Winter House

In 1967 John Winter built his own house on Swain’s Lane on a site of the former garden of the superintendent of Highgate Cemetery. It is split over three stories, with “quiet living” on top, sleeping in the middle and “noisy” at the bottom. Constructed around a steel frame, the outside of the house consists of large double-glazed units set within Cor-ten cladding. This was the first domestic use of the material in Britain, and the proportions of the house and the grid on which it was designed were set by reference to the dimensions of the standard, factory-produced Cor-ten sheet, so that nothing was wasted.

After the house was finished, Winter’s colleagues presented him with a plaque bearing the legend “Rust in Peace”

via themodernhouse

via telegraph

Sound: Darren Hayman

Ponte Tower

Ponte Tower is the tallest residential skyscraper in Africa designed by architects Hermer and Grosskopf. Structure was completed in 1975 and it is an example of apartheid-era thinking. The apartments facing the outside of the building were designated for rich white families while the inner apartments, in permanent twilight, were meant for their black servants. After the end of apartheid, many gangs moved into the building and it became extremely unsafe. Owners abandoned the structure to decay. 

via philipbloom
via subotzkystudio



Sound: Kalahari Surfers

PREVI

James Stirling project 1967

In October 2009 we visited the site of PREVI in Lima, Experimental Housing Project from 1969. The project was devised by Government of Peru and United Nations to deal with the growing problem of housing in Peru. Thirteen architects from Peru and thirteen international architects were invited to take part in this project. Among them was James Stirling, Aldo van Eyck, Atelier 5, Charles Correa and Japan trio Kikutake-Maki-Kurokawa. 

via architecturalpapers
via plataformaarquitectura - book El Tiempo Construye!

Sound: Nuve

Leonid Vesnin

photo: Richard Pare

In the 1920s and 1930s Baku (Black City), the capital of Azerbaijan, became a ground for modernist architectural innovations. Housing developement in a suburb of Baku in Shaumian Community is an early example of using standardized elements in construction. Here in 1929 Leonid Vesnin designed two worker´s clubs. Buildings are expressed by their vertical circulation on the exterior. Staircases create the columns framing the austere monumental facade. Although no longer used for its original purpose, the building has recently been renovated.  

via chicagomag
via moma

Sound: Хиазм

Suhrawardy Hospital

photo Larry Speck

Louis Kahn worked on developement of Dacca from 1962 till his death. In the remoted end of the Capitol Complex he proposed the Central Hospital as a massive building with enormous brick arches facing to the west. High waiting hall of out-patient department provides fresh air and merciful shadow for patients and visitors. I remember carpets on the floor and praying men in the setting sun and for a moment I felt there like not in a hospital but a mosque.

via domusweb
via larryspeck

Sound: Ahsan Sajid

Vann Molyvann

Vann Molyvann is a key figure of the New Khmer Architecture - architectural movement of the 1950s and 60s when Khmer culture was modernised under the patronage of king Norodom Sihanouk. From many of his work I especially admire the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh built in advance of the Southeast Asian Games of 1963, which were never held. Molyvann was inspired by temples of ancient Angkor and he transfered its monumental form into modern structure.

via vannmolyvannproject
via newkhmerarchitecture

Sound: Dead Kennedys