The Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, today unveiled the artist and design chosen to create a spectacular new visitor attraction in the Olympic Park [...] The ArcelorMittal Orbit, the largest artistic commission in the world, will harness state-of-the-art engineering and architectural techniques. Constructed with steel provided by ArcelorMittal, the sculpture will consist of a continuous looping lattice of tubular steel and offer unparalleled view of the entire Olympic Park and London’s skyline from a special viewing platform.
Uhm… vaguely resembling Vladimir Tatlin’s monument to the Third International gone completely bonkers, n’est pas?
The Modern Interiors Research Centre Conference
Kingston University, London — Thursday 13 and Friday 14 May 2010
This conference will consider the historical insights that ethno/auto/biographical investigations into the lives of individuals, groups and interiors can offer architectural and design historians; the methodological issues that arise from the use of ethno/auto/biographical sources to explore the history of the interior as a site in which everyday life is experienced and performed; and the ways in which contemporary architects and interior designers draw on personal and collective histories in their practice.
Online booking now open
Polish artist Robert Kusmirowski is recreating an abandoned wartime bunker in the Barbican’s Curve arts centre — the exhibition is open from 30th September 2009 to 10th January 2010.
See The Curve transformed into a World War Two-era bunker! For his first UK solo show, Polish artist Robert Kusmirowski draws inspiration from his own imagination and personal memories to create a highly atmospheric installation of a bunker. Encounter mysterious rooms, forgotten objects and dark tunnels as you are transported into another time and place.
Renowned for meticulous simulations of historical settings, Kusmirowski’s installations challenge the notion of the real. His works delve into the personal and collective past, unearthing complicated histories and questioning memory.
There’s also a live camera pointed on the bunker while it’s being built.
After Prince Charles got his way causing developers drop Sir Richard Rogers’ masterplan project for Chelsea Barracks last June, things have moved on and there’s now a new list of candidate teams to design new proposals for the site.
Ironically, among the specialists matching up with contestants there are AHMM and Thomas Heatherwick: both firms were previously part of the Rogers’ team.
Also, Robert AM Stern has withdrawn from the contest, replaced by former collaborators of the American firm: Robert Adam Architects and Ash Sakula Architects.
Here’s the updated list of ten contestants:
- Alan Baxter & Associates LLP, Paul Davis and Partners, Liam O’Connor Architects, Heatherwick Studio, and Todd Longstaffe-Gowan
- Porphyrios Associates and Allies and Morrison, Townshend Landscape Architects
- Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, KPF London, Paul Murrain, ZEDfactory, Merrill Pastor Colgan Architects, Gillespies Landscape Architects
- Dixon Jones Limited, Glenn Howells Architects
- Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, AHMM, Macreanor Lavington Architects, Alison Brooks Architects, Grant Associates
- Terry Farrell and Partners, Panter Hudspith, Peter Barber Architects, Chris Dyson Architects
- Hamiltons Architects and Think Place and Patel Taylor
- Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, Haworth Tompkins Architects, Churchman Landscape Architects
- Robert Adam Architects, Ash Sakula Architects, LDADesign
- Squire and Partners and Kim Wilkie Associates
[image via e-architect.co.uk]
Giles Miller co-founded Farm, a British design collective, back in 2006.
Having graduated from the Royal College of Art, he’s now launching his own brand during London Design Festival 2009.
Giles Miller at Kingly Court – Unit 1.12 Kingly Court, Carnaby Street, London, W1B 5PW
until 26th September 2009 (open 10am – 6pm daily)
A victorian warehouse with 10 metres ceilings has been turned into an new cultural space and exhibit space in Shoreditch, London. On top of that, literally, dismissed tube wagons are being reused as artists’ studios:
[via re-nest]
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