the Magical Legend of the Mayan Serpent God

Grand Cancun designed by Richard’s Architecture + Design will be the world’s first luxury eco-tourism resort that responds to our energy crisis and local fossil fuel dependency of the city. This is a vision for the year 2020 where Cancun will celebrate its 50th founding anniversary, a landmark or a memorial sculpture which is adapted from “KUKULKAN” and the magical legend of the Mayan Serpent God. This awesome eco-architecture contributes to the myth and raises the serpent from water to infinity, a great representation of exceptional harmony between Mayan people and their new metropolis.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/grand-cancun-is-the-first-net-zero-energy-luxury-eco-turism-resort/

Folded Ocean

It investigates how oceanic practices and protocols fold into spatial and architectural products on land, figuring both sea and land based logics. The project frames the ocean through three tropes: as contact zone, with which are associated ideas of creolisation, transnationalism, entanglement, compaction and multi-polarity;http://geoarchitecture.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/folded-ocean-publications/

the Guardians

"The Guardians: Hero and Superhero," two 13-foot-high statues by acclaimed Italian architect and designer Antonio Pio Saracino were installed outside
Bryant Park in New York City last week. An opening reception was held on December 10, and the sculptures will remain on view indefinitely.http://www.stoneworld.com/articles/87813-a-modern-day-david-is-sculpted-out-of-vermont-danby-marble

‘Blindspot Initiative‘

The ‘Blindspot Initiative‘ is a group exhibition in Los Angeles, being funded via a Kickstarter campaign. The exhibition will showcase work by cutting edge interdisciplinary designers based in Los Angeles.
Backers of the campaign can attend up to 10 workshops, which are being offered by each of the participating designers. Each workshop aims to share the techniques and ideas at play in the production of the work. They include: fabrication, gaming, programming, 3D printing, data visualization and much more.http://www.evolo.us/architecture/blindspot-initiative/

‘Blindspot Initiative‘

The ‘Blindspot Initiative‘ is a group exhibition in Los Angeles, being funded via a Kickstarter campaign. The exhibition will showcase work by cutting edge interdisciplinary designers based in Los Angeles.
Backers of the campaign can attend up to 10 workshops, which are being offered by each of the participating designers. Each workshop aims to share the techniques and ideas at play in the production of the work. They include: fabrication, gaming, programming, 3D printing, data visualization and much more.http://www.evolo.us/architecture/blindspot-initiative/

Bioclimatic Greece

In this era, when the ecological management of urban surroundings has become an imperative, more than ever, the idea that the bioclimatic component owes to become the primary constitutive element of architectural design so as to produce viable spaces in present and in future is constantly being enforced.

http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/books-review/bioclimatic-architecture-in-greece-id3130

The Curved Universe of Einstein

...I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing, sensual curves. The curves that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on the body of the beloved woman. Curves make up the entire Universe, the curved Universe of Einstein...Oscar Niemeyer

 

 

 

 

 

to Build Chicago Tribune

In 1922 Chicago’s famous daily newspaper The Chicago Tribune launched an international competition for its new headquarters, which were to be built on Michigan Avenue. Carefully strategized as a media event, the call for proposals attracted both interest from the general public and a massive participation of 263 architects from the US and abroad.

http://thecityasaproject.org/2011/10/the-barest-form-in-which-architecture-can-exist-some-notes-on-ludwig-hilberseimer%e2%80%99s-proposal-for-the-chicago-tribune-building/

Biological Principles

Biological Growth is the title of master thesis project by Yong Ha Kim, done at Southern California Institute of Architecture. The design uses basic biological principles of growth as an continuous transformation and improvement by repeated fundamental processes and by time – the metabolism represents basic system of creature which has its own perfect biological system. And it is also a fundamental discipline for the biological growth...http://www.evolo.us/architecture/biological-growth-employs-principles-of-continuous-transformation-and-improvement/

a World without People

And yet everything ends up being an image. Even if architects dislike images and try to stage “real” events or situations, images remain the fundamental medium through which these events are transmitted. Instead of trying to go beyond images, perhaps it would be more interesting to understand them not as mere illustrations, but as a form of production. Within architecture the production of images transcends the distinction between “virtual” and “real” spaces.http://thecityasaproject.org/2012/09/manet-images-for-a-world-without-people/

Palympsestuos Ithaca

Mariée en haut, célibataires en bas. Les célibataires devant servir de base architectonique à la mariée, celle-ci devient une sorte d’apothéose de la virginité

Marcel Duchamp

http://thecityasaproject.org/2011/09/underground-observatories-on-marots-palympsestuos-ithaca/

de Fotografía de Arquitectura

El Premio de Fotografía de Arquitectura,, organizado por Arcaid Images, ha anunciado el ganador, finalistas y las pre-selección de imágenes para las mejores fotos de arquitectura de este año. Se pidió a un panel de distinguidos arquitectos y editores, que incluía a: Catalina Slessor, Eva Jiricna, Zaha Hadid, Ivan Harbour y Graha Stirk…http://www.archdaily.mx/270147/ganadores-imagenes-de-arquitectura-premio-arcaid-images-2013/

Green Heritage

Jenny Sabin’s Greenhouse and Cabinet of Future Fossils was Commissioned by the American Philosophical Society Museum, funded by Heritage Philadelphia Program, a program of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. This greenhouse for the 21^st century is located in the garden of American Philosophical Society. It is conceived by artist, researcher and architectural designer Jenny Sabin and it is an outgrowth of the Museum’s current exhibition.http://www.evolo.us/architecture/greenhouse-and-cabinet-of-future-fossils-by-jenny-sabin/

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design

LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is transforming the way we think about how our buildings and communities are designed, constructed, maintained and operated across the globe. Comprehensive and flexible, LEED is a green building tool that addresses the entire building lifecycle recognizing best-in-class building strategies.

http://www.usgbc.org/leed

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design

LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is transforming the way we think about how our buildings and communities are designed, constructed, maintained and operated across the globe. Comprehensive and flexible, LEED is a green building tool that addresses the entire building lifecycle recognizing best-in-class building strategies.

http://www.usgbc.org/leed

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design

LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is transforming the way we think about how our buildings and communities are designed, constructed, maintained and operated across the globe. Comprehensive and flexible, LEED is a green building tool that addresses the entire building lifecycle recognizing best-in-class building strategies.

http://www.usgbc.org/leed

Mega Trends

Despite unique identities, geographic spread and differing economies, cities all over the world are being challenged by the same mega trends. With more than 60% of the world population predicted to live in cities by 2030 we are asked to develop sustainable strategies for the future. There is no doubt that the density of cities will increase and therefor the cities fabric will grow vertically. But with reaching a certain height, towers are facing problems...http://www.evolo.us/architecture/the-ny-billboard-by-prechteck/

Electrical Geology

Two-dimensional (2D) electrical imaging surveys are now widely used to map areas of moderately complex geology where conventional 1D resistivity sounding and profiling techniques are inadequate. The results from such surveys are usually plotted in the form of a pseudosection (Figure 1a) which gives an approximate but distorted picture of the subsurface geology.

 

http://www.geoelectrical.com/products.php

‘’Atlas of the Unbuilt World ‘’

nabil gholam architects has been invited by the British Council to participate to the International Showcase ‘’Atlas of the Unbuilt World ‘’ for the London Festival of Architecture 2013.

Atlas of the Unbuilt World provided a snap-shot of the future of architecture hosting over 60 models, from nearly 40 countries. The exhibition showcased architectural models of future projects from around the globe by some of the most by exciting practices and emerging studios working today. The projects have been nominated by international experts including architects, academics and writers and representatives from London’s embassies and cultural institutes.http://www.archileb.com/article.php?id=786

The Future

12 March 2014, JW Marriot in Cannes

Now in their 13th year, the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Awards are the only awards exclusively for future projects. They celebrate excellence in unbuilt or incomplete projects spanning across twelve categories. The awards take place at MIPIM, the international property market, which attracts over 20,000 delegates to Cannes.http://www.mipimarfutureprojects.com/home

Xior Namentism

X|Atelier is organizing an international intensive workshop of Advanced Architectural Design. The X|A Winter Workshop 2013 is led by X|A principals Erick Carcamo (SCI-ARC) and Nefeli Chatzimina (USC) both Graduates of Columbia University in New York City, GSAPP AAD.

http://www.xatelier.com/workshop/

We spend our lives ...by their walls.

We spend our lives inside buildings, our thoughts shaped by their walls. Nevertheless, there’s surprisingly little research on the psychological implications of architecture. How do different spaces influence cognition? Is there an ideal kind of architectural structure for different kinds of thinking?http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/the-psychology-of-architecture/

Pure Green to drive the Future

Ed Mazria is the influential environmental architect behind the 2030 Challenge, which aims to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in new construction, and to cut the use of fossil fuels in existing buildings by 50 percent before 2030.

http://inhabitat.com/interview-ed-mazria-founder-of-architecture-2030-introduces-the-2030-palette/

Moses. A decentralized Network

Moses is a decentralized, self-sustaining city unit, populated by approximately 25,000 inhabitants, which offers the transition of men from land to sea, so that the land could be used for food production and the Earth could start its process of self-regeneration from the negative human impact. It functions independently as a city-unit, as well as a cluster of units, which share information, energy, and goods.

 

http://www.evolo.us/competition/moses-a-decentralized-floating-network-of-skyscraper-cities/

Himalayan Architecture

This broad treatment of architecture throughout the region of the Himalaya mountains is the first book of its kind. The author has based this study on many years of research in Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, and the Darjeeling area of northeast India, northern Pakistan, and Himachal Pradesh in India's northwest.http://books.google.gr/books/about/Himalayan_Architecture.html?id=KXyvjqJoBIcC&redir_esc=y

Himalayan Architecture

This broad treatment of architecture throughout the region of the Himalaya mountains is the first book of its kind. The author has based this study on many years of research in Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, and the Darjeeling area of northeast India, northern Pakistan, and Himachal Pradesh in India's northwest.http://books.google.gr/books/about/Himalayan_Architecture.html?id=KXyvjqJoBIcC&redir_esc=y

Himalayan Architecture

This broad treatment of architecture throughout the region of the Himalaya mountains is the first book of its kind. The author has based this study on many years of research in Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, and the Darjeeling area of northeast India, northern Pakistan, and Himachal Pradesh in India's northwest.http://books.google.gr/books/about/Himalayan_Architecture.html?id=KXyvjqJoBIcC&redir_esc=y

THE POSTER

the eVolo 2012 Skyscraper Competition Poster that showcases 620 innovative projects submitted to the contest (all authors’ names and countries of origin are included in the publication)...http://www.evolo.us/category/magazine/

The Skyscraper Museum

Located in New York City, the world's first and foremost vertical metropolis, The Skyscraper Museum celebrates the City's rich architectural heritage and examines the historical forces and individuals that have shaped its successive skylines. Through exhibitions, programs and publications, the Museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology...

http://www.skyscraper.org/home.htm

Hearing the Volcano

Volcano is a B.Arch thesis project by Joakim Wadenholt, done at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. This proposal investigates how to make the opera in Stockholm popular again by making a new opera house. With different stages, concerts halls and music events –this proposal will reach a much wider target group. Hopefully this mix of music shows and stages attracts more people and makes the opera show more popular as well.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/volcano-a-proposal-for-a-new-opera-house-stockholm-joakim-wadenholt/

1960's The Avant Garde

ARCHIGRAM dominated the architectural avant garde in the 1960s and early 1970s with its playful, pop-inspired visions of a technocratic future after its formation in 1961 by a group of young London architects – Warren Chalk, Peter Cook, Dennis Crompton, David Greene, Ron Herron and Michael Webb.
“A new generation of architecture must arise with forms and spaces which seems to reject the precepts of ‘Modern’ yet in fact retains those precepts. We have chosen to by pass the decaying Bauhaus image which is an insult to functionalism. You can roll out steel – any length. You can blow up a balloon – any size. You can mould plastic – any shape. Blokes that built the Forth Bridge – they didn’t worry.”http://designmuseum.org/design/archigram

a Cubic House

The Ambivalent Object_433 Cupid House by Ryan Hong is an exploration in curtain as poche, organizational hierarchy, tectonic continuity and the exterior’s variable presence or “exterior blackness”.
The floor plate of this house is not a direct offset of the exterior but constrained by its exterior while asserting its own proportion and scale within its given boundaries. Similar to that of a curtain’s estrangement to a fixed position, vector stippling –a drawing technique – communicates ambivalence as it lacks the commitment of a solid line.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/cupid-house-is-an-exploration-in-organizational-hierarchy-and-tectonic-continuity/

Prepared for Storms

A year after Hurricane Sandy struck the United States, destroying houses and public infrastructure along the Eastern Seaboard, we reached out to several architects and posed two questions: What did you learn from Sandy? And how can architects prepare for the next storm?

http://www.archdaily.com/

Under the Sky

Η έκθεση φωτογραφίας «Ναοί στο σχήμα του ουρανού…» του Λουκά Χαψή άνοιξε  τις πύλες του ουράνιου θόλου της αρχαιότητας, την Τετάρτη 6 Νοεμβρίου 2013 στο Ίδρυμα Ευγενίδου και υποδέχεται το κοινό σε μια μοναδική διαδρομή φωτισμένη από αστρικές «ανταύγειες» πάνω στα αρχετυπικά μνημεία της ελληνικής αρχαιότητας.

 Aστρικές τροχιές, αστερισμοί, νεφελώματα και ο Γαλαξίας με το λεπτό, μυστηριακό φως τους διασχίζουν το νυκτερινό ουρανό και πλαισιώνουν την αρχαία μας κληρονομιά. Από την Ολυμπία ως τη Δήλο και από το Δίον ως την Κνωσό, ο φωτογράφος Λουκάς Χαψής μάς παρασύρει σε μια ονειρική όσο και πρωτότυπη επίσκεψη σε δεκατέσσερεις σημαντικές τοποθεσίες, όπου πάλαι ποτέ έλαμψε ο ελληνικός πολιτισμός.

http://www.eugenfound.edu.gr/frontoffice/portal.asp?cpage=RESOURCE&cresrc=3244&cnode=149

Connecting Districts

Compresscity, designed by Master of Architecture graduate Garrett Ryan Miller from California College of the Arts, is a speculative architectural intervention  that allows for a more sophisticated cross-occupation of urban vacancies near commercial and industrial zones along the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle, Washington.http://www.evolo.us/architecture/compresscity-connecting-districts

To be famous

Marble Trend started its publishing life in June, 2007. The magazine is published in every 3 month under the direction of the experienced journalist Çağlayan Sueli. Besides 4 periodic issues, 2 special China issues are published.http://www.marbletrend.com.tr/

DC-Cam has commissioned Zaha Hadid to design...

The Documentation Center of Cambodia’s (DC-Cam) has commissioned Zaha Hadid to design the much-anticipated genocide studies institute in Phnom Penh. The new campus, known as the Sleuk Rith Institute, will serve as an extension of DC-Cam’s work as the country’s go-to archive for Khmer Rouge history as well as a leading center for genocide studies in Asia. Within a modest campus, the institute will house a “cross-section of pursuits,” including a genocide studies center, a school, a museum for memorial and education purposes, and more.

http://www.archdaily.com/443616/zaha-hadid-to-design-sleuk-rith-institute-in-cambodia/

the Process of Creating

The Death of Authorship is B.Arch thesis project by Yoon Her, done at USC – University of Southern California, Los Angeles. The title of the projects indicates the situation we are witnessing and confronting for the 21 century, and the design tries to offer one’s prospective mind throughout the site of Pershing Square, Los Angeles. The program cycle of this edifice is mimicking the process of creating, producing and consuming of authorship while the building will hold emergent activities including writing, reading, printing, binding and copyrighting.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/the-death-of-authorship-preserving-ideas-through-architecture/

Complex Marine Ecologies

Jessica Hernandez, Edgar Garcia, and Bing Bai of the Master of Architecture II, Geofutures, Post Professional Program in Architecture and Urbanism at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , under the guidance of the following faculty: Chris Perry and Andrew Saunders with Fleet Hower, propose an archipelago of remote islands which support a fragile ecology of marine wildlife, located in the Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii.

http://www.rpi.edu/

True monolithic piece...

Segregated Monoliths is a final student project by Alex Phi, done at Sci-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture) in Los Angeles, California. The design investigates monolithic structure in its solidity. True monolithic piece of architecture is unbroken, rigid, invulnerable, a whole, large and unified with no recognizable parts. The research deals with displacing and dislodging both formal and organizational aspects of a building while retaining a sense of wholeness.
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/segregated-monoliths-is-an-investigation-on-monolithic-structures-in-contemporary-architecture/

Eternity in Mostar

Eternity had only been interrupted. The Old Bridge in Mostar, which had been constructed in 1556, rose from the ashes in July 2004. This symbol for the bond between peoples and religions had been built under the assumption of everlastingness, but became a victim of the Bosnian war in 1993. This monument, which is also important regarding its architecture, was rebuilt under the direction of the UNESCO with the participation of the LGA (Regional Industrial Association) of Nuremberg (Germany)

http://www.litosonline.com/en/articles/en/80/old-bridge-mostar-reconstruction-symbol

Nature in a Shelter

Natural stone, the durable alternative“ („La pierre, l’alternative performante“) was the title of a competition for young architects called out by La Pierre de France Company in cooperation with trade magazine Pierre Actual. The aim was to design shelters for public transportation while testing novel means of implementing natural stone.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/10/27/competition-to-promote-frances-new-generation-in-natural-stone-as-a-durable-alternative/

To manage a Project

Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor designed to produce a unique product, service or result with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverables),undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management

 

Carved Humanity

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Canada, designed by Antoine Predock Architects, is carved into the earth while dissolving into the sky on the Winnipeg horizon The design concept is rooted in humanity, and is a metaphor of the fundamental commonality of humankind – a symbolic apparition of ice, clouds and stone, set on the ground.
The museum journey is actually the epic journey through life. Visitors enter the building between the Roots – protective stone arms, suggesting an ancient geological event. As they are containing the important public interface functions of the museum, the Roots create a framework for outdoor ceremonies with roof terraces and amphitheater seating.http://www.evolo.us/architecture/canadian-museum-for-human-rights-in-winnipeg-canada/

We are drawn by desire...

 
Nature transformed through industry is a predominant theme in my work. I set course to intersect with a contemporary view of the great ages of man; from stone, to minerals, oil, transportation, silicon, and so on. To make these ideas visible I search for subjects that are rich in detail and scale yet open in their meaning. Recycling yards, mine tailings, quarries and refineries are all places that are outside of our normal experience, yet we partake of their output on a daily basis.
These images are meant as metaphors to the dilemma of our modern existence; they search for a dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and fear. We are drawn by desire - a chance at good living, yet we are consciously or unconsciously aware that the world is suffering for our success. Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our consumption and our concern for the health of our planet sets us into an uneasy contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our times.

Edward Burtynsky

http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/site_contents/About/introAbout.html

Alabasters...

The materials commercially known as Onyx are scientifically known as alabasters (or calcium alabasters) formed by deposits of calcium carbonate in water rich in bicarbonate, generally in cavities in solids of limestone stone. (...)

The term onyx (which came from the Greek term which means “nail”) refers to two different types of rocks: the first is calcium onyx, object of the current article, and the second is a crypto-crystalline variety of quartz. (...)

Both technical as well as aesthetic characteristics vary as a function of the direction of cutting: parallel to the level of stratification (transversal cut), this way a circular design is seen over a layer, or perpendicular (cut following the direction of the veins), in this case the sedimentary stratification is highlighted. (...) Currently the transversal cut prevails, because with this cut the characteristic of translucency is highlighted.

http://www.litosonline.com/en/articles/en/530/onyx-materials-always-fashion

Joy & Satisfaction

Refined and innovative wall design and decoration must not mean complicated installation systems, even when you are dealing with natural stone and marble. We put a lot of effort in making the fitter’s life as easy as possible, with consequent joy and satisfaction for both the Architect / Interior Designer and the end Customer...

http://blog.lithosdesign.com/cool-wall-design-easy-installation/

Stone Federation GB

Stone Federation GB is the national trade association for the natural stone industry. It is an unincorporated association set up to represent its members and to set high standards and promote best practise and professionalism in the natural stone industry.

http://www.stonefed.org.uk/index.php?page=stone-fed-structure

Ancient Gangsaws

It is so easy for us to think that the machinery used for cutting stone in the industry are all modern inventions, and as for how stone was cut and processed in the distant past, ah, well, who cares ?... Some simple contraption, of course, would be a generalised assumption.
How wrong! In 2005 gangsaws, similar to those used today, were discovered in Turkey. It is estimated they date between 200 to 300 AC. The first one was discovered in Hierapolis, and the second in Ephesus, where a marble factory was discovered among the ruins.

The marble workshop in Ephesus was situated in the middle of a prosperous neighborhood in a city founded around 1000 B.C. The age of gangsaw discovered in Ephesus, is estimated to be between 600 to 700 AC. It was assumed the remains were of a large marble factory because several cut stones were found nearby. (A third machine was found in Grese (Jordan) and its age is estimated to be around 600 to 700 AC).

http://www.litosonline.com/en/articles/en/111/two-antique-gangsaws

Like a Snake

Salt Flat Hybrid is highly sustainable, hybrid entity, aiming to take on new program of living and research, while performing primarily as a geothermal power plant in the Salton Sea. Due to the fact that over the next seventy years more than half of the sea will disappear, revealing a salt flat basin, new opportunity for architecture has been therefore created – it has to be re-investigated how to build and exist on the periphery and how to engage in a dialogue with the decay of its surroundings...

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/salt-flat-hybrid-sanke-like-skyscraper/

Pyramids, Obelisks, Arenas...

The millennial presence of pyramids, obelisks, arenas, temples, concrete evidence of man’s ability to use stone in constructions, and of the suitability of this material for the purpose, makes their existence seem ordinary and everlasting. But if we ask ourselves how these structures, these genuine engineering masterpieces of their time, were accomplished, starting with the transportation of the building materials...

 

http://blog.lithosdesign.com/stone-gate-and-verona-arena/

a Building like a Quarry

Natural stone is often the material of choice for façades. But designing a building’s front to look like a quarry – now that is quite unusual.

But that is just what architect Max Dudler did when creating Essen’s Folkwang Public Library Complex in the heart of Germany’s Ruhr Region. Unusual, too, that a photographer was invited to help design the façade: Stefan Müller, usually called on to capture Dudler’s creations in photo format, was sent on a field trip to Trosselfels-Quarries of Hofmann Natural Stone Company.

 http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/10/15/glass-panes-with-stone-facsimiles-form-the-facade-of-essens-folkwang-library-in-germany-2/

Inspiration for Marbles

In 1853, on one of his European tours, Stephen Salisbury II (1798-1884)- father of the Museum's founder- visited the American neoclassical sculptor Thomas Crawford at his studio in Rome. Crawford, who had lived in Rome for almost twenty years, welcomed many American tourists. His reputation in the United States, and especially in New England, was greatly enhanced by the exhibition in Boston in 1844 of his sculpture Orpheus, which had been inspired by the renowned Apollo Belvedere, a centerpiece of the Vatican's rich collections of ancient art.

http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/American/1906.116.html

An Agricultural Park for Them...

This proposal concerning a housing scheme for the homeless and the creation of an agricultural park, located in the northern suburban area of Athens comes from Dionysis Gonatas and Vangelis Lantavos of Greece.

Lately in Greece, the debate regarding the state-owned property has been intensified. In the case of buildings, many of them are unfortunately in poor condition due to lack of maintenance or complete abandonment. On the other hand as a result of the economic crisis, a large number of citizens are at risk of poverty, while the number of homeless people, especially in large urban centers, has increased dramatically according to recent statistics.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/housing-for-the-homeless-and-agricultural-park-for-athens

How to be a man...

For support for the global exhibition “How to be a Man”, which will explore the concept of manhood in ancient Greece. From the selected artworks of its collection and from a large private collection, the Antikenmuseum Basel is highlighting the role of men in Greek society and family. In addition, the exhibition in the Skulpturhalle shows many facets of the male domain of sport in ancient Greece. 

The Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, founded in 1961, is the only Swiss Museum devoted exclusively to the ancient Mediterranean cultures. Its permanent collections consist mainly of Egyptian, Greek, Italic, Etruscan and Roman artworks, thus covering a period of time from the 4th millennium B.C. to the 6th century A.D

http://www.snf.org/index.php?ID=grants_EN&Rec_ID=7578

Imagine an Image of Natural Stone

Imagine a technology that can take a 3-D image of any object, manipulate that image and then produce a natural stone facsimile once or a hundred times – this is Stoneworld’s StoneGenie™ - an entirely new service coming to Stoneworld.http://www.stoneworld.co.uk/?xhtml=xhtml/stonegenie/default.html&xsl=minisite.xsl

THINK Tank investigates...

The Life Aquatech project by THINK Tank investigates relationship between the building systems that mediate between interior and exterior and architectural design, via shifting from air based to water based systems. The initial research started with a general concern about poor development of building systems over time which has huge impact on human comfort and its relation to architectural form. The authors advocate that the buildings can be seen as a layering of architectural design and structural support, similar to skin and bones. However, the systems that allow for human comfort act as mediators between interior and exterior operate like grey matter which lacks real interaction with the design and architecture.http://www.evolo.us/architecture/life-aquatech-investigating-biological-systems-and-current-practices-in-the-building-sector/

Essays on Contemporary Architects

Jeffrey Kipnis’s writing, thinking, and teaching casts architecture as both an intellectual discourse and a lived, affective experience. His essays on contemporary architects are less about making critical judgments than about explication, exegesis, and provocation. In these eleven essays, written between 1990 and 2008, he considers projects, concepts, and buildings by some of the most recognized architects working today, with special attention to the productions of affect. He explores “intuition” in the work of Morphosis, “exhilaration” in Coop Himmelb(l)au, “freedom” in the work of Rem Koolhaas and OMA, “magic” in Steven Holl’s buildings, and “anxiety” in Rafael Moneo’s writing about contemporary architecture. Kipnis’s deft integration of art, critical theory, philosophy, pop culture, classical music, and science...

http://www.anycorp.com/was/release/37

War-damaged cities & Architecture

The aim of the essay, is to attempt to address the reconstruction prospects forced upon us by the destruction of a city particularly after a war catastrophe. Furthermore, it is not aimed at proposing the reconstruction of particular buildings but try and find deriving guiding principles. The essay will be focused and based on theories of Lebbeus Woods as a guidance of how to behave into these conditions. Through his experimental ideas about architecture and his visionary drawings in identifiable locations destroyed by war. Moreover how to basically deal and behave into war-damaged cities and create Architecture through them.

http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/architectural-review/architecture-and-war-are-not-incompatible-id7649

Τα Μάρμαρα του Παρθενώνα

Σε μια σημαντική στιγμή για την εξέλιξη της προσπάθειας της επιστροφής των Μαρμάρων του Παρθενώνα, η Διεθνής Σύσκεψη των επί μέρους επιτροπών θα πραγματοποιηθεί την Κυριακή 6 Οκτωβρίου στην Αθήνα.

Μετά τη συνάντηση που είχε ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού με τη γενική  διευθύντρια της Unesco τον Ιούλιο στο Παρίσι, κατά την οποία ο κ. Πάνος Παναγιωτόπουλος ζήτησε από την κα. Ιρίνα Μπόκοβα να ασκήσει την προσωπική και θεσμική επιρροή της προκειμένου να δρομολογηθεί η διαδικασία της Διαμεσολάβησης με τη βρετανική πλευρά, ο κορυφαίος αυτός διεθνής πολιτιστικός οργανισμός απηύθυνε επιστολή προς τον βρετανό υπουργό εξωτερικών, Ουίλιαμ Χαγκ, τη βρετανίδα υπουργό Πολιτισμού, Μαρία Μίλερ, και τον διευθυντή του Βρετανικού Μουσείου, Ρόμπερτ Νιλ Μακ Γκρέγκορ.

http://www.naftemporiki.gr/story/710543

an Impressive Skyline

Jean Nouvel designed quite an impressive addition to the skyline of gulf city Doha, Qatar. In his own manner, French architect created the Burj Doha as bold and elaborate and this iconic cylindrical form, a continuation of what has started with Torre Agbar, culminates in an elegant dome. The tower is completed last year and includes 46 floors above ground as well as 3 floors above. The high-rise aims to express the local culture, connecting contemporary and very modern aspirations with ancient Islamic designs.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/burj-doha-skyscraper-by-jean-nouvel-becomes-the-skyline-icon-of-doha-qatar/

Classic Red embellished the Verona Arena...

There are seven principal industrial districts in which most of the Italian marble industry is concentrated. The most important in terms of size is certainly that of the Valpolicella, in the province of Verona. It consists of over 500 companies dedicated to the extraction and working of several Italian marbles that are among the most appreciated in the world for the countless colour tones they offer: from the classic red that has embellished the Verona Arena for twenty centuries, to the black of Rovere, to the yellows and pinks of the Lessinia. These are materials that are mostly destined for decoration or thin wall-coverings, for total annual sales of over 2 billion Euro, with 20% earned on foreign markets.http://www.italtrade.com/focus/5603.htm

Inside Marmomacc

Well over 1,400 exhibitors from nearly 60 countries with new entries from Singapore, Slovenia and Ireland, 16 international group attendances and 44 official trade missions from 44 countries. Marmomacc confirms is world leadership in the natural stone sector. The event now continues on its way with Marmomacc in the World travelling to the United States, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Morocco and Egypt. Institutional visitors included the Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, and the Egyptian Minister for Industry and Trade, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour.

 http://www.marmomacc.it/en/pressArea/press-releases/

the Most Material...

Stone which is the most important building material is a present given from Nature to Human being has been using since ancient years. Stone has been using as column, fireplace, statue and also flooring and covering material because of being nature, variations of texture and color, harmony of other building materials, and also ability of process and become an indicator of prestige and civizalization.

http://www.stonex.com.tr/default.asp

First Steps of Mankind

The first cultural steps of mankind are reflected in a material which is unique in its natural consistency, its variety and its durability: dimension stone. Whether one looks at the first cave paintings, the pyramids built in the 3rd millennium B.C., Roman palaces and statues or the skyscrapers of the next millennium, dimension stone continues to play a leading and enriching role in our lives.
http://www.euroroc.net/

Lapis, my dear!

Lapis lazuli (sometimes abbreviated to lapis) is a deep blue semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color.

Lapis lazuli was being mined in the Sar-i Sang mines and in other mines in the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan as early as the 7th millennium BC, Lapis beads have been found at neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania. It was used for the eyebrows on the funeral mask of King Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC).

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapis_lazuli}

Light & Sunlight...

(September 2013) Light and shade can be used as design elements in such a way that sun rays create a changing pattern. The same effect can be created without sunlight using only the third dimension jutting out of the wall’s surface as demonstrated...

mia-pinnacle-awards-light-and-dark-in-a-three-dimensional-natural-stone-wall

MYTHIC MARBLES PRESENTED...

Stone Group International, leader  marble company in Grecce, exporter in 63 countries, this year at Marmomacc 2013 presents “Mythic Marbles”, HALL 10, E7-S7.

These marbles are not touched by time. They retain their eternity inside them.

The moment we look into these stones, time stands still.  Related to Greek Mythology they carry Heritage and the Myth.

Besides their obvious magic and beauty, “Mythic Marbles” carry a vast heritage through all cultures and times.

Passed on from generation to generation, they build the present moment. They contribute building the future.

In Stone Group International, our biography views our philosophy.

Our envisioned future is what we aspire to become, to achieve, to create.

INFO: www.stonegroup.gr
info@stonegroup.gr
 

Marbling Old Papers

September 2013

The aim of a joint project of Portugal’s Cevalor Center for Natural Stone Technology and the Universidade Lusófona of Lisbon was to open new markets for Portugal’s stone branch by means of innovative product design. Bachelor and master students of the university under the patronage of Professor Sofia Áquas were given the task of designing every-day items capable of being mass produced in natural stone.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/22/product-design-in-portuguese-natural-stone/

Mirrored Skin

New Contemporary Art Museum for Buenos Aires, Argentina, designed by Batay-Csorba Architects, surely takes advantage of the long but narrow dockside of the renewed waterfront. Building’s skin is mirrored therefore the envelope mimics the surrounding while representing a clear sign of the renewal of the neighborhood.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/mirrored-skin-contemporary-museum-acts-as-catalyst-for-public-space/

 

Orchideorama

The vivid construction of Orchideorama by Plan B Architects + JPRCR Architects, bridges the gap between the architecture and living organisms, the artificial and man-made and the nature. Wood and steel honeycomb structure, derived from the drawing of 14 orchids which are centered on the columns, aims to erase any distinction between those two worlds, accepting them as a unity that allows architecture to be conceived as a spatial and environmental organization highly related to the processes of life.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/unique-botanic-garden-experience-in-medellin-colombia-wood-and-steel-floating-honeycomb-structure/

An Apotheosis of a Marble

An apotheosis of natural stones colours, Opus Motus is a collection of circular and dynamic marble inlays which can be activated manually by the public with a simple lever-mechanism. The various colours of the marble tesserae, which were selected with the same attention and care of the ancient "stone painters", will come apart through the rotating movement providing new and impressive shapes and colours to the observer.

http://www.lithosdesign.com/en/news_articolo.aspx?id=433

a Minaret Telecommunication

RTA Office’s design for Telecommunication Tower for Istanbul is left to the citizens and to their free interpretation – the form suggests it could be a minaret sculpted by the wind or a twenty-first century lighthouse or none of the above. However, architects at RTA office strongly believe that the success of the idea depends on the way the designers understand the site. Therefore their proposal comes as a response to this very specific and strategically important point which bridges the gap between Europe and Asia, merging cultures and continents.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/telecommunication-tower-for-istanbul-is-sculpted-by-the-wind-rta-office/

Lithic Tree

Lithic Tree is the name Prof. Giuseppe Fallacara of Bari University and executing French-based SNBR Company gave his construction idea suitable even for exhibition halls. Natural stone modules can be interlocked with the aid of stressed steel ropes through the middle of the elements.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/11/marmomacc-hall-7b-is-showing-new-ideas-for-natural-stone/

Stone and marble Great Transformists

 The greatest? Among construction and furnishing materials, most probably. Because they always have been (or lend themselves to be, innately). And not only because of all the possibilities granted by marble restoration...

http://blog.lithosdesign.com/marble-restoration-no-marble-transformation/

Earth and Stones in Dust

(September 2013) 65 million years ago, the Earth was ravaged by tsunamis, a huge dust cloud darkened the skies and acid rain fell on plants and animals. These events marked the latest mass extinction and the creeping end for more than 50 percent of all species on Earth. Not even the dinosaurs would survive this apocalypse. These events were most likely caused by an asteroid approximately 10 kilometers across that impacted the Earth in the area of today’s Gulf of Mexico, scarring the planet’s surface with a crater over 170 kilometers wide.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/09/deflecting-asteroids-from-their-way-to-earth/

Inevitable Dilemma

Tom Benard’s project for his final thesis at Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, France, challenges the inevitable dilemma that has always existed between human and architectural conditions. In the words od the author, Organ of Evolution how the project is named, tends to speculate on the opportunities offered to mankind by analyzing trans-humanism as a contemporary expression of mysticism.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/human-cellular-growth-used-to-produce-algorithmic-architecture/

a Glorious Restoration

Southern Jewel” was the name Texans fondly gave the Harris County Courthouse originally completed in 1910. And rightly so, as recently came to light: work on the building’s exterior and public spaces inside restored its original appearance and showed the full glory of rich marble splendor as might be expected of story-book palace.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/06/houstons-harris-county-courthouse-in-texas-has-been-restored-to-its-original-marble-glory/

Andriivskyi descent in Kyiv

The competition for young architects on the Andriivskyi descent in Kyiv, Ukraine, aimed to create a concept for the former Yunist factory. The site redevelopment competition terms determined the cultural space as 10-15 per cent of the area linked to the Andriivskyi descent, and the rest of the one hectare was for commercial use. The competition provided the design of multifunctional cultural space with integrated chamber music hall.

 

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/the-kyiv-culture-space-on-andriivski-descent-ukraine/

Sculptures of Zimbabwe

The art of sculpting stone must have been in full bloom already back then. Sculptures of Zimbabwean birds have been found and now adorn the national flag. The stone was a type of soapstone known as „Springstone“.

Zimbabwe calls a number of unusual stone types its own. The jet-black Nero Assoluto granite is a prime example of commercially important export stone.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/04/sculptor-gedion-nyanhongo-has-chosen-love-as-the-central-theme-for-his-artwork/

The Void Tower

Brandon Sampson’s Fifth Year Thesis at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo won the “Best of Show” Award this month. It addresses the contemporary urban condition of downtown Los Angeles and introduces a way to take advantage of its voided urban fabric. The Void Tower is a visionary and iconic project for downtown Los Angeles that brings together multiple different types of complex program to create a living, working and social place.
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/void-tower-downtown-los-angeles-ca/

Sculpture Garden

September 2013

Beginning September 9, 2013, The Museum of Modern Art’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden will be open free of charge to the general public daily, from 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. The early morning hours will be in effect year-round, weather permitting. The public can enter the outdoor space directly through the west gate on West 54 Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Coffee and beverages will be available for purchase.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/09/01/free-access-for-early-birds-to-momas-sculpture-garden/

Trajectories in a Plan

 

Grown out of self-modifying patterns of vectors, based on electro-magnetic fields, Seoussi Pavillion by Biothing is the final act of computational design. The trajectories were computed in plan, via logics of attraction, further lifted through a series of structural micro-arching sections. Additional feature built into script allows for local adaptation to the site in regards to the section – pavilion is implanted into a steep hill.

 

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/final-act-of-computational-design-biothings-research-on-different-degrees-of-cohabitation/

Flemish Masterpieces

On the one hand, the municipality wanted to set a landmark in the middle of the city, but on the other hand, the building was conceived to be integrated in the existing complex. We are talking about the center of the city’s Government to a population of 25,000 citizens in Belgium’s Willebroek.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/08/30/facades-in-multi-colored-sandstone/

Reflecting God...

Stakes were high indeed: the building was to reflect the greatness of God and the strength of faith. By now the Sheik Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi has been completed, and, as far as the splendour of natural stone is concerned, seeks its match anywhere in the world...

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2009/06/08/architecture-mosque-globally-unmatched/

a Mosaic Tree

August 2013) Natural stone mosaic in public places is, as a rule, rather drab. The reason being that material of maximum durability and hardness is needed and that the stone with such properties is usually not very colourful.

 

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/08/28/natural-stone-mosaic-of-an-apple-tree/

Metastable Architecture

Mariusz G. Polski MSc. Arch. of Delft University of Technology defines metastability as a term which describes the extended duration of certain equilibria acquired by a complex system when leaving its most stable state aIer an external action.

Considering the contemporary technological levels and multiple scientific insights into natural systems that reflect metastable tendencies, it is not hard to imagine an open ended architectural design that across its life span reveals metastable qualities. It is a design that incorporates contemporary tools as a communication medium with the cultural environment and assumes uncertainty to be a planed and valuable part of the process, producing architecture that facilitates environmental feedback and drive its evolution towards internal and external homeostasis.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/almere-pampus-transferium-metastable-architecture/

Tirana Flux Exchange (FL-EX)

Tirana Flux Exchange (FL-EX) by Barker Freeman Design Office is a proposal for a multimodal transportation hub and new urban landscape model for the Albanian capital positioned to greatly expand the scope and connectivity of the city’s infrastructural networks.  FL-EX connects the existing HSH Railway and intercity bus lines with a new airport transit, bike, and pedestrian paths linking the historic urban center to international transportation systems.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/flux-exchange-transportation-hub-masterplan-for-albanias-capital/

a Monastery Complex

The area around Eirinis str. (Municipal Market), is located on the margins of the historic city center of Thessaloniki, next to the junction of Egnatia str, Monastiriou str, October 26th str and Lagada str., not far from the railway station and the city courthouse. It is characterized by scattered fragments of the early Christian and Byzantine Wall of Thessaloniki and many other important monuments such as the Church of the Agioi Apostoloi (a monastic complex of the 14th century), the byzantine water tanks, the Pasa Hamami (16th century baths) and more fragments from other eras thus making it an interesting part of the city that could be considered as historically autonomous and easily accessible.

http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/διαγωνισμοι/a-theatre-of-events-the-wall-walk-id7650

a Monastic Complex

The area around Eirinis str. (Municipal Market), is located on the margins of the historic city center of Thessaloniki, next to the junction of Egnatia str, Monastiriou str, October 26th str and Lagada str., not far from the railway station and the city courthouse. It is characterized by scattered fragments of the early Christian and Byzantine Wall of Thessaloniki and many other important monuments such as the Church of the Agioi Apostoloi (a monastic complex of the 14th century), the byzantine water tanks, the Pasa Hamami (16th century baths) and more fragments from other eras thus making it an interesting part of the city that could be considered as historically autonomous and easily accessible.

http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/διαγωνισμοι/a-theatre-of-events-the-wall-walk-id7650

The area around Eirinis str. (Municipal Market), is located on the margins of the historic city center of Thessaloniki, next to the junction of Egnatia str, Monastiriou str, October 26th str and Lagada str., not far from the railway station and the city courthouse. It is characterized by scattered fragments of the early Christian and Byzantine Wall of Thessaloniki and many other important monuments such as the Church of the Agioi Apostoloi (a monastic complex of the 14th century), the byzantine water tanks, the Pasa Hamami (16th century baths) and more fragments from other eras thus making it an interesting part of the city that could be considered as historically autonomous and easily accessible.

http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/διαγωνισμοι/a-theatre-of-events-the-wall-walk-id7650

Asymptote Architecture

Set to become of Asia’s tallest buildings, new 550m skyscraper is designed by Asymptote Architecture, for Millennium Tower Business Center (WBCB), through the Busan International Architectural Cultural Festival (BIACF), and sponsored by the municipality of Busan City and the Solomon Group. It clearly shows how the once monoform typology of skyscrapers deviated into pluralism and branching structures.

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/millennium-tower-business-center-wbcb-asymptote-architecture/

the Afi Mall

In this month's issue of Stone World, the cover story focuses on the building of the Afi Mall, a grand shopping and entertainment center located in Moscow. The issue also includes an inside look at the Fabricator Forum, which took place during Coverings in Atlanta.  http://www.stoneworld.com/publications/3

a Stone Sea

August 2013 Andy Goldworthy’s „Stone Sea“ arches evoke a slightly eerie feeling bridging the old and new wings of the St. Louis Art Museum (SLAM). The view from the vantage of the terrace above might create the illusion of sandworms or water snakes winding their way through and to the surface only to submerge and disappear again down below.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/08/04/stone-sea-by-andy-goldsworthy/

envisioned a San Francisco...

Wisitsan Disyawongs of the School of Architecture of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California envisioned a San Francisco International Cruise Terminal and the Waterfront development. The site is located at pier 27-31. The design strategy is based on a programs analysis, which extracts and simulates the programs in the city to the site.
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/san-francisco-international-cruise-terminal-and-waterfront-development/

Trigono

The Museum is located in the area "trigono", at the Arachthos riverside, near the historic bridge of Arta. It is designed by architects Stathis Boubiotis and Christos Floros (1998 - 1999). The construction was completed in 2006 and opened to the public at the end of 2009. The permanent exhibition refers primarily to the ancient city of Ambracia, which lays buried beneath the city of Arta. It includes three main sections: the public life, the cemeteries, and the private life of Ambraciotes.
http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/museum/archaeological-museum-of-arta-id5000

the Afi Mall

Positioned in the center of Moscow City, which has been deemed “the largest and most ambitious investment and development project in Europe,” the Afi Mall encompasses approximately 1.9 million square feet and is considered to be the largest shopping and entertainment complex in Russia’s capital city. With a shopping gallery comprised of 350 shops, a multiplex cinema, supermarket and a number of restaurants, cafes and food court —
http://www.stoneworld.com/articles/87652-a-race-against-time

to Revitalize Economies

July 2013 saw the start of negotiations for a Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) between the European Union and the USA. There had been previous attempts however without tangible results. Yet this new initiative may have better chances, as a free trade zone might be a way to revitalize the weakening economies both in the EU and in the US. Peter Becker from Stone-Ideas.com asked Dr. Stefano Ghirardi (*) from Confindustria Marmomacchine what TAFTA could mean for the stone sector.
http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/08/07/tafta-would-have-some-positive-effects-for-stone-companies-but-no-big-impact/

Aerial and Circus Arts

CACA, the Center for Aerial and Circus Arts, is located on the Northern portion of Goose Island. Situated in a busy upcoming business area of the Near North Side of Chicago, the center takes on a new symbolism of architecture, orchestrating a new typology for performers and the public realm as conceived by Daniel Caven of Illinois Institute of Technology.
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/caca-center-for-aerial-and-circus-arts-chicago/

Important Data in Stone Industry

Catalina Research and Ceramic Tile and Stone Consultants, Inc. (CTaSC), a national company providing marketing research and business planning services, announced the release of their 2013 Catalina Report on Natural and Manufactured Stone.http://www.stoneworld.com/articles/87650-catalina-research-and-ceramic-tile-and-stone-consultants-ctasc-announces-the-release-of-the-2013-catalina-report-on-natural-and-manufactured-stone

Dogan Medya Center

On Ankara-Eskişehir road, Doğan Medya Center is planned to be a distinctive media figure in the Capital city, housing Ankara studios of Dogan Media Group and its newspapers' regional editorial offices, creating the basis of interaction between the brands of the group and providing a common source.
http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/office/dogan-media-centre-ankara-id4791

an Innovative Project

KK100, designed by TFP Farrells for Shenzhen, China, is an innovative project, located on a 3.6-hectare site, which previously housed the old dwellings of Caiwuwei Village, an area known for its bad environment, insufficient transportation infrastructure, and degraded buildings. The developer took the initiative to form a company with the villagers (a Joint Development Initiative), for a new model for the district that would benefit everyone. The existing buildings were mainly run-down housing with inadequate living conditions.
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/shenzhen%e2%80%99s-kk100-provides-social-and-cultural-continuity/

Stonemasonry to be a Star

July 2013
A British television production company called Ricochet is looking for someone learning or enthusiastic about stonemasonry to be a star in a new series it is intending to make that celebrates traditional and contemporary crafts – including stonemasonry.
The company is looking for someone of any age who has some competency in stonemasonry but is still learning the craft.
http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/07/29/wanted-a-stone-enthusiast-to-become-a-tv-star/

Creatures Great and Small

July 2013
Let us take a moment to philosophize about Creatures Great and Small and God Above: the question is: is it easier for a person to go his way if he knows from the very beginning, where the road will take him? Or is it perhaps even more difficult for him than for someone who can take whatever comes his way?
http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/07/05/once-an-artist-always-an-artist/

Natural Universe

(July 2013) In this rare image taken on July 19, 2013, Cassini spacecraft has captured Saturn’s rings and planet Earth (arrow) in the same frame. The distance from Cassini’s orbit to the Earth is approximately 898.414 million miles (1.445858 billion kilometers).
The Sun is hidden behind Saturn on the left. The dark side of Saturn, its bright limb, the main rings F, G and E are clearly seen.

http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/07/29/earth-seen-from-behind-saturn/http://www.stone-ideas.com/2013/07/29/earth-seen-from-behind-saturn/

the Precious Stone.

In darkness languishes the precious stone.When will its excellence enchant the world? When seeming is taken for being, being becomes seeming. When nothing is taken for something, something becomes nothing.The Stone dispels seeming and nothing, And climbs to the Gates of the Great Void.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Stone_(Barry_Hughart)

The Most of the Stones, Beauty

A Marble Institute of America (MIA) press release divulges information on the best arguments for natural stone: statistics show that a text elaborating on the beauty and durability of granite as the material of choice for kitchen countertops was printed amazingly often in the US-press. As a rule, articles of this sort are reprinted 100 – 400 times. In the case of granite countertops the score reached 2880.http://www.marble-institute.com/pressroom/pr020612.cfmA

the Sidra Tree

The Sidra tree, growing strong and proud in the harshest of environments, has been a symbol of perseverance and nourishment across the borders of the Arab world. What is the significance of this glorious tree? With its roots bound in the soil of this world and its branches reaching upwards toward perfection, it is a symbol of solidarity and determination; it reminds us that goals of this world are not incompatible with the goals of the spirit."

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser
Qatar Foundation Chairperson, at the inauguration of Education City, 13 October 2003

http://www.qatarconvention.com/

I entered the grandpa's old factory alone...

I entered the grandpa's old factory alone.
All the old machines were in place. All the belts likewise. The cotton on the walls still stuck on the stone. High in the sky the trapdoor let a sunray shine through a hole of the roof. I am alone in the dark corridor of the factory and I am walking past the old machinery. I am measuring the dimensions of the narrow corridors just as I  used to do when I was a child. Grandpa was holding me by the hand and blocking my free access somewhere...."no that way! Are you listening to me? this way! Are  you listening to me? And never go alone!".... I hear his voice in my ears mixed with the non-stopping noise of the machines.
http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/challenges/τhe-cotton-gin-of-lower-tithorea-at-grandpa-s-old-factory-id7662

Sculptural Water Forms

Trifold Madang is an entry for the Busan Opera House competition, by IwamotoScott Architecture, which addresses the sponsors’ aim to create a new icon of the North Port area, establishing an international gateway while fostering maritime tourism for the new Maritime Culture District. Their design tries to significantly dramatize the experience of going to the opera. The sculptural form at the water edge maximizes the connection between the city, the water and the surrounding landscape.
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/trifold-madang-evokes-the-memory-of-the-traditional-korean-opera-iwamotoscott-architecture/

619 Data Center Facilities

The “data center city” project designed by SO/AP was produced for the Unbuilt Vision competition, and was presented for Design Week at the University Art Museum of Louisiana.
The concept tries to analyze the physical impact of NTICs on our territory and especially our relationship to the city. Today there are nearly 619 data center facilities in 33 countries in the world. These places generate a new geography of virtual media. As a new territo
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/data-center-city-concept-for-europes-online-identity/

The Story of Mankind

...For us marble workers, we take this so much for granted that we even sometimes forget this,
but we must not forget how the material we work with is perceived by the observer, by the person who uses it and wears it down stone is the noble material par excellence. But this is because it deserves to be, since it has accompanied mankind in his long history.

Stone has earned its nobility, because within it lies the story of mankind, along with its own.
http://blog.lithosdesign.com/why-natural-stone-is-a-noble-material/

the Aurora Borealis

Siivet aurora, the Aurora Borealis Arctic Observatory is an architectural project situated in argument between the historic mystic of the northern lights and the urban landmark of Rovaniemi. This proposal by designers Jensen Liu and Sally Hsu explores the awakening moment of the Eos (the goddess of dawn), enhancing a natural phenomenon that continues to amaze audiences.
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/aurora-borealis-arctic-observatory-the-wings-of-the-dawn-goddess/

where Statistics are...

The stone industry started much the same way all over the world and, often, still continues that same way. A laborer stumbles across some stone in a field, starts to quarry the stone and a business is born.
http://www.marble-institute.com/blog/post.cfm/the-case-for-statistics-in-the-stone-industry

House in Monasterios

The house is located in an elevated area, from which it dominates a hillside leading down to the sea. This view marks the direction the walls will take and, in an abstract form, define the project.
The house is structured as a compaction of volumes of varying heights, and the form established by the main walls.
The articulating space volume of this sequence is obtained from opening courts and patios in the central space of the house. A series of open courtyards are formed, covered in its perimeter like an atrium, in search of the access to the house, obtaining different perceptions of the house.
http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/residents-projects/house-in-monasterios-id7628

Contemporary Cinema

Designed by Amir Mikhaeil, the new Center for Contemporary Cinema, situated on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Virgil Avenue in Los Angeles, is neither a multiplex nor a museum – it aims to be a new manifold for projection of film and new media within the city. This inspiring design, awarded H.I.Feldman Prize at Yale, has its roots in Tarkovsky’s representation of time in cinema and the Deleuzian conception of the time-image which is not reliant on the linear progression of movement through film, therefore the project disrupts the continuous urban narrative structure of the boulevard.
http://www.evolo.us/architecture/new-center-for-contemporary-cinema/

Environmental Perspectives

In the past 15-20 years, the business of quarrying has improved enormously from an environmental perspective. Domestic quarries today are required to comply with strict guidelines and are monitored by MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) among others.
http://www.marble-institute.com/consumers/sustainable_natural_stone.cfm

Aristotle Square, Ecological

The objective of this project is the design of an ecological info point at Aristotle Square of Thessaloniki, Greece. The specific location gathers thousands of visitors on an everyday basis and this pavilion is intended to keep them aware of environmental issues.
http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/workshops/sphere-cal-ecological-info-point-id7534

Students: Kargiou Irene, Mirtsopoulos Ioannis, Papasotiriou Flora
Supervisors: Axarli Klio, Voyatzaki Maria, Tzekakis Emmanouil
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Faculty of Engineering, School of Architecture

Stone has always existed...

One of the things my father taught me,
 and which he repeated to me constantly, was:
“Stone has always existed,
 man has always used it and shall never cease to use it.”
I believe this is true, despite the fact that the latest-generation materials
 leads us to believe that a durable material
 should have an unvarying long life.
 Why do I believe this? History proves this.http://blog.lithosdesign.com/should-a-durable-material-be-inalterable-in-time/

Marble as History as Heritage

Archaeological Museum Thessaloniki
Video Presentation
http://www.amth.gr/index.php/video-presentation-amth-english.html

Eternal Learning

In addition to visiting the many stone events on the “Spring Trade Show Circuit” so far this year — Las Vegas, Brazil, Atlanta, etc. — I took some time last month to travel to Salt Lake City, UT, for the Utah Stone Summit, which is an edition of the Marble Institute of America/Stone World Industry Education Series. I hadn’t attended one of these since last fall, so it was time to see what was new. The answer was simple: everything. These events are not simply a matter of sitting through a presentation, but rather, they are an interactive series where fabricators of all sizes and experience levels network and learn from one another. As such, each event offers a completely new experience for attendees.
http://www.stoneworld.com/articles/87567-dont-ever-stop-learning
NEXT
July 18 - Seattle, WA
September 19 - Dallas, TX
October 17 - Atlanta, GA
November 7 - Pompano Beach, FL
For more information on these events, visit www.stoneindustryeducation.com, or if you want a first-hand account, feel free to shoot me an e-mail at michael@stoneworld.com. I will give you the inside scoop on what they are all about.

The Material comes Before, Always...

Dear God! how beauty varies in nature and art. In a woman the flesh must be like marble; in a statue the marble must be like flesh.
Victor Hugo
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/marble.html#UhUG7mDdUylh4Uff

The Eternal Curve of Human Wants

"Architecture is the simplest way of articulating the relation between space and time, to organize reality, to realize dreams, to achieve not only formal expressions of a temporal beauty, but a regulation that is engraved in the eternal curve of human wants and the achievements on the route to their realization" Guy Debord, Ιnternationalle Situationniste, The Overcome of Art, Documents before the establishing of S.I., G.Ioannidis (transl), Ypsilon, Athens, 1999
http://www.greekarchitects.gr/en/architectural-review/the-philosophy-of-green-in-flows-id6088