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Waaaaaa, typography!

Goodnight :*

Duncan House by Frank Lloyd Wright Moved

The Duncan House from 1957 by Frank Lloyd Wright was lucky enough to be saved from the developers by its current owner. The Usonian houses were designed when the States were in an economic depression in the early 30’s. As a result to that, they lacked attics, basements and ornamentation to control costs and were built from local materials (wood, brick, stone). Wright developed a distinctly American style that was affordable to everyone and grew out of Wright’s previous Prairie homes.

This was a major, difficult and expensive task to pull off but it was done properly by a builder named Thomas Papinchak, who took it all apart and reassembled it on a new location. The house was moved from its original location in Chicago to Polymath Park near Pittsburgh, an area that already contains two houses designed by Wright’s apprentice Peter Brandtson. And if you’re ever in the area, you can even stay at the house.

slideshow: click 

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(via: TreeHugger, some of the photos courtesy: cfdarch -Flickr)

Villa de Murph | BLDGS Architects

Now, now… don’t look away. I love and support renovation projects like this one. What seems like an industrial building ruin is in fact an office/ apartment of Brian Bell’s and David Yocum’s BLDGS Architects in Atlanta.  The building was built in 1947 and originaly served as a repair shop that got an extension in the 60’s  – a warehouse in the back. Yocum bought the place for $40.000 (= 26.346 €) and spent 8 months of his free time hours working on it. He turned the 154m2 repair shop into a courtyard and the 172m2 addition into a living/ working space. He added an outdoor fireplace in the courtyard and he brough down the wall between the workshop and the courtyard and made a huge glass surface to cover the opening. They left the place looking rusty and harsh, leaving it in its original splendour yet making it livable. It’s *sigh* my dream urban house/workin space. I did not just kiss the screen.

slideshow: click

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(via: The New York Times, photo courtesy, NYT and bldgs)

Biblioteca Parque España | Giancarlo Mazzanti

In Santo Domingo Savio, Colombia, Giancarlo Mazzanti designed yet another Colombian library (he did this one in Medellin as well). This time he didn’t go with straight angles and perfect geometrical bodies but that’s ok, weird is good. This funky new library stands on top of a very green hill that has a cable cart connecting it with the rest of the town. It enriches its cultural and public space and can be seen from afar, making it the new symbol of the town. The form of the project mimics three rocks both in shape and color, a very forgiving concept that doesn’t spoil the look of a hilltop. The structrue is made out of reinforced steel and is covered by 30% oxidized black slate facade. The project consists of a library, a community center, a cultural center, pedagogic areas and viewpoint platforms. I feel a very ice-cream-truck like excitement seeing this building. I’m such a pro at writing.

slideshow: click

(via: Plataforma Arquitectura)