Archlog

30 Seconds in the Architecture Studio with Parker

POSTED ON: March 8, 2018

 

4th year architecture student Parker Limon restructures Hong Kong through one character’s fictional narrative in a Wong Kar-wai film.

 


Shigeru Ban's Fujisan World Heritage Center

POSTED ON: March 5, 2018

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Photo by Hiroyuki Hirai

Photo by Hiroyuki Hirai

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Photo by Hiroyuki Hirai

Photo by Hiroyuki Hirai

The recently completed Fujisan World Heritage Center in Fujinomiya sits opposite a picture-perfect view of the iconic mount Fuji. Designed by Shigeru Ban Architects, whose principal, Shigeru Ban (AR’84) describes the project as a “symbolic building” was erected in honor of the designation of Mount Fuji as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The building, which features a wood lattice cone and reflecting pool, is at once a tribute to and meditation on the iconic mountain that is so essential to Japanese identity.

The $33 million project functions as a visitor center as well as a museum that holds exhibition galleries, a movie theater, a café, library, lecture hall and administrative offices. With a ramp that spirals around the interior of the concrete cone of the structure, the Fujisan World Heritage Site echoes the geometry of Mount Fuji’s conic shape and alludes to the experience of ascending the mountain, with the structure terminating in a viewing gallery with a rooftop observation hall that perfectly frames the mountain itself.


Michael Young and Mira Almazrooei in Conversation with Laura Sparks

POSTED ON: February 8, 2018

Professor Michael Young, student Mira Almazrooei and alumnus Daniel Wills examine the Foundation Building’s iconic elevator shaft through collage and drawing.

 

Tags: Michael Young, Laura Sparks


Ben Aranda's Window to the Heart Installed in Times Square

POSTED ON: January 31, 2018

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Window to the Heart - Photo Courtesy Formlabs

Window to the Heart - Photo Courtesy Formlabs

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Window to the Heart - Photo Courtesy Formlabs

Window to the Heart - Photo Courtesy Formlabs

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Window to the Heart - Photo Courtesy Formlabs

Window to the Heart - Photo Courtesy Formlabs

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Window to the Heart - Photo Courtesy Formlabs

Window to the Heart - Photo Courtesy Formlabs

Professor Benjamin Aranda’s firm, Aranda/Lasch has designed a new architectural installation in the heart of Times Square. Built in collaboration with Marcelo Coelho and sponsored by the Design Trust for Public Space and Times Square Arts, the project, titled “Window to the Heart” is on view from February 1st, 2018 – February 28th, 2018. Located at Father Duffy Square, between 46th and 47th streets, the installation consists of a 12-foot diameter Fresnel lens with a heart-shaped window in its center.

Rather than using the traditional lens-making methods of casting, cutting, and repeatedly polishing glass, Window to the Heart will leverage the latest advances in design, materials, and fabrication to craft something that was previously unattainable. Each of the almost 1,000 lens segments is 3D-printed at a high resolution by Formlabs using clear resin, a material capable of the unique surface quality and clarity required by optical elements. With the lens made entirely from a 3D-printed material instead of glass, Window to the Heart upends the centuries-old methods of lens-making to invite individuals to reimagine how they see and photograph the world.

Tags: Benjamin Aranda


  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.