archiveofaffinities:

Martha Stewart, Architecture-Inspired Wedding Cake

“In this cake, the cantilevered tiers are a tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright. Styrofoam separators supporting the tiers are hidden behind undulating walls of fondant inspired by the work of the contemporary architect Frank Gehry.”

calumet412:

Federal Center, Mies Van Der Rohe, 1964, photo by Bill Engdahl.

intrusionesarch:

Houston: Doughnut City

The term Doughnut City is used to describe a phenomenon that affects the physical shape of some cities of the North American Sun Belt. It consists of the concentration of urban activity on the ring road (where the newest and most advanced generation of housing estates and office parks are located) and the parallel physical disappearance of all that remains inside (the interior is affected by an accelerated process of obsolescence that leads to the demolition of a multitude of buildings). Viewed from a European perspective, the Doughnut City is a phenomenon that goes against nature. If in the cities of the Old Continent proximity to the center means an added value, in the Doughnut City quite the reverse is true: the most eligible urban areas are on the final periphery.

guardianartanddesign:

Flick through the Shard’s progress in pictures, then read Rowan Moore’s article tracking the building’s haphazard journeyfrom pipe dream to reality, and asks is it a good thing for the capital? Rowan Moore:

“Save us from a poke in the eye with a sharp stick,” I wrote in the London Evening Standard, in 2000, when property developer Irvine Sellar unveiled plans for a 1,400ft-high pointy cylinder above London Bridge station. I went on to say that if he wanted to build something this big, which would be visible all over London, the least Sellar could do was hire a decent architect.

This morning: Gotham awakens.

midcenturia:

Architecture Magazine, No.3, 1953