Paradise no more: Great Britain’s first living wall has died after three years shading the front facade of a DSDHA-designed £1.5 million children’s center north of London. The 30 species of flora growing on the steel mesh casing are now, as Architects Journal reports, just a “host of brown, wilting plants.” If we were the DSDHA principals, we’d put the blame on the landscape architects. Or the fact that trends in England hardly ever last longer than three years (punk, Bridget Jones, Brit Pop). Read on for before and after shots. Read More »
Today at Flavorpill when we were supposed to be busy working… we were excited by the idea that cities can save the planet and decided to buy an apartment on Tulip Island; we got a handle on the past 200 years of US immigration thanks to this handy video; we were shocked by 150 disgruntled New School students who are occupying a grad school faculty building until their demands — which include ousting university president Bob Kerrey — are met; we enjoyed a sexy chef calendar (not really); we bemoaned the loss of Sparks (well, some of us, LEAH) an alcoholic energy drink which Wikipedia says “caught on within the American hipster community, which has been known for its ironic glorification of several other cheap, low-grade alcoholic beverages”; we downloaded a dancey, new collaboration from Flosstradamus and Caroline Polachek of Chairlift that’s FREE; and finally, we watched a new series about interns from Playboy that is shockingly SFW.
As architects, we recognize that any undertaking as substantial as the construction and subsequent operation of buildings naturally consumes considerable natural resources. The questions are, how can we, as leaders of the design team, create buildings which are better integrated in our world, and how we can place less strain on our environment through the process of building?
These goals seem contradictory at their very essence. We believe that we are charged with making a balanced, considered response to resolving the respectful tempering of the natural environment — based on local cultural and climatic conditions — with the basic necessity of providing shelter. We are convinced that stimulating, high-quality built environments can be realized whilst handling natural resources in a more economical and responsible manner. Our design process approach is characterized by the curiosity, commodity, and delight in discovering and responding to new issues and technologies and the desire to improve upon what has already been achieved.
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