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New Urbanism is an approach to community planning or designing towns, cities or neighborhoods. New Urbanism actually has actually been around since the 80s, but its principles are much older. New Urbanist Communities New Urbanist communities are designed to:Eliminate (urban) sprawlingReduce trafficBe accessible (walk-able)Foster a sense of community closeness (buildings are so arranged)Promote “green” living by stressing the importance of environment…
Archive for the ‘Architecture & Design’ Category
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February 25th, 2009
Campuses Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist and landscape architect. He generally held as the father of American landscape architecture. Olmsted is famous for designing world-renowned urban parks such as Central Park in New York. Olmsted is also famous for changing the face of college campuses in the US. Colleges and UniversitiesCampuses do not actually need a huge lawn. A lot of campuses in cities do not have sprawling gardens. Fortunately Olmsted saw the importance of natural topography….
February 3rd, 2009
Queen Sofia Palace of The Arts
The Queen Sofia Palace of the Arts, or El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia is a uniquely designed opera house and complex located in the city of Valencia in Spain. It is actually a part of the grand City of Arts and Sciences and the last completed structure of the said large scale design concept developed by noted Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The BuildingThe El Palau, as the opera house is sometimes known, was first built in 1995 and was opened on October 8, 2005. the structure is composed…
January 27th, 2009
Tadao Ando
Tadao Ando is a noted Japanese architect known for working with exposed cast-in-place concrete as the material of choice for his buildings and structures. Ando is known for his exemplary designs that are closely associated with the aesthetics of international modernism in terms of simplicity and style and the creative use of natural light. Early LifeTadao Ando was born on September 13, 1941 in Osaka, Japan. He was the first half of twin boys. Ando grew up at a time when Japan was recovering from…
January 13th, 2009
Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry is a notable and distinguished Pritzker Prize winning Canadian-American architect. He is known for his modern and uniquely innovative buildings that have become popular tourist attractions. His architectural creations and designs are quite artistic enough to be considered as large scale sculptures instead of just ordinary buildings. Personal LifeFrank Gehry was born as Ephraim Owen Goldberg on February 28, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario. As a child, Gehry was already considered as very cre…
January 6th, 2009
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain is a museum for modern and contemporary art built alongside the Nervion River. It is one of several museums run by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. It is considered as one of the most striking and spectacular of buildings today. Building FeaturesWhat makes the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao quite unique has a lot to do with its striking exterior. The building structure was designed to appear quite random as shown by the different curves the structure take…
December 23rd, 2008
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris: Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier is a unique name for a popular French architect, urbanist, painter and designer. His full name is Charles Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, a man famous for being one of the early pioneers of modern architecture which is also known as the Bauhaus or the International Style. Le Corbusier would exert great influence in the development of the Bauhaus movement in architecture that led to a birth of modern high design that is evident in many of the buildings and architectural structures of today. …
November 18th, 2008
Antoni Gaudi
Antoni Gaudi is a noted Spanish architect known for his uniquely original architectural designs. His designs belong to the Modernist style and were considered as one of the highly original architects during his time. Some of his significant works include the Sagrada Familia, the Casa Mila and the Casa Batllo. Early LifeGaudi was born on June 25, 1852 in the province of Tarragona in southern Catalonia, Spain. Although his actual birthplace is still in some dispute, official documents associated w…
October 28th, 2008
I.M. Pei
I. M. Pei is a notable Chinese American architect who is considered as the last in the line of masters of high modernist architecture. His works primarily deal with the use of the abstract form as well as the use of stone, concrete, steel and glass. A Pritzker Prize awardee, I.M. Pei also considered as one of the most successful and notable architects to come out of Asia in the 20th Century. His works and designs can be found in many structures built all around the world. Early LifeI.M. Pei, whi…
September 2nd, 2008
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava is a well-known award-winning Spanish architect, structural engineer and sculptor. Calatrava was known for his highly creative architectural structures that seem to merge both art and engineering design. Broad appeal to his creative architectural designs has led to making structures not only in Spain but also all over the world. Early EducationCalatrava was born on July 28, 1951 in Benimamet, a small town now part of Valencia, Spain. He learned the craft first at the age of ei…
