In early 1980 Amancio Williams, the Argentinian architect whose 1943 Bridge House we already featured here at Socks, was consulted by the Argentine … [Read more...]
Ascii-Art Mapping: SyMAP (or Early Computer Generated Cartography)
William Caraher, assistant professor at the University of North Dakota and writer of the site "The Archaeology of the Mediterranean World" … [Read more...]
Notes for a Short History of the Anti-Monument /1 : Claes Oldenburg Proposed Colossal Monuments
Claes Oldenburg's unbuilt "Monuments" are imaginary anti-memorials designed by the artist at the end of the 1960s. Their paradoxical anti-monumental … [Read more...]
From Lines to Volumes: Architectural Drawings by Kristin Arestava
These enigmatic pencil drawings by Kristin Arestava are an interesting experiment in architectural visualization. The abstract volumes are represented … [Read more...]
“I do not draw plans, facades or sections”: Adolf Loos and the Villa Müller
Villa Müller in Prague was designed by architect Adolf Loos, assisted by architect Karel Lhota, in 1930 for František Müller and his wife, Milada … [Read more...]
The Three Mawangdui Maps: Early Chinese Cartography
Between 1972 to 1974 three tombs in the archaeological site of Mawangdui, China, were excavated. In one of them, the archaeologists … [Read more...]
About the Spatial Experience: Hans Dieter Schaal’s Paths, Passages and Spaces (1970’s)
Hans Dieter Schaal (1943) is a German architect, stage designer, landscape designer, writer and artist. Throughout his whole career he constantly … [Read more...]
Learning from the Casbah: Horizontal Housing Units in Rome by Adalberto Libera
Adalberto Libera's "Unità orizzontale" (Horizontal Unit) in the Tuscolano neighborhood in Rome is an experimental housing complex built in the city … [Read more...]
“Silent Architecture” by Simon Ungers
Simon Ungers (1957-2006), son of O.M. Ungers, bound architecture and art throughout his career. His series "Silent architecture" … [Read more...]
A City Made of Rooms : The “Neue Stadt” of Köln (1961-1964) by O.M. Ungers
In 1957 the urban planning department of Köln decided to develop a new satellite-town of 100,000 inhabitants (Neue-Stadt) in the northern … [Read more...]
“The Architecture of Madness”: León Ferrari’s Héliographias
León Ferrari (1920-2013) was an Argentinian conceptual artist who worked with a series of extremely different medias through the years. … [Read more...]
Yannis Xenakis’ Polytopes: Cosmogonies in Sound and Architecture
Fusing the ancient greek terms "poly" (“many”) and "topos" (“place”), Greek-French composer Iannis Xenakis coined a neologism for … [Read more...]
Evolutionary Housescape: the Metabolist Sky House by Kiyonori Kikutake (1958)
The house the Japanese architect Kiyonori Kikutake (1928-2011) designed and built for himself in 1958, still stands out as a monument to his … [Read more...]
House Within a House /1: Todoroki Residence by Hiromi Fujii, Ichikawa (1976)
Hiromi Fujii (1937) is a Japanese architect who started his career in 1964 collaborating with Italian architect Angelo Mangiarotti … [Read more...]
An Ancient Example of Cluster Planning: Pit Houses and Kivas in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico
The ruins of the pueblos in Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, (villages founded by ancient Native American communities, Ancient Pueblo people, … [Read more...]
Holiday Machine in Tropea, Italy (1967) by Cristiano Toraldo di Francia (Superstudio)
In the final diploma project of Cristiano Toraldo di Francia (later to become a member of the Italian architectural collective Superstudio), … [Read more...]
Seventy ‘Tana’ or ‘Tokowaki’ Variations, in Tetsuro Yoshida’s ‘The Japanese House’ (1935)
Japanese architect Tetsuro Yoshida (1894–1956) was a key figure of architectural interchange between East and West during the early 1930's. … [Read more...]
Hans Poelzig’s Sulphuric Acid Factory in Luboń, Poland (1911-1912)
In a parallel with Ross Wolfe, (yet purely coincidential) we publish here an early industrial work of architect Hans Poelzig, one … [Read more...]
A 50 x 50 House for Mass Production (1951): An Unbuilt Project By L. Mies Van Der Rohe
Mies van der Rohe addressed the question of mass-housing in his unbuilt project, the 50x50 feet House (50 feet is almost 16m) in 1951. Conceived as a … [Read more...]
An Unbuilt Project by L. Kahn: The Library of the Washington University
In 1956, architect Louis Kahn was invited to take part in the competition for "The Olin Library", a 200.000 square feet building in Washington. The … [Read more...]
Sonsbeek Pavilion in Arnhem, Aldo Van Eyck (1966)
A temporary pavilion was designed by Aldo Van Eyck and built in the summer of 1966 to host sculptures by nearly thirty artists (including Brancusi, … [Read more...]
John Hejduk: The Riga Project (1987)
This is the catalog of an exhibition held at University of the Arts, The Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery and the Great Hall, Nov. 20-Dec. 22, 1987. It … [Read more...]
Hans Hollein’s Alles Ist Architektur (1968)
“Everything is architecture“, Hans Hollein announced in the 1968 (1/2) edition of the “Bau“ journal. As correctly explained by Ethel Baraona, he was … [Read more...]
When the World Was Flat, Paintings by Chris Ballantyne
Desolate settings, impoverished suburban environments and depopulated neighborhoods are the privileged subjects in Chris … [Read more...]
