Architecture Journals

ArcCA : the journal of the American Institute of Architects
Mad Scientists, Rabble Rousers, and Other Thoughtful People.

The concept of sustainability in architectural design is heavily discussed in the article, and covers the large extent at how sustainability has affected everyday life and professionals in all different fields of science and design.

One point is that sustainable design isn't a new concept; it is in fact concepts such as planned obsolescence that are contemporary and have become considered as the norm in current design practices due to driving market forces.

The article offers much input from a plethora of notary figures in the field of sustainabile design putting forth their many opinions; these figures include Peter C. Griffith, PhD, Paul Hawkin, Steven J. Isaacs, and Cheryl Mays to name a few. Many points of sustainability are discussed and covered at length throughout the article, such as how quickly changing climates have forced designers to adapt to changing client needs, as well as our personal connections to nature and how design decisions should be made around that fact.

Other points include the movement from design being merely sustainable towards having positive impacts to the environment and even the definition of sustainble design itself. Design concepts and their implications are also discussed, including the life design cycle of products, biophilia, carbon balanced design and many more.

The breadth of the article is outstanding and is a great introduction to the many concepts and the current views on sustainable design.



Mark : Another Architecture 
'Being nice isn't enough': Andreas Grintvedt Gjertsen and Yashar Hanstad of Norwegian firm TYIN see their work as architecture of necessity.

This article introduces the Norwegian design firm of TYIN tegnestue Architects, and provides an interview with one of the firm's founders Andreas Grantvedt Gjertse.

The interviewer asks Gjertse many questions regarding his firm and his motivations for pursuing his specific practice of architecture. He discusses many points concerning the collaborative nature of the firms projects and how many different people with different skill sets are required to accomplish their works.

He moves on to describe his design process as mostly working quickly to find and create pragmatic and rough solutions to problems; that mistakes are just as much a part of the design process than mere inconveniences and that working smartly around arising design problems is important as they would also provide useful insight to how your project works.

The point the title of the article makes is also elaborated upon in the firm's motivations when undertaking projects in rural, underdeveloped areas. Kind-hearted, altruistic motivations are by themselves not sufficient enough, their should also be some selfish, internal drive to achieving your architectural goals that would also overlap with noble intentions. This way, the design process can be explored from various points and motivations, and would bring the most out of your architecture.



Computer Arts
The Light Fantastic

Computer Arts discusses how the advances in projection technologies have guided mapped projection techniques as an emerging art form and how it can transform existing pieces of architecture into vibrant, dynamic forms that add whole dimensions and levels of interpretation.

Images, patterns, videos and the such can all be projected upon building facades in vibrant and interesting ways. This all started in the 1990's with the VHS player and other, relatively more basic forms of technology.

The article discusses the culture surrounding projection mapping, how it can add and overlap with the field of architecture, and growing trends such as gearing towards interactivity and participation of the audience. Projection mapping is also a technically difficult field requiring proficiency and interaction with many forms of hardware and software.

Programmes such as After Effects CS5.5, the use of 3D animation packages, Derivative Touch Designer, as well as the heavy amounts of equipment such as strong light sources from a projector or LED panel, media server, cables, etc. Plus the site and the facade of the building that's going to be projected upon has to be taken into account.

What was interesting was how interdisciplinary the effort is and that heavy collaboration is key to achieving such large scale projects. Many fantastical projects have come to fruition all over the world, ranging from Madrid, Singapore, and Amsterdam for large companies such as Sony and Samsung.



Reference List

Bertheaud, S., Fisk, P., Griffith, P. G., Hawken, P., Isaacs, S. J., May, C., Kellogg, C., Leuschel, M., Maeda, J., Magar, C. S. E., McLennan, J. K., McKeag, T., Peterson, J., Sandhaus, L., Simon, L. N., Ubbelohde, S., Van der Ryn, S., & Wolch, J. R. (2009). Mad scientists, rabble rousers, and other thoughtful people. ArcCA, the Journal of the American Institute of Architects, California Council. (3), 15-22.

Killion, S., Gjertsen, A. G., & Hanstad, Y. (2012). 'Being nice isn't enough': Andreas Grintvedt Gjertsen and Yashar Hanstad of Norwegian firm TYIN see their work as architecture of necessity. Mark: Another Architecture. (36), 74-90.

Nick Carson. (2012). The light fantastic. Computer Arts. (201), 77-81.