Natural Architecture

Here's some photographs from Alessandro Rocca's book Natural Architecture.

La Tonnelle - Gilles Bruni and Marc Babarit, 1996

Organic Highway - Mikael Hansen, 1995

Clemson Clay Nest - Nils-Udo, 2005

Running in Circles - Willow and Maple Saplings - Patrick Dougherty, 1996. This one is obviously my favourite.

More.

What I've been doing

This is the first assignment for my 3D fundamentals class, which is by far my favourite this semester.
We built a shallow box out of wood and then drew a design using three letters of our name. After filling the box half full with clay we then carved out the design and cast a mold in plaster.
This is the negative of my design but I hope to cast a positive or two next week.

The one thing I wish the U of C had...

GLASS BLOWING!

This glass artist, David Chihuly, is incredible. All of these pieces are on display until May 31st at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona but the link at the bottom is to Chihuly's homepage which has oodles more.
Chiostro di Sant'Apollonia Chandelier, 1995.

Mexican Hat and Horn Tower, 2008 (detail on right)

Saffron Tower, 2008. 27 feet high!

Blue and Purple Boat, 2008.

Blue Fiddleheads, 2008.

David Chihuly.

Abu Dhabi Hyatt

The Leaning Tower of Pisa's title of World's most inclined building is being taken over by the new Hyatt hotel being built in Abu Dhabi. RMJM Architects designed the building which will open later this year.

RMJM Architects.
More info on the Abu Dhabi Hyatt.

Some Interesting Churches

The Church of Hallgrímur, Reykjavík, Iceland - Guðjón Samúelssondesign

Jubilee Church, Rome, Italy - Richard Meier

Device to Root out Evil - Dennis Oppenheim. Apparently, this has recently been moved from Vancouver to Calgary. I'm not sure where exactly this is but if any of you do, please let me know!