“Ferris, he never drives it! He just rubs it with a diaper!”

Normally, I really hate it when people post IM conversations on blogs, but this exchange I had with my mom the other day was too awesome to ignore:

3:09 PM mom: so if you have a couple of mil lying around you can buy the highlands park house that was in ferris bueller’s day off. http://www.cinemaspy.com/article.php?id=2466

me: i saw that!

it’s a pretty neat place

3:13 PM mom: just thought i’d check with you to see if you’d be interested

me: haha you gonna pick it up for me, an early christmas present?

mom: right

 

She was of course referencing Cameron’s house from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (which, really, if you had to follow that link to figure out what movie I’m talking about, I’m very disappointed). The two steel and glass buildings cantilever over the ravine, with views of the surrounding woods.  Unfortunately, at $2.3 million, I will not be relocating anytime soon. Unless, of course, my mom follows through and gives it to me for Christmas. Fingers crossed!

because apparently I like children’s books

The Modern Architecture Pop-Up Book showcases three-dimensional replications of some of the most innovative modern and contemporary architecture from around the world. This is a legitimately really cool book to play with, but what a good idea – reintroduce the three-dimensional qualities necessary to understand architecture into an innately 2D media. Love it! This is totally something I would get for my destined-to-be-giant-nerds children.

White House Redux

Storefront for Art and Architecture asks: What if the White House, the ultimate architectural symbol of political power, were to be designed today? In 1792, a competition was held to design the President’s residence (thanks Prof. Brownlee!) and on the eve a the election for the 44th President, Storefront challenged modern-day designers to create a new presidential residence. Much to their surprise, of the 450 entries, only a few of them were actual architectural drawings…most explored the question in a conceptual and abstract way.

The 1st place winner, Revenge of the Lawn, was 12 scripts made to act like “snapshots of an Architectural Album”. 12 Cautionary Tales for a New World Order was 2nd place, and is an homage to the architecture firm Superstudio.  Within the book are 12 different visions of what the White House could be, given a multitude of cultural/economic/environmental shifts.

Those winners were chosen by a jury, but there’s an online popular vote winner too. Under Projects on their website is a list of projects that were shortlisted by the Jury. You can vote for any project that you think addresses the Call for Ideas, and on November 3rd, 2008 the winner will get the prize money raised from the site. Democratic process at it’s best!

Frank Lloyd Wright was a Maverick

(sorry, after the VP debates last night everything seems “maverick” to me today)

This has been written about on a few different design blogs lately, and I finally had time to sit down and watch the 1957 Frank Lloyd Wright interview with Mike Wallace. In the two-part interview, America’s Most Famous Architect talks about “religion, war, mercy killing, art, critics, his mile-high skyscraper, America’s youth, sex, morality, politics, nature, and death.” Watch for veteran reporter Mike Wallace as a young man grapple with Wright’s eccectric mannerisms and devil-may-care approach to his perception by the public.  Sometimes I forget just how badass FLW really was. “America’s foremost social rebel” indeed!

That’s So Fresh!: A Mobile Chinatown

That’s So Fresh! is San Frooklyn’s mocking highlight of something that some poor confused soul deemed a groundbreaking idea (read:”fresh!”), but in reality is just…stupid.

Beijing-based architects MAD have designed a conceptual, star-shaped, mobile Chinatown.  In attempts to mate the Fortress of Solitude with the Death Star, apparently. ←and yes, I am aware I just out-geeked myself there

From MAD:

Superstar: A Mobile China Town is MAD’s response to the redundant and increasingly out-of-date nature of the contemporary Chinatown. Rather than a sloppy patchwork of poor construction and nostalgia, the Superstar is a fully integrated, coherent, and above all modern upgrade of the 20th century Chinatown model. It’s a place to enjoy, to consume Chinese food, quality goods and cultural events; it’s a place to create and to produce, where citizens can use workshops to study, design and realize their ideas.

Part city, part inter-stellar battle station. No. No no no no NO.

(via Dezeen)

THAT’S SUSTAINABLE!: The Bad News about Green Architecture

THAT’S SUSTAINABLE! is San Frooklyn’s report on society’s current obsession with all things “green”…a highlight of those doing it right, and a call-out of those who are doing it for all the wrong reasons.

Ok, before you rail on me for hating the planet, I think we can all agree that the term “green” has way over-saturated our culture, and the driving desire to be “sustainable” has tainted the goal of the movement. Case-in-point: at Peet’s yesterday morning, this woman in front of me orders an iced coffee…and asks for it in a paper hot-drink cup instead of the plastic cold-drink cups. When the guy behind the counter curiously asked why, her (beyond unnessarily snotty) friend barked “because it’s better for the environment!”. They then left the store, which is on an active pedestrian and transit-accessible main street….to get into their SUV. Seriously? Stop yelling at coffee shop servers and take a bus, woman!

Anyway, a new article in the upcoming issue of Newsweek highlights this exact conundrum with regard to architecture.

Keep reading for more, including the impending awesomeness that is the California Academy of Sciences, seen at left)

Dreamland: Architectural Experiments since the 1970s

Are you in NYC? Go to MoMA. Right now. It’s Friday, leave work early and go see this exhibit.

“The 1970s saw an explosion of architectural thought and experimentation—with the city, and New York especially, becoming a screen for the projection of architectural fantasies and utopias. The installation includes documentation of the real projects that resulted from these innovative ideas and experiments, including such traditional building types as single-family houses and skyscrapers.”

And then come back and tell me how it was.

the house that Google built

It’s no secret that Lauren and I have a mission to get into the GooglePlex someday. And I’m willing to bet that we’re not the only ones curious enough about the master complex to dream up elaborate schemes for busting in. It’s not because we’re looking to steal any top Googley secrets or anything, but because the whole place is supposed to be an insane playground with clubhouses and glass-box conference rooms and tents for phonecalls…all designed by Clive Wilkinson.

Now the Google-plex master himself has designed his own home, and I’m equally jealous. Asking himself repeatedly through the design process, “How simple can you do it?” and “Do I need it?”, the space is constructed of three boxes stacked around a pool and social space. Mixing traditional materials with high technology, his house is clean and personal…and always social. (source)

Keep reading for more photos