Adaptive reuse of a former television production studio, repurposed for offices, as the next generation of the Flagship coworking space. Completed in collaboration with Brown Architecture. Interior design, graphic design and branding.
Status: Built
2010
Status: Built
2008-2010
Adaptive reuse of a retail box, transformed into an office incubator for technology startups. Project emphasized simplicity, natural light and low-cost materials, finished on budget and within only 8 weeks of construction time. Interior design, graphic design and branding.
Status: Built
2009
Competition entry for a neighborhood extension and land reclamation of a former industrial site in Louisville, KY. For Public House Projects, designed with Ryan Wilson.
Status: Competition Entry
2009
Website design to help job seekers in the technology fields relocate to Charleston, SC. Launch site
Status: Complete
2009
Design study for the rehabilitation of a failed subdivision. At the time of study, the existing subdivision was 1/3 built, with most homes in foreclosure. We proposed changes to increase density, narrow streets, add parking and plant trees. To be executed in public/private partnership.
Status: Study complete
2010
Magazine feature envisioning a future for downtown Athens, GA. Published in the Winter 2009 issue of Young, Foxy & Free.
Status: Published
2009
Status: Unbuilt
2009
Transit shelter competition entry. The project brief required a relationship to the Athens, GA music scene; we proposed a giant megaphone. For Public House Projects with Evan Timms and Ryan Wilson.
Won a 2010 honorable mention from Project Never.
Status: Competition Entry
2009
Exploration of prefabricated housing types in single-family and multi-family configurations. For Keane & Co.
Status: Study complete
2009
We’ve just returned to Charleston after three days of continuous work. Our new project, in conjunction with Peter Drey Architect, has the potential to transform a 2.5 mile corridor in the town of Covington, GA (near Atlanta). We’ll post ideas and updates in the coming weeks.
I/Jacob teach a theory class at the Clemson Architecture Center at Charleston, a small outpost of the Clemson School of Architecture. Last week, we had the privilege to visit the new architecture building at the Clemson main campus in northern South Carolina.
This new architecture school, designed by Thomas Phifer, is an all-white, super minimalist warehouse. With this new addition, the Clemson school has upgraded its facilities during a precarious time in American architectural education. We wish them the most success with their new addition.
Getting it right: tiny buildings
We have often proposed the construction of micro-buildings for infill in urban locations. But our proposals remain mostly unbuilt, often due to restrictive zoning in American cities that prevents such tiny structures.
So we were impressed with this tiny gallery and office in Japan. See it here:
Dezeen » Blog Archive » Iron Gallery by Kensuke Watanabe Architecture Studio
This graphic describes our current situation at Fabric; you may be familiar with the process!
Image via Fast Company.
Nice Work: Bejing’s Urban Carpets via URBAN CARPET on the Behance Network
Great coverage in the New York Times about Europe’s biggest and best urban park project:
City Parks, Like Madrid Río, Stand Where Highways Did - NYTimes.com
Hmm:
Ikea’s property development group is proposing to build a massive new project in London, according to the English Huffington Post. See more:
Strand East: Ikea Hopes To Build An Entire London Neighbourhood
Getting it Right: Utilizing vacant development sites
With empty parking lots and stalled development projects in city centers all across the country, this article highlights some efforts by real estate developers to breathe temporary life into their sites.
Temporary Tenants Bring Life to Stalled Construction Sites - NYTimes.com
Exotic Urbanism: Nairobi
Via Designboom: “Netherland-based chris idema reinier simons have created ‘twentyeleven: project kenya’, a housing development which re-imagines the current slums in nairobi, kenya, africa without enforcing a westernized ideal onto an existing culture. by working together with the 236 inhabitants - including 52 families, 15 small companies and three workshops - a new building plan is being developed for the people currently living in the slums of nairobi. the existing norms and values are integrated into an organized structure, ensuring it is a flexible and adaptable design while giving them clean water, a controlled cooking environment and better living conditions in general.”
(via chris idema reinier simons: twentyeleven project kenya)
Local progress update:
In a major victory for cyclists and pedestrians in Charleston, the SCDOT has approved converting one lane of the above bridge to cyclist use. This small change will connect two parts of the region by bicycle, vastly improving quality of life for Charleston residents.
Getting it Right:
From the local news front, the City of Charleston, SC, our adopted home, is considering a major upgrade to its bicycle friendliness.
For those who don’t know the city, it’s a peninsula, connected to adjacent neighborhoods by on a few bridges. Two of these bridges are currently for cars only: no sidewalks or bike paths.
But the City is considering something which would be a huge step forward and a model for other towns: converting an existing lane of car traffic into a bike and pedestrian lane.
Hopefully this will be decided soon, against the Transportation Department’s wishes, and in favor of humans.
Read more: Study complete on bike lane over river; findings withheld | The Post and Courier, Charleston SC
For all our friends in the architecture and design industries, you may want to have a look at this most recent survey of trends in the profession.
U.S. Community Design Trends highlight Infill Development | ArchDaily
Congratulations:
To my current students at the Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston for their recently completed design-build project. Professor David Pastre led an exceptional course to design and construct this plaground seating area in just 3 months.
Read the full story: CAC.C Studio V
Field Report: Urban Design as High Art
Recently, the Museum of Modern Art commissioned works from several prominent modern architecture practices. The teams were asked to reimagine the American suburb, approaching the problem of redevelopment in the wake of the housing crisis and demographic changes.
The resulting projects are to be exhibited at MOMA in February, but Archdaily has recently compiled a series of videos showing each project in-progress, with presentations from the respective design teams.
While this will take some of your time, they are worth reviewing, as this project may be a watershed of sorts in American urban design. Will it be substantive, or just hollow architectural fantasy?
See the videos here:
(via Update: Foreclose: Rehousing the American Dream / MoMA | ArchDaily)
We were super-impressed by plans for this urban park in Sao Paolo, Brazil, which will have a major impact on transportation, public space and stormwater runoff. Have a look at Archdaily:
Getting it Right: Vilnius, Lithuania
In what must be the most badass move by a city mayor in recent history, mayor Zuokas makes it clear that bike lanes are for cyclists only.
Contrast this with the attitude of most US mayors, who still think that cars rule. More here:
Vilnius Mayor Crushes Car in Bike Lane With a Tank - NYTimes.com
Nice Work:
This recently completed social-housing project in Shetland is a beautiful application of simple and noble dwellings. We especially love the mix of building types that all work seamlessly as a group. See it at Grödians / Richard Gibson Architects | ArchDaily
