The Tremendous Archive of Cesar Padilla (and Radford Brown!)

Just came back from Mr Cesar Padilla's
incredible archive warehouse in Long Island City


where we witness pastoral scenesand fashion explosions
the archive includes a set of very rare gay bar t-shirts

with familiar namesand unexpected graphics (Dick Monster!)

so we hid behind semi-transparent maks (Jeremy)
(Felix)
(me)

(Angelo)and then we found books on the look of men
which was an entirely different story

we prayed to a broken St Jackie

before venturing into the endless Maze of Shoes

Amazing bridge that I didnt know about

Ponte sul Basento by Sergio Musmeci,
bumbed into this in a weird and seminal Paolo Portoghesi book
Nature and Architecture
some images via this flickr account

and a randomly cute person happily posing from here

The Sea and the Cake

Every year in early January, swimmers jump into the sea to find a cross
a few days ago the celebration was canceled because the sea was too rough

impromptu beach tables

were almost dragged into the waves

makeshift chairs were left staring at the sea
tents stepped into the water

beach became waves

the sea kept getting angrier

ready to wipe everything away

Monument to an oncoming disaster - Gate to the Athens Marina

A Marina is by definition a place where we leave the city to go off into the sea, to find leisure and pleasure in nature. Recently our relationship with Nature has changed drastically, and environmentalists predict that things will only get worse. According to a popular scientific scenario, sea levels around the world will rise, resulting in a severely altered coastline that will find many beachside developments underwater.
Instead of designing a gate for the Athens Marina, we proposed a structure that refers to this potentially new sea level. Using the geometric rock modules that break waves are usually built with, we balance an artificial island up at the future horizon line. The structure at present time functions as the gate for the Athens Marina gate though in reality it is an island expecting the oncoming disaster.
Further down at the marina, the flagpole is made from precariously balancing the rock modules one on top of the other, again to form the base for a tiny island that can barely host a wind turbine. The wind turbine functions as a wind direction indicator while creating sufficient energy for a light signal. This tiny island will function as a beacon for approaching ships in the future sea.

Andreas Angelidakis Studio, Athens Marina competition entry, completion 2011.
Project team: Sotiris Vasileiou, Nana Stathi, Efrosyni Charalambous, Eirini Anthouli, Andreas Sivitos
Construction consultant Christos Kaklamanis - Palimpsest
Green Roof consultant Grigoris Kotopoulis E-Green
construction partner Diarchon

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Theodor Kittlesen

Kind of obsessed with Theodor Kittelsen, popular Norwegian artist, famous for painting Nature, Fairies and especially Trolls

I'm not sure what these are but they sure look interesting

These were all sitting in the "to blog" folder"
I don't remember where I got them
or if they are part oft he same search
and maybe it doesn't matter

Bunker Flowerpots and other miracles by Lina Bo Bardi

Spent a perfect Sunday morning leafing through Olivia de Oliveira's
classic Lina Bo Bardi monograph

we've blogged about Bo Bardi before

but what struck me now was the quite eccentric Chame-Chame house
basically a Bunker Flowerpotbuilt in Salvador in Bahia in the 60s and demolished (RLY?) in the 90s

arranged around an existing tree that Lina loved
this became her later style

kind of culminating in the miraculous MASPI where paintings
were iconicaly hung on a plexiglass sheet supported by a concrete block
Lina hung out a lot with all the artits of the period
and was especially inspired by the great Helio Oiticica.

According to Oliveira,
Lina translated Oiticica's Crelazer concept (creative inactivity! our favourite!)
into the Maspi void, an urban space where activity was not prescribed,
but people could just hang around waiting for nothing
Another important Oiticica concept that Lina translated into architecture was of course the Parangole , the fabric that could provide shelter. Lina used curtains and drapings as Parangole, even dressing up columns in tropical fabrics. In the back , a tree column

and a Tree skyscraper

a Cyclopean wall with flowerpots, a design intended for the fantastic Sesc de Pompeia


and a pyramid chair.
For more Bo Bardi,
head over to Mr Pablo De La Barra's Blog
the Centre for Aesthetic Revolution

Junior Boys - Bits And Pieces

Mysterious Island

Blue Moon Revisited