January 30

The Places We Live

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In 2008, for the first time in history, the worldwide urban population got bigger than that of rural areas. Slums are the fastest growing living environment and provide shelter to one billion people all over the world, but the conditions in which their dwellers survive everyday are often subhuman. Between 2005 and 2007, Magnum’s Jonas Bendiksen travelled across the world to document the most populated slums and the people living in them. Overpopulation, lack of sanitation, electricity and water, violence and crime are the main problems we always hear about in the media, but Bendiksen’s work gets deeper into the infinite nuances and experiences of the very people who struggle every day through poverty in the slums of Caracas, Kibera, Dharavi, Jakarta. He entered their households, took pictures, interviewed them, had them narrate their anecdotes and talk about their daily routines. His experience became a book and a multimedia exhibition at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, focusing in particular on the human dimension of slums: the households themselves. If you don’t have the chance to check out the exhibition or buy the book, luckily there is also this amazing website.

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January 29

Urbania Festival (Bologna, Jan 29-31)
Heaven and Hell of city life

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The debate about the development of planning policy and practice has gone a long way and today it can help to influence political decisions that affect our daily life.
 Urbania, Bologna urbanism festival is a three-days event born to host the hottest contemporary perspectives and open a new dialogue, between decision makers and city dwellers.

This year the Festival, in co-operation with Urban Center Bologna and monthly architecture point of reference Abitare, is titled “Hell and Paradise of Contemporary city life”.

Urbanists, architects, artists and politicians gathered from Italy and all over the world will meet and discuss the urge to make urban planning an instrument to face the social housing need to improve and adaptation, the ecological problem, and financial crises. Urban planning and design can give an important answer, as Jeremy Rifkin is repeating.
 “The Hell and Paradise” in urban life, crucial to the case, is a matter of necessity.

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January 28

New Biochemistry building opens at the University of Oxford

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(Photos: exteriors © Tim Crocker, interiors © Keith Collie, text © Hawkins/Brown)

The new £49 million Biochemistry building at the University of Oxford designed by Hawkins\Brown architects is now complete.

The distinctive 12,000 sq m facility with its glass façades and coloured glass fins brings together 300 lecturers, researchers and students previously based in a number of separate buildings. Inside, a 400 sq m atrium with breakout spaces and specially commissioned artworks encourages collaboration between the researchers. Read more

January 27

Andrea Palladio: Through the Eyes of Contemporary Architects

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On the quincentenary of the italian maestro Andrea Palladio’s birth, the London Royal Academy of Arts organizes the tribute exhibition Andrea Palladio: His Life and Legacy (31 Jan—13 Apr 2009).
As a counterpart to this major exhibition, today opens Andrea Palladio: Through the Eyes of Contemporary Architects, a parallel event where 30 international architects are invited to present a personal response to Andrea Palladio’s work and ideas through short pictorial essays. Among the participants are Arata Isozaki, David Chipperfield, Fumihiko Maki, Nicholas Grimshaw and, with many others, two young italian studios: MARC, Turin and Scandurrastudio, Milan. The two exhibitions will also travel to Madrid and Barcelona in 2009. Read more

January 26

Nordwesthaus in Fussach, Austria by Baumschlager-Eberle

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(Text and drawings © Baumschlager-Eberle Architects; photos © Edward Hueber, © Ines Leong)

Compact and transparent. The construction of the port in Fußach is an undertaking that disdains any picturesque posturing. The clear geometrical structures contrast starkly with the natural environment. Since the year 2000 the port building has “hovered” over its surroundings, giving the owner, Maria Rohner, the overall view she needs. In response to the concrete tube devised for the head of the marina, Baumschlager-Eberle have installed a cube as the new meeting point for the sailing community. Positioned right on the edge of the moorings, the building presents a striking interaction between the supporting concrete elements and the envelope of glazed panels that allow the contours of the building to shine through. Read more

January 23

Form Follows My Hand. Elastico Spa @ Archivio Cattaneo

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(Photos © Beppe Giardino)

The association Archivio Cattaneo presents Form Follows My Hand, a monographic architecture show featuring works by Elastico Spa and opening on January 29th at the association’s headquarters in Cernobbio (Como).
Elastico Spa’s language is ironic and at times sarcastic and disillusioned. Some of their works shown have already been appreciated by critics – like the Borgaretto cemetery, winner of a Inarch/Ance award in 2007, while others have been published on the main specialized media – Yuppie Ranch House was featured on Domus, November 2008 and you will find Atelier Fleuriste on the pages of current Yearbook. Other projects will be presented for the first time in the show, opening January, 29 from 3.00pm to 8.00pm at Archivio Cesare Cattaneo (Via Regina 43, 22012 Cernobbio – Como). The book Architettura al Sangue (Maggioli Editore), a monographic volume collecting the studio’s most significant works, will also be presented in the occasion. Read more

January 22

Savorengo Ker burns

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Savorengo Ker (in the Romani language “house for everyone”) was an experimental self-built housing project, born from the co-operation of Stalker/ON, the Urban Studies Department of Rome University and the local Rom community. It sat in the oldest Rom Camp in town, Casilino 900 but it burnt down on the night of last December 12th.

Around 650 people, coming from Ex-Yugoslavia, live in Casilino 900, which forty years ago was a landingplace for Southern-Italian immigrants. Read more

January 21

Hope Over Fear

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To follow Yearbook’s deliberate support to Barack Hussein Obama, we cannot but post the moving oath of the 44th President of the United States of America. The inheritance is dramaticly serious, but yesterday Obama inaugurated and called for “a new era of responsibility”. Read more

January 20

David Chipperfield – Making Special the Normal

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From next October to 31 January 2010 London’s Design Museum will proudly host a comprehensive exhibition about architect David Chipperfield. The event promises to be one of the most remarkable ones of the year and a worthy celebration of almost thirty years of international practice and successes by David Chipperfield Architects. The studio has recently routed more than two hundreds anonimous projects in the competition for the Zürich Kunsthaus addition.

River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Flickr photo by toxophilite

Photograph © Christian Richters, from David Chipperfield Architects 2007 Read more

January 19

Pomegranate mobile phone viral campaign

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Everybody is agreeing about the viral campaign for the new amazing Pomegranate mobile phone. From more than 190 countries web surfers, bloggers, marketing strategists and hi-tech addicts go crazy for it. It’s no surprise though, since the smart phone can serve you at any occasion. Read more

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