Deco articles

Summer 2008

Tribe Verde

[...] the origins of the eco architectural theory, can be traced in the anarchy of the 1960s, in the innovative philosophy of Buckminster Fuller, synopsised as “do more with less”, in the group of Drop City Colorado or in the houses of Frank Lloyd Wright, even further back in 1908. The Falling House, of F. L. Wright, summarizes the sustainable approach, which is now high in the lists of MIT’s workshops, and its component forces which are spread worldwide. In the early 1990s, a house emerged from the hills of Wales, as an eye that overlooks at the sea. The Malator House, of the architects Future Systems, bore the subtitle “blueprint for the future of Welsh residence” and introduced the organic architecture in the nineties. This house whereas it cannot exploit modern bioclimatic techniques, provides the definition of ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ elements as the absolute merging; as the ideal partnership. Something intended, equally, by the majority of the latest developments in the green tribe of architecture.

#1 Malator House by Future Systems

#2 Fab tree Hab by Mitchell Joachim

#3 NVS by Agustin Otegui

* For Marie Claire Deco Hellas_ Summer of 2008.

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Winter 2008

Hallucinogenic Practices

[...] from the Forum Generation of Aldo van Eyck to the writings of Rem Koolhaas, and from the rationalist architecture of Hendrik Petrus Berlage to the experiments of MVRDV. Utrecht, 1924: Mrs. Truus Schroder assigns the design of her residence to the architect Gerrit Rietveld. The shape of the building seeks a definitive break with the prevailing forms of architecture. A building that does not serve the traditional residential type, but introduces the dynamic plan as the result of free spatial management – through sliding panels. Still, the innovative flagship of the modern Dutch architectural scene. Netherlands, 2008: The core buildings, of the golden era, in the canals of Amsterdam are surrounded by residential and public buildings of futuristic architecture. In Rotterdam, the word ‘site’ is so characteristic as a curved panel of the Erasmus bridge. ”If a building is not functional, is being demolished and its place gets a new” seems to be the motto of the Dutch, who, after their urban interventions in the Kop van Zuid (the port of Rotterdam) and the completion of Maastoren (the tallest skyscraper in the Netherlands) are, quietly and systematically, building the future. A huge playground for aspiring architects, students, Koolhaas’ clones and sui generis talents, the district of Netherlands offers a fertile ground for architectural, hallucinogenic practices.

# 1 UNstudio

# 2 Erick Van Egeraat

# 3 MVRDV

* For Marie Claire Deco Hellas_ Winter of 2008.

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Autumn 2008

Regarding Curves. Regarding Femmes.

[...] “people like to roam, to maneuver, to run riot.. we tend to walk like soldiers in straight lines. That is why we always create organic interiors”, Morris Lapidus has commented on the architectural practice which he exercised in the mid-1950s. At this moment, the design against the principles of the Modern Movement was as radical as immoral. Now, it is perceived as the communication bridge which carries the futuristic projection of the present into the future. Le Corbusier embraced the Modern Movement, but attached a ‘curve‘ to Villa Savoye as one of its basic, synthetic ingredients. Frank Lloyd Wright has been identified with linear gestures, but the Museum ‘Solomon R. Guggenheim‘ in the 5th Avenue is an oversized, endless spiral. From Eero Saarinen to Frank Gehry and from Santiago Calatrava to Jorn Utzon, curved forms change materials and are incorporated into the landscape. Yet, they evoke in parallelism with the feminine nature. Lately, they have won something additionally important, the state of being determined by the latter. Examples such as the housing complex of Strata Tower in Abu Dhabi, the new store Selfridge’s in Birmingham and the building of BBC in London, verify the significant contribution of women in the architectural contemporary scene, with Lise Anne Couture, Amanda Levete and Farshid Moussavi, being responsible for the above mentioned projects, respectively.