Hey, have you ever seen a bridge like this? It is not like a drawbridge that hinges on one side and is pulled up with chains, It is not like the bridges that span the Chicago River, which pivot on each side and open in the center…it is a truly rolling bridge. And it makes […]
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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 […]
Watch Out…the “L” Train is Coming
Sometimes we try to figure out how some architects dream up solutions to problem. Like this one. A college in Chicago, called IIT, Illinois Institute of Technology, hired an architect to design a new building. This building would house the student activity center, where college students might eat something and hang out. No problem, right? […]
Hey! I’m Taller than You
Chicago used to have the tallest building – the Sears Tower (now called the Willis Tower) and we were so proud of it. It was designed as a bundle of square tubes, each a different height, and it was a landmark for the Windy City. New York has always felt that way about the Empire […]
Hurry to the Top
A gigantic building is rising in Shanghai China. It is called the Shanghai Tower and it is 121 floors and 2,073 feet tall. It is not going to be the tallest in the world, but perhaps the greenest and tallest. Or is it tallest greenest. Whatever. We thought that the fact that it will have […]
What is an ARCH?
Click on this picture and you will see an arch being built. When you want to reach from one side of a structure to another you can use a straight line or an angle or a curve. A curved element that spans across a structure is an ARCH. This element also must support weight. Sometimes […]
Bilbo Baggins Balloon Pad
Sometimes it is funny to think about how different people spend their time. In this instance, an artist designed the home of Bilbo Baggins, from “The Hobbit” out of 2600 balloons. Jeremy Telford, the artist, lives in Utah, in what we suspect is a house NOT made of balloons. It does show that a space […]
Unlock those Doors!
A long time ago, at Northwestern University, a library was built. It was named the Deering Library, and it was made of stone and wood and it had great details of animals and curlicues worked into the wood and stone alike. Students would visit this library, entering through the massive wooden doorway and study for […]
Interesting Spaces in Faraway Places
This architecture firm designs structures that can be built with local materials, without a lot of large equipment or teams of workers, so that people with very little can build structures that are useful and beautiful. In places like Thailand, Uganda and Indonesia, the architecture firm of TYIN tegnestue, from Norway, designs interesting structures to […]
Too Cool Schools
At the Center for Architecture in New York City, you can visit an exhibit about the architecture of schools – of the fantastic schools of Finland. They are fabulous because the Finnish school system churns out staggering students (with great educations in any case.) Maybe the schools in the US could learn a little from […]