Adjaye | Freelon

A few weeks ago I went to an event at North Carolina A & T State University - a speech by two architects, David Adjaye and Phil Freelon, about their work both separately and in collaboration on a National Museum of African American History and Culture for the Smithsonian on the National Mall in Washington DC. Read more about the collaboration here in Dezeen, LATimes, NYTimes, ArchRecord, etc.

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Above: Phil Freelon and David Adjaye on the stage on January 6, 2010 taking questions at the end of their joint lecture at UNC A&T; last in the Triad Design Leadershop.

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Among the other projects of the Freelon Group's that Phil presented were other African American Museums in Baltimore, San Francisco, and two here in North Carolina: the Harvey B. Gannt Center for African American Arts & Culture which had just opened a month or two before and The International Civil Rights Center & Museum which just opened this week in Greensboro, NC's old Woolworth's where the lunch-counter sit-in protest occurred in the 1950s. Read more in the NYTimes.

Gannt Center, Charlotte:

Civil Rights Museum, Greensboro:

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Phil Freelon (Freelon Group)
David Adjaye (Adjaye Associates)

Mountain Dwellings by BIG

I can't resist this brilliantly different approach to apartment dwelling. Ran across it in my latest issue of dwell. The architect is BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) from Denmark.

Link to the photo slideshow on dwell.

The accompanying article.

Here is BIG's own web presentation of the project, including diagrammatic animations.

And if you are thinking of relocating to "Orestad--Copenhagen's tiny but buzzing new hub of urban development"--you can look at floorplans here.

An interview with Bjarke Ingels from Archinect, Oct. 2007.

Ray Kappe guides a tour of his house

from ArchRecord

and the accompanying interview & slideshow of Kappe's work

Ray Kappe previously on ARKTEK

Pritzker Prize Goes to Peter Zumthor

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from NYTimes:

He is not a celebrity architect, not one of the names that show up on shortlists for museums and concert hall projects or known beyond architecture circles. He hasn’t designed many buildings; the one he is best known for is a thermal spa in an Alpine commune. And he has toiled in relative obscurity for the last 30 years in a remote village in the Swiss mountains.

via The Pritzker...

Ray Kappe

"I've always sought out the edges, the views, and a feeling of expansiveness."

"I was once asked what I think are the ten most important principles that helped make me a successful architect, planner, and educator...

(1) Think positively, not negatively.
(2) Accept structure but know that it is to be questioned and broken when necessary.
(3) Always be willing to explore, experiment and invent. Do not accept the status quo.
(4) Know yourself and keep your work consistent with who you are and how you think.
(5) Maintain good moral and social values.
(6) Be humble, honest, compassionate, and egalitarian.
(7) Have conviction about your work.
(8) Be open and say yes to most ideas and requests. The good ones will be valuable, the bad ones will cease to exist.
(9) Allow employees and fellow workers freedom and the ability to work to their strengths. Avoid hierarchy.
(10) Money should be the residual of work, not the goal. But do not compromise your worth."

Ray Kappe website.

He's designed several houses for LivingHomes.

There is a new feature of his own house in the new issue of dwell magazine. Unfortunately it does not appear that the feature is available on the dwell site.

pkb house

another cool house--and it is local!

pete's own site tells all about his design process in developing this home to meet the needs of his family as well as his eco-responsible goals, so i don't really need to say too much about the house here--just go get it from the source...

rick black

i like this home. i first saw it in dwell, but then it also showed up in the weekly email from eyecandy-webcandy. i really like the dialogue between the old original bungalow structure with the newer addition. love the wood wall treatment inside, near the kitchen.

all images from rick black website