Author: admin

Watch a City Grow

The folks at a company called Cube Cities have made some interesting videos that illustrate the growth of some big cities – so you can watch a flat city without structures “grow” buildings and become a metropolis. With bold colored boxes representing the heights of buildings that sprang up over time, you can see the […]

Camp for Architecture

Oh it is so frustrating that we don’t live in Hong Kong, and that it is so far away. In Hong Kong, an architectural design firm, called James Cybertecture Firm offers a very interesting program for kids to learn about the built environment and buildings. No, we have not attended the class nor have our […]

Betts House in Cincinnati

A small museum, called the Betts House, in Cincinnati has a focus on buildings and construction. The museum hosts exhibits and programs on architecture, historic preservation, building trades and materials, and construction technologies, all in the oldest brick structure in that Ohio city. They have their own exhibits, including one about a huge earthquake in […]

This One is Going Down.

Prentiss Women’s Hospital has been around since 1974, designed by a famous Chicago architect named Bertrand Goldberg. I bet Bert did not figure that his building would not last forever – or even for a century when it was constructed. He is no longer alive and his building will soon be dead too, when it […]

Don’t be Scared, It’s Only Paper

Ah, we wish we had been in London to see this exhibit, called Horrorgami. Artist Marc Hagan-Currey had a serious interest in horror movies. So he channeled this interest into his art. He takes a single piece of paper and simply by cutting, folding and scoring it, he makes replicas of haunted houses from horror […]

Skyscraper Video Chicago-Style

This is a neat short animation showing five notable skyscrapers in Chicago. (Although we Chicagoans still think of the Willis Tower as the Sears Tower, we will let it go this time.) We especially like how the Marina Towers, also known as the Corn Cob Buildings – mmmmm mmmmm, just ready to be buttered up […]

The First Woman of Place

You probably have not heard of her – Louise Blanchard Bethune – was the first professional woman architect in the United States. Way back in 1881, Louise opened an architecture firm with her husband. She worked on many buildings – and not just small homes or interiors, but big industrial buildings and important structures like […]

How Did You Come Up with That?

Architect Frank Gehry is known for his outrageously different structures, like Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. What makes this project interesting is that he did not see that design as one whole structure immediately. No, his team built over 82 models as they designed it. Yes 82. And then they used software to scan […]