Artist/designer Huy Voun Lee is very clever. Origami Playhouse is more than a book, it is a fold out structure with instructions and supplies with which to make origami furniture. It is cleverly constructed for unfolding to play with and then refolding to store. And it is challenging (but not Too Much) so that a child (perhaps […]
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He Drew Upside Down
Paul R. Williams was a remarkable architect because he designed so many different types of buildings well, because he was a design innovator and a design thinker. Being a black man was (and continues to be) unusual in the field of architecture. Back in his day, it was almost unheard of. He was an excellent draftsman (someone […]
3D Printed Thingys Make Platonic Solids!
You see, there is a man who came up with some 3D printed connector thingys that work with dowels to build any of the five platonic solids. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9359/apps/#apps You can go to that website and download the instructions for 3D printing all of the connector thingys. And have a great time building the shapes as […]
So You Want to Be an Architect?
This might be the right book for you! The Aspiring Architect is a workbook, well let’s not call it a WORK book…it is more like a FUN book where you can draw, color, and sketch and (meanwhile) learn something about architecture too. It is an exploration of architecture that is big and famous, like Jefferson’s Monticello, as […]
What is a Favela?
Although the word sounds sort of glamorous, a favela is not that at all – it is a type of very dense slum, or housing for very poor people, typically found in Brazil’s urban areas. Strangely enough, the word favela comes from a sort of tree that makes people itch. In the late 19th century, […]
Bird’s Eye View
Menno Aden is an artist who photographs rooms from above, like a bird looking down into a room without a roof. How does he find all of these rooms without roofs? There are never people in these rooms so they have this sort of abstract feeling, like it is playroom for dolls and not real at […]
Brick by Brick Exhibit
Come to Chicago and see the Golden Gate Bridge. Wait, what? Ok, you are right. You are not going to see the REAL Golden Gate Bridge – however it is a really great model of that famous rust-colored bridge made out of Legos. It is 60 foot long bridge built by Lego building professionals. (Wouldn’t that […]
Do You Know your Building Trivia?
We cannot wait to visit Washington DC to see the Whitehouse, of course, and wave hello to President Obama, and also to visit the National Building Museum. Currently there is an exhibit about icebergs at the museum! Well, really the exhibit is the effect of global warming on the built environment. It looks like great […]
Nice House, Mr. President
The White House is one BIG and FAMOUS house. Located in Washington DC, it is the house of the President of the United States and also the workplace for the President and the President’s staff. Originally designed by James Hoban and built in 1792, the US won independence from Britain in 1783, the first White […]
Architecture Pipe Cleaner Project
Want to build something with old fashioned pipe cleaners? How about trying to build the tallest building possible with some pipe cleaners? Take a limited number of pipe cleaners, say 15. Then try to build the tallest structure possible. Try to twist them together or tie them up or whatever you can do to make […]