The Shape of BIG

I've been looking over the many, many projects on Denmark-based firm BIG's website, and have consistently been impressed not only by their fantastic presentation techniques, but also the simple shapes of their buildings. They clearly explain the programmatic reasons why these buildings are shaped they way they are.
A small model of their buildings would make an attractive and nifty piece of art for your home; just as if these buildings were realized they would make a city more attractive.

Very clever, very intelligent.
Nice work guys!


They even have a video game as one of their projects for their website that turns the whole thins into an asteroids game! See if you can find it.

Back from Europe

Well I'm back from Europe, tons of cool new discoveries to share... that is once my brain is back firing on all cylinders.

For now, here I am rocking the Architecture Sucks T-Shirt at the Hofbrauhaus Tent at Oktoberfest, Munich.

Archipreneur - Out of Office

No posts for a few weeks, I'm jetting off to Germany & Switzerland for an architectural orgasm & loads of beer at Oktoberfest in Munich. See you in Oktober!

Mother Nature 2; Mies van der Rohe 0

Mies' flooded Farnsworth House in Plano, IL.

Related Article

September, 2008:


August, 2007 (related article):




View at some point in the past from across the river, you can see how close it is to the water:


Farnsworth House google map link

Estudio Barozzi Veiga - 2 Projects

I found a project by Barozzi Veiga on dezeen.com and was curious enough to click through the studio's works on it's website. They've got a fantastic black and white method of representing their work, worth a look.

Ordos Villa:



Headquarters Riber del Duero Wine:

Skylab Design Group - Weave Building

Skylab in Portland, OR has launched a new website with some project updates.
One that caught my eye is the upcoming weave building where Burnside St., 13th Ave, and Stark st. come together. It's a 9-story building on a 5,000 sq. ft. lot; ground floor retail with offices above. The facade features a very cool basket weave design. All of Jeff Kovel/Skylab's work is good, so I expect this to come out amazing, I hope it leases fast for him!


Also shown are his Linton Forest Lofts:


and M2 Residence Spec house:

Vertical Urban Landscapes as Fashion

New uses for the ugly facades of large apartment buildings.

An image I found in Time Magazine's Pictures of the Week

Found this at SQY-T (Shanghai Quality Yarn T-shirt mag) via Kanye West's blog

Archipreneur featured in Stair Porn

No, this isn't the kind of porn your thinking of... it's the new website by Justin Anthony of Materialicious called Stair Porn, dedicated to the fascination with stairs.

"Stairs, and nothing but"

I had a collection of stair photos from my Europe travels and hadn't done anything with them, this seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

Thanks Justin!

Archipreneur's photos at Stair Porn

Bjarke Ingels Group - Mountain Dwellings

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is near completion on their Mountain Dwellings project in Copenhagen, Denmark. Not your typical layout for a condo building, it worth checking out the development's website (VM Bjerget), which includes floor plans and a lot of words I don't understand. A fantastic terraced housing project.

MVRDV - Tirana Rocks Competition, Albania

This is MVRDV's winning entry for a masterplanned urban neighborhood next to Lake Tirana, Albania (an artificial lake). The buildings are stone clad boxes that resemble fallen stones. Very simple, very beautiful.
Estimated construction cost of 600million Euro.


MVRDV Website

Where in the World - Tirana, Albania