- An occasional collection of writing, pictures and videos about architecture by Tim Abrahams.
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- M8. A Spotify Playlist dedicated to a motorway http://t.co/cnlUMgeN 16 hours ago
- In @bdonline Big Ears "attack" on contemporary architecture and Shuttleworth's support of engineers use same terms of reference. Not good. 16 hours ago
- RT @architecturcrit: 'Barnsley'. 17 hours ago
- RT @Alex_one789: I don't normally pay much attention to the guest/celebrity's predictions, but I sure hope the muppets are right: http:/ ... 19 hours ago
Category Archives: Architecture
What Did the Constructivists Ever Do For Us?
With the exhibition Building the Revolution now closed in London, it is worth reflecting on the way in which the achievements of the Constructivists have been revisited and reinvented. Indeed, I would argue that this process rather than any slavish … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture
Tagged building the revolution, constructivists, lost vanguard, osa, soviet, tatlin
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Isi Metzstein 1928 – 2012
I didn’t know Isi Metzstein as well as those who worked with and studied under him nor, of course, his family. Two days after his death now, there will be individuals he worked alongside at the Glasgow School of Art … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture
Tagged andy mcmillan, gillespie, isi metzstein, kidd and coia
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Las Vegas: Where Architecture Goes to Die.
What is unique about the casinos and hotels of Las Vegas is not their gaudiness of that they have stories attached to them. No, the unique thing about them is the huge difference between the story that was planned for … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture
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Taste And The Tower
I want to say something about the history of the relationship between towers and the Olympic Games, leading to a few comments on the outpourings of disgust around the ArcelorMittal Orbit. It is often forgotten that this began with the … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Art, Engineering, Interview
Tagged anish kapoor, arcelormittal, boris johnson, cecil balmond, eiffel, Olympics, orbit, tower
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Interview: Michael Webb
Michael Webb was born in Henley-on-Thames in England. Along with his fellow members of the Archigram Group, Webb has contributed more than any other British architect to the wholesale revolution in architectural drawing that took place in the 1960s. Co-opting techniques and … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Design, Interview
Tagged archigram, cedric price, konrad wachsmann, maxfield parrish, michael webb, peter cook, reyner banham, richard hamilton
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The Limits of Europe: Nuclear City
The Limits of Europe is a new series of special reports from the outer reaches of Europe. In these wastelands and the structures they contain: from space stations in the Arctic regions to modern ruins on the Mediterranean rim, we … Continue reading
Postmodernism: It’s History
It is entirely possible to love the current exhibition Postmodernism: Style and Subversion at the V&A and find in it a sign of why Post-Modernism is at a dead end.
Posted in Architecture, Art, Design
Tagged aldo rossi, arata isozaki, blade runner, brad cloepfil, charles jencks, charles moore, laurie anderson, modena, modernism, new order, peter saville, postmodernism, san cataldo, V&A, vaughn oliver, zhora
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Why Park Hill Should Live
Reyner Banham liked Park Hill. To the greatest critical champion of New Brutalism, it was ‘the biggest brutalist building ever completed’ an example of all that he had, once at least, held dear. In his book The New Brutalism, written … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Old Things, Urbanism
Tagged brutalism, egret west, english heritage, english partnerships, hawkins brown, homes and communities agency, housing market renewal agency, ivor smith, jack lynn, le corbusier, lynsey hanley, owen hatherley, park hill, reyner banham, sheffield, smithsons, urban splash
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The World’s First Printed Building
In a small shed on an industrial park near Pisa is a machine that can print buildings. The machine itself looks like a prototype for the automotive industry. Four columns independently support a frame with a single armature on it. … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Engineering
Tagged 3D printing, andrea morgante, enrico dini, norman foster, pisa, radiolaria
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Standing in front of a bookcase, feeling baffled.
It would be fair to say that even amongst the librarians here there is a fair amount of amusement— or bewilderment— about the Norman D Stevens archive . Stevens is the retired director of university libraries at the University of Connecticut and, … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Media, Old Things, Publishing
Tagged alan bennett, andrew motion, castle park dean and hook, cyril connolly, david adjaye, geoff hook, harvard, horizon, hugh pearman, hull, karen coyle, library of congress, lrb, norman d. stevens, philip larkin, radcliffe camera, renata gutman, seattle public library, thomas jefferson, toads, university of virginia, veritas
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