Archiculture

via: LIFE

“65 years ago today, the head of the German military garrison in Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz, surrendered to Allied forces after a week of street battles, thus cementing what came to be known as the Liberation of Paris.

LIFE photographer Ralph Morse was on the scene to capture not only the tension between the German and Allied forces, but also the extraordinary events that followed when Paris was free once again.” - Huffington Post

See more of Ralph Morse’s recently published unreleased photos on LIFE.

via: Popsci

Head over to Popsci to find out about the Power symbol’s growing success in becoming the logo on NYC condoms, or how the Swedish campgrounds symbol became the Command logo, or how the At symbol started with sixth century monks. I love how nested and ingrained our history becomes in our language, symbols and especially buildings.

via: good.is

This is for that 50% of architects who don’t completely believe Global Warming is a critical component to the future of the planet and the future of the profession. See stats below from an article in October 2009, Architect Magazine:

Over the summer, 960 readers of Architect participated in a survey about their green beliefs. In it, we asked participants to select from four statements the one that best characterizes their attitude toward sustainability. Fewer than half (46.4 percent) chose the statement, “It’s vital that we design and build sustainably, in order to conserve scarce resources and prevent further global warming.”

One group (12.8 percent) dismissed the issue outright: “Global warming is a myth perpetuated by the media, and green building is a fad—it’ll be forgotten in 20 years’ time.” Yikes. Others (6.7 percent) doubted that green-building efforts in America could offset the damage caused by industrialization in China and India.

The largest (and to me, most interesting) group of naysayers (34.1 percent) fell somewhere in the middle, subscribing to the following statement: “I’m not sure that global warming is caused by man, but energy conservation makes economic sense if we’ll be less dependent on other countries’ oil.”
- Ned Cramer, Architect Magazine

Hurry!  Dennis Hopper’s House just went on the market for a cool $6.245 Million.  The 15,500 sq. ft. complex includes a main house, 3 two-story condominiums a pool house and a guest cottage.  The main home was designed by Brian Murphy and the condominiums by Frank Gehry.  If you can’t afford the entire package, you can buy into the condos separately.  The house is said to have served as a source for artistic creativity and output from both actors and artist.

source: HuffingtonPost

source: MacRumors

Here is a screenshot of the Mac Edition of Autocad.

Source: NYDailyNews

Here is this years list of 10 ugliest buildings in New York City according to the New York Daily News.  Note: This list does not represent our top 10, but might inspire us to make one.

10. Former Bear Stearns World Headquarters, 383 Madison Ave.

9. T.G.I. FRIDAY’S, 604 Fifth Ave.

8. The Four Seasons Hotel, 57 E. 57th St.

7. Montefiore Apartments II, 3450 Wayne Ave., the Bronx

6. Training Center, Ironworkers Local 40 & 361, 35-23 36th St., Queens

5. Trump Place, between W. 66th and W. 70th Sts. west of West End Ave.

4. Trump Tower, 725 Fifth Ave. at E. 56th St.

3. 200 Eleventh Ave.

2. 520 W. 27th St.

1. Times Tower, The New York Times Building, Eighth Ave.

Another ridiculously beautiful information graphic from the folks over at Good’s Transparency series. Click on the image for the interactive version.

Source: Bidoun

Just yesterday, Bidoun opened up a storefront location on Orchard Street in Chinatown.   The non-profit collective, mostly known for it’s publication on Middle Eastern art and Culture, now has a physical location.  I imagine they will be hosting a few lectures and exhibitions so keep it on your radar.

via: MoMA Multimedia

While doing research for a Waterfront Park design summer camp (spots still available) that I’m leading in late July with Junior High students at the Center for Architecture, I came across all these great videos for the Rising Currents exhibition. I’ve seen this exhibition in person and went on a private boat tour a month back which had each design team present their concepts at their sites around the harbor. Some very inspiring ideas to engage the inevitable sea level rise and use it as a benefit for human and natural health. Definitely well worth the time to check out these videos in your leisure at home, work, or across the globe. Be sure to watch all five team videos.