Close Your Eyes and Think of England

London London London! Perhaps Oscar Wilde put it best: “I love London society! It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics. Just what Society should be!”I have to admit, after last week’s vacation, London’s dark and rainy days are tempting me from the fair skies of San Francisco. Guided by brilliant [...]

The Berlin / New York Dialogues

(Still recovering somewhat from the trip. Things were so busy before I left a couple weeks ago and I neglected to get this posted…)Life Without Buildings’ New York correspondent and all-around bon vivant, Jac Currie attended the Berlin / New York dialogues last week at the New York Center for Architecture.The 10-week long exhibition aims [...]

Across the Pond

Because nothing says Thanksgiving like a trip to England, I’m heading to London for a bit of a vacation. I’m sure my charming hostess has prepared an impecable itinerary, but if anyone knows of any can’t-miss exhibitions or new buildings, please pass it along!To get myself in the mood, I’ll be reading Alan Moore’s latest [...]

New Uses for Ceramics

French architecture firm and Life Without Buildings favorite, Lacaton Vassal, were invited by CRAFT (Centre de Recherche sur les Arts du Feu et de la Terra a Limoges) to propose new uses for Limoges porcelain.

Their solution is nothing less than inspired: a procelain overlay for structural steel. Designed for steel profiles H, I, and [...]

Devil in the Details - A Question

I’m intrigued by the facade of this building - most likely a shop for ultra hip clothing or cell phone charms - in the Harajuku district of Tokyo.The colors in the dyed concrete align perfectly with what I’m assuming is the formwork. Does anybody know how this striping was done? I’m guessing that the formwork [...]

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