Erasmuslaan

Shortly after building the Rietveld Schroder house, Rietveld designed a row of four terrace houses on Erasmuslaan (1931). Erasmuslaan is not a continuation of the ideas of De Stijl, but rather the Niewe Bouwen movement whose large plate glass windows, steel shutters and extensive use of white is typical of Dutch functionalist architecture of the 1930's. Number 9 was designed by Gerritt Rietveld and Truus Schroder and built as a model home within which Rietveld included a number of earlier furniture designs.

The ideals of the functionalist movement to create light, open spaces using standardised industrial materials with views onto lush green gardens are successfully applied to the design of Erasmuuslaan. Like many of the ideas developed by Le Corbusier, the application of these design ideas to projects designed by lesser architects, with insufficient budgets and a lack of consideration of the qualities of space Rietveld achieves in Erasmuslaan is the fault not of the functionalist movement but the poor imitations that followed. The open, light filled spaces, clean detailing, robust materials and plentiful landscaping that characterise the houses on Erasmuslaan are evidence of the potential the Modern Movement had to revolutionise the way people live and the spaces they inhabit.

Schroder House

The Rietveld Schroder House (1924) designed by Gerrit Rietveld is the best example of De Stijl and Rietveld's radical architecture. Located at the end of a street of brick terrace houses which at the time of it's constuction was on the outskirts of Utrecht the building is starkly original.

The facade is distinguished by a series of planes and brightly coloured lines which creates a bold composition and incorporates several balconies. Each component of the facade has it's own distinct colour; flat surfaces are white or shades of grey, doors and window frames are black and linear elements are painted bright primary colours.

The interior is also radically different from other buildings of the time. The interior is a dynamic and operable series of screens and furniture which allows the occupant to adapt the space to various functional requirements. The ground floor contains a kitchen and three bedrooms planned around a central staircase. The upper floor contains the living area and a toilet and bathroom. The open plan living area can be subdivided by a series of sliding and revolving panels to create three distinct rooms or a number of alternative spatial arrangements.

University Library

The University Library (2004) in Utrecht designed by Wiel Arets is a recent addition to the collection of contemporary dutch architecture at Utrecht University. A finely textured black concrete and glass box houses the main library. The interior is characterised by large cavernous spaces which create visual connections between the different floors and study areas. The enormous scale of the voids gives the library a lofty and monumental atmosphere whose predominantly black materiality is imbued with a feeling of seriousness. The study areas are connected by ramps and staircases and provide a range of atmospheres from large and open to small and intimate for people to work in. The silk screen double glazing, textured concrete, white tables and light floor colour create a diffuse natural light within the library.

The library contains a bar, lounge, large reception area and auditorium which are characterised by red rubber finishes and furniture creating a more dynamic and multi-purpose program.

UTRECHT

For a city of it's size Utrecht packs in an enormous amount of culture, history and some of the Netherland's best contemporary architecture. It's compact and beautiful centre is filled with important historical buildings that clearly define it's long history and role as the religious centre of the Netherlands and due to it's geographical location an important centre of trade.

Kunstlinie

The Kunstlinie(2006) designed by Japanese Architects, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, is a theatre located in Almere's city centre. The building is located on the shore of the "Weerwater" lake.

The building contains two large theatres, offices, and a number of ancillary spaces for smaller performances, rehearsals and administration. The planning of the spaces is achieved without the use of corridors or hallways meaning people pass through different spaces and functions to reach their destination. Throughout the building views to the water and various qualities of light are visible through the glass facades. The thinness of detailing that is typical of SANAA's work is noticeable in the Kunstlinie although the materials and detailing were made thicker by the Dutch construction company to satisfy dutch building regulations, satisfy acoustic and thermal insulation requirements and be suitable for the Dutch climate.

The building is a welcome and calming piece of architecture in Almere which exhibits considerably more restraint than it's neighbours. It successfully establishes a stronger relationship with the water and the various lighting effects and reflections that it causes than it does with the new city center.

The interior spaces are minimally detailed and predominantly white. Openings often replace an entire wall and load bearing walls leave the interior largely column free.
The overall impression is one of calm and a constant awareness of the lake, whilst the choice of materials and detailing leaves the spaces colder and more austere than poetic. The full height foyer spaces are impressive and clearly orientate the visitor within the building.

La Defense

The La Defense office complex (2004) designed by UN Studio is a building whose exterior responds to the urban context and plan and visibly different interior facades is created for the office tenants. The planning of two buildings separated by a continuous internal street and courtyards is integrated in both scale and circulation with the urban plan. The silver exterior facade reflects the surrounding context.

The internal facades are clad in glass panels with an integrated multi-coloured foil which changes colour and character depending on the angle of incidence and daylight. The material is amazingly sensitive to light and brightly coloured even on a dull grey day and gives the internal courtyards a unique and bright character.

ALMERE

Located 20 minutes from Amsterdam by train Almere became a municipality in 1984 making it one of the youngest cities in the Netherlands. From the completion of the first house in 1976 Almere has grown rapidly and now has a population of 184,000 citizens. The rapid increase in population and housing left Almere without a comprehensive urban plan or defined centre.

In 1994 OMA was commisioned to develop a masterplan for the centre of Almere. The masterplan and process of implementing the plan, it's ambitions and long list of contributing starchitects has been widely published. The new centre creates a distinct urban hierachy that organises a number of smaller centers that currently provide facilities to their immediate areas and provides a number of functions that Almere was lacking, in particular cultural facilities such as a museum, theatre and library. The scale of the proposed functions facilitates the continued growth and redefinition of the identity of the city.

The masterplan also includes a number of large scale retail spaces that are required for the steadily increasing population and economic growth of Almere. The overall feeling of the new center of Almere is that of a giant shopping mall as the ground floor of the majority of buildings is devoted to retail and an over abundance of signage and advertising. The location of the cultural buildings are either on the periphery or covered by retail and give the city an overwhelming sense of rampant commericialism.

The buidings seem to be competing for attention regardless of whether they contain a shoe shop, a mcdonalds, apartments or a library. The inconsistent style and quality of the architecture creates an identity of a city that is equally inconsistent and confusing and lacks the charm and mix of uses, public and private spaces and diversity of outdoor parks and boulevards that are created from a city that grows slowly over a prolonged period of time.

AMSTERDAM

Arriving at Amsterdam Central Station I walked into the newsagent and asked for a pack of cigarettes, a phone card and some tram tickets in (very rusty) dutch. A cigarette, a phone call and a metro ride later I arrived at Anouk and Johan's apartment on Sarphatistraat.

I am very fond of Amsterdam having lived there for twelve months. A beautiful old European city of canals and tightly packed brick buildings with impossibly steep steps and beautiful windows that also contains some of the best contemporary architecture and urban development that responds to contemporary conditions whilst maintaining the qualities of the old city center.

London to Amsterdam

Leaving Joseph's house at 5.30am to take the 6:18am train from Liverpool St Station to Harwich International the trip back to Melbourne felt like it had begun. After a few weeks of uncertainty it was a pleasant feeling heading towards Liverpool St and making a commitment to attempt to travel back to Melbourne without using a plane.

The sun rose over the frozen English landscape whilst I was on the train and so began a brilliantly clear and calm winter's day and perfect weather for crossing the North Sea by ferry.

The ferry was a pleasant 5 hour trip and as there were very few passengers surprisingly peaceful and quiet. Certainly more peaceful than traveling by plane. Looking out the window I thought of Hiroshi Sugimoto's Seascapes and the calming feeling of looking to the horizon across the ocean and knew that it could be a few months before I saw the ocean again and knew that I would miss it.

OVERLAND

For the last twelve months I have been living in Milan and New York. It has been a fantastic experience and during this time I have been thinking a about where I would like to base myself for the next few years. It has become clear that Melbourne is that city. As I result I have decided to return home. A few years ago having lived in a number of European cities over the course of three years I returned to Melbourne on the Trans-Siberian Express. The transition period from living in Berlin to living in Melbourne was an excellent opportunity to travel for an extended period of time and also adjust to the change from Germany to Australia and reflect on my time in Europe, and was also an excellent excuse to drink vodka for breakfast.

At some stage I began to think about another overland trip that would take me back to Melbourne following the next time I lived overseas along a different route and with more frequent and longer stops. This trip began two weeks ago.

During the next four to six months I intend to attempt to travel from London to Melbourne by land and sea. The route will take me through Eastern Europe, the Middle East, across the Himilaya and through South East Asia. The majority of the travelling will be done on train and will also include journeys by bus, ferry and boat.

The trip is divided into four sections; From London to Istanbul via Eastern Europe, Istanbul to Bangladesh via Iran, India to Singapore via Nepal and China, and finally from Singapore to Melbourne.

As a way of documenting the trip I will be producing an architecture blog on which I will record my experiences and descriptions of buildings that I visit during the trip. Descriptions and photographs of projects will also be added to the online architectural database MIMOA to assist other people who wish to visit the buildings and contribute to an excellent resource for architects. I hope that people who are interested in architecture and travel will find the blog useful and informative, and possibly, interesting.

OVERLAND : STAGE ONE

OVERLAND : STAGE 1

The first section of the trip will take me from London, the largest city in the EU across the North Sea to Amsterdam. Since living in Amsterdam for 12 months in 2000 the Dutch have built a number of interesting contemporary buildings and completed a few large scale urban developments in and around Amsterdam. During my time in Holland I will also visit Almere, to see buildings by SANAA and OMA and Utrecht to see Wiel Aret's Library and re-visit a number of fantastic buildings on the University Campus and Rietveld's small Modernist gem, the Schroeder House.

From Amsterdam I will travel by train to Essen to see the recently completed Zollverein Design School by SANAA building and then onto Cologne to see Peter Zumthor’s ‘Kolumba Museum’. From Cologne I will travel north east to Hamburg before heading across to Berlin, my favorite city, and Dresden. Leaving Germany I will continue south into Prague, where Josef Plecknik produced his most famous work, and Brno to see Mies van der Rohe’s Tugendhat house.

From the Czech Republic a train will take me to Vienna, home of Adolf Loos and the Secessionists. Following a few days in Vienna I will travel by hydrofoil along the Danube to Budapest and then onto Sofia before arriving at Istanbul. Finishing stage one of the trip with a visit to the Hagia Sophia and the Turkish Baths.

The Economist Building

The Economist Building (1959-64) designed by Alison and Peter Smithson. This complex of three small towers set onto a plaza is located in central London. It's smaller than expected scale gives the plaza and buildings a more humane feeling than similar buildings and urban compositions of much larger scale. The scale is appropriate to the surrounding context of St James and the fossil-rich Portland stone gives the buildings and plaza a more durable quality and atmosphere than concrete buildings of the same period.

I was surprised how much more elegant these buildings are than I had expected. The scale was also surprising being compact enough to create an intimate relationship between the towers and comfortable scale of the plaza and pedestrian routes. The buildings integration with the surrounding context and connection to the surrounding streets also prevents it's plaza from becoming a barren wasteland like so many similar buildings of the 1960's. This probably has more to do with the existing context and location in central London than it does from any particular characteristics of the design.

Lunch at 30 St Mary Axe

Richard, who works in the building, kindly invited Joseph and I up to the top of 30 St Mary Axe for lunch. The building is one of my favorite in London. An exquisitely detailed tower that appears contemporary in a way that fits beautifully in London. The tower's jewel like qualities bring to mind the traditional jewelery and ornament found in the various palaces and galleries of England. It appears as an enormous precious object in the centre of London.

The rooftop bar is located at the top of the tower and crowned by a glass dome. It is a beautiful space with fantastic views of London and it was a fantastic and unexpected opportunity to be in this space as it is not open to the public.

Royal Naval College

Royal Naval College designed by Sir Christopher Wren, 1696 to 1712.

Hussein Chalayan at the Design Museum

Everytime I have visited London there is at least one exhibition on which I really want to see. Last year it was the Jean Prouve exhibition, this time it was the Hussein Chalayan exhibition at the Design Museum. Despite repeatedly referencing the work of Chalayan during my studies and being fascinated by his unique combination of fashion, art, culture and unusual and innovative use of materials I had never actually seen one of his pieces in reality and could not recall having seen a photograph of his famous graduate show pieces.

Born in Nicosia, Cyprus in 1970, Chalayan moved to London and graduated from Central St. Martins College in 1993. His graduate collection, The Tangent Flows, featured silk dresses that had been covered in iron filings, buried for months and then exhumed. The texture and color variations of the dresses are incredible and beautiful in an unexpected way.



Chalayan has a studio in East London and during the last 15 years has produced fashion collections, exhibitions and art installations as well as short films and costumes for opera and dance performances.

The range of ideas that are fused into a beautifully crafted single garment gives the work a depth and richness that is rare in fashion. Chalayan explores ideas drawn from genetics, aeronautics, technological progress, displacement, migrancy and cultural identity. Themes which are derived from his own history and cultural identity and experience of living and working in London. ‘He describes himself as being part-Aegean, part-Anatolian, part-Balkan and part-Mediterranean filtered through the synthesizer of London.’

The textures and rich materiality of the garments was something that I had not been able to appreciate from photographs and was struck by how unusual the materials of the garments were and yet how effortless the application of the materials felt.

It was an inspiring exhibition which left me thinking about how one can represent ideas through design in a subtle yet rich manner and the qualities of the work that triggered those ideas. The exhibition was a very comfortable size and each room carefully curated to allow the viewer to focus on each piece and follow the development and themes of his work as one moved from room to room.

Design Museum London

The Design Museum (1989) designed by Conran Partnership is located in a converted banana warehouse on the south bank of the river Thames. The gallery contains two floor of gallery spaces, a store and a cafe.

London City Hall

London City Hall (2001) designed by Norman Foster is located on the banks of the River Thames. The building houses the offices of the Greater London Authority. The curvilinear glass building has been designed to express the transparency and accessibility of the democratic process. The form of the building has been designed to minimise the surface area which is exposed to direct sunlight and has been generated by geometrically modifying a sphere.

The interior features a 500m spiraling ramp that ascends to the top of the building. A similar ramp was used in Foster's renovation of the Reichstag.

Barbican Estate

Barbican Estate (1982) designed by Chamberlin, Powell & Bon.

Lloyd's of London (again)

Lloyd's of London (1979-1984) designed by Richard Rogers Partnership

Tarling East

Tarling East (2008) designed by S333. Having worked for S333 in Amsterdam for 12 months I was very interested in visiting their first completed project in the UK. The building continues their exploration into alternative solutions to medium density housing and a design approach which involves careful analysis of context.

Tarling east contains 32 dwellings which range from one-bedroom apartments to six-bedroom family homes. The block includes rows of three storey homes which relate to the traditional terrace block and has the horizontality and scale of the brick estates found all over East London. Roof terraces provide generous safe and protected external areas.

The variety of apartment types provides housing for a diverse range of inhabitants, some of which are uncommon in new inner-city residential developments. The obvious attention to the importance of light, sun and garden spaces for the residents add to the amenity of the dwellings.

Elektra House

This small house designed by David Adjaye in 2000 for two artists presents a windowless rectangular façade clad with phenolic resin faced ply. Windows are visible on the white rear façade but reveal a blank wall within the house and provide a view of the sky from the interior.

As the house gives nothing away of it’s interior which, because it is a private house, was I unable to visit. The ground floor is one space with a small kitchen and a small external area. The first floor that is set back from the front and rear façade contains three bedrooms and a bathroom. Natural light is provided by roof lights and in two rooms a window looks onto a blank wall.

Idea Store

The Idea Store (2005) designed by David Adjaye is a public library located in one of the poorest areas of East London. The coloured glass façade presents and optimistic and playful character in an otherwise bleak urban environment. Reflecting the activity of the street market located on the footpath in front of the building. The disused main entrance protrudes from the façade and has a strong presence on the footpath bringing the visitors up onto the first floor of the building on an escalator. The current entrance is located at street level and I imagine the escalator would provide a much stronger threshold between the bustling street and the quieter interior. The provision of a side laneway to the local supermarket further integrates the building with the context and daily activity of the community

The Idea Store is a combination of a community center, youth center and library and contains classrooms, studios, workshops, libraries and a café that are loosely arranged and mixed throughout the building ensuring intensive use of all areas. The materials are economical and carefully detailed suggesting the building was constructed on a small budget that has not diminished the importance of the program or character of the interiors.

LONDON

It is my fourth visit to London and a city which becomes more interesting with each visit. This is not surprising given that London is the largest metropolitan area in the EU covering an area of 1,570 km2 and has been an important settlement for over 2000 years. London’s population of 7,556,900 within Great London and an estimated 14 million in the metropolitan area is diverse with over 300 languages being spoken in the city all served by one of the oldest and most extensive public transport systems in the world.

The major sites and galleries can easily keep you busy for weeks or months and I am hoping to visit some districts and buildings of London I have not seen before and spend some more time in Shoreditch drinking pints and watching the rain.

Goodbye New York

After four months it is time to say goodbye to New York. It has been an amazing experience thanks to DD who made the trip possible. There is so much to see and do and the city so complex that I am glad that I got to spend even a few months there and begin to understand a city that is so influential and relevant to contemporary culture and society.

It was hard contemplating leaving New York, it is like a giant magnet that pulls you in and slowly erases your memory of a world beyond. The people so diverse, the sites, galleries and events so plentiful and the constant activity leave little room for contemplation of that which exists outside it’s borders. The people and objects represent so much of what is beyond that experiencing them in New York temporarily dulls the desire to see them anywhere else.

Being in New York during the Presidential debates, elections and subsequently watch the inauguration of President Obama in Harlem was interesting. It was an exciting series of events to witness and one that would have felt rather more abstract had I been elsewhere but were bizarre, interesting, inspiring and exciting nonetheless.

The flight to London was an appropriate departure, flying from Newark and along the length of Manhattan, millions of sparkling lights making the whole island visible. It was a final chance to marvel at such a magnificent city but it will not be the last.

Hearst Building

The Hearst Building designed by Norman Foster is situated on top of the original six-storey headquarters buildings that was designed by Joseph Urban and constructed in 1928. The preservation of the façade has resulted in an effective balance between the need for a new building and corporate identity for the Hearst Corporation whilst maintaining and renovating the original streetscape, responding to the two distinct urban conditions of New York City; the original facades of older buildings at ground level and the glittering towers of the New York Skyline. The tower’s sculpted geometry and exposed structural steel frame has created a strong image of a 21st century skyscraper.

The building is the first ‘green’ high rise office building in New York City. The building employs a number of devices including an under floor heating and cooling system using polyethelene tubes filled with circulating water, and rain water collection that is used for the cooling system, irrigation of plants and the water sculpture in the lobby. The efficient diagonal steel structure was constructed with 80% recycled steel.

As with other recent works by Foster the environmental sustainability of the design is a key consideration yet is carefully concealed in the design as not to compromise the design or highlight the buildings ‘green’ credentials and are excellent examples of how this can be achieved.

MoMA

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is a collection of important buildings located on 53rd St in New York that have been artfully combined into a single gallery by Yoshio Taniguchi in 2004.

The importance of the gallery to architecture has a long history. Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson curated the exhibition ‘Modern Architecture: International Exhibition’ in 1932 which bought European Modernism to a wide audience in America. In the title of the touring exhibition and accompanying book the phrase ‘The International Style’ was coined by Hitchcock and Johnson. MoMA then constructed Americas first International Style Building in 1939.

Philip Johnson was the first director of the museum’s department of architecture until 1934 and constructed the sculpture garden and a new wing in 1954. Cesar Pelli built a 53-storey residential tower on top of the museum in 1984 which provided funding for the museum’s growth.

In 2004 Yoshio Taniguchi created a major expansion of the museum spaces and integrated the existing buildings into the enormous gallery that MoMA is today. The restrained geometries and materiality of the neThe Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is a collection of important buildings located on 53rd St in New York that have been artfully combined into a single gallery.

The gallery has successfully expanded and reinforced it’s importance as a leading world gallery and is an excellent example of the way buildings can respond to contemporary needs and requirements for expansion whilst maintaining the best of it’s various original buildings through innovative ways of bringing them together.

Lever House

Located opposite Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building Lever House’s tower and podium is as copied and rarely equaled as the Seagram building. Together these two towers define 20th century skyscraper architecture.

The single-storey mezzanine base is supported by columns creating a public pedestrian area beneath. The tower sits on top of the podium with the lowest floor of the tower recessed to reinforce the seperation between the two elements. The opaque glazing of the top three floors conceals the machinery and reflects earlier skyscraper design by creating a capital at the top of the building and balancing the geometry of the base.

At only 24 stories the building is dwarfed by the surrounding towers but it’s diminuitive scale does not diminish the impact of it’s high quality and elegant design. Lever House was one of the first SOM buildings that brought the firm to prominence.

Seagram Building

Considered on of the most elegant skyscrapers in New York, Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram building has been copied countless times yet rarely equaled. It’s elegant proportions and innovative placement on the site that creates a forecourt with reflecting pools and a low boundary wall in green marble sets the building apart from it’s context and announces it’s opulence and quality. The successful translation of ideas from his seminal Barcelona Pavilion (1929) to a large scale project gives the building a distinguished presence at both street level and within the streetscape.

One of the defining features of the Seagram building is the application of bronze I-beams to the exterior of the building. The I-beams create a subtle ornament and texture to the otherwise flat facade and reinforces the verticality and proportions of the building.

The exquisite detailing and command of new and old materials gives the Seagram building a quality and richness that is lacking in so many skyscapers. The relationship of the inhabitant and the materials and their ability to define space and create atmosphere with minimal means is remarkable. The relationship between the various parts of the building and different materials through precise detailing reinforces the consistency of the ideas and language of the building.

Blue Tower

This seventeen storey tower located in the Lower East Side contains thirty-two apartments and rises to a height of 55m. The building is Bernard Tschumi's first residential tower and his second building in New York City.

The building took two and a half years to design and construct and was influenced by the constraints of NYC zoning laws and market-driven commercial forces. Despite the attempt to create an interesting form which adheres to building codes and creates a unique building the impression of the building is one that was built with an insufficient budget and is a poor response to the context.

The blue pixelated facade stands out against the sky as it rises far above the neighbouring buildings of the historic Lower East Side neighbourhood when it would be better if the building was more inconspicuous. The design of the facade is supposed to represent the diversity and the dynamism of the neighbourhood, as well as the internal organisation of the building, but how a pixelated facade of varying shades of blue represents diversity or distinguishes different internal areas is unclear as the building appears as a boldly singular gesture.

Designing a striking building in a historic neighbourhood with a modest budget and strict zoning laws is challenging. The Blue Tower has made an attempt to balance and exploit these conditions but in doing so unfortunately highlighted it's failure to respond to each of these conditions successfully.

40 Bond Street

The luxury apartment building on 40 Bond St in New York designed by Herzog & de Meuron is a sparkling reinterpretation of the traditional cast iron and brick loft buildings of the surrounding area.

The 11-storey building contains 27 luxury apartments and 5 townhouses creating a new typology of apartments which combine housing with the services and amenities of a 5-star hotel.

The facade is constructed of concrete wrapped in blackened copper and luminescent curved glass. The materials of the facade have been treated in numerous ways which create an ornamental ground floor and shimmering upper floors that respond to changes in light. At street level the private entrances to the townhouses are protected by a large cast aluminium graffiti inspired gate. The pattern is repeated on a number of beautiful materials, etched into corian in the foyer and pressed into polished metal panels at the main entrance.

The building fits comfortably into it's context by reinterpreting the typical noho loft buildings and their materiality whilst standing out through the interesting and unique use of new materials and manufacturing processes.

40 Bond Street