archKIDecture

Houses of Paper

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:14:39 +0000

This Japanese architecture firm has designed some really interesting projects, including this project in Japan, which was built as temporary housing after a natural disaster. The architecture firm, called Shigeru Ban Architects is very successful at building projects out of paper and cardboard. Especially since paper and cardboard are easy to manufacture and recyclable too.
These architects call these “Paper Log Houses”, as they are built from tubes of cardboard that are attached together with a kind of waterproof tape. And the roofs are made up of a waterproof fabric, usually used for tents.
It is interesting how designers solve the problems of temporary housing: sometimes with tents, sometimes with empty storage containers, and sometimes with kits of metal and fabric.
Shigeru Ban Architects is an architecture firm worth checking out.

Watch a Movie on a Raft

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:26:02 +0000

An architecture firm called Buro Ole Scheeren, based in China and Hong Kong, is designing some really neat stuff. One of their projects is a series of rafts with bean bag chairs that face towards a raft that holds a movie projection screen. So you are floating while watching the movie – in the middle of a very beautiful lagoon, surrounded by large rocks that project out of the water in Thailand. It must feel pretty magical to watch something from this perspective. The architecture firm also says that this cinema is temporary, and afterwards it will be used by the local community as an event space, or maybe they will simply recycle the materials and make something else. Link to the architecture firm to learn more.
We should try to meet there.

Don’t Play with Your Food, Young Man!

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:26:57 +0000

So, at archKIDecture, we are not huge fans of wasting food or using it in ways that are not going to be eaten, however, this use of the superfood broccoli, could not go unnoticed. This artist, Brock Davis, took his healthy food to heart and art and made a tree house out of toothpicks in a broccoli tree. Perhaps the next time you have some of that good green stuff on your plate you might think about using the potatoes to make a little house in it, right at the dinner table. Read a teeny bit more about it on Brock’s site: here.
Maybe you can think of other architecture and food projects. Send any photos to archKIDecture if you do!

A Contest in Atlanta

admin — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:33:57 +0000

For kids and adults alike, you can try out this “Name the architecture spot in Atlanta” contest. A group of photos of details of buildings that people who really look around will recognize, you can fill in the blanks and maybe win the contest! We think it is a cool idea to get people to notice the built environment. Maybe we will post a similar contest for our town of Chicago. Or, if you want to send your own contest, or photos of your town and the building names, please do and we can set it up.

A Talking Head talks about Music and Architecture

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:02:21 +0000

Music is defined by architecture. Well, music is influenced by architecture. Well, music is often written and played in different ways because of the space where it is performed.

David Byrne, formerly of the Talking Heads, a popular music group back in the day, suggests that music is influenced by the space in which it is played. Some music is created for small, private, enclosed spaces, some for huge auditoriums or concert halls and so the music has different qualities depending on the physical space, or the architecture.

Byrne is a musician and songwriter. He explained that music is often created with a space in mind, or a “context” in mind. Music that Bach wrote fit the concert halls of the 18th century for example. Perhaps some musicians nowadays write for iPod listening…which involves no architecture at all!

Watch his presentation here. It is a Ted talk and brings up some interesting ideas.

You can hear some Talking Heads music here.

Be a Tourist in Your Own City

admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:42:51 +0000

A number of cities across the world have been organizing free public events, called OpenHouse.The events allow behind-the-scenes access to over 100′s of great sites for one select weekend in a given city. You have the opportunity to see private houses, public structures and secret spaces that are otherwise closed to the public. And it is all FREE!

In Chicago, we just had our first OpenHouseChicago and it was great fun to experience a roof-top farm and discuss it with the farmer, see the interior of a private Frank Lloyd Wright designed home, and peek in on the sacred spots of an old Church. But we missed hundreds of other cool spots, so we plan to go next year too.

OpenHouse takes place in a number of cities, so check out if your city sponsors it – it is well worth it.

Here is information for openhousechicago to find out about the weekend in 2012. You can volunteer too!

SO you want to teach about architecture to kids…

admin — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 02:39:28 +0000

Design is a difficult thing to learn – sometimes it seems like people either have the skill or they don’t. But that is not true. There are a lot of things to teach about design as an effort of problem-solving. If you give kids a problem to solve, like to build a structure with 30 playing cards, you can see many results and then you can redo the project with different limitations.
And soon the students will be learning new ways of solving problems and that is exactly what design is about. It is not about drawing well or being an excellent craftsperson, but it is about figuring out how to make things better – using words, or paper or any other materials. Check out this article about design education here.

A Jumpy Wall

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:18:08 +0000

This wall seems to be nervous…when you approach it, it starts to jump and move! Designed by an architecture firm in New York called nARCHITECTS, the wall is made of foam and a bunch of electronic sensors that can tell when someone is near it. Once it senses you, it causes the foam to move, like it is a nervous person, who does not want to get touched.

See the video of the wall in action here.

We are not sure when you want to have this kind of wall in your house, except as a kind of conversation piece – but it sure looks like fun. More fun than a barrel of monkeys or a pit of plastic balls – maybe equally as fun as a trampoline.

Penrose Stairs..Huh?

admin — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:08:51 +0000

How do they work? Or do they work at all? Try to go upstairs…or try to go downstairs. Or heck, try to get off of the stairs!

Penrose stairs are named after a father and son who have the last name of Penrose. (The stairs have nothing else to do with pens or flowers.) It was designed by them as an impossible staircase, or an endless staircase. Luckily for them, artist M.C. Escher learned of their drawing and he went on to draw a famous version of the staircase. A fun video that illustrates the Penrose stairs is here.
It is pretty clever to come up with an impossible structure. A building with inside walls on the outside maybe?

SeeSaw House in Surrey England

admin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:52:57 +0000

This house is not really a seesaw, it is firmly planted in the earth. Well, at least half of it is.When a structure hangs out without anything supporting it, it is called a cantilever. This house in Surrey England is an example of CANTILEVER EXTREME! And the story is that you can rent it and see what it is like to live in it! This video has the architect, a man from the Netherlands named Winy Maas, describing why he created this design. We want to visit and see if we eat too much and walk in the living room, if it might fall over. Hopefully not.