A Short History of the Hot Seat

Extruded vinyl, Textilene mesh and other seminal moments in alfresco seating.

By: The New York Times

Suit & Tie (Official Lyric Video)

(by justintimberlakeVEVO)

Simple and stylish lyric video that goes a long way… This could easily become the music video for Justin Timberlake’s new single, Suit & Tie… 

Love the use of black and white, mostly close-ups, simple typography and the use of cartoon effects which add a little funkiness and go great with the music.

The ABC of Architects

(Source: vimeo.com)

Retro Gdl

The 125th Birthday of the legendary architect Le Corbusier

Today marks the 125th birthday of Le Corbusier. Born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, in 1887 this architect, designer, urbanist and writer was one of the pioneers of what is now called Modern Architecture.

FIVE POINTS OF ARCHITECTURE

In 1926, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeannerete published a manifesto called “The five points towards a new architecture” and his work, Villa Savoye (1929–1931) most succinctly summed up this five points:

1. Pilotis (Supports). These reinforced concrete stilts lifted the structure off the ground, meaning non-supporting walls and allowing to execute a free design of both the façade and the ground plan.
2. Free design of the façade. See above.
3. Free design of the ground plan. See above.
4. Horizontal windows. Allowing unencumbered views of the surrounding landscape.
5. Roof gardens. To compensate for the green area consumed by the building and replacing it on the roof.

LE MODULOR

Le Corbusier created his own system for the scale of architectural proportion which used the golden ratio explicitly. 

THE OPEN HAND

The Open Hand (La Main Ouverte) is another recurring motif in Le Corbusier’s architecture, a sign for him of “peace and reconciliation. It is open to give and open to receive.”

Via Archilovers

Other sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier

http://www.lesterkorzilius.com/pubs/ma/vua_vs/09.htm

Image Source: Archilovers

visualgraphic:

Do one thing every day that scares you

(Source: whatsstoppingyouhomie, via visualgraphic)

As you might know by now, I’m a recently graduated architect. Because of that, some could say I’m part of the “new school” generation of architects, those who master the use of design software and always work in the computer.

This might be true for blueprints, floor plans and all of my technical drawings but I refuse to neglect the “old school” techniques, specially what is, in my opinion, the most important tool for design: hand-drawing.

In my opinion, when you start designing something by hand, there’s a more natural connection between your head and the design, the ideas flow better and the design ends up having more feeling and heart to it.

This article, by renowned architect Michael Graves and featured in the New York Times couldn’t explain it better:

“The computer is encroaching on the most powerful tool in architecture: drawing.”

007 JAMES BOND - GUNBARREL SEQUENCE

Each James Bond film has been iconic in their own right, it’s no surprise the film series is celebrating its 50th anniversary, but lets face it, one of the most recognizable features in the series is the gunbarrel sequence.

Film title designer, Maurice Binder, was the designer behind the iconic sequence. Beginning with Dr. No, Binder worked on 14 James Bond films. 

The sequence concept has been the same, but the sequence has been evolving trough the years. The six different actors who have played James Bond have each brought their own flavor to it.

SKYFALL THEME - ADELE

In keeping with the celebrations on the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise, the theme of the 23rd film, Skyfall, written and performed by Adele, has just been released.

The film premieres October 23rd in the UK.