net

or try to download my heavy 10 min movie when I’m connected in winMX or just ask and I’ll give u the names of some European reviews that have been dedicated to the concrete roman dinosaur.

Cheers

Paolo_Roma

I read this in belgian newspaper -

(c) BELGA/AFP

Libeskinds Freedomtower will never be build. Too dangerous according to NY police.

"The tower is told to be too close to the street and the abundant use of glass makes it vulnerable for terrorist attacks with a car bomb."

The new design hast to honour the 'spirit' of Libeskinds design en it has to be as high (1776 feet - year of US independance). But it will be another tower.. of another architect. And the main question still stands: 'who'll want to work in such a high tower?' For the new tower there hasn't been found a single person that wants to rent space there.

How come that such a design won, then? This project has been chosen on certain qualities that will go lost now in "honoring the spirit of Libeskinds design".. How fair is this towards the other competitors that joined the cometition but didnt win? How fair is this towards Libeskind? It seems that symbolism (1776 feet/Freedom(?)tower/...) is more important than architecture. It seems that they still dont get that any building can be bombed if some1 wants it to be bombed (by car, by plane, by flowerpot, ...). Or should we from now on build only at a minimum distance from the street equal to the maximum blast-radius of the biggest potential bomb? - Dont forget to incorporate the SAM-missiles on your roofs? ;) (It can be solved in a more esthetical way: www.battlemccarthy.com) This megalomania is not a conmemeroration of the innocent who sadly lost their lives on 9/11, but a self-fulfilling-prophecy.

Whatever. Skyscrapers are outdated anyway.

kus Freefrik NC.b

i am just copy pasting sth from domus site i bumped into tonight. in light of recent discussion here, i think it is useful. kiss dubi

Designing a building is only part of the work of an architect. There is another phase, no less delicate, that regards the way in which the project is presented. A good dose of eloquence is required to get published. So drawings, models and diagrams are the ingredients that contribute to making architecture “famous”, sometimes even before it is finished. Albena Yaneva, fellow of the Akademie Schloss Solitude, has organised three days of discussion on this subject.

The aim is to respond to a series of questions, analysed in terms of the working methods of a number of international practices (such as Diller and Scofidio). How are images of a project made, diffused and manipulated? How do they help the designer develop an idea? What are the challenges that one could resolve through the use of these techniques? Discussing the matter will be historians, sociologists and architectural theorists. E.S.

Stuttgart, Germany The Art of Thinking like an Architect 12.5.2005 – 14.5.2005 Akademie Schloss Solitude, Solitude 3 T +49-0711-99619-134 www.akademie-solitude.de

hi all i'd need ur help.

I am looking for some inspiration and/or references on "boiler buildings". There's quite a big area in Liège where modernism's remains became a social hot spot of the city. Unsecurity feeling, criminality, youth unemployment, "ethnic" tensions made this area sadly known to the whole region.

A society is aiming at doing sth about it. Buildings are renovated, exterior spaces are re-worked, ... The area is huge and heating has been provided from outside so far but new energy supply is needed. Still the heating installation is supposed to be a central one.

In this context we have been asked to design the building for that heating installation. as buildings around are quite high (up to 13 levels), the chimneys will have to be huge.

I found Funder Factory 3 by Coop so far. Any other references, suggestions, inspiration, input?

loves

aLx_Be

we get too many requests for extra places. dear people, as long as you haven't even sent applications for the quota, it's completely useless to ask at all! the system is so clear and simple, and we are not going to change it. applications go through nc's, that's it. we don't answer to any requests for extra places anymore as it starts to 'steal' one hour of our daily working time, and after some time it gets on ones nerves.

nc's, please find a good way to communicate you decisions for the participants you choose, and make an effort to ask for extra places also for people that are NOT your friends. this goes especially to russia from where we constantly get complaints! so katja and inara, please do something about it.

for all extra places: you can apply the given number of the quota list, and as soon as you get a confirmation, you ask for extra places. nothing else. and don't worry too much, there will be enough places for everybody at the end, i guess.

and for all participants: whatever you try, you will not be able to avoid your nc's for an application. it might sound very disappointing, but we have more important things to take care of than collecting individual applications from 40 different countries. if you ask for a place, don't forget that you are not the only one, but it is about a network that is in contact to a couple of thousand students. so if we start to accept individual applications from one side, where should we start to draw a line? so we will be consequent about that.

sorry to be so rough, but it seems to be necessary!

cheers flo_ch

please send all workshop mail to workshop (at) easa005.ch without s (not workshops) cause we have a big spam problem on this mailbox.

don't worry, e-mails sent so far have been checked and are registered. the workshops mailbox will not be deleted, so if someone sends his mail there by mistake, we notice it. but if possible, please send it to the new adress.

thanks flo

hi EASA dunk from ireland here we have just started a new community garden here in dublin and we would like to know if there is similar projects in your towns and cities. if so perhaps you could give us their info, websites, adresses, photos... perhaps some of you are already involved in a similar project. this is part of greening the city project which is attempt to make an ecological corridor/greenway for the city

past reports with images and audio clips from week: tree walk around dublin city opening of garden with tree planting ceremony spud night

initial workshop for the garden happened 2 weeks ago

upcoming events: convergence festival "building healthy communities" 4 dublin mayors conference