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Extended Townscape Residences / T2P Architects Office

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Lead Architects : Tomonori Miura, Shikwan Yang, Tatsuhito Ono

Text description provided by the architects. In the town of Nishinari-ku, Osaka, where old row houses (Nagaya) remain despite the town undergoing renewal, we propose a new type of accommodation that we named Shared Residence.

It will combine separate units that ensure privacy, with shared spaces that encourage exchange and dialogue between residents. Some of those spaces will be open to neighbors as well.

In a town where large and small buildings are intermingled, we aim for an appearance that blends in with the town by making effective use of the land.

Shared residence is a high-density, low-rise building, with a combination of small architectural units that melt the imposing volume seamlessly to fit the micro-scale of its old neighborhood.

Original post:
Extended Townscape Residences / T2P Architects Office - ArchDaily

To play through Elden Ring is to take on a grave and foolish challenge. It took 135 hours of my life to finish the admired action role-playing video game directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki with narrative content from Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. I didnt beat it just for the bragging rights, but for the architecture community to learn about the vanguard of immersive digital space. At first, it doesnt sound like a game many would enjoy: you are a wretched creature with little aptitude who must work your way through an immense open world filled with horrifying monsters, all without respite. There are few directions, hints, or clues as to what to do, how to learn powers, where to find safety, or how to gain levels. If that wasnt enough, you are famously maidenless. Elden Rings environment fits Hobbes description of life before the social contract better than anything else Ive endured; a world famously illustrated as solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. And yet, it has outsold popular titles like Call of Duty and is a lock for Game of the Year in 2022. So how could this torment be so well received?

For one, it has a complex and rewarding combat system with a large variety of gameplay mechanics to engage. But more importantly, there is a tone to it which doesnt adhere to contemporary gamings tendency to constantly barrage the player with incomplete tasks and alerts. Instead, Elden Ring presents an environment of indifference. This allows the landscape itself to take over, and the landscape is gorgeousfilled to the brim with architecture that is beyond dope.

Elden Ring is an open world game presented as a struggle for space and territory. As with other video games Ive reviewed for AN, such as Control, the environment can be thought of as the main protagonist, a protagonist which defies our understanding of the real-world. The demands on architecture here shift to include three things in particular: The ability to project itself as a symbol, create meaningful relationships with the surrounding ecology, and be organized in a self-referential way that affords discovery and exploration. We can see how this functions in three of the games built environments: Shacks, Elphael, and Raya Lucaria Academy.

The humble shack provides a morsel of solace from the barbarous wilds. Unlike most of the games architecture, no matter where it is in the worlda sweltering bog in Caelid, a frozen river near Castle Sol, or on a windy cliffside in Limgraveeach shack is approximately the same. It is a simple stone box with a large crumbling hole on one side completed by a poorly crafted wooden structure grafted into it and an even smaller dont talk to me or my son ever again shed on the side. When a 3D model is used repeatedly in digital space it is referred to as a reused asset, establishing a theoretical relationship between asset design and architectures preference to typology rather than direct programs. This allows the player to read the architecture, which signals safety amid a distressed environment. Architecture, or digital buildings, provide a more refined symbolic alternative to the otherwise cantankerous whizzing and blinking navigational tools typically encountered in digital space.

Dilapidation is not limited to the shacks. All buildings in Elden Ring show devastation, age, or an otherwise planned relationship to their particular ecologies whether economic, natural, or political. Fort Faroth is near a fetid swamp with steaming toxic gas, but set up high and dry, far from the poison below. What of Leyndell, the city holding the seat of power in an oppressive and remorseless world? It is filled with detail, shimmering gold, and so outrageously scaled it could be a graduate project from the mid-19th century Ecole des Beaux Arts. You can imagine each of these areas as simple storytelling, or you can open the case for immersive digital architectures particular need to master a relationship with an environment. It helps ground the place when it is obvious time has passed in the context surrounding it so that it is natural, reciprocal, and alive.

Elphael, an entire city built within the root system of a massive tree called the Haligtree, is an example of this kind of success. You begin the area alone, thousands of feet in the air along gargantuan branches spotted with rust-colored fungi. Through the limbs you move, jumping dangerously from one to the other, while the misty horizon of the ground below stretches as far as the eye can see. As you progress along the massive bifurcating limbs, you are confronted by enemies, including giant ants which made me feel like I was in Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Closer to the trunk, there are branches and roots intertwined through an ornately decorated set of warm, glowing, Rivendellesque buildings forming a treacherous path to the center of the rootstock.

At the center of the Haligtree is a noticeably cool, mossy space shot through with beams of sunlight which find their way to your armor through creases in the walls made of giant bent roots. Fungus spores in the room float through the light to form a surreal and synergistic site for the adventures most difficult boss fight: Malenia. She is a terrifying and powerful warrior who eventually sprouts wings that infect her prey with scarlet rot, confirming her as the source of the mycelium infection that plagues the entire tree. The fight synergizes space, place, character, and architecture to create a truly exemplary boss chamber. The Haligtree roots enrich the narrative quest storyline and the complex origins of Malenia herself, the details of which I shall spare in case you, dear reader, fancy a go.

Digitally immersive environments are well suited to urbanism that rewards exploration. The Academy of Raya Lucaria is a treacherous and dense city of interwoven libraries and churches filled with magical scholarly foes. The dramatic verticality and inter-relationships between spaces remind me of exploring lAbbaye du Mont Saint-Michel. These relationships help to steer through an environment with little to no navigational aid. I was constantly peeking in and out of windows and through damaged walls to catch a glimpse of the adjacent spaces, recognizable only if I consider them from my new angle. This navigational architecture is typical of Souls games, with the cheeky final result often being that you end up making your way back to where you started.

If you consider the entire games environment a single architectural experience, Crumbling Farum Azula is the final crescendo. This is the end of the world. It is a collapsing architectural space remarkably held together by wind, lighting, and gravity. There are untold dangers and resplendent treasure swirling around big chunks of ancient construction whose meaning and purpose are lost to time. The mystery of the place is deep, and the environment reflects that mystery. Under, over, and around one must climb seemingly without a directional path or goal. The game even requires a player to jump off a cliff onto the edge of fragmented pediments just to keep going. Crumbling Farum Azula combines all of the successful qualities of space weve discussed so far into a complete package that is arresting, bewitching, and without equal.

While it is a single-player game, Elden Ring connects you with other players. Bloodstains on the ground activate a ghostly window into another players game, playing you a clip of that persons demise which can serve as a warning. White glowing stones reveal small notes left by other players, offering clues to aid the journey: Beware of left or, Hidden path ahead. Some include crass community inside jokes, like a Try Jumping note left along the edge of a steep cliff, or the infamous Try fingers but hole notes left nearby characters who are bending over.

This is the most important aspect of the game: while Elden Ring is a single-player game it is a collective spatial experience. There are hundreds of forums, websites, streams, and videos to catalog and customize your specific journey, share in the success of others, and uncover hidden secrets. This masterpiece of digital architecture provides a solid answer to a burning question of contemporary design: What digital space will people choose to occupy? Currently, multiple Metaverses and online sociocultural 3D environments are formed with the goal of coercing microtransactions, further surveilling social life, or mining personal data. Companies like Meta (Facebook) are sinking a billion dollars a month to keep the investment alive. Instead of reconstructing our current worlds awful shopping malls, tennis courts, or, heaven forbid, Walmart, Elden Ring asks us to explore, engage our imagination, and to take our time doing so. We dont just want escape, we want to remind ourselves that new worlds are possible.

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Elden Ring has a lot to teach architects about immersive digital space - The Architect's Newspaper

CLEVELAND, Ohio After a two-year hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Sand Fest sand castle and sculpture competition sponsored by the Cleveland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects is returning to Edgewater Beach.

On Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., competing teams from local architecture and engineering firms will dig in, so to speak, at the citys premier lakefront park, 7600 Cleveland Memorial Shoreway.

In addition to professional contestants, Sand Fest this year includes a community sand pile, supported by Near West Family Network, that will be open to sand castle builders of all ages and abilities.

Beachgoers are invited to oversee the works in progress. Food trucks provided by Swensons, Barrio, and Cleveland Acai will provide food and refreshments.

The event aims to raise money for the ACE Mentor Program, which stands for Architecture Construction Engineering, and which provides educational and mentorship opportunities for Cleveland Metropolitan School District high school students, and college scholarships. Sand Fest raised nearly $8,000 for the program in 2019, according to a media release.

Sand Fest is supported this year by Independence Excavating, along with Sunbelt Rentals, the nonprofit Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Turner Construction, Kalwall Corporation, Stantec Architecture, Ubiquitous Design, Bowen, GPD Group, AECOM, Cleveland Metroparks, and others, the release said.

The event includes a day-long volleyball tournament involving 14 teams monitored by professional referees.

The sand castle competition will be judged by a panel that includes Ward 15 Councilwoman Jenny Spencer, and a surprise guest from the Cleveland Cavaliers. All teams are eligible to win a peoples choice award, known as Best of the Beach.

See the article here:
Sand Castle competition organized by American Institute of Architects Cleveland chapter returns Saturday to - cleveland.com

anchorGOLD AWARD Commercial/Industrial winner: mehr* architekten's Brewery Hall Kirchheim unter Teck. Photo: Sebastian Schels

This years best architects 23 competition has announced its annual list of winning projects that have distinguished themselves for their abundant creativity and unconventional solutions to real-world challenges felt by practitioners worldwide.

A total of 71 European (and one Asian) projects made the list, with another 8 being named to the gold category. With such a variety of approaches, it was difficult to discern a dominant design trend, the jury noted. The winning projects stand out not so much for their style but rather for the strategical considerations and relish in experimentation they express.

A publication featuring each winning design will be released in early fall.

The period we are living in is one of questions and interrogations, juror Daniel Zamarbide said in a statement. Many of the pillars that we have taken too much for granted and have constructed in society seem to be tumbling down, even falling apart. These pillars that are collapsing are potentially a good metaphor for what goes on in the architectural milieu. We might not need those pillars anymore. Or we might like to work with other ones, more fragile, less imposing, less patriarchal.

This is the awards sixteenth edition overall as well as the seventh since it was expanded to include non-German-speaking countries in 2015. The next cycle begins again in January 2023. Scroll down to see a selection of the winning designs.

GOLD AWARD Residential Multi-family winner: Jaeger Koechlin's Coming Going and Staying. Photo: Roman Keller.

Residential Multi-family

GOLD AWARD

Jaeger Koechlin - Coming Going and Staying - Basel, CH

Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin Architekten - Narzissenstrasse apartment house - Zurich, CH

GOLD AWARD Residential Multi-family winner: Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin Architekten's Narzissenstrasse apartment house. Photo: Roland Bernath.

AWARD

Phillipe Meyer - Habitation collective -Genf-Vernier, CH

Schoch Tavli Architekten - Villa Rose apartments -Hauptwil, CH

Michael Meier und Marius Hug Architekten - House on Belt Walk - Zurich, CH

Pool Architekten - Eggbhl-Areal - Zurich, CH

LIN.ROBBE.SEILER -La Gradelle housing - Cologny, CH

Ltolf und Scheuner Architekten - Schweighofpark AG apartment house, Schweighof - Kriens, CH

Ltolf und Scheuner Architekten -St. Anna Foundation apartment houses, Schweighof -Kriens, CH

Fruehauf, Henry & Viladoms - Boveresses Housing -Lausanne, CH

Haefeli Architekten - Fischer multi-family house -Dttingen, CH

Hurst Song - Apartment building in Untervaz -Untervaz, CH

DF_DC - Via Carona 6 -Paradiso, CH

Burkard Meyer Architekten - BreTower, Ostermundigen - Bern, CH

Bayer & Strobel Architekten - KURT 2.0 social housing in Wolfsburg -Wolfsburg, DE

Anne Hangebruch Mark Ammann Architekten - A townhouse in Lbecks founding quarter -Lbeck, DE

AWARD Residential Single-family winner: Camps Felip ARQUITECTURIA's HO16. Photo: Jose Hevia

Residential Single-family

AWARD

Lionel Ballmer Architects - Small House - Haute-Nendaz, CH

Marte.Marte Architekten - House of Chambers -Feldkirch, AT

Inches Geleta - Zanini Porta House -Locarno, CH

LP architektur - Herzgsell single-family house -Altenmarkt, AT

9graden architectuur - House Lichtenberg -Amersfoort, NL

Camps Felip ARQUITECTURIA - HO16 - Girona, ES

D+S Heim Architetti - casa H -Tegna, CH

Giuliani Hoenger Architekten - Surber-Burri-residence -Regensberg, CH

ROBERT MAIER ARCHITEKTEN - Black Trinity - Gauting, DE

schi.ke architektur - House for M -Landquart, CH

Pedevilla Architects - House G -Gossensa, IT

Montemurro Aguiar Architetti - Casa in collina - Comano, CH

Uli Mayer Urs Huessy Architekten - Gapont - Triesen, LI

Schneider & Schneider Architekten - Split-Level Homes Aarau - Aarau, CH

GOLD AWARD Education Buildings winner: Roman Sigrist Architektur's Trachslau schoolhouse. Photo: Gauch & Schwartz.

Education Buildings

GOLD AWARD

Roman Sigrist Architektur - Trachslau schoolhouse - Trachslau, CH

AWARD Education Buildings winner: SPREEN ARCHITEKTEN's Ulm University of Applied Sciences. Photo: Imanuel Schnabel

AWARD

Reichel Schlaier Architekten - Daycare centre Jgerhalde - Stuttgart, DE

Wulf Architekten - Canteen and media centre, Darmstadt - Darmstadt, DE

V-architekten - Zweiburgenschule Weinheim - Weinheim, DE

SPREEN ARCHITEKTEN - Ulm University of Applied Sciences - Ulm, DE

PSA Pfletscher und Steffan-Architekten - Sports hall at the Edelweiss barracks Mittenwald - Mittenwald, DE

Hermansson Hiller Lundberg Arkitekter - Sporrsmeden Preschool - Markaryd, SE

Hermansson Hiller Lundberg Arkitekter - Eldstaden Preschool -Falkenberg, SE

Burkard Meyer Architekten - Kerenzerberg Sports Centre, Filzbach -Filzbach, CH

GOLD AWARD Public Buildings winner: Carlana Mezzalira Pentimalli's Public Library of Bressanone. Photo: Marco Cappelletti

Public Buildings

GOLD AWARD

Carlana Mezzalira Pentimalli - Public Library of Bressanone - Bressanone, IT

Rapin Saiz Architectes - Clos Bercher psychosocial care centre -Bercher, CH

AWARD

Atelier Pulver Architectes - Nautical Center - Nant, CH

Atelier ST - Goettingen Art Gallery - Gttingen, DE

Brckner & Brckner Architekten - Living memory | New town archive in Oberviechtach - Oberviechtach, DEWaadt

Hermansson Hiller Lundberg Arkitekter - Roedeby Care Home - Karlskrona, SE

Schoch Tavli Architekten- Holdergarten care home -Obersommeri, CH

Soppelsa Architekten - Dual gymnasium Oberrueti - Oberrti, CH

Steimle Architekten - Bauhaus UNESCO World Heritage Visitor Centre Bernau -Stuttgart, DE

Wolff Obrist architectes - La Sylvabelle Psychiatric Nursing Home - Waadt, CH

GOLD AWARD Public Buildings winner: Rapin Saiz Architectes' Clos Bercher psychosocial care centre. Photo: Jol Tettamanti

Other Buildings

AWARD

DEMOGO studio di architettura - Bivouac Fanton - Forcella Marmarole, IT

Sturm und Wartzeck - National Park Centre Ruhestein Black Forest - Ruhestein pass, DE

AWARD Public Buildings winner: Steimle Architekten's Bauhaus UNESCO World Heritage Visitor Centre Bernau. Photo: Brigida Gonzlez

Infrastructure Buildings

AWARD

BAYER STROBEL ARCHITEKTEN - Fire and rescue station Wiesbaden-Igstadt - Wiesbaden-Igstadt, DE

MAK architecture - CAD-Orbe - Orbe, CH

mohr architekten - Neulengbach Stadt stop -Neulengbach Stadt, AT

AWARD Commercial/Industrial Buildings winner: G8A Architects and Rollimarchini Architekten's Tropical factory Saigon. Photo: Oki Hiroyuki

Commercial/Industrial Buildings

GOLD AWARD

mehr* architekten - Brewery Hall Kirchheim unter Teck -Kirchheim unter Teck, DE

AWARD

Johannes Kaufmann und Partner Carpentry - Kaufmann -Reuthe, AT

Ludloff Ludloff Architekten - ophelis exhibition hall -Bad Schnborn, DE

G8A Architects and Rollimarchini Architekten - Tropical factory Saigon - Saigon, VN

GOLD Award 's Office/Administrative Buildings winner: jessenvollenweider's Office for Environment and Energy, Basel. Photo: Philip Heckhausen

Office/Administrative Buildings

GOLD AWARD

jessenvollenweider - Office for Environment and Energy, Basel - Basel, CH

AWARD

LIN.ROBBE.SEILER - The Global Fund Headquarter, Geneva - Geneva, CH

Schulz und Schulz - DBFZ German Biomass Research Centre - Leipzig, DE

GOLD AWARD Renovation and Addition winner: Residential and commercial building Neustadtstrasse, Lucerne. Photo: Ariel Huber

Renovation and Addition

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Take a look at the 71 new projects named 'best architects 23' award winners - Archinect

The 123-room Ace Hotel has opened in Toronto, designed by acclaimed Canadian practice Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, recipients of the 2021 RAIC Gold Medal. Located in the citys Garment District, the hotel adopts what the team calls a robust, solid architecture with a material palette including brick, concrete, steel, and oak.

The 14-story buildings exterior is clad in red brick a statement of resistance against recent thin and glassy developments in the area, according to the team The main entrance is marked by a sweeping undercroft detailed in brick, concrete, copper, and wood, while oversized glass windows bring views and natural light into the interior.

Inside, the lobby features a series of poured-in-place, steel-edged concrete structural arches. Each frame terminates with an oversized industrial steel knuckle that transfers the load of the floors above from the arches to the foundations. Up close, the arches retain a textural timber grain created by the wood formwork used to pour the arches. From this structure, slender steel rods are hung to support the floating red oak-lined spaces that form the lobby.

Intended to feel as if it were slipped into an existing structure, blurring the sensation of time, the lobbys suspension creates the sensation of levity within the massive, muscular space, the team says. The lobby flooring is end grain Douglas fir, a nod to industrial fabrication that is echoed above in the guest suites entrance vestibule flooring.

Perhaps the most striking space within the entrance area is the Lobby Bar. Nestled between the concrete arches, the bars floorplate is suspended off the ground and hung from the arches by steel rods; a condition the team likens to a wooden tray. The bar is furnished in white glazed brick, complimented by red oak, bespoke opaque plexiglass lighting by Shim-Sutcliffe, and vintage furniture.

The hotels 123 guest rooms have been designed to evoke the comforting pleasures of a wilderness cabin retreat using local materials such as canvas, wood benches, Douglas fir paneling and flooring, and custom, vintage furnishings. The threshold between the wilderness and the city is broken by the rooms window benches. Designed by Atelier Ace and Shim-Sutcliffe, the window seats create nook-like spaces typical of wilderness cabins but with views towards busy urban and green spaces.

Other spaces within the hotel include Alder, a restaurant on the ground floor whose half-buried location under the lobby creates a collection of triple-height and single-height spaces. Dining areas are inserted between the grounding of the hotels dominant concrete arches, contrasted by a warm material palette of brick, copper, and black wood.

Elsewhere, light, open, expansive event spaces on the upper levels form a counterpoint to the low-lit, intimate spaces on the ground floor. Such event spaces include FORM, a 1,500-square-foot private space perched above the lobby, and FLOW, a 500-square-foot gathering space featuring a Japanese garden-inspired outdoor terrace.

The scheme is topped by a rooftop bar featuring indoor and outdoor lounges anchored by two massive brick fireplaces. Designed by Atelier Ace, the bar prioritizes warm interior design elements, including earthly shades of mossy green and terracotta, while the outdoor deck faces westwards to capture views of Torontos skyline.

"The architectural magnificence of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects work has created a bona fide wonder," remarked ACE Hotel Group CEO Brad Wilson on the hotels opening. "They have built an inherently civic space that respects the neighborhoods storied past while nurturing its future."

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Inside the 'robust' new Ace Hotel Toronto by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects - Archinect

Introducing automation into your organization extends well beyond a binary decision it is a journey. At Fluency, we believe that a dedicated role, an Advertising Architect, is crucial to managing the initial journey, and refining the overarching possibilities thereafter.

The digital advertising world has gone through a tremendous shift over the last few years. The number of available platforms has grown. The amount of data and customization to leverage has expanded. Meanwhile, consumer behaviors are changing far faster than anyone can make reasonable predictions about.

For most in this industry, it seems like the technology is now starting to outpace the traditional agency structure. For a time it seemed like the solution was just to simply start hiring though look at any job board today, and you get the sense that there are more open positions out there than people looking for them.

The answer, at least the way we see it here at Fluency, isnt about hiring its about ensuring your organization is identifying and realizing new operational efficiencies, while your existing talent is upskilled to do the things they are good at. That is why you hired them, right?

At Fluency we believe that embracing Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a crucial strategic mechanism as you push to evolve your organization into the future. From exploring new data sets and connections, to updating existing business processes, and again, upskilling your people the potential benefits cascade across a great deal of your organization. For example, an account managers talents cant really shine if theyre stuck moving things around in a spreadsheet or babysitting ad spend in a campaign manager all day.

Automation, however, is not a plug-and-play solution. Introducing automation into an organization works best when theres someone whos responsible for that transition. Someone who not only intimately knows what automation can do, but also knows what automation can do for that specific company. At Fluency, we call this person an Advertising Architect.

What does an Advertising Architect do? First, they talk to decision-makers at every level from the associates all the way up to the CEO to gain a holistic understanding of the organizational strategy, operational goals, processes, and underlying pain points. This helps the Advertising Architect develop an approach that impacts the business from the top level, and driving efficiencies through to benefit everyone, not only those focused on digital advertising.

With that full-stack understanding of how their organization works, and how automation should work for them, the Advertising Architect then shifts to managing their companys automation journey. That means working closely with teams to help them better utilize the time that automation has given back to them, recognize what their true human strengths are and help drive bigger conversations around not just organizational efficiency but also ones of purpose and mission.

It sounds high-minded, but heres what it could look like in practice. The Advertising Architect first engages the CEO to familiarize themselves with the strategic vision of the company as it relates to products, go-to-market strategy, competitive differentiation, data resources, and other crucial elements. From there, the Ad Architect begins to stitch together a vision that can now connect all of the disparate parts of the organization (ad ops, operations, finance, business units etc.) on the back of automation. Next, they sit down with the COO and CFO to strategize around operational efficiencies and how certain actions will support overall profitability. Further on down the line, the Advertising Architect works with the digital advertising managers and strategists to develop ways in which automation can transform employee capacity and reshape the dynamics of work-life balance. The ecosystem quickly becomes interconnected and supported by a unified Strategy, People, and Technology.

Using Fluencys RPA software, the Advertising Architect automates away the busywork around things like budget management and insertion orders, and suddenly account managers now have anywhere between 7 to 15 hours of extra time every week. So whats the best use of all that extra human capacity?

Maybe you want to differentiate your agency by enabling your account managers to take that time and put it back into more collaboration with their clients. Perhaps you could use this opportunity to rapidly scale your business and take on more clients,confident in the knowledge that with automation, new accounts wont require a big increase in headcount. Another option? You recognize that the true competitive edge in todays market is the ability to empower and retain your existing talentand so you entrust your account managers to decide how best to take advantage of their new bandwidth.

This is the transformative power of automation when managed by an Advertising Architect. Its not just removing the busywork, but getting your organization to the place where you can have meaningful high-level discussions about the best ways to use your time and talents.

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Sponsored post: Why your digital strategy needs an 'Advertising Architect' - TechCrunch

One of the many facets that has made the Dallas Museum of Arts Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity a blockbuster show is the exhibition design. At times its austere and ruminative, and then one turns a corner and enters an immersive gem world, courtesy of towering, super-high-resolution digital video screens. The interdisciplinary architecture and design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfrois responsible for the staging and video elements. The high-tech presentation heightens the curation of art and jewelry to be truly awe-inspiring.

Culture is intertwined with DS+R. The legendary firm has helmed the construction of art institutions such as the Broad and the Shed, and was behind the revitalization of New Yorks High Line, amongst many other projects that have in recent times reshaped cities and the art world. The DMAs senior curator of decorative art and design, Sarah Schleuning, worked closely with DS+R (the exhibit opened in May and runs through September 18). She was impressed with her collaborators.

Their goal was always about the object and getting people to look closer, she said. What they added was always in service of the narrative. The video components are particularly compelling. The exhibit is anchored by four rooms, each devoted to a solo magnificent Cartier piece flanked by behemoth 14-foot screens. Animated video of the jewelry zooms in, out, and around, giving attendees a look into the intricate universe hidden within.

The objective is to both look at carefully and to reflect on the artifact, said Elizabeth Diller, a partner in the namesake firm. Our main goal is not to override and supersede the artifact, but to have a dialogue. We chatted with Diller about her work on the run-up to the shows finale.

How did you first become involved with Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity?

Weve had a long relationship with the Fondation Cartier in Paris, and weve done five installations in their galleries over the last 20 years. This came about out of our knowledge of each other and as a competition for the design of this exhibition in two locations. It would start at the Muse des Arts Decoratifs in Paris and then it would go to the Dallas Museum of Art. We had to imagine a cohesive structure and spatial narrative for both sites, which are radically different.

Islamic influences and perfection coalesce. Courtesy of Cartier.

I was unaware of Cartiers connections with Islamic art, how the founders grandson Louis was so inspired by the European exhibitions highlighting it. It affected not only his collecting but also shaped the houses designs. Were you familiar with these overlaps?

I always think that when Im learning something from scratch, it actually brings out the best work, because theres a big investment in thinking in a fresh way about something. I didnt really know about the history of Cartier and its associations with Islamic art. It was illuminating and there were no preconceptions coming in, so it felt very fresh.

Tell me about your approach.

The first point of inspiration was not only the content of the show and the curatorial narrative, but also the challenge of dealing with small artifacts in a gigantic space. This sort of mismatch led to the anatomy of the showplaying with extreme changes of scale between the jewelry and its smallness on the human body and the gigantic space. The jewelry in and of itself would just be lost in the space, so we created these very large-scale video analyses of the pieces that would engage the public in a way that was really engaging to us as architects. The relationship between the parts and the mechanisms, its like theyre little machines to be worn. It was fascinating to understand the detail and the connections, to be able to take the components and put them back together again in a way that was engaging and not overly nerdy.

Typically in an exhibition of artifacts, videos tend to be didactic in a bad way. Our hope was to produce these moments of exhale in this extraordinarily dense show to allow the public to see something at a different scale, so that they could actually look even more closely at the artifacts.

The videos by DS+R really unlock the fact that the exhibit isnt just exploring jewelry and the decorative arts, but also science and technology.

Thats an interesting point. We didnt get so much into the gems and the geological aspects, but we did get intoand this is very pertinent to the Islamic influenceabstraction, geometry, and the mathematical. The moment it goes from a drawing on paper to artifact, connections need to be made to conform to the human body and to drape, to respond to gravity. So, to get from geometry to jewelry, theres an aesthetic design component thats very technical. You miss all of that when you simply look at the beautiful necklace on someone, you know?

DS+R partner Elizabeth Diller. Photo: Geordie Wood, courtesy of DS+R.

Its interesting that you were drawn to the hidden and whats behind these jewelry pieces. I think most people would gravitate to the giant gems.

Those videos go from abstraction, from the pattern to the drawing of the piece into the materialization of it, and then take it apart anatomically, like you would a human body in terms of its systems, and then put it back together. Observing at a very large scale, you understand the incredible craftsmanship and the analytics that it took. I dont know how they did it. Trial and error? To figure out how to make these and how theyre worn and the way they drape and the way they moved with gravity.

I love the breathing necklace video! Unless one has handled high jewelry, its hard to convey the weight and mechanics.

Im not a jewelry person. I dont wear a thing. No rings, nothing. This was plunging into something unfamiliar. I have the same experience with opera, and I decided to do an opera. Its attacking the thing that for some reason youre staying away from.

A layman has a really important viewpoint to share. They can see whats fascinating about something and look in a different way.

Youre right. If you know too much, you miss some things that are very evident to the sort of unskilled mind, which could be fantastic. In many ways, I think we discovered things and we fell in love with some of these things, maybe for the wrong reasonsnot the original reasons for which they were intended, but, you know, because they are such fantastic artifacts of design.

Was there a particular piece that really moved you that stands out?

You know, the [1948 gold and diamond] breathing necklace. The reason why we focused on that one, in its flat state, you could see pure geometryabsolutely fractal, perfect geometry on this necklace. When you look at it from above, when its flat, you see a drawing, something very 2D, and then, you know, this human form emerges from the flatness and then takes the necklace with it, and it begins to mold around the human form and respond to the gravitational pull. Now you see it as a familiar thing, a necklace on a female body, and then it holds for a couple of seconds.

The grandeur of geometry. Courtesy of Cartier.

These are movements in two directions. In other words, its a compound curvature. So its not just curling in one way, which is very easy to do with hinges, but its moving in two directions. It goes back and forth from its flat condition to its anatomical condition. And when it comes back flat, it falls perfectly back into the geometry, not a kink anywhere. It was a complicated piece to make it look effortless.

You are wielding state-of-the art video and animation techniques, and then added to that is ancient Islamic art. Its humbling to compress this blur of centuries and cultures.

In a way, thats why the shows have been a success. This is a fairly esoteric topic for the general public. A different way of viewing through technology really helped. The curators insight was very important to us. These Islamic patterns are contemporary. There are pure geometries here. I saw it in a whole variety of artists from the 1960s onward working with geometric pattern and atmospherics in architecture that are a result of patterns, especially patterns that just extend outwardvery different from Western decorative arts.

These are almost frameless patterns that go on to make infinite atmospheres. Sol LeWitt was the very first thing I thought of when we started working on this. In Paris, we made this installation, and we basically took the patterns of some of the pieces in the show and reverse-engineered them into their abstracted lines. Then we added mirrors on all six surfaces of the gallery wall, extending the pattern to infinity.

Enter the intricacy: DS+Rs animation gives an up-close view of opulence at the DMA. Courtesy of Cartier.

You and your firm have worked on so many museums, such as Bostons Institute of Contemporary Art. Does designing these institutional spaces inform your exhibition concept?

Before we started designing museums, my partner Ric Scofidio and I were doing multimedia installations in galleries, independent work outside of the system of architecture as installation artist/architects. Then came some curatorial exhibitions, in parallel with starting our architectural practice. Sometimes we didnt have a lot of artifacts to work with, and we had to produce spatial experiences in the context of shows with large curatorial content. We really did this throughout our career, doing independent work in art spaces, shows, exhibition designeven while designing galleries and museums ourselves. It gives us more insight into needs and possibilities. We designed two shows at the Metropolitan Museum, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination and Charles James: Beyond Fashion.We recently had a show at the Jewish Museum. These are the things that we just love to do, and each one is a topic that we learned from scratch. Its just one of the parallel and interwoven elements of the work.

Did you ever have a eureka moment when you knew how you would approach the Cartier theme?

It all coalesced with this understanding of the radical scale difference. Without that, we wouldnt have a showwed be moving elements around and following the curatorial story, but we wouldnt have our own strategy for making decisions. With this realization, we could now see how you could tell different storieseven some of our own.

Later on we realized that we were the translators of translations. The Cartier designers didnt see the artifacts in the locations where they were made, but instead in curated shows. There were so many interpretations of interpretations. I saw it as one more creative act, taking this original material through multiple filters. And ours was the latest one on top of the curators.

The complex inner workings of a Cartier bandeau are projected next to the original. Courtesy of Cartier.

This also ties back to communicating through centuries and connection to the past, which is a reason why museums are so amazing.

Oh, absolutely. It was such an interesting thing to do, to be able to travel in time and space and the unexpected connections the show made to so many people.

You have such a large body of work. How does this Cartier project stand out?

Its hard to answer that. Each project thats a challenge stands out. There are so many scars along the way, painful but also rewarding. Something new came out of this I never would have expected. Because we had no preconceptions, we made something that we never dreamed we would have made.

Timeless necklaces on display at the DMA. Courtesy of Carter.

Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity is on view through September 18 at the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 North Harwood Street, Dallas, Texas.

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Architect Elizabeth Diller Has Built Museums From Scratch. Heres How She Brought a Major Cartier Exhibition to Life - artnet News

Alex Neil says Sunderland were the 'architects of their own downfall' as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of League One Sheffield Wednesday. The Black Cats boss made 11 changes for the first round tie at Hillsborough, but it was the errors that led to the Owls' two goals that disappointed Neil.

Sunderland lost possession in the run up to the opening goal on the quarter-hour, with Dennis Adeniran scoring with a stunning strike. And then in the second half they were put under pressure as they played the ball around at the back and they again conceded possession, this time with substitute Sylla Sow left unmarked to apply the finish.

"I'm disappointed in the fact that I thought, to a certain extent, we were the architects of our own downfall," said Neil. "I don't think we got carved apart too often.

READ MORE: Sunderland were close to signing Nathan Broadhead - until the weekend changed everything

"Only really when we made the mistake for the first goal, we gave the ball away and the lad [Adeniran] chops it onto his 'wrong' foot and puts it into the top corner from about 30 yards. I thought seven or eight minutes after that was probably their best spell, really.

"We controlled the ball without threatening. We didn't have enough of a threat, but that's my responsibility and my burden - we had Jack Diamond who is a winger playing centre-forward, and we had Harrison Sohna who is a midfield player playing left wingback.

"The physical output that we put in the last two league games meant that I didn't want any of the lads who have been featuring to expose themselves this evening, because we are going to have a lot of midweek games coming up and that's going to be really taxing for us. I thought thse lads deserved their opportunity as well, but we know we can move the ball better."

With several players making their first appearances of the season, it was hardly surprising that Sunderland lacked cohesion. Neil said: "The fact we made 11 changes and those players haven't been playing games is a mitigating factor.

"Of course I have standards and expectancies of the lads of where they should be, but I think there are certain criteria there that makes it difficult for them. We had Jack up there on his own and we lacked a threat in the game. We didn't really create anywhere near enough, and when that's the case it becomes tough."

This was a chance for a number of fringe players to stake their claim for a place in the first team and there were no obvious candidates following this performance. But Neil insists he will not judge them too harshly on the basis of one game.

He said: "It's difficult to judge purely on that one game. Some of the lads applied themselves well.

"Albeit the goals came from mistakes, other than that I thought we were quite solid and they didn't create too many chances - they were mainly from transition and countering. The difficulty you've got is that normally to counter that you'd have a target at the top end of the pitch to make sure you're secure behind the ball and you can put the ball forward a bit quicker but, unfortunately for Jack, that's not the type of player he is.

"We didn't bring Ross [Stewart] tonight, and Ellis Simms played 87 minutes on Saturday and had only played 45 minutes in pre-season - if I'd risked him for 10-15 minutes and then he breaks down, I'd certainly be kicking myself."

Neil is still keen to strengthen his squad before the transfer deadline at the end of the month and he again underlined that point, but says it is an ongoing situation rather than as a reaction to this defeat. He said: "That's not something I'm saying as a reaction to this evening.

"Every press conference I've done for the last month I've spoken about the exact same thing. I've not changed my stance on that. We need to strengthen the squad. What I want is to get to the end of the window with the strongest squad possible, and every manager will be thinking exactly the same.

"Then, if I lose some key players, I have got other guys who can maybe come in and do a job. Some of the lads that played tonight will have a massive bearing on what our season looks like, so I'm not going to judge them too harshly."

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Sunderland were 'architects of their own downfall' at Sheffield Wednesday admits Alex Neil - Chronicle Live

PARADISE VALLEY, AZHidden in a quiet Paradise Valley neighborhood, Cosanti was home to the late Italian architect and artist Paolo Soleri.

ABC15 caught up with Mark Johnson, the General Manager of Cosanti Originals.

"Everyday people will come in and tell us how they didn't know that we were here and their jaw drops at the beauty of the architecture," Johnson says.

Known for his concrete earth-formed structures, and pushing architectural boundaries, Paolo Soleri is probably best known for his Soleri Bells. The world-renowned bronze and ceramic wind bells are created and sold at Cosanti. Proceeds help to pay for his organic architectural mission to make something out of nothing.

"We call it Arcology. It's a combination of architecture and ecology," added Johnson.

Soleri started using his trademark earth casting technique at Cosanti, after his apprenticeship ended suddenly with Frank Lloyd Wright.

"They both were very strong-willed people," Johnson noted. "He decided to go his own way and do more experimental types of architecture."

The 5-acre property is of full of hidden gems, including Soleri's design studio, residential structures, the bronze foundry and ceramics apses.

Cosanti offers free hour-long tours, but donations are encouraged. Those tours take place almost every day of the year, excluding holidays. They are limited to 12 people.

If you don't have time for the tour, make sure to see the Bronze Pour.

This is a carefully choreographed process, performed by skilled foundry artisans who pour the super-heated bronze into molds that eventually become one-of-a-kind wind bells.

Johnson says, "It's a behind-the-scenes look at the architecture. And also, they get to see our pores of 2200 degree molten bronze that create these wonderful pieces of art called the Soleri bells."

MORE INFORMATION:

Cosanti

6433 East Doubletree Ranch Road

Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

928-632-7135

tours@arcosanti.org

Cosanti Hour-Long Tours: Monday - Saturday, 9:15 am, 10:45 am.

Bronze Pours: Monday - Friday, 9:30, 10:30, & 11:30 daily.

No Tours on Sunday

Link:
Hidden in Paradise Valley, Cosanti was once home to late Italian architect and artist Paolo Soleri - ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix

Despite the Department of Sanitations attempts to shut the rat nightclub down, New Yorks rodent population seems to be thriving, finding solace not only in sidewalk trash bags but also in parked cars around the New York.A Hells Kitchen locals car condemned by rat damage. Photo supplied.

In a one-two punch, the pandemic both motivated more New Yorkers to buy cars and left the citys rats without the usual sources of commercial trash. But as reported by the New York Times, a pair of Fordham University scholars tracking rodent behavior determined that the wily pests were like people also capable of a pandemic pivot.

Researcher Jason Munshi-South told the Times: Rats can adjust to human behavioral shifts very quickly, and in the absence of street foot traffic and the trash it provides, they developed new habits from snacking on pigeons and fellow rats to hunkering down in cars parked for longer than usual tenures, thanks to the temporary suspension of the citys alternate side parking rules.

Exterminator Bennett Pearl of Positive Pest Management told W42ST: When commercial zones shut down, they were literally starving to death, and only the strongest survived which is very scary to think about, because theyre basically rats on steroids, and its all the smartest rats left.

While housing themselves under the hoods of undisturbed vehicles, some alpha rats took not only to storing their chicken bones and abandoned bagels in the car, but also testing out the salty, soy-based insulation present in newer models, researchers told the Times. The result? An unpleasant surprise for car owners who go to start their vehicles, but instead discover their automobile wiring has become the set of Ratatouille.

Although New York humans are gradually returning to pre-pandemic dining and parking habits, the citys rats seem reluctant to leave their new car-based homes behind.

In Hells Kitchen, one unlucky driver had the honor of treating rodents to a free meal twice. J-Line, a New York-based recording artist who relies on his vehicle for traveling to gigs, was already used to the challenges of owning a car in the city, said his partner Michael William.

What he wasnt prepared for was that for the second time in two years, rats would have infested his car and eaten the wiring so badly that his car would have to be towed to 54th Street Auto, Michael told W42ST. The first time it happened in the spring of 2021, J-Lines insurance covered the damage and he got his car back but only after $8,000 worth of repairs.

This time around, he wasnt so lucky. The car was deemed a total loss and now J is out not only a car, but the vehicle he used for touring all over the country as a recording artist, said Michael.

In the 15 years J has parked his car on NYC streets, hes never experienced anything like this, he said. Having my car totaled twice in two years due to rat infestation is really disgusting to think about, he added.

Mechanics told the Times that theyd noticed an uptick in cars needing rodent-related repair, something which Michael and J-Line had also heard at 54th Street Auto. Ozzy Dayan, a mechanic at Manhattan Auto Repair in Hells Kitchen told the Times: I see new cars, old cars, everyone is coming in now with these rat problems. It brings me a lot of business, but its disgusting.J-Line mourning the second time his car has been chewed by rats. Photo supplied.

How to solve the problem? Thats up for debate. While some cite outdoor dining sheds as a contributing factor to the increase in chewed-out cars, the Fordham study noted that the 67 percent of rat-related 311 calls were attributed to residences and other experts pointed to the prolific piles of sidewalk trash bags serving as base-level buffets as the main culprit.

Bennett Pearl of Positive Pest told W42ST that hes not buying outdoor dining as the source of the increased issues, adding the sheds are not the reason rats are in residential zones or why entire blocks where theres not a commercial store on the block have rats running around the during the day.

Fordham researcher Parsons agrees. To me, outdoor dining has really been a blip on the radar, he told NYC Streets Blog. Weve got a major source of decay already happening through garbage bags. The outdoor dining is just more like another sweet treat. If you got a cavity, its not the bad guy, its a reflection of our habits. The villains are not the rats, theyre a reflection of us. I would rather focus on the big picture, on cleanliness.

Whether the Department of Sanitation succeeds in altering the citys trash pickup schedule or local leaders implement new curb containers to safely store refuse, its clear that the fight against ravenous rodents will be an ongoing rat race.

Pearl argues that a unified coordination between city agencies, their exterminators, block associations and residents is the only way to defeat the car-chewing pests, though he was skeptical of the citys cooperation. They would rather fine individual buildings and residents than coordinate with their departments, he said, adding, Theoretically somebodys in charge of pest control for the five boroughs you have to get that persons name and start handing it to everybody on the block and say, you gotta email this guy to death. This is what gets things done. Nobody knows these peoples names they can be in that position for 20 years, nobody ever contacts them. This is the way you move mountains. They have to be exposed. W42ST reached out to the city to confirm whether there could be one person attributable to the citys pest control and will update if we hear back.

As for J-Line? He hopes the city will take further action to quell the issue after being forced into his own pandemic pivot. They totally destroyed my car and now I have to come up with a whole new game plan on how I will tour and visit all the cities I need to perform in, in the most budget-friendly way, he said. Something needs to be done.

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NYC's Streetwise Rats Solve their Sidewalk Housing Woes by Crashing in Parked Cars - W42ST magazine