Friday Link Pack — July 15, 2016
We’re always swapping stories in the Studio — an article we read on the way into work, a book we couldn’t put down, even shows we want to see together. That’s why we compile these weekly 'must reads' for you to join the conversation.
Reinterpreted Landscape (My Roadtrip with Mies)
As part of our scholarship program, Tim Morshead took a road trip across the midwest to investigate architecture from designers who came from abroad to reinterpret the American Landscape.
The L.E.D. Quandary: Why There's No Such Thing As "Build to Last”
An interesting read to see how a push toward sustainability can really have profound effect on a multi-billion dollar industry like lighting, And that 100+ yr old light bulb in Livermore is pretty cool. — Brian Washburn
A High-Tech Mecca Rises to Rival Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley has an up and coming rival in Utah. — Jeff Warner
World Architecture Festival’s 2016 World Building Award Shortlist Announced
A good link, bound to fuel heated discussions for and against… and I’m all for a bit of constructive disagreement. — Andy Adams
Hand Tools Go Digital
This is a really smart combination of computer vision and CNC router technology. It gives fabricators and hobbyists the benefits of a CNC router without the overhead, infrastructure and space requirements of a full gantry setup. — Jason Halaby
50 Largest San Francisco Construction Projects
This is a great slideshow of the top 50 construction projects (based on construction cost) in SF right now. See WRNS Studio’s Mashouf Wellness Center at SFSU on slide 32. — Lynn Soleski
These two articles — one about Jerry Brown's proposed "As of Right" legislation to do away with local discretionary review to get affordable housing built, and one on the perils of brandcentric architecture — feel very relevant to San Francisco’s housing crisis. We’re desperate for housing, need to end bad policy and make the NIMBYs calm down, but would indiscriminate building erode our distinctive regional and neighborhood identities? Where’s the balance?— Molly Thomas
Drone Concert
Not architectural at all, but still a really awesome use of drones (and way better than using one to search for Pokemon). Excited to see even more drone photography of our projects. — Joel Williams
How MIT and San Francisco are Testing a New Approach to Disaster Prep
Saw this and immediately thought of the upcoming Architecture and the City festival, since resiliency is the theme this year, and we're hosting an event @ WRNS on Sept 16th focusing on the topic.— Francesca Martin
What is it about Marfa?
Our Communications Director, Molly Thomas, seeks to answer this question in a series recapping her pilgrimage to this weird, wonderful art mecca in the Texan desert.
Art Monday
This week’s artist comes from Gabrielle Saponara. Rachel Whiteread has had a prolific (and impressive) career, and her work has obvious connections to architecture.
Where architects seek to create human-scaled spaces to be lived in and interacted with, Whiteread takes these spaces out of their human context. The result is undeniably ghostly. Negative becomes positive, transience made heavy and solid. The spaces are objectified and entombed, or embodied and made beautiful, depending on how you look at things.
While most are familiar with her larger-scaled works, Gabrielle shared this link from the Luring Augustine Gallery, which houses some of her smaller objects. They’re haunting in a much more familiar, intimate way. — Sam Moeller