For Sale

Tacoma Architect Allen Liddle's home is currently for sale... if you're interested in purchasing a piece of Pacific NW history. Docomomo has arranged tours of the home for this saturday. More infomation can be found here.

Worth $28 Million?

I can totally understand paying for high design... but $28 million for a chair?! and this chair?! It just doesn't quite seem worth it.... In this current economic climate, you could probably buy an entire country for that amount!

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Hallgrímskirkja Church

The Hallgrímskirkja Church was designed in 1937 by then state architect Guðjón Samúelsson. Located in Reykjavík, Iceland this Lutheran parish commemorates the hometown poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson. The structure is very interesting, with some deco (yet brutal) sensibilities. Years later, its still the 4th tallest structure in all of Iceland.

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Rest Stop by an Unknown Architect

This rest stop next to the salt flats area of Salt Lake City is really lovely. Its a great example of a simple concept providing a an improved space for the public. Too bad, the name of the architect has disappeared in history.

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Via The Mid Century Modernist

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Pretty Organic for Brick

The organic forms of both these projects (Canadian Museum of Civilization, top and St. Mary's Church, bottom) by Douglas Cardinal Architect both make wonderful use of a modular building material like brick. While many people don't expect such sensual curves to be created with bricks, DCA proves adept at pushing the usual material expectations while designing monumental structures. In practice since the 60s, this Canadian firm has got a bit of a mod look to it... and I really like it!

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Recycled Tennis Skirts

These pendant lights created by Christiane Hoegner from vintage tennis skirts are pretty hip and modern, even if they are a bit kitsch. The lacoste alligator is a great affect!

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Extreme Delft Blue

After my semester in Delft, I brought home a traditional Delftware Christmas ornament as a souvenir. But, it would have been much cooler if I could have gotten one of Hugo Kaagman's Delft Blue ceramics instead. How sweet are these tiles?!?! I love the way he has used a traditional artform in a very new and modern way... Check out his site for even more examples.

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Modern Mod

I really love this pendant by Luca Nichetto. Its retro and mod, but still maintains a current aesthetic...
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Handmade Umbrellas

When C & I visited Tokyo a few years ago, we brought home two of those clear plastic umbrellas as souvenirs. Because it rained the whole time we were in Japan, we really needed the umbrellas, and the clear ones seemed like the ubiquitous Japanese umbrella at the time... Now, I wish we had come across these lovely handmade umbrellas, built by Mr. Kitazawa. The delicate craftsmanship is really beautiful and the fabrics remind me of Japanese papers.

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Via Ping Mag Made

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Lo Stadio dei Marmi

Each of 60 nudes encircling the Foro Italico racetrack have been designed to represent a different province of Italy and separate sport. I find the statues pretty interesting as a contrast to what we think of as typical roman and renaissance sculpture. Rather than celebrating the gods (or god), these statues were the brainchild of Mussolini and were intended to help motivate a virile and strong youth population. Perhaps more of these statues around the country would help Italy's declining population!

Italy on the Brain

C & I have recently begun to plan a trip to Italy, and now that's all I can think about! Some of the things that I've been getting into are (in no particular order):

Fashion

History

A return to my catholic roots

Museums

Art

Architecture

And Food!

All images via Eternally Cool.

Vintage Flos

If I had a place to put this fixture, then I would seriously consider this vintage Flos light fixture...

Retro Italian

I'm really loving these retro Italian graphics from Futurismo in Italia that I found via wrong distance.

Simple, Sublime Steel

Matador's website is entirely in French, so I can't really read it, but I've got to believe that this project is an infill renovation for the Maison Folie Centre des Chantiers Culturels Participatifs in the Ville de Mons, Belgium. Its a lovely project incorporating modern design into an existing, much older project. The steel trusses look like they could have always been there, and yet there is something distinctly modern about their lightweight forms. The rhythm of the forms exterior forms is quite beautiful. This perfect rhythm is the one thing that makes me wonder if the project is entirely new construction, but I'd like to believe that the architects were just lucky enough to have a great starting point in the existing buildings.

The steel forms of this project, Rénovation des anciens abattoirs de Mons Equipement culturel are also very beautiful in contrast with the stark white interior. I'm not exactly sure where the renovation begins and the existing structure ends, but this project as a whole is quite lovely. The simple steel forms impress me the most (whether original or new), but the interior infill and lighting are also simple and spectacular.

I'd love to learn more about these projects or other works by Matador, so if anyone knows of any information in English, I'd be glad to see it.

Tradition in Kärsämäki

I have seen this project a few times on various websites and blogs, but until today I had really never read up on the project. I knew that this wooden church located in Kärsämäki, Finland was the result of a student competition (won by Anssi Lassila of the University of Oulu) in conjunction with the parish of Kärsämäki (and additional funding from the EU). However, until I noticed the admittedly older post on 2 or 3 things, I had never checked out the webpage for this church.

Apparently, this wooden church replaces one that was built in the 1700s, and subsequently lost in the 1800s, using traditional 18th century building processes. The church was intended not just as a place for worship, but as a place for learning, too. Using these historic building techniques, older craftsmen were able to pass on their trades to a younger generation through volunteer participation in the construction process.

This is truly a special project... incorporating a very simple, modern, and beautiful design with volunteerism, learning, and community traditions.