26 avril 2008
Rem Koohlaas choisi pour dessiner la nouvelle Fondation Prada
La maison italienne a choisi Rem Koohlaas pour dessiner la nouvelle Fondation Prada. Cette collaboration n'est pas une première puisque l'architecte néerlandais avait déjà imaginé les boutiques de la marque aux USA. Rem Koohlaas va rénover un site industriel du sud de Milan. Ce nouveau lieu de mécénat artistique s'étendra sur 17 500 m2. L'ancienne usine, datant de 1910, se complètera d'un nouvel espace dont les travaux seront supervisés par l'OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture). Ce collectif d'architectes dirigé par Rem Koolhaas entre autres est en charge de cette nouvelle adresse qui accueillera dans le futur, expositions, concerts et conférences. La Fondation Prada a été créée en 1993 par Miuccia Prada et Patrizio Bertelli en collaboration avec un acteur majeur de l'Arte Povera, Germano Celant. Les artistes tels qu’Anish Kapoor et Carsten ont été les invités de l'actuelle Fondation Prada dans le centre ville de Milan. Julie De Los Rios www.vogue.fr
Happy Birthday, Ieoh Ming Pei
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Ieoh Ming Pei (b. April 26, 1917), commonly known by his initials I. M. Pei, is a Pritzker Prize-winning Chinese American architect, known as the last master of high modernist architecture. He works with the abstract form, using stone, concrete, glass, and steel. Pei is perhaps one of the most successful Asian architects of the 20th century, with his works built all over the world. In 1948, William Zeckendorf hired Pei to work at the real estate development corporation Webb and Knapp in a newly created post, Director of Architecture. While at Webb and Knapp, Pei worked on many large-scale architectural and planning projects across the country and designed his buildings mostly in the manner of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Pei founded his own architectural firm in 1955, which was originally known as I. M. Pei and Associates and, later, I. M. Pei & Partners until 1989 when it became known as Pei Cobb Freed & Partners recognizing James Ingo Freed and Henry N. Cobb. (www.wikipedia.org) |
09 avril 2008
Il y a 49 ans, disparaissait Frank Lloyd Wright
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Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, interior designer, writer, educator, and philosopher from Oak Park, Illinois. He designed more than 1,000 projects, of which more than 500 resulted in completed works. Wright promoted organic architecture (exemplified by Fallingwater), originated the Prairie School of architecture (exemplified by the Robie House), and developed the concept of the Usonian home (exemplified by the Rosenbaum House). His work includes original and innovative examples of many different building types, including offices, churches, schools, hotels, and museums. Wright also often designed many of the interior elements of his buildings, such as the furniture and stained glass. Wright authored twenty books and numerous articles and was a popular lecturer in the United States and in Europe. His colorful personal life frequently made headlines, most notably for the failure of his first two marriages and for the 1914 fire and murders at his Taliesin studio. Already well-known during his lifetime, Wright was recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as "the greatest American architect of all time". (www.wikipedia.org) |
31 mars 2008
Jean Nouvel : Torre AGBAR
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The Torre Agbar, or Agbar Tower, is a 21st century skyscraper at Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and built by Dragados. It opened in June 2005 and it was inaugurated officially by the King of Spain on 16 September 2005. The Torre Agbar is located in the Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona and is named after its owners, the Agbar Group, a holding company whose interests include the Barcelona water company Aguas de Barcelona. According to Nouvel, the shape of the Torre Agbar was inspired by the mountains of Montserrat that surround Barcelona, and by the shape of a geyser of water rising into the air. Jean Nouvel, in an interview, described it as having a phallic character. As a result of its unusual shape, the building is known by several nicknames, such as "el supositori" (the suppository), "l'obús" (the shell) and some more scatological ones. It has 30,000 m² (323,000 ft²) of above-ground office space, 3,210 m² (34,500 ft²) of technical service floors with installations and 8,351 m² (90,000 ft²) of services, including an auditorium. The Agbar Tower measures 144.4 m (473.75 ft) in height and consists of 38 storeys, including four underground levels. Its design combines a number of different architectural concepts, resulting in a striking structure built with reinforced concrete, covered with a facade of glass, and over 4,500 window openings cut out of the structural concrete. The building stands out in Barcelona; it is the third tallest building in Barcelona, only after the Arts Hotel and the Mapfre Tower, both 154 m (505.25 ft). A unique feature of the building is its nocturnal illumination. It has 4,500 LED luminous devices that allow generation of luminous images in the facade. In addition, it has temperature sensors in the outside of the tower that regulate the opening and closing of the glass blinds of the facade of the building, reducing the consumption of energy for air conditioning. It will house the head office of the Aigües de Barcelona Group (Spanish: "Aguas de Barcelona", English: "Waters of Barcelona"). (www.wikipedia.org) |
Jean Nouvel: Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid
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The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) is the official name of Spain's national museum of 20th century art (informally shortened to the Museo Reina Sofía, Queen Sofia Museum, or simply The Sofia). The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992 and is named for Queen Sofia of Spain. It is located in Madrid, near the Atocha train and metro stations, at the southern end of the so-called Golden Triangle of Art (located along the Paseo del Prado and also comprising the Museo del Prado and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza). The museum is mainly dedicated to Spanish art. Highlights of the museum include excellent collections of Spain's two greatest 20th century masters, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. Certainly the most famous masterpiece in the museum is Picasso's great painting Guernica. The Reina Sofía also has fine collections of the works of Juan Gris, Joan Miró, Julio González, Eduardo Chillida, Antoni Tàpies, Pablo Gargallo, Lucio Muñoz, Luis Gordillo, Jorge Oteiza, José Gutiérrez Solana and many other significant artists. Foreign artists are few, but there are works by Robert Delaunay, Yves Tanguy, Man Ray, Jacques Lipchitz, Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, cubist still-lifes by Georges Braque and a large work by Francis Bacon. It also hosts a free-access library specializing in art, with a collection of over 100,000 books, over 3,500 sound recordings and almost 1,000 videos. The central building of the museum was an 18th century hospital. Extensive modern renovations and additions to the old building were made starting in 1980. In 1988 portions of the new museum were opened to the public, mostly in temporary configurations; that same year it was decreed a national museum. An 8000 m2 (86,000 ft2) expansion costing €92 million designed by French architect Jean Nouvel opened October 2005. (www.wikipedia.org) |
Jean Nouvel lauréat du prix Pritzker d'architecture
L'Institut du monde arabe, l'un des "grands travaux" de François Mitterrand, a lancé la carrière internationale de Jean Nouvel en 1987, 17 ans après l'ouverture de sa première agence.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - L'architecte français Jean Nouvel, créateur notamment de l'Institut du monde arabe à Paris, a été désigné lauréat de l'édition 2008 du prix Pritzker, la plus prestigieuse récompense mondiale du secteur, a annoncé dimanche son comité organisateur à Los Angeles.
M. Nouvel, 62 ans, est distingué pour l'ensemble de sa carrière, marquée par "sa poursuite courageuse de nouvelles idées et sa remise en cause des normes acceptées, afin de repousser les limites de son champ d'activité", a déclaré Thomas Pritzker, président de la fondation Hyatt qui décerne ce prix depuis 1979.
Le jury de sept membres, parmi lesquels des architectes de renommée internationale, des historiens et des universitaires, a reconnu "la cohérence, l'imagination et surtout un besoin insatiable d'expérimentations créatives" dans l'oeuvre de Jean Nouvel. Tangi QUEMENER
Lire la suite de l'article http://fr.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080330/tcu-usa-france-architecture-recompenses-0b4785e.html
Hotel Puerta America Madrid by Jean Nouvel
LOS ANGELES, CA.-French architect Jean Nouvel has been awarded the 2008 Pritzker Prize, the highest honor for architecture, for his creative experimentation and buildings that speak to their surroundings, the Pritzker jury said on Sunday.
Mr. Nouvel is saluted for a lifetime of achievement. In a phone interview to the Christian Science Monitor, he said, "I have designed everything except an airport and a cathedral. I challenge myself to give each project a distinctive look."
The sponsoring Pritzker family's Hyatt Foundation of Chicago announced its 32nd laureate today. Nouvel will receive a bronze medallion and a $100,000 grant in a June 2 ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington.
Nouvel was born in Fumel, SW France. While still at school he worked for a firm of architects, and in 1975 started his own practice and entered a number of competitions. In his designs he strives for a new language, unfettered by adherence to any particular school or style, and his work is characterized by harmony between building and setting.
Since he opened his office, Nouvel has worked to create a stylistic language separate from that of modernism and post-modernism. Rejecting the strict obedience to Le Corbusier that had stifled much of modern architecture, Nouvel initiates each project with his mind cleared of any preconceived ideas. Although he may borrow from traditional forms, he creates a building that stretches beyond traditional constraints.
In 1987, he had his international breakthrough as an architect with the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and received the Grand Prix d'Architecture. His designs, from architecture through exhibition designs to furniture designs, are characterised by an interplay of transparency, light and shadow.
Torre Agbar designed by Jean Nouvel
24 février 2008
Hôtel Nam Hai : luxe discret et richesse culturelle abondante
C’est au Vietnam, à mi-chemin entre Hanoi et Ho Chi Minh, que les architectes de l’agence française AW² ont réalisé pour Indochina Capital et le groupe GHM, un hôtel traditionnel et de haut standing : le Nam Hai, qui signifie Mer du Sud en vietnamien. Tout en respectant l’environnement et la culture de la région, les architectes ont su réaliser un hôtel au luxe discret, et charmant. Ce mélange des influences locales et étrangères créé une décoration contemporaine et équilibrée, en harmonie avec le lieu. L’hôtel comprend 60 suites et 40 villas sur un site de 31 hectares. Les villas possèdent chacune sa piscine, orientée vers la mer. Les architectes se sont inspirés des maisons traditionnelles vietnamiennes dans leur réalisation. Toujours dans leur volonté de respecter l’environnement et la culture de la région, les architectes ont utilisé des matériaux de construction vietnamiens, les tuiles de terre cuite carrées qui couvrent les toitures ont été fabriquées par des artisans locaux. Tous les éléments paysagers sont issus de la végétation locale. La nuit en villa pour deux personnes, avec vue sur la mer et piscine privée est disponible à partir de 574 euros. www.thenamhai.com
Autant dire que c'est encore un hôtel pour touristes de luxe! Je me demande si c'est même à la portée des nouveaux riches locaux...
20 janvier 2008
Extension du Museo del Prado
Museo del Prado - The Cloister. © José Manuel Ballester/Museo del Prado
Museo del Prado Basilical Hall (new Room of the Muses). © José Manuel Ballester/Museo del Prado
17 janvier 2008
Le Noguchi Museum entame sa seconde phase de rénovation
Installation View, The Noguchi Museum, NY. Photo: Elizabeth Felicella. © 2004, The Noguchi Museum
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y.- On January 23, 2008, The Noguchi Museum embarks on the second phase of its multi-stage renovation and conservation project, intended to ensure the ongoing stability of the Museum building while better enabling it to meet the needs of its growing audience and exhibition program. Construction is scheduled to conclude in early September 2008.
During this period, the Museum’s sculpture garden will be wholly or partially closed. However—with the exception of January 23 to 30, when the building will be closed in preparation for construction—the Museum itself will remain open, and exhibition, education, and public programs will continue, with access for visitors provided via a temporary entrance on Vernon Boulevard.
Founded and designed by Isamu Noguchi in 1985 to house his art and archive, The Noguchi Museum contains the preeminent collection of the artist’s work. Since 2004, this has been complemented and contextualized by a program of temporary exhibitions. The Museum building itself is regarded by many as among Noguchi’s greatest works, and the goal of the renovation is to preserve his vision for it.
Lire la suite http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=22950
09 janvier 2008
Le lauréat pour la construction du musée Soulages à Rodez connu fin janvier
Le peintre Pierre Soulages (C), au côté du maire de Rodez Marc Censi (2e G), regarde, le 8 janvier 2008 à Sainte Radegonde près de Rodez, une des quatre maquettes préfigurant le futur musée portant son nom qui devrait être construit à Rodez d'où il est natif. (AFP photo Eric Cabanis)
RODEZ (AFP) - Le jury, composé notamment du peintre Pierre Soulages, a présenté mardi à la presse les quatre projets pour la construction du musée Pierre-Soulages à Rodez, et a choisi le lauréat dont le nom sera connu fin janvier, lors du conseil de la communauté d'agglomération.
"Le vote définitif a été unanime. C'est un musée où on va mettre en lumière la matière employée et la création (...) aucun musée ne fait ça", a déclaré à la presse Pierre Soulages, dont la maison natale est proche du futur musée.
Lire la suite http://fr.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080108/tcu-art-architecture-peinture-musee-coll-0b4785e_1.html