architecture

On April 30th, 2012, PIECING TOGETHER LOS ANGELES: AN ESTHER MCCOY READER…

Piecing Together Los Angeles: An Esther McCoy Reader

…is the book by Susan Morgan that finally takes on the legacy of this influential woman – often overlooked in the supposedly manly era of testosterone fueled modern architecture – which I’ve been hearing about and anticipating for a while, and it just came out in March as the first book by L.A.’s East of Borneo…

This much-anticipated volume is the first collection of writings by Esther McCoy (1904-1989), a keen literary stylist and attentive witness to the birth of midcentury modernist design.

McCoy’s impressive writing life spanned sixty years and charted the progressive territory of American idealism. During the 1920s, she pursued her vocation as a writer and apprenticed with novelist Theodore Dreiser. In 1932, McCoy moved to Los Angeles where she wrote for literary journals, popular magazines and progressive broadsheets. Her short stories were awarded numerous prizes, featured in publications ranging from Harper’s Bazaar to The California Quarterly, and adapted for radio and television. After completing a wartime stint as an engineering draftsman at Douglas Aircraft, McCoy went to work as an architectural draftsman for R. M. Schindler. By 1945, her attentive writing had turned significantly to architecture and the design-driven optimism of postwar Los Angeles. Her essays appeared regularly in the Los Angeles Times, Arts & Architecture, Zodiac, Progressive Architecture, and Architectural Forum, and her 1960 book Five California Architects has long been acknowledged as an indispensable classic.

From fiction for The New Yorker to her seminal essays on new architectural forms, McCoy articulated the concepts and vibrant character of West Coast modernism as it was being created. This essential volume includes out-of-print essays, articles, and short stories, as well as hitherto unpublished lectures, correspondence, and memoirs that together illuminate the breadth and complexity of McCoy’s groundbreaking work. An introductory essay by writer and anthology editor Susan Morgan provides a lucid conceptual framework for understanding the development and diversity of McCoy’s writing and the region that inspired it.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 30, 2012 | books
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On April 22nd, 2012, THE MSU BROAD MUSEUM…

MSU Broad Museum, and the adjacent monument commemorating the first spraying of pesticides!

…designed by Zaha Hadid will be opening soon (but not as soon as they thought while battling some construction and eccentrically shaped glass fabrication issues) and cool to see in person, but even more interesting to see a small monument on the adjacent piece of land – that will soon become a sculpture park – commemorating the first spraying of pesticides at this big ag school.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 22, 2012 | architecture, art
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On January 23rd, 2012, THE EAMES LIVING ROOM…

Eames living room at LACMA

…(so familiar to me from regular pilgrimages during my early years in LA, when I trotted every out-of-town-guest for a visitation to the Pacific Palisades home of Charles and Ray, still one of my favorite places in town) was a strange thing to suddenly come upon when rounding the corner at the Pacific Standard Time show “California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way” at LACMA – transplanted to the museum, with everything just as they left it, while The Eames Foundation has the floors replaced, but feeling strangely soul-less – with plastic plants, and instead of the meadow out the window, it was just us and white walls.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 23, 2012 | architecture
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On January 22nd, 2012, A CEDAR SOAKING TUB…

cedar soaking tub overlooking the garden

…and outdoor shower which I had been scheming for years to place in this strange previously unoccupied corner of the house overlooking the garden – was finally just installed (while in the midst of some serious hard-core nesting, after so long so far from home) – which should be good for soaking those aching bones after shoveling dirt and moving rocks and baking bread and braiding rugs.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 22, 2012 | architecture, design
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On January 20th, 2012, NEUTRA VDL RESEARCH HOUSE…

Neutra VDL Research House entry and courtyard

…the great mid-century modernist residential landmark on the Silver Lake Reservoir now managed by Cal Poly Pomona, hosted small reception tonight (by architect Francois Perrin for French artist Xavier Veilhan – a prelude to his upcoming Paris-L.A. series of events and projects this year) which was a great chance to marvel at the house I hadn’t visited for years (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 20, 2012 | architecture
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On December 11th, 2011, ‘HOME WORK: HANDBUILT SHELTER’…

Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter, 2004

…the super charming 2004 survey of hand made homes (adobe, bark, barns, bottles, camps, canvas, floating, geodesics, green-roofs, mobile, mud, sandbags, straw, stone, tiles, timber, tiny, tipis, thatch, treetops, yurts…) from all over – including up close and personal profiles of the builders – is the book I just picked up by Lloyd Kahn which I am extremely jazzed about, representing for me the height of architecture – a follow-up to his 1973 best-selling ‘Shelter.’

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By Fritz Haeg on December 11, 2011 | architecture, books
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On December 6th, 2011, LEFTOVER PRINCETON BUILDING MATERIALS…

Princeton building leftovers

…from slate pavers to gothic finials and concrete culverts to steel beams – collected, organized, and saved for future use by a thoughtful facilities manager – cover a massive field near campus as far as you can see, which I am inspecting for possible use in next term’s Princeton Student Colony.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 6, 2011 | construction
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On October 27th, 2011, A MINNESOTA URBAN WOODLAND TEEPEE…

kids in the woods moving into teepee

…is just what every little kid around here needs to escape to – out the back door during those cabin fever winter days – and today I helped assemble one for the little nieces and nephews – just in time for the cold and snow where this white tarp covered construction will disappear into the landscape of flaky drifts to come.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 27, 2011 | architecture
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On October 26th, 2011, BREUER AND POTTERY AT SAINT JOHN’S…

Saint John's University Abbey Church by Marcel Breuer and Richard Bresnahan's pottery studio

…today started with a visit to the studio of Richard Bresnahan, where we drank delicious green tea out of his earthy sumptuous cups and teapot (similar to the one I have at home in LA, which I discussed in this New York Times story a few years ago) around a warm wood hearth-like square filled with a zen garden expanse of sand (that I was happy to be able to rake with a little wood tool on hand), before he took us for a short walk down the hill near the lake for a visit to the massive walk-in wood burning kiln which he only fires up every two years or so (when it is tended 24 hours a day for ten days, next time will be October 2012 when I plan to return to fire something of my own!), then to the center of campus to one of favorite buildings anywhere, Marcel Breuer‘s masterpiece Abbey Church (which I grew up visiting regularly and mentioned in another New York Times story by Susan Morgan), and finally downstairs for a special tour from Richard of the 32 chapels under the Abbey, whose ceilings are lined with warm dark umber colored Swedish cork (whose vivid early childhood memories inspired the dark cork lined den of the Bernardi Residence from 2006) which I was surprised to discover still aromatic with it’s smokey scent after 50 years.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 26, 2011 | architecture, crafts
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On October 22nd, 2011, ŁÓDŹ TOWER BLOCKS AND VEGETABLE MARKETS…

Łódź tower and market

…oppressive and quaint, global and local, dominating and warm, standing side by side, on the same street, duking it out.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 22, 2011 | architecture, food
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On October 20th, 2011, ‘AVIAN ARCHITECTURE’…

'Avian Architecture', 2011

…is the awesome new book – I just borrowed from my brother for some inspiring travel reading – by Peter Goodfellow from Princeton University Press all about the crazy brilliant things that birds build which make even the most sophisticated human architect look pretty primitive in comparison.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 20, 2011 | animals, books
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On October 14th, 2011, THE ANNUAL SERPENTINE PAVILLION…

in and out of the Peter Zumthor garden pavillion

…the most elegant, austere, and simple yet in the series – designed this year by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor and Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf in London’s Kensington Gardens – is in it’s final days and the inspiration for this years Serpentine Marathon series of talks taking place this weekend organized by curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, and tomorrow I’ll be talking gardens at 19:40. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 14, 2011 | Uncategorized
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On October 12th, 2011, OPENING EVENT FOR ANIMAL ESTATES 8.0: LONDON…

Animal Estates 8.0: London, poster #02 - opening event

…is tomorrow night!

ANIMAL ESTATES LONDON HQ: URBAN WILDLIFE CLIENT SERVICES
at ARUP Phase 2, 8 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 4BJ, October 13th, 2011 – January 20th, 2012

Opening Event…*
MEET THE ANIMAL CLIENTS Part I: Birds, Bees, & Bats, Thursday 13 October 2011, 6.00pm—8.30pm
*Produced in collaboration with the inmidtown Habitats Competition run by the Architecture Foundation and inmidtown

Presentations by local animal experts at 7.00pm…
KELLY GUNNELL will speak on London’s bats. Kelly Gunnell works for the Bat Conservation Trust as the Built Environment Officer with the remit to facilitate solutions for bat conservation in the construction sector and urban areas.
RICHARD JONES will speak on London’s bees. Entomologist Richard Jones has been fascinated by wildlife since a childhood exploring the South Downs and Sussex Weald; he now carries out invertebrate surveys, and writes about insects for BBC Wildlife Magazine and Gardeners’ World.
PETER HOLDEN will speak on London’s Common Swifts and House Sparrows. A senior RSPB manager for over 40 years, ornithologist and wildlife expert Peter Holden has written many books on birds, including the RSPB Handbook of British Birds.

Native London Wildlife…
8.01 Bees (multiple species)
8.02 Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus)
8.03 Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
8.04 Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
8.05 Bats (multiple species)
8.06 House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
8.07 Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
8.08 Common Swift (Apus apus)
8.09 Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
8.10 Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
8.11 Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
How did the Animal Client live on the land of London before human habitation?
What can we do or design for the city of London today to welcome them back?

More Information…
email london(at)animalestates(dot)org or visit www.animalestates.org

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By Fritz Haeg on October 12, 2011 | Animal Estates
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On October 6th, 2011, BUDAPEST’S ÓBUDA ESTATE…

Obuda Housing Estate, a residents garden, and view from the hills of Buda

…Soviet Housing blocks, where experimental and innovative residential designs for the masses were tested out during the 1960′s before being constructed across the country, was the destination of our visit today in search of inspirations for the location of next spring’s Edible Estate #12 – and after yesterday’s inspiring Wekerle Telep revelation (a development where rural transplants to the city could grow their own food, though most residents today do not) & today’s visit to an opposing utopian vision (where open green spaces between towers were planned as unoccupied lawns with trees, though we did see a modest homemade garden) – is making me think I’d like to do two Edible Estate Regional Prototype Gardens here next year – in these two neighborhoods on opposite sides of the Danube, one in Buda, the other in Pest.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 6, 2011 | architecture
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On October 5th, 2011, BUDAPEST’S WEKERLE TELEP…

the colorful facades and leaf bins that line the streets of Wekerle Telep

…the delightful utopian Garden City-inspired suburban development with a rural village-like feel,  featuring a diversity of housing types in a lively mix of regional Hungarian styles and motifs with lots of soft greys and warm ochres, designed and built by a team of visionaries – initiated by architect József Fleischl, supported by then prime minister Sándor Wekerle, with prominent architectural contributions by Károly Kós during the first few decades of the 20th Century – was my very fortunate destination this afternoon on my first day in town, where we were lead by a local landscape architect…and this place seemed exactly like the Hungarian version of Garbatella, my favorite quarter of Rome.

Fifty thousand trees were planted during the construction, mainly along the spacious avenues. The estate had its own gardening service, who not only took care of the many plants, flowers and trees of the community spaces, but also helped renters to groom their own gardens as well. Four fruit trees were planted for each apartment (altogether 16.000), and thanks to the favorable sandy soil and to the care of the new dwellers, various kinds of drupes bloomed. It was noted that in 1917 redcurrant harvest was so rich that renters could earn almost four times the yearly rent just by selling their fruits. (wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 5, 2011 | architecture, landscape
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October 4th, 2011, DEN HAAG STUDENT WORKSHOPS…

Bird Sanctuary student project for Composted Constructions workshop, Den Haag

…continued today with the students from the art academy in Den Haag completing their versions of Composted Constructions – transforming scavenged domestic cast-offs into creations that accommodate plants, food, wildlife (best title was ‘Chicken Disco’) – and installing them throughout the site, before heading back to the airport for a late flight to Budapest where I will be doing a talk on Friday and having meetings and visits in preparation for the next Edible Estate edition to be established there in spring 2012.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 4, 2011 | art
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On October 3rd, DEN HAAG PROJECT PLANTING…

lunch break at the garden kitchen (left), and a planted Composted Construction (right)

…and student workshopping took over Stroom’s Foodprint Erasmusveld project site today, where I groggily arrived from the airport for a day of planting installations and working with students to create their own Composted Constructions (developing on my initial installations) out of a pile of domestic cast-offs gathered by the folks of Refunc.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 3, 2011 | art
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On September 29th, 2011, NEVADA DOME VIEW…

Reno dome view

…is what I got here in Reno (where I have just arrived for a talk at the Art + Environment Conference at the Nevada Museum of Art) from the 9th floor of a downtown hotel out to the 180 foot composite dome housing an old silver mining rig.

Sam Fairchild’s legendary silver mining rig is a wonder for all guests to behold, a spectacular souvenir from a bygone era of mining wealth and now a fabulous Reno attraction. The unprecedented 120-foot-high, automated mining machine is encased within the world’s largest composite dome making it a Reno site to see. The interior of the unique 180-foot-high composite dome measures an astounding 75,000 square feet. The dome reflects the dramatic skies of Reno and depicts an entire day from sunrise to sunset. With all the things to do in Reno, don’t miss hourly shows seven days a week inside the dome, showcasing Silver Legacy’s incredible mining rig in a wash of color, laser light and sound! (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 29, 2011 | architecture
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On September 14th, 2011, ISTANBUL CAT ESTATES…

homes for cats on Istanbul sidewalk

…some of them lovingly hand-painted and even featuring the name of the cat over the front door, are what I stumbled upon (almost literally) this afternoon, filling a section of sidewalk on a narrow sloping street just up the hill from my hotel and the Antrepo warehouse sites of the Istanbul Biennial (opening for press previews tomorrow morning) in the Karaköy quarter of the Beyoğlu district.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 14, 2011 | animals, architecture
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On September 13th, 2011, SUPERPOOL…

Selva Gürdoğan and Gregers Tang Thomsen of Superpool present at SALT Beyoğlu

…the Istanbul based architecture studio founded by Turkish Selva Gürdoğan and Danish Gregers Tang Thomsen, presented their design of the exhibition ‘Becoming Istanbul‘ (in collaboration with the graphics of Project Projects) which opened at SALT Beyoğlu this evening – kicking off 90 events in 90 days.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 13, 2011 | Uncategorized
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On September 7th, 2011, RIDLEY’S FOOD FOR FOOD TEMPORARY DINING EXPERIENCE…

Ridley's scaffolding in place for opening night featuring latex curtains, and a single central tricked-out 2nd floor table whose central panel decends with pulleys to the lower level open air kitchen

…opened tonight in the middle of London’s Ridley Road Market in Dalston – which I visited with my London Animal Estates collaborator Benjamin Reichen (of the super design collective Åbäke) whose former students had masterminded the project – alas, we were to early to eat, but were at least able to see the structure, seating, kitchen, coming together for this very cool project…

Ridley’s, a temporary dining experience in Dalston, is a project by The Decorators and Atelier ChanChan. This group of designers-artists-architects have transformed an exposed yet derelict void in Ridley Road market, into a podium for outdoor exhibitionist eating.

For the month of September a two-storey structure will rise above the stalls, housing a new kind of market food initiative. Come and exchange market produce for a meal if you’re having lunch or bring £15 if you’re looking for dinner (includes your dinner and a £5 food shopping voucher for use at the market ).

A lineup of guest chefs will create daily menus from market produce only, whilst diners share a communal table high above the market. Meals prepared in the ground floor kitchen, the hub of exchange and production, will be raised by a mechanical table up to the guests on the first floor. This scenographic journey emphasises the vertical transformation of the raw food at market level to the cooked meals at the elevated podium above.

This temporary summer installation is a means of demonstrating the kind of activities that could be created to make the life of this market sustainable and is an opportunity to re-imagine the possibilities for the regeneration of the area. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 7, 2011 | food
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On September 4th, 2011, TRULLI THEN OSTUNI…

the white hilltop town of Ostuni (where I lucked out with a cozy last minute mini-apartment rental with a view of the sea from a tiny window seen here on the upper right) and nearby trulli

…was the order of the day, as I finally departed Lecce, continuing my Puglian journeys gradually making my way west then north on the slow side roads through countryside and small towns with no final destination in mind, stopping off in the ceramics center of Grottaglie, the pretty hilltop town of Locorotondo, the trulli village of Alberobello, but especially interested in the shift in landscape to soft rolling hills, rows of vineyards, layers of lovely farm structures into the distance, and finally arriving towards the end of the day in Ostuni, the most enchanting place yet, (which I had first glimpsed from a speeding train to Brindisi ten days ago) where the view from the whitewashed hilltop historic center to the plains and Adriatic has been preserved thanks to the isolation of it’s sprawl to it’s back and south.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 4, 2011 | Italy
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On September 3rd, 2011, LECCE DECORATIONS…

Lecce baroque: graffitti alley and San Giovanni Battista, 1691

…in super baroque style are intricately carved into local honey Lecce limestone covering every available square millimeter of each billboard-like neighborhood church facade, and parts of almost all of the pallazzi, announcing the style, taste and riches of the local sponsoring noble family – is the visual pleasure of the city to be enjoyed at every turn – but the sharp turn I took off Piazza San Oronzo this morning on a wandering derive brought me to a narrow isolated otherwise forgotten passage covered entirely in brightly colored amateur graffiti, and what would seem reckless elsewhere, here feels like a gorgeous collective contemporary baroque decoration where modern residents can announce their own messages.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 3, 2011 | cities
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On September 2nd, 2011, PUGLIA’S TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL BUILDING TYPES…

suburban housing blocks surrounding a paiara framed by four stone pines outside of Nardo'

…are what have drawn me to this place more than anything, such as the dry-stone conical domes of the trulli, modest shelters or residences found mostly in the central Valle D’Itria (around Locorotondo, Alberbello, Martina Franca, Ceglie Messapica); the fortified farmhouse complexes of the masserie; and the primitive storehouses and temporary shelters dotting the landscape known as paiara (though locals here call them something else which escapes my memory at the moment) built with mortar-less stone construction (just like the walls that divide up the countryside all over the region) which are slightly domed but with flat roofs you can often access with a stair or two wrapping around the perimeter – though what I was most unprepared for here in Puglia was the vivid contrast between the evidence of a picturesque primitive agrarian past, and beautiful historic town centers surrounded – and at times strangled by – more recent sprawling development, much of it the legacy of a 1960′s housing and building boom (the most egregious of which were built with no official approvals and against any codes, known all over Italy as ‘abusivismo’) – but after getting my eyes re-adjusted to this first impression of an ugly mess, I started to feel like there was a meaningful ‘edge’ here – a reality of 21st century life and conflict (not seen in Umbria or Tuscany where restrictive building codes and wealthy foreigners have mostly frozen the place in time) which actually reminded me a bit of L.A. – stimulating me in similar ways.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 2, 2011 | architecture
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On September 1st, 2011, A MASSERIA (WITH FRANTOIO IPOGEO)…

Masseria courtyard over a massive ancient subterranean olive mill (frantoio ipogeo)

…is something I have had an intense architectural crush on since first reading about them last year (a fortified farmhouse unique to Puglia, often with a series of connecting vaulted spaces made of local stone on the ground level for animals and farm workers around a central protected courtyard overseen by more comfortable castle-like quarters on an upper level for the noble landowners, some featuring their own chapel and underground mill – frantoio ipogeo – for processing olive oil) – and today I went to visit a dreamy abandoned masseria from the 1600′s – with a massive 800 year old frantoio beneath the courtyard, a chapel at the front gate, and extensive local dry stone walls enclosing fruit orchards and gardens – for sale just north of Lecce where I was entertaining fantasies of retreating with friends who could come and go to a quiet life in the country, living and working and creating and gardening on ancient land – so I am now realizing that my unexplained deep interest is in part related to their village-like nature, originally created to protect it’s community of inhabitants from invading warriors, but maybe today offering protection from invasions of other sorts – like the toxic aspects of contemporary society which could use an oppositional model – the courtyard becoming the possible focus for a group of people turning in to create their own community, a place that is consciously quieter and slower, being connected to centuries of the past might change your perception of the future, and now I’m thinking about what my ideal life in one of these ancient ready-made villages might look like today?

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By Fritz Haeg on September 1, 2011 | Italy
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On August 30th, 2011, A TOWER FOR PIGEONS…

a 'dovecote tower' for roosting pigeons, vic. Nardo'

…at the masseria I visited late this afternoon near Nardo’ must be the coolest thing I have seen on my Puglia adventures so far – an Animal Estate of the most sophisticated and monumental sort, which from the outside seems to be a fortified castle tower, only to reveal a surprising very contemporary-seeming interior lined entirely in a gridded pattern of cubical cavities for pigeons (a variety known as ‘colombi’ in Italian – before the pesky  sort we are familiar with today whose eggs would make us sick from all of the toxic urban crap they eat) to make themselves at home (up to 1000 couples!) and lay eggs to be harvested by humans by way of cleverly designed stairs wrapping the perimeter at various intervals.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 30, 2011 | animals, architecture
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On August 29th, 2011, NARDO’…

Nardo' at night

…with a dreamy baroque historic center where old men bike around aimlessly and gather on benches with friends you imagine they grew up with on that same block, was once a rival to Lecce, it’s larger neighbor to the north, is the general area of Puglia (or Salento, as locals would hastily/testily correct you, referring to the lower part of Puglia) where I have contentedly  been for a couple days and have decided to remain for a few more – but having only experienced the historic center in blazing summer sun I was shocked to turn the corner into the central piazza as the sun was setting tonight to see everything lit up like a crazy Hollywood fairytale land.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 29, 2011 | architecture, Italy
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On August 25th, 2011, PALAZZO SAN GIORGIO IN GENOVA…

Palazzo San Giorgio, Genova, 1260

…the Italian town I have been curious about and yet to visit was conveniently on my way from Aix-en-Provence to Brindisi, so after a long windy scenic train ride along the French Riviera with front row seats to the late August bikini-clad bathing French masses, I arrived in this pretty but rough around the edges port town last night which is full of elaborately painted building facades – typical of Liguria – which comes to a crecscendo in the port at this great 1260 palazzo – now a neighbor of the new Eataly shop where I stocked up on some delicious supplies for tomorrow’s train ride south – like some amazing polenta bread and rich olive pate’.(wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on August 25, 2011 | architecture, Italy
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On August 23rd, 2011, AIX-EN-PROVENCE…

La Place d’Albertas, Aix-en-Provence

…my next stop this afternoon as I gradually make my way by train south from meetings in the Netherlands to a long awaited pilgrimage to Italy’s mysterious heel of Puglia (before continuing on to autumn obligations for projects and talks in Istanbul, London, Den Haag, Reno, Philadelphia, Princeton, New York, Budapest, Sofia, Lodz) – and having never been to Aix – and since the TGV comes here non-stop from Paris – and being curious about the local landscape, and agriculture, and food – here I am – and the first place I happen upon is the pretty lovely La Place d’Albertas, mostly because it is paved entirely in big rough round rocks, like the wilderness has come into the center of town unrefined, a little quiet glimmer of what I was hoping for here amongst the otherwise bourgeois filled boutiques and well heeled end of season tourist mobs.

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By Fritz Haeg on August 23, 2011 | France
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On August 18th, 2011, A LITTLE HUT AND LITTLE DOCK…

what you can't see in this ideal picture is the constant swarm of wasps, and the one that just stung me

…on this little lake in the woods nearby, where we are spending our days in the sun and water, are each big enough for one – maybe two people – and I’m starting to think that this is all I could ever need – and what more could we want for a quiet August retreat?

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By Fritz Haeg on August 18, 2011 | France
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On August 12th, 2011, REFUNC IN DEN HAAG…

a small corner of a Refunc storage space

…are the handy recyclrey designery arty folks I’ll be working with on an upcoming project here in the fall produced by Stroom – so this afternoon in a jet-laggy daze I went to visit their two vast storage/studio spaces to select some materials for my upcoming project Composted Constructions from the amazing collections of industrial, commercial and domestic materials awaiting a new life. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on August 12, 2011 | art
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On July 22nd, 2011, Y.A.P. AT MAXXI…

lawn and laterns in the MAXXI courtyard by local architects stARTT

…is the Young Architects Program originated at NYC’s PS1 and now a new summer fixture at Rome’s MAXXI, where young Roman architects have created rolling mounds of lawn, punctuated by red tulip-like lanterns, where this evening people are lounging, dogs are running, kids are playing (one in particular seeming to be around six who is consumed with creating what would seem to be a stop-motion video animation with a doll that he will pose, run to the top of a near-by mound, take a photo, then run back to slightly change the pose – maybe the hope for the future of Italian cinema?), and other like us have come to listen to the final installment of an evening of music organized my Roman friends – the amazing boys of Nero.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 22, 2011 | architecture, art
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On July 17th, 2011, SPERLONGA…

circuitous white-washed passageways of Sperlonga

…was my last minute destination of choice this morning to escape the city for a day, biking to Termini and hopping on a train to take me to the ancient and current Roman beach resort town, and yes there are picturesque beaches, and yes there are Roman ruins, but most enchanting is the historic hill town itself seeming like a singular organism of white-washed construction and cavernous stepped passageways festooned with colorful laundry following the topography of the promontory cliff over looking the sea – all very intoxicating until the harsh reality of a packed standing room only weekend train delivering sun-burnt Romans back to their city sets in.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 17, 2011 | architecture, travel
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On July 9th, 2011, GARBATELLA VS. CORVIALE…

ochres of Garbatella (left) and grey of Corviale (right)

…was the story of the day as we made long anticipated pilgrimages to both planned communities just outside of the Roman center, starting with the 11-story 1 kilometer-long crazy Corviale housing block of 1200 apartments and 6000 people in this endless concrete Le Corbusier Unités-d’Habitation-gone-wild folly designed by a team of Italian architects headed by Mario Fiorentino – and a 1 km long building in the middle of the Roman countryside might sound like a neat idea, and it might look amazing from a distance, but of course the closer you get, the sadder it is, and the best that one might be able to say about it now is that the otherwise penned-in tenants enjoy either views of Rome out one side or else they get to look at rolling fields and cows out the other…and from the grey it was on to the ochre baroque rococo fascist Garden City (Borgata Giardino) inspired delights of Garbatella, the working class fantasy land designed and built through the 20′s and 30′s by many hands to suggest the intimate small town rural living environment which many of the original residents where moving from, which you can still feel as you catch glimpses down certain streets when the sun is low, the sense of being in a small Lazian farming village, but in a sophisticated Roman baroquey sort of way – but the treasures are the variety of garden courtyards that each of the blocks face in to, originally meant to be vegetable gardens, they are now untended (I just want to get my hands on one of those big empty round ones) – but I suppose that just adds to it’s rough romantic patinaed lived-in state which, wow, really feels charged and magic. (some Corviale videos here and here)

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By Fritz Haeg on July 9, 2011 | architecture
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On July 5th, 2011, LEVANTO…

a common painted Levanto street facade

…is the Ligurian beach town where my friend, and before that her her mother, grew up spending summers in a cute yellow house on the main street of town which her grandparents bought decades ago, and here is what we like about this place: almost all of the buildings have elaborate hand-painted trompe-l’oeil architectural details covering the street facades; the place is a hot sunny ghost town during the afternoon siesta from about 1-4pm when people smartly retreat to interior shade or cool sea water; the global tourists are distracted by the drama of nearby Cinque Terre and don’t seem to make it this far so you only tend to hear Italian spoken in these parts; the beach is a scene for all ages from the babies, to the teenagers, to the parents, and the elderly, though they mostly seem content to gather on benches in the park and watch the people walk by; there is a new walking path on the old train line which allows you to walk to actually walk through tunnels to the neighboring towns through a rugged coastal landscape; and hey, the Agnelli family has a villa (and fancy gardens which can be viewed through gates) here just on the edge of town, so I guess that says something. (more on wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on July 5, 2011 | Italy
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On July 3rd, 2011, TRAJAN’S FORUM…

Saturday night at Trajan's Forum

…on a Saturday night all lit up in lavenders and yellows looked a little Roman-themed Vegas Strip mixed with gladiator-themed gay disco – but I’m not complaining, it’s fun to see the Italians really occupy their cities in the summer, when every public park, villa, ruin, sanctuary, etc. can boast it’s own summer stage with scaffolding and black velvet – and even the lungotevere is temporarily occupied, by an endless chain of circus-like white tents housing trattorie and bars creating a line of wild nightlife where there is typically a refuge of tranquility -the birds down there must be confused.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 3, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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On June 26th, 2011, ‘A PATTERN LANGUAGE’…

#40: Old People Everywhere, from 'A Pattern Language'

…the iconic influential book by Christopher Alexander is standard issue to architecture students since it emerged out of the Berkeley in the 1970′s, which we were introduced to in our first year design studio, but I don’t recall ever actually reading it at the time (perhaps it seemed old fashioned, folksy, retrograde, and even conservative to my youthful architecty spirit besotted by flashy theory and cool shapes) but yesterday I stumbled upon it in the Academy library, immediately swept away into the staggering radical visionary breadth of it’s 253 patterns detailed in decending order from big to small over it’s 1171 pages of brilliant pragmatic idealism, seeming to be as appropriate, urgent, and relevant today as ever – perhaps more so – my neck getting sore from nodding vigorously in agreement with so many of the proposed patterns, like ripping up the pavement on local roads and creating 51 GREEN STREETS, encouraging a diversity of ages in our communities with 40 OLD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE, designing a realm for 84 TEENAGE SOCIETY within the city for those between childhood and adulthood to establish their independence, making formal education a part of everyone’s daily life with 43 UNIVERSITY AS A MARKETPLACE, making safe and accessible places for 57 CHILDREN IN THE CITY, limiting high-rise construction with 21 FOUR-STORY LIMIT, planting 170 FRUIT TREES and 177 VEGETABLE GARDENS where we live, designing a place at home for making 178 COMPOST, leaving places for drama anywhere with 133 STAIRCASE AS A STAGE, planning for a 5 LACE OF COUNTRY STREETS that leave large expanses of open countryside between them, prioritizing places for 63 DANCING IN THE STREET, consciously welcoming 74 ANIMALS into the city, letting kids create their own play spaces like 73 ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND, encouraging the 172 GARDEN GROWING WILD, letting plants invade the built environment with 247 PAVING WITH CRACKS BETWEEN THE STONES, getting rid of conventional space-wasting and isolating bedrooms in favor of 186 COMMUNAL SLEEPING, and my favorite – leaving comfortable public places for 94 SLEEPING IN PUBLIC, and here is the complete list of all 253, which in Alexander’s words “…allow anyone, and any group of people, to create beautiful, functional, meaningful places. At the core… is the idea that people should design for themselves their own houses, streets and communities. This idea… comes simply from the observation that most of the wonderful places of the world were not made by architects but by the people.”

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By Fritz Haeg on June 26, 2011 | architecture, books
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On June 5th, 2011, PERUGIA’s COMPLESSO DI FONTIVEGGE …

Aldo Rossi's La Nuova Piazza, Fontivegge, Perugia, 1988

…the sad deserted wastelandish no-mans-land 1988 iconic civic center with town hall, theater, housing project, and modern piazza elevated on a parking podium by renowned Italian architect Aldo Rossi (with whom I did my thesis project at the I.U.A.V. in 1991) is what I happened upon on my way out of town today – while contemplating two shockingly out-of-touch and retrograde lectures (that really stood out in an otherwise sophisticated series of Festarch talks and conversations comfortably hosted in this lovely Umbrian hill town) by Peter Eisenman (whose only interest seems to be in making his mark – that tired old ‘architect-against-the-world’ sort of thing – complaining about sustainability, apparently resenting the pressure on architects to pay attention to the health and well-being of the people, places, animals, plants, land, air and water they impact because it prevents him from sharing his full creative genius with the world – instead of understanding the possible enrichment of his work by attention to all of that lively complexity) and his wife Cynthia Davidson (who actually said “…sustainability doesn’t need to be done, it needs to be theorized…” and “…to give in to it is to capitulate to the marketplace…” huh?), both of whom seem to be realizing that the narrow territory – namely style and theory – that their work concerned itself with during it’s formative years – is no longer enough, and now feeling left behind they seem threatened, hostile and from another time – which is especially unfortunate given the real respect that I had for Eisenman while in college, where I spent a great deal of time reading his texts, writing a paper on his work, and even making a pilgrimage to Columbus in 1989 for the opening of the Wexner Center.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 5, 2011 | architecture
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On June 4th, 2011, FESTARCH…

a Festarch lecture at Perugia's Teatro Morlacchi

…a massive architects gathering in it’s first year in Perugia – is where I headed this morning to hear from a few of the endless  list of design world personalities partaking in a four day series of talks, events and conversations including Aaron Betsky, Petra Blaisse (who described some recent garden and curtain projects), Stefano Boeri (the Milanese architect, teacher, and magazine editor previously mentioned here who organized the conference), Andrea Branzi (who I was sorry didn’t make it at the last minute), Pippo Ciorra, Xavier Costa, Cynthia Davidson, Odile Decq+Paola Maugini, Elizabeth Diller, Peter Eisenman, Kurt Forster, Yona Friedman+Emmanuele Lo Giudice, Joseph Grima (of Domus who was carrying around his cute 10 month old), Bjarke Ingels (packing Teatro Morlacchi at 9pm with a talk on recent mega projects which was both super impressive for some of the ideas – and the shear amount this young architect is getting built – but also gave me pause with some ambivalence about the next generation of architects perpetuating this notion of ‘bigger-the-better’ top-down architect as all knowing dictator, continuing many of the implicit problems with with post-war planning no matter how cool and innovative and smart and sensitive some of the work is – but hey, finally some wit and sense of humor – plus the young students seemed to love it – especially the cool videos and graphics), Rem Koolhaas (who really impressed with a teacherly talk on his new interest in the problems with preservation and ‘thinning’), Michael Maltzan (showing work from LA – making me feel both at home and very far away), Enzo Mari (the white-bearded grand Italian design figure in his 80′s who gave an irreverent preacher like talk on the perils of contemporary design culture), Jasper Morrison, Hans Ulrich Obrist, François Roche, Italo Rota (delivering an inspiring, if staid, talk on recent work and thoughts related to plants, animals, ecologies, and the environment – gleaning what I could from the back row of the gorgeous Sala della Vaccara of Perugia’s Palazzo dei Priori through his mumbled Italian), Benedetta Tagliabue among many others.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 4, 2011 | architecture
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On May 30th, 2011, ‘URBAN UTOPIAS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY’…

Urban Utopias in the Twentieth Century, 1977

…is the illuminating well-written 1977 book of this well-trodden utopian territory by Robert Fishman – which gives a super great overview of the political and philosophical underpinnings of Howard’s Garden City, Wright’s Broadacre City, and Corbusier’s Radient City – continuing my recent reading list of titles growing out of my fascination with the way in which people self-organize and plan new ways of living together when there is a desire to abandon a current arrangement that is deemed unacceptable or doomed. (from MIT)

 

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By Fritz Haeg on May 30, 2011 | books
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On April 26th, 2011, MÁS TRANSIT…

diagrams explaining the grand plan of Mas Transit

…was a surprise highlight for me (since it was a hometown project from 2009) tonight at the American Academy in Rome shoptalk by architect fellow – and fellow Angeleno – Joshua Stein of Radical Craft, which proposes a visionary 20-30 year plan for mass transit in L.A. by turning the urban area into a mega-hub for the California high-speed train system already in the works – and next up for Joshua is the fabrication of a massive 1.5 scale model of the interior of one segment of Trajan’s Column.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 26, 2011 | transportation
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On March 12th, 2011, LOGGIA OF CUPID AND PSYCHE…

looking up in the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche painted by Raphael - fruits! vegetables! nudes!

…whose ceiling is laden with the most sumptuous depictions of all variety of fruit and vegetable was painted by Raphael at Villa Farnesina (1510), and was the highlight of a day that began with the third in a series of talks by Leonard Barkan at the American Academy in Rome on “Food Culture and High Culture, Antiquity and Renaissance”.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on March 12, 2011 | art, food
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On March 11th, 2011, TREVI…

I love it when architecture falls apart - here the facade of Palazzo Poli mutates into the baroque waterworks of the fountain formed in part with Travertine from quarries near Tivoli

…Fountain is what we attempted to see pre-tourist-mob this morning (first stop on today’s familial Roman highlights tour), at an early enough hour that we might have it to ourselves, which was almost the case by the time we finally made it there – and having just finished reading Grant Heiken, Renato Funiciello, and Donatella de Rita’s “The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City” which begins with a fascinating account of the deep geological history that made this fountain possible (during the period of 1732-62 which now seems very recent), such as the sedimentary spring deposited Travertine from Tivoli, the metaphoric rock from Carrara, the pavers of lava stone from flows along the Appian Way, and the Vergine acqueduct delivered water from the Salone springs – this local tourist cliché seems all the more alive to me this morning.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 11, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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On March 10th, 2011, THE PANTHEON…

Pantheon coffers

…whose distant dome I have become used to seeing from my desk, was a first stop with family in town touring Rome’s greatest hits, what more to say?

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By Fritz Haeg on March 10, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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On March 7th, 0211, THE GREEN AURELIAN WALL…

the green Aurelian Wall behind Piazza Garibaldi on the Gianicolo

…(the vast circuit of Roman city walls hastily built from 271-275 AD) is bursting with all variety of weedy green plant life after months of cool rainy weather, and they are looking very perky basking in today’s bright warm sun.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 7, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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On March 5th, 2011, ROMAN APARTMENT BALCONIES…

balconi Romani (these are sort of Czech cubist)

…(from the Italian ‘balcone‘) is the private domestic outdoor space available to most Romans, which they try to make the most of – usually full of plants and laundry (which I am also starting to consider for my Roman rooftop homestead as we head into Spring with more sun and warmth).

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By Fritz Haeg on March 5, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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On February 7th, 2011, STEFANO BOERI…

Stefano Boeri for mayor of Milan

…the Milanese architect, teacher, and magazine editor spoke tonight (being much more gracious than I would have been when the projector didn’t work and he wasn’t able to show his images) at the opening of the British School at Rome show BioMilano featuring six of his unbuilt projects, “Six ideas for a bio-diverse metropolis; six transitional states between the city, nature and agriculture; six energy sources for a new model of urban economics,” and though it is promising to see evidence of Italian architecture headed in more evolved directions, the most fascinating aspect is his 2010 run for mayor of Milan.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 7, 2011 | architecture
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On February 4th, 2011, UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA ‘SAPIENZA’ – FACOLTÀ DI ARCHITETTURA…

Sapienza lecture poster

…is the Italian school of architecture – with a building just north of Piazza del Popolo (whose suggestive nature from certain points of view was recently pointed out by my friend John) which I biked down to this warm sunny morning via Passeggiata del Gianicolo (in just 20 minutes!) – where I gave a two and a half hour lecture on my recent thoughts and activities entitled “Cultivating the City and Welcoming the Wild” (you can see the slideshow here) in Italian – which was a special point of pride given my fixation on spoken language skills, attempting to enter into Italian life, culture and society as much as possible, removing linguistic conversational barriers as best as I can, since first living here 20 years ago, when I experienced a revelatory and surprising interest in language beyond the fixed system of grammar and vocabulary, rather the part that is alive (which I now see as presaging later similarly living and social interests such as gardens and wildlife, dance and movement, salons and educational environments), the spoken word, the living tongue, performative communication involving pronunciation, accent, dialect, gesture, slang, figure of speech and infinite subtlety that can not be understood in a strictly academic way – especially fun in a country where much of the communication comes not from what you say but how you say it.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 4, 2011 | lectures
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On February 1st, 2011, GROTTO…

a scene from Grotta del Buontalenti

…or grotta in Italian, following up on yesterday’s thoughts on rustication, is another example of the thrilling primitive architectural underbelly of the Florentine Renaissance – today seen at Grotta del Buontalenti, one of the most famous examples, but sadly without all of the dripping water and cool spongy green-stuff to be found in the really great grottos that get me all worked up (especially the cool moist feeling they offer when descending into them on a hot summer day) and I am thinking that every home should have even a little grotto somewhere as a reminder of, or portal to, some animal/primitive place to visit daily. (wikipedia on grotto)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 1, 2011 | architecture
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On January 31st, 2011, RUSTICATION…

the rusticated plinth of Palazzo Pitti feels less like a wall and more like the face of a cliff ready for all forms of life to move in

…the roughly hewn stonework often used on the lower floors of palazzi as an expression of fortification and solidity – which I recall studying in college classes on Florentine Renaissance architecture – is something I have a new love for today (as I find myself back in Firenze, the city I lived just outside of from 1993-94, and back north again so soon after leaving Bologna 2 days ago, on a quick visit for a lecture at Syracuse University tonight) while walking by Palazzo Pitti (one of the first places I visited in Italy, while on a Eurail pass tour at the age of 20) and getting really excited about the ridiculously massive stone work along the street which gives the impression that the gigantic structure is emerging directly out of the stone beneath your feet while gradually refining as it goes higher and higher – and what I am really loving is the possibility for all of the animals, moss and other plants to take up residence in such a welcoming porous surface. (wikipedia on rustication)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 31, 2011 | architecture
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On January 29th, 2011, BOLOGNESE ARCADES…

an arcade view of a lone bikerider on the quiet morning streets of Bologna

…are the unique pleasures of this city which you can traverse from one side to the other within the sheltering vaults and alongside the rhythm of the columns which are constantly changing style from one arcade to the next – and how super that the most superlative architectural space of city is comprised of almost 40km of continuous semi-enclosed living-room like runways for public ambulation, and what ever else the locals feel like doing there – but it is also worth noting that I see more bikers here than any Italian town I have visited (I actually get strange looks while riding my bike around Rome – but maybe that’s just me?), and I also remember it as being the Italian home of all of the cool-young-scrappy-counter-cultural-hippie-rebels in this town of the oldest university (est. 1088) – but not much sign of them these days.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 29, 2011 | Italy
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On January 23rd, 2011, TWO BIG NAKED MEN WITH LONG FLOWING CAPES…

Castor and Pollux, twin sons of Zues, welcome you to the Piazza del Campidoglio

…greeted me as I was passing through Michelangelo‘s Piazza del Campidoglio this morning – Castor and Pollux, or Dioskouroi, twin cavalieri sons of Zues.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 23, 2011 | art, Rome
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On January 12th, 2011, THE NETHERLANDS ARCHITECTURE INSTITUTE…

unidentified duck species making home in the construction site at the NAI

…in Rotterdam is mostly closed for renovations (at least their bookstore is still open in the form of a trailer out front) with the vast reflecting pool now a muddy construction site, but an attractive duck couple seemed to be making the most of it this afternoon, looking very much at home – or maybe they were confused about what happened to their pond that used to be there? (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 12, 2011 | animals, architecture
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On January 11th, 2011, ROTTERDAM’S KUBUSWONINGEN…

a central courtyard at Rotterdam's Cube Houses , designed by Piet Blom in 1984

…(or Cube Houses) especially the inviting central courtyards (featuring small retail spaces occupied by nail, massage, hair, and waxing salons) which I think were meant to feel like an abstract forest interior – were the highlight of a gloomy Dutch afternoon, where I find myself in town for a few days of meetings about a big exciting upcoming project, but more on that later. (wikipedia page – plus a hostel just opened up in a few of the cubes)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 11, 2011 | architecture
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On December 29th, 2010, PIRAMIDE CESTIA…

Piramide Cestia, or The Pyramid of Cestius

…the ancient burial pyramid of Caius Cestius built circa 8-12BC originally located in the open countryside and later integrated into the expanded Roman fortifications of the Aurelian Walls ensuring is preservation through the ages – is what I was biking around today, taking advantage of the warm sun and blue sky, and what a cool, striking, minimal, monolithic sight – but the best part are all of the now-dormant steep-rocky-slope-loving caper plants making themselves at home in the cracks between the slabs of marble. (wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 29, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On December 22nd, 2010, IL FONTANONE…

Il Fontanone, or 'big fountain'

…is just below me, on Gianicolo hill, with a commanding view of the city, made with stone and marble taken from the ancient Forum of Nerva and granite columns from the original St. Peter’s Basilica, commissioned by Pope Paolo V Borghese (1605-1621), marking the terminus of the Roman aqueduct Acqua Traiana and still receiving it’s water directly from Lake Bracciano 20 miles north.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 22, 2010 | architecture
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On December 11th, 2010, ESPOSIZIONE UNIVERSALE ROMA…

Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana (1938-1943), or the "Colosseo Quadrato" - flanked by equestrian statues (Publio Morbiducci and Alberto de Felci) representing the Greek heros Dioscuri in Carrara marble - and features six arched bays across (Benito) and nine levels (Mussolini) in possible reference to the name of the fascist Italian leader who commissioned it

…or EUR, originally known as E42, the vast development south of Rome initiated by Benito Mussolini in 1935 designed by a collaborative of Italian architects is where we went today in search of some adventures in fascist Roman architecture – which first fascinated me (to the horror of my Italian classmates and teaching assistants) while working on my thesis project for Aldo Rossi at the IUAV from 1990-91 – and today I was struck by how much the buildings reminded me of Aldo Rossi‘s greatest & earliest works such as the Cataldo Cemetery in Modena (1971) and the more relentlessly austere designs of Giorgio Grassi – but today I was left feeling uncomfortable with our ability to have a purely aesthetic experience with architecture generated to promote brutal inhuman activity – but hey, we really love that Colosseum built by slaves where hundreds of thousands died torturous deaths to the cheering of an entertained public.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 11, 2010 | architecture
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On November 17th, 2010, BRACKET ISSUE #1 ‘ON FARMING’…

Bracket #1 'On Farming' published by Actar

…is the premiere issue of the journal published by the Barcelona based architecture imprint Actar which has its release today at the University of Toronto, where I visited over a few cold days in February 2009 joined by Heather Ring, Michael Speaks, Nathalie de Vries, Charles Waldheim, and Mason White to select a few farming related design projects, from hundreds of submissions, for inclusion in this issue – and upon returning to L.A. with some time to reflect on the topic I composed a little essay called ‘The Building that Farms…’ (Bracket website)

Bracket is a new book series structured around an open call for entries that highlights emerging critical issues at the juncture of architecture, environment, and digital culture. It is a collaboration between InfraNet Lab and Archinect. Conceived as an almanac, the series looks at emerging thematics in our global age that are shaping the built environment in radically significant, yet often unexpected ways. On Farming looks at the capacity for architecture to address ideas and issues of productive landscapes and urbanisms. Once merely understood in terms of agriculture, today information, energy, labour, and landscape, among others, can be farmed. Farming harnesses the efficiency of collectivity and community. The issue collects original design projects, installations, and essays which interrogate new typologies, forms, and formats of the built environment. With almost 40 design proposals and 12 essays, On Farming collects emerging designers and thinkers internationally. The Editorial Board includes Fritz Haeg, Maya Przybylski, Heather Ring, Michael Speaks, Nathalie de Vries, Charles Waldheim, and Mason White.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 17, 2010 | books
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On November 14th, 2010, THE BERLINER STADTSCHLOSS…

site of the Berliner Stadtschloss today

…occupied a central position on Berlin’s museum island, and despite much protesting from the West was eventually demolished by the GDR in 1950 after damage from Allied bombings, and today I am looking at the excavations and sprawling lawn on the site, where a reconstruction of the palace will be built after a vote of support by the German Bundestag – just another bit of evidence of the endlessly fraught relations this city has with it’s past, and the complexities of carrying it forward. (more from Wikipedia and the Stadtchloss Berlin Initiative website)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 14, 2010 | travel
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On November 7th, 2010, ANDREA BRANZI AT THE VENICE BIENNALE…

a model of a room of birches by Andrea Branzi at the Venice Biennale

…was really the only highlight for me this year – part of Archizoom, co-founder of the Domus Academy, provocative thinker, writer, philosopher, designer, activist and architect in the broadest sense, and in a way that just does not exist anymore, and perhaps only ever really emerged in Italy during a short post-war golden age of design? (Branzi website)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 7, 2010 | architecture
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On October 20th, 2010, LARGO DEI LIBRARI…

Largo dei Librari

…which always gives me pleasure to pass on my way home – is the cutest piazza in Rome, a tiny space with a forced perspective that leads the eye up to the diminutive facade of S. Barbara e S. Tommaso d’Aquina dei Librai built on the location of the Ancient Roman Theater of Pompey.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 20, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On October 16th, 2010, ‘WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE?’…


a great quote by architect Vittorio Gregotti shown during a conference presentation at the Swiss Institute

….was the title of this weekend’s conference produced by the Depart Foundation at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma – which was of special interest to me since I studied architecture at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia from 1990-91 under Aldo Rossi – whose name was frequently invoked as the last great figure of Italian architecture – but I will be sharing more in depth thoughts on this event and the current state of Italian culture and design for my first post on the Metropolis Magazine blog in the coming days. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 16, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On October 13th, 2010, DONATO BRAMANTE’S TEMPIETTO…

Bramante's Tempietto commissioned by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain for San Pietro in Montorio dates from 1502

…was the highlight of a quick visit a few steps down the hill to our Spanish neighbors at the Real Academia de Espana en Roma for a tour of the academy and San Pietro in Montorio which marks the supposed location of St. Peter’s crucifixion.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 13, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On October 9th, 2010, ADALBERTO LIBERA…

1932 Roman post office by Adalberto Libera on Via Marmorata in Testaccio

…is the Italian Fascist architect (1903 – 1963) who designed the Via Marmolata post office I passed on my evening walk through Testaccio (which is becoming my favorite part of town), and who was also responsible for the great Casa Malparte in Capri which I had the pleasure of visiting on an adventure in my early 20′s. (more info on Libera)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 9, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On September 26th, 2010, PIAZZA SANT’IGNAZIO…

Piazza Sant'Ignazio, looking up

…formed by a Baroque confection of buildings designed by Filippo Raguzzini from 1727-1728, is one of my favorite outdoor spaces in Rome – and my best experiences of it are always unplanned surprises, where I just happen upon it – which is what happened today. (check out this awesome 360 degree view – and more information in 1929′s “The Town Planning Review“)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 26, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On September 17th, 2010, THE VIEW OF VILLA MEDICI…

Villa Medici perched on the South face of the Pincio as seen out my window

…from my studio desk is remarkable – being the dominant structure on the landscape out my Northeast facing windows.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 17, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On August 12th, 2010, HIPPIE LAKE COTTAGE…

hippie wood lake house and gardens

…is what we walk past on our way to Willard Pond, and every time I see it I think that this is how I want to live when I grow up…

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By Fritz Haeg on August 12, 2010 | architecture
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On June 23rd, 2010, JAMES WINES…

Highrise of Homes by SITE (Sculpture in the Environment) and James Wines, 1981

…the great radical ecologically minded architect and artist of SITE has been a hero of mine since I first picked up his books as an architecture obsessed youth at my local public library, and this evening I was actually able to meet and hang out with him as we both participated in the conversation at the Horticulture Society to mark the release of Work AC’s previously mentioned new book “Above the Pavement – the Farm!: Architecture and Agriculture at PF1″ (for which I wrote the opening essay), plus I was also lucky enough to have time with another hero today, lunch with AA Bronson - previously mentioned here.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 23, 2010 | architecture
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On June 21st, 2010, THE SUNDOWN RESIDENCE…

Sundown Residence and Gardens

…is not for rent! Some nice friends will be moving in this summer, and staying for the year, while I am on a Rome Prize Fellowship….

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By Fritz Haeg on June 21, 2010 | home
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On June 19th, BISTROTHEQUE’S ROOFTOP “STUDIO DINING EAST”…

Bistrotheque's Studio East Dining Architecture by Carmody Groarke

…opened a few days ago on a rooftop overlooking the construction site of London’s Olympic Park…

Bistrotheque‘s Studio East Dining, 16 JUNE – 4 JULY 2010,
London’s most amazing rooftop dining experience; Bistrotheque opens a 3 week temporary dining room, and pavilion designed by Carmody Groarke, perched 35m atop Westfield Stratford City’s 1.9 million sq ft site, overlooking the Olympic Stadium and Zaha Hadid’s 2012 Aquatics Center. A fast build with a life span of just 3 weeks, weighing 70 tons, it is constructed from hired materials borrowed from the existing construction site, including: 2000 scaffolding boards, 3500 scaffolding poles, and reclaimed timber, used to create the walls and floors of the 800 square metre dining space. The cladding material which encases the roof, is a semi-translucent membrane, using industrial grade heat retractable polyethylene, all returned to the site afterwards and recycled without any waste.
www.studioeastdining.com

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By Fritz Haeg on June 19, 2010 | architecture, food
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On June 17th, 2010, “CATIOS” OR ANIMAL ESTATES FOR FELIS CATTUS…

Animal Estate for Felis cattus

…are fascinating (as reported in today’s New York TImes), and though I have to admit I am not a huge cat fan, and tend more towards the dog end of the spectrum, these elaborate outdoor constructions almost make me want a cat. (web photos)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 17, 2010 | animals
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On June 3rd, 2010, “ABOVE THE PAVEMENT—THE FARM! : ARCHITECTURE & AGRICULTURE AT PF1″…

the cover of "Above the Pavement—the Farm! : Architecture & Agriculture at PF1" from Princeton Architectural Press

…is the book just out from Princeton Architectural Press (for which I contributed the forward “Above the People: The Meadow, the Vegetable Garden, the Apple Tree, and the Cow!“) by Dan Wood and Amale Andraos of Work AC about their Public Farm installed in the PS1 sculpture courtyard in 2008 – and there will be an event/discussion at The Horticulture Society in New York entitled “The Visionary Reloaded – New Scales of Operation in the Age of Information” on June 23rd at 6:30pm to mark it’s release (and that of the new expanded Edible Estates book) which will include a group that I am very much looking to spending some time with:

Dan Wood and Amale Andraos, WORK Architecture Company

James Wines, SITE

Majora Carter, Sustainable South Bronx;

Adam Michaels, Project Projects

Fritz Haeg, Artist

Moderator: Jeff Gordinier, Details Magazine, “Gen X Saves the World”

(more info at Princeton Architectural Press)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 3, 2010 | books, gardens
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On June 2nd, 2010, THE “MODERN VIEWS” EVENT IN NEW YORK…

my pillow cases that pay tribute to the couples associated with the two great iconic modern homes

…at the Four Seasons is tonight, to officially announce the project for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Farnsworth House and Philip Johnson’s Glass House, and the various pieces contributed by artists and architects, including my embroidered pillowcases that pay tribute to Edith & Ludwig, and David & Philip. (more information on the Glass House website)

Modern Views asks contemporary artists, architects and designers to continue one of the 20th century’s great cultural dialogues – the historic exchange reflected in Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House and Philip Johnson’s Glass House. It is a dialogue about vision and precedent, influence and inspiration, theory and practice, intellect and passion.

Modern Views project leadership invited a global slate of participants to create and donate a drawing, model or other work of art, accompanied by a short statement that captures how these two iconic buildings inspire their work. One hundred architects, artists and designers have contributed work representing some of the greatest thinkers in their respective fields.  The donated work will be published in a book by Assouline and will be exhibited in both Chicago and New York.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 2, 2010 | architecture, art
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On May 2nd, 2010, ANNIE NOVAK’S EAGLE STREET ROOFTOP FARM & A NEW PROJECT BY WORK AC…

loft by Work AC (page 65) and Annie Novak's Eagle Street Rooftop Farm (page 20) in today's T Magazine

…both lovely NYC friends – are featured in today’s New York Times Summer 2010 T  Magazine Design Issue. (Eagle Street Rooftop Farm / Work AC / NYT webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on May 2, 2010 | agriculture
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On March 17th, 2010, 49 CITIES BY AMALE ANDRAOS, DAN WOOD (WORK A.C.)…

The cover of "49 Cities," project by Amale Andraos, Dan Wood, Yasmin Vobis, Michael Alexander, Hilary Zaic, Jose Esparza, Anne Menke, Sam Dufaux, Jenny Lie Andersen, Alexander Maymind, Willem Boning

…Yasmin Vobis, Michael Alexander, Hilary Zaic, Jose Esparza, Anne Menke, Sam Dufaux, Jenny Lie Andersen, Alexander Maymind, and Willem Boning is a super survey of fantastical unrealized city plans – 49 of them – depicted graphically in such a way that they begin to have a conversation, and there will be a book launch event for the second edition tomorrow at 7pm at Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York…

What links Wright and Le Corbusier with the Spanish Conquistadors and Archizoom? + Is a city really a tree after all? Can it be a mound of dirt? Or should it really be a 200-story floating pyramid? + What city form has been used throughout history in response to foreign invasions and warfare? + Did Buckminster Fuller and Cedric Price really “do” density better than Paolo Soleri? + Who was bold enough, or perhaps megalomaniacal enough, to propose a new city for 10 million people in the middle of a bay? + Was suburbia actually invented to limit damages during a nuclear attack? + How can 6 million people be completely engaged in “efficient consumption”? + Which architect proposed a city composed of 100% greenspace? + How many apartments can be built in a building stretching from Baltimore to Washington? + Can a city shaped like an amoeba really combat urban chaos? + Which imaginary cities can best be used as a model for the ecological city of the future?

49 Cities sets out to crunch the numbers of several centuries of unrealized urbanism, all the way from the Roman city to the great utopian projects of the 20th century. Through plans, sections, diagrams, charts and scale drawings, 49 cities are observed statistically and presented in an unprecedented comparative study, the result of a research project conducted over several years.

(order the book from the Storefront Bookstore, or visit the Work AC website for more info)

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By Fritz Haeg on March 17, 2010 | books, cities
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On February 17th, 2010, GUGGENHEIM GAY PARADE DOWN RAINBOW PAINTED RAMPS…

"Guggenheim Gay Parade Down Rainbow Painted Ramps" for the museum exhibition Contemplating the Void

…is my proposal on view in the Contemplating the Void show that opens at the Guggenheim Museum today. (webpage of other proposals)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 17, 2010 | art
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On February 3rd, 2010, THE BROOKLYN EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD

Work AC illustration of P.S. 216 Edible Schoolyard in Brooklyn during fall harvest

…planned for P.S. 216 by Work AC is featured in a story today in Metropolis Magazine’s website including an interview with architects Amale Andaos and Dan Wood.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 3, 2010 | architecture
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On January 26th, 2010, THE BERNARDI RESIDENCE…

Cover of Architektur & Wohnen magazine, January 2010, featuring the Bernardi Residence.

…is on the cover of this months German magazine Architektur & Wohnen which I am surprised to receive in the mail today, since I didn’t know anything about it – and this coming after almost six years since I first started work on the design in March 2004. (project page / magazine)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 26, 2010 | architecture
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