Tadao Ando - Church of the Light

Ando's Church of the Light, or the Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church in Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan turns 20 this year. It still stands as one of his most well knows designs. The pews were made from the wood used as formwork for the concrete.

Images from this flickr users photstream (best ones I've found online)
Where in the world - Church of the Light

Coop Himmelblau - Art Museum Strongoli

Coop Himmelblau's design for the upcoming Art Museum Strongoli in Calabria, Italy has been unveiled. Perched on a hilltop facing the town with a massive cantilever, this will be an impressive building when completed.

Rob Paulus - Ice House Lofts

Rob Paulus is an architect in Tuscon, AZ that has also developed several unique projects, including the Ice House Lofts which turned a former ice & cold storage company building into 51 modern residential units. The project sold out in 2005. Congrats guys good work!

Photos by Bradley Wheeler

Bølgen

A housing development in Denmark, I understand absolutely nothing on the website.
The renderings look great, can't wait to see the finished product!


via Contemporist

Architect's House for Sale in Chicago - $6.25 Million

European architect Peter Bukowski has listed self-designed 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom house for $6.25 million.


Listing site
via Wall St. Journal

Ergon Rototranslating Doors

Venetian Celegon has come out with their Ergon line of rototranslating doors. They open both ways and use half the door-swing space of conventional doors.

Philly Trip

I'm fresh back from Philadelphia, had a weekend to run around and see the sights.
Grabbed a famous Pat's Cheese Steak (wasn't all that impressive but the line was ridiculous Saturday mid-day!), and had a chance to tour the numerous Onion Flats projects that have been completed in the past couple of years. Onion Flats is an architecture/construction/development firm in Philly that has been putting together some unique projects in the Northern Liberties and Fishtown areas recently.

Below are some HDR photos I took with my Canon Rebel XSI. Love the way they came out:

Rag Flats:
Jackhammer:
E-Flats:
Thin Flats:

1100 Architect - Naha City Apartments/Gallery

The Naha Apartments & Gallery in Okinawa feature solid poured concrete side walls with small splayed windows and a glazed front and rear facade. Very good looking little building by 1100 Architect.


via Arch Daily

Recycling the Suburbs - Time Magazine Feature

Time Magazine recently featured an article titled '10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now".
Number 2 on that list was Recycling the Suburbs of America.

Some notable stats:
-It is estimated that by 2025 there will be a surplus of 22 million large-lot homes in the US (by Virginia Tech Metropolitan Institute)
-148,000 stores closed in 2008 alone

I've noticed here in the suburbs of Washington DC a growing number of empty retail spaces. Its not uncommon for a shopping center to be only 50% occupied. If this trend continues, we'll have a plethora of empty retail spaces, how will these empty buildings be used?

Time Magazine points to redeveloping existing communities and infrastructure, and remaking the suburbs. Examples include turning empty malls into mixed use buildings.

Worth a read!

Padmapper

Are you looking to rent an apartment?
Do you own a rental property and want to compare rental prices in your neighborhood?
Are you a developer that needs rental rates in an are for your proforma?

Look no further. Padmapper is your answer.

Padmapper takes active craiglist postings and overlays them on google maps along with photos and essential info including number of beds, baths, and price per bedroom.

I love tools like this that overlay information on maps, such as Panaramio. Anyone have any others?

iLiving App for iPhone

Noora at Metaio emailed me a few days ago with a press release on their new product launch iLiving, an iPhone application that allows you to virtually furnish rooms or spaces within a picture on your iPhone.

Metaio is a company that specialized in the use of Augmented Reality in commercial marketing.

Recycled Hotel Rooms

GreenUpgrader.com has featured 4 different alternative hotel rooms around the world, all created from recycled containers.

A wine cask at the Hotel de Vrouwe van Stavoren in the Netherlands:

A concrete drain pipe in Das Park Hotel in Austria:

A jumbo jet at Jumbo Hostel in Sweden:

A shipping container at Travelodge in London:

Murat Suyur

Do you ever see something so cool it makes you want to punch yourself?

Murat Suyur's work does that to me. His conceptual photography is awesome.


via TrendLand

Paul de Ruiter - Houses

Amsterdam firm Paul de Ruiter's houses have common themes of rectangular plans, glass wall expanses, screens that change or modify views, and the usage of outdoor space for tranquil inside spaces.
Very clean, well done houses.

Paul de Ruiter's recent feature on Arch Daily