Curbed: All Posts by Alexa CarrascoLove where you live2015-04-17T18:04:04-04:00https://archive.curbed.com/authors/alexacarrasco7823838/rss2015-04-17T18:04:04-04:002015-04-17T18:04:04-04:00Go Ahead, Redesign a Virtual Eames' Case Study House No. 8
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r4WPGBjiDrT9KjFE1Nd9khRXU24=/222x0:3778x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48740115/curbed_placeholder.54.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p><strong>Charles and Ray Eames'</strong> midcentury home in Los Angeles' Pacific Palisades, Case Study House No. 8, <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/eames-house">has become an icon</a> due in large part to its detailed interior. During LACMA's <em>California Design</em> exhibition a few years ago, a recreation of the exuberant living room, overflowing with items and ideas, stood apart as a true highlight. That reputation makes playing with Archilogic's new <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/620033/a-virtual-look-into-the-eames-case-study-house-8/"><strong>virtual Eames House</strong></a> such a challenging, exciting experience. Designed like a Sims for <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2015/04/08/why-everyone-is-obsessed-with-midcentury-modern-design.php">midcentury furniture fanatics</a>, the site gives users the ability to reimagine the famed layout with an army of options and furniture including chairs, tables, beds and even Ikea items.</p>
<p> Michael Peguero's model also allows for a new visual reading of the Eames house, one that disassociates it from the <strong>collections and keepsakes the famed designers used to make it so lively</strong> and instead focuses on form. Using 3D animation, the website allows visitors to virtually tour the home from three distinct viewpoints, exposing the theatricality of the interior and providing a new perch with which to appreciate their distinct outlook and ouevre. Get started <a href="http://beta.archilogic.com/06Tx67?mode=view&main-menu=interior&view-menu=none">over here</a>. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> · <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/620033/a-virtual-look-into-the-eames-case-study-house-8/">A Virtual Look Into The Eames Case Study House #8</a> [ArchDaily]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/eames">All Eames posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/4/17/9969354/virtual-reality-eames-house-archilogicAlexa Carrasco2015-04-17T13:33:44-04:002015-04-17T13:33:44-04:00If You Don't Like the Views From this Rotating Apartment, Wait
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r4WPGBjiDrT9KjFE1Nd9khRXU24=/222x0:3778x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48740115/curbed_placeholder.54.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>Nice views add value to a property and create competitive bidding for prime space in high-rises, inevitably causing stratification between tenants in tall buildings. To avoid the inevitable divide, industrial designer <strong>Shin Kuo</strong> has <a href="http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/04/everyone-has-a-great-view-in-a-spinning-apartment-building/390768/">devised</a> a solution that could be construed as borderline socialist apartment theory—a building with <strong>rotating units that provide 360-degree views for all</strong>. Kuo's concept, "Turn to the Future," stacks apartments on a central pillar and spins units in a spiral (speed isn't specified). Kuo's moving apartments might provide a nice, not to mention <em>consistent</em>, change of scenery (especially for those who aren't prone to motion sickness). </p>
<p> Not surprisingly, the concept of an apartment that moves is not so simple. Each home's gas and electric lines would have to detach before moving and reattaching at their new location. Once an apartment reached the bottom floor, it would rise up the center pillar via crane to the penthouse spot. Think of the possibilities -- not just losing your keys, losing your apartment. Suddenly realtor jargon like "location, location, location" has a whole new meaning. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/116303272" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p> · <a href="http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/04/everyone-has-a-great-view-in-a-spinning-apartment-building/390768/">Everyone Has a Great View in a Spinning Apartment Building</a> [CityLab]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/architectural-craziness">All Architectural Craziness posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/4/17/9969430/shin-kuo-rotating-apartment-buildingAlexa Carrasco2015-04-17T12:01:47-04:002015-04-17T12:01:47-04:00Billionaire Businessman Enlists Robert A.M. Stern to Build Britain's Most Expensive Apartments
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r4WPGBjiDrT9KjFE1Nd9khRXU24=/222x0:3778x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48740115/curbed_placeholder.54.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>British entrepreneur and casual billionaire <a href="http://www.caudwell.com/">John Caudwell</a> has released a new £2 billion plan (roughly $3 billion USD) that, if approved, will transform a 1960s drab parking lot into London's newest set of ultra-expensive apartments, Audley Square House. Caudwell <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3022841/Businessman-unveils-plans-transform-car-park-2bn-apartments.html">purchased</a> the Audley Street garage in London's Mayfair district for £155 million only to knock it down and build what he hopes will become one of the world's most desirable living spaces, or, in other words, a really massive VIP area. Caudwell dumped Foster + Partners' £300 million design to work with New York-based architect <strong>Robert A.M. Stern</strong>, whom Caudwell <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/620477/robert-a-m-stern-to-build-britian-s-most-expensive-flats/">says</a> has the "ability to design high-quality buildings that do not stand apart from their surroundings but rather fit in comfortably amongst their neighbors."</p>
<p> Opting for "quality over quantity," Caudwell Properties explains it will be sacrificing square footage to make apartments fit for the wealthiest of London's residents. Five townhouses and three penthouses will each get a gym and swimming pool, while three penthouses will have private elevators. Caudwell's snazzy plan still needs approval though, and his neighbors just might object to nine-story building towering over their pricey pads.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> · <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/620477/robert-a-m-stern-to-build-britian-s-most-expensive-flats/">Robert A.M. Stern to Build Britain's Most Expensive Flats</a> [ArchDaily]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2012/05/14/londons-most-expensive-flat-hits-open-market-at-1045m.php">London's Most Expensive Flat Hits the Market For $104.5M</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/4/17/9969518/john-caudwell-london-flats-audley-square-houseAlexa Carrasco2015-04-16T15:55:28-04:002015-04-16T15:55:28-04:00Peer Inside OMA's CCTV Headquarters in Beijing
<figure>
<img alt="Photos via <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/620101/a-rare-look-inside-oma-s-cctv-building-in-beijing/">ArchDaily</a>" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ur-H1AafYwIzw2x7nMO5BRjyryQ=/74x0:1207x850/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47924827/544662e4e58ece180a0000c2_why-china-s-president-says-no-more-weird-buildings-_1337357776-cctv-philippe-ruault-1.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photos via <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/620101/a-rare-look-inside-oma-s-cctv-building-in-beijing/">ArchDaily</a></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2013, OMA founding partner Rem Koolhaas <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2013/11/08/awards-14.php">accepted an award</a> for Best Tall Building Worldwide for the <strong>CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, China</strong>, a skyscraper that looks like the bottom half of a giant, angular robot. This not-so-subtle attack on form, completed just ten years after he declared he wanted to "kill the skyscraper," has drawn plenty of attention for its radical exterior, but interior views have been scarce. That is, up until a recent set of pictures shared on WeChat (and <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/620101/a-rare-look-inside-oma-s-cctv-building-in-beijing/">posted on ArchDaily</a>) provided a peek inside the CCTV headquarters. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><br> · <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/620101/a-rare-look-inside-oma-s-cctv-building-in-beijing/">A Rare Look Inside OMA's CCTV Building in Beijing</a> [ArchDaily]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/oma">All OMA posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/4/16/9969882/beijing-china-oma-cctv-headquartersAlexa Carrasco2015-04-16T14:30:47-04:002015-04-16T14:30:47-04:00Swapping High Art and a Vacant Home in KC to Make a Point
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r4WPGBjiDrT9KjFE1Nd9khRXU24=/222x0:3778x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48740115/curbed_placeholder.54.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>Troost Avenue in Kansas City is viewed as a street that straddles the city's racial divide. For "City of Fountains," a piece of social and political commentary centered around conceptual art, local artist A. Bitterman wants to bring attention to that division with a stunt that reads like a <strong>serious senior prank</strong>. He wants to swap Henry Moore's Sheep Piece, a sculpture outside the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (west of Troost Avenuve) with a very real symbol of the other side of the line—a boarded up, vacant house. </p>
<p> The image of a large bronze sculpture that almost looks like magnified body parts sandwiched between two otherwise average suburban homes is <em>rich</em>, but so is the inverse—a drab one-level next to Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen's Shuttlecocks (which by the way, is a giant version of an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttlecock">object</a> used in badminton, potentially the whitest sport of all time).</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> Bitterman <a href="http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/04/a-vacant-house-that-should-become-public-art/390534/">pitched</a> the proposal in 2011 with a series of postcards. One shows an image of the sculpture in its new setting, complete with security guard and a cursive caption that reads "City of Fountains," while another has a less discrete message: </p>
<p> "By radically altering context through a simple exchange, a condemned house from a forgotten landscape becomes a thing of aching beauty and a catalyst for despair, while a prized artifact from an idyllic landscape becomes a portal, so that in each case a new narrative is made readily available." The Nelson-Atkins Museum has yet to show any interest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> · <a href="http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/04/a-vacant-house-that-should-become-public-art/390534/">A Vacant House That Should Become Public Art</a> [CityLab]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/artistry">All Artistry posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/4/16/9969960/troost-avenue-kansas-city-bitterman-city-fountainsAlexa Carrasco2015-04-16T12:10:58-04:002015-04-16T12:10:58-04:00New Shanghai Planetarium Designs Are Appropriately Otherworldly
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r4WPGBjiDrT9KjFE1Nd9khRXU24=/222x0:3778x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48740115/curbed_placeholder.54.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>Ennead Architects has <a href="http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=7966#.VS-25mRVikp">unveiled</a> its design for the new <strong>Shanghai Planetarium</strong>, and it's one shimmery, spiraling giant that may or may not have been inspired by a snail shell. The new branch of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, set to open to the public in 2018, will be divided into three sections, each representing an astronomical instrument—an Oculus, a Sphere, and an Inverted Dome.</p>
<p> Visitors can attempt to tell time the old school way, with a sundial that follows the sun's orbital movement. "The Chinese are very tuned in to the movement of the sun," Ennead Design Partner Thomas Wong <a href="http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=7966#.VS-25mRVikp">told</a> the Architect's Newspaper, also noting that China still functions on a lunar calendar. It's all that attention on celestial bodies that inspired Wong to design a building that literally looks like it's in orbit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> The Oculus is suspended from the galleries above, the Sphere holds the theater, and the Inverted Dome has a sky dome, providing galactic views framed via 79-feet-high solar telescopes. Wong said the museum hopes to "get kids especially excited about exploring space." A glowing silver dome for gazing into the cosmos just might do the trick.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> · <a href="http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=7966#.VS-25mRVikp">Unveiled > Shanghai Planetarium</a> [Architect's Newspaper]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/planetariums">Eight Times Planetarium Design Was Straight-Up Otherworldly</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/4/16/9970032/shanghai-planetarium-ennead-architectsAlexa Carrasco2015-04-15T16:30:35-04:002015-04-15T16:30:35-04:00Disney's New Theme Park Tech Foreshadows Our Wired Future
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r4WPGBjiDrT9KjFE1Nd9khRXU24=/222x0:3778x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48740115/curbed_placeholder.54.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>In 2011, <strong>Walt Disney Co.</strong> CEO Bob Iger proposed a technological reinvention of Disney's iconic parks, ostensibly to make the Magic Kingdom more amenable to tech-savvy millennials. He got buy-in from his directors to spend nearly $1 billion on <strong>MyMagic+</strong>, a tech overhauled centered around the <strong>MagicBand</strong>, an electronic wristband that would be a "virtual key" to the Magic Kingdom. Fast Company <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3044283/the-messy-business-of-reinventing-happiness#!">spoke</a> with the chairman of Disney's Park and Resorts division Tom Staggs and several other anonymous insiders to get the scoop on this monumental proposal, and how this confluence of wearables and experiential design may be <strong>a case study in placemaking and park design</strong>. </p>
<p> Re-imagining a place as big (and, let's be honest, magical) as Disney World is a huge, not to mention costly, risk. The park <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3044283/the-messy-business-of-reinventing-happiness#!">includes</a> 140 attractions, 300 dining locations and 36 hotels spread across 25,000 acres, all of which Disney believes still might not be enough to appeal to a new tech-oriented generation glued to their smart phones. Worried Disney World would quickly become irrelevant, the Parks division began gathering in secret in 2008, plotting out what became known as the <strong>Next Generation Experience project</strong>. The plan hoped to jettison the most annoying, least magical aspects of Disneyland—long lines and heavy backpacks. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> According to the Fast Company story, one team member was looking through SkyMall when he saw a magnetic wristband that would inspire the <strong>MagicBand</strong>, a bracelet with a Mickey Mouse icon that broadcast a radio signal 40 feet and when tapped against a sensor, can provide access to the park, attractions, and even allow wearers to purchase memorabilia and funnel cakes. Read more about the history of Disney's theme parks, the future of wearables, and what it's like to wear a Mickey band and run around an updated Disney World <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3044283/the-messy-business-of-reinventing-happiness#!">over here</a>. </p>
<p> · <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3044283/the-messy-business-of-reinventing-happiness#!">The Messy Business of Reinventing Happiness</a> [Fast Company]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/disney-land">All Disneyland posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/4/15/9970302/disneyland-magic-band-disney-worldAlexa Carrasco2015-04-15T13:24:32-04:002015-04-15T13:24:32-04:00Sleep Inside a Disco Ball in this Pennsylvania Airbnb Rental
<figure>
<img alt="Photos via <a href="https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1243535">Airbnb</a>" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/owVHIpCgURa_8UNbR0BfFFiWPDg=/41x0:670x472/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47925219/Screen_20Shot_202015-04-15_20at_209.14.21_20AM.0.png" />
<figcaption>Photos via <a href="https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1243535">Airbnb</a></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Pittsburgh suburb of Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania, may not sound like the natural home for an <em>Enter the Dragon</em>-style mirrored funhouse. But this local <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516509&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbnb.co.uk%2Frooms%2F1243535&referrer=archive.curbed.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.curbed.com%2F2015%2F4%2F15%2F9970346%2Fairbnb-fox-chapel-pennsylvania-artist-mirror-house" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Airbnb rental</a>, a "<strong>unique artist mirrored house</strong>" that's part chic and part insanity, makes a good case for Fox Chapel as the future location of a twisted fairytale akin to <em>Alice in Wonderland</em>. Covered in mirrors, the dining room features two chandeliers, a trippy patterned wood table and chairs and three aquariums with colorful coral, adding more glitz and glare to the busy, bizarre interior. </p>
<p> The rental offers <strong>a lot of fabulous for $170 a night</strong>, including access to a hefty record collection that resides in what appears to be an office space. The lower level contains a few pieces of modern furniture and exudes a studded, black-and-white rocker vibe, which carries over into the bathroom, where the pattern from the dining table reemerges on the walls, floor, and yes, even the toilet. The well-lit, spacious studio opens up via garage door to a lush outdoor space complete with <strong>picturesque pond and lili pads</strong>. Set beside the bonkers dining room, the kitchen, boasting silver spatulas and ladles that line the wall like artwork, suddenly comes off as a bit of a plain Jane.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br> · <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516509&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbnb.co.uk%2Frooms%2F1243535&referrer=archive.curbed.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.curbed.com%2F2015%2F4%2F15%2F9970346%2Fairbnb-fox-chapel-pennsylvania-artist-mirror-house" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Unique artist mirrored house</a> [Airbnb via <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3037173/A-gingerbread-cottage-selfie-house-mirrors-Cluedo-murder-mystery-mansion-bizarre-rental-properties-world.html">Daily Mail</a>]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/airbnb">All Airbnb posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/4/15/9970346/airbnb-fox-chapel-pennsylvania-artist-mirror-houseAlexa Carrasco2015-04-15T11:11:52-04:002015-04-15T11:11:52-04:00Beatles Fans, Google's Abbey Road Virtual Tour is Marvelous
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r4WPGBjiDrT9KjFE1Nd9khRXU24=/222x0:3778x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48740115/curbed_placeholder.54.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>Google has <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/opening-doors-to-world-famous-abbey.html">teamed up</a> with <strong>Abbey Road Studio</strong>, the iconic London address where the Beatles created musical masterpieces, to build a virtual 360-degree tour. Now that Google Maps Pac-Man <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/pac-man">is dead</a>, this may become your preferred method of procrastination. Visitors to Inside Abbey Road can see where the Fab Four, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder and many others recorded, search through archival photos, watch YouTube clips and listen to audio within a recreation of a historical studio that has never opened to the public, until now. </p>
<p> The experience, loaded with media options, suggests a new platform for Google and additional possibilities for virtual tourism. Visitors can hang out while The London Symphony Orchestra performs <em>Final Fantasy VII</em>, play with the equipment the Beatles used and record your own hit, or reminisce while Amy Winehouse sings with Tony Bennett. Audiophiles can even look through Abbey Road's extensive mic collection. Different virtual tours, like the "Experiments in Sound tour" with the Head of Audio Products Mirek Stiles, provide a more guided experience. Thanks Google! We love you. Watch a preview of Inside Abbey Road below and <a href="https://insideabbeyroad.withgoogle.com/en">head here</a> to get started. </p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YGztmJrf748" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p> · <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/opening-doors-to-world-famous-abbey.html">Opening the doors to the world-famous Abbey Road Studios</a> [Google Blog]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/the-beatles">All The Beatles posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/4/15/9970466/google-inside-abbey-road-virtual-tourAlexa Carrasco2015-04-14T16:12:38-04:002015-04-14T16:12:38-04:00See New Visions for Oslo from BIG, Snøhetta and Others
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r4WPGBjiDrT9KjFE1Nd9khRXU24=/222x0:3778x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48740115/curbed_placeholder.54.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>Final submissions for a competition to design a new government quarter in Oslo <a href="http://www.designboom.com/architecture/oslo-government-quarter-regjeringskvartal-snohetta-big-mvrdv-04-14-2015/">came out this week</a>, including neighborhood plans from both <strong>BIG and Snøhetta</strong>, providing an opportunity to judge the competitors before the Norwegian government does.</p>
<p> Danish firm <strong>Bjarke Ingels Group</strong>, or BIG, proposed an urban park with three towers that create a new setting for the site's historical buildings. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> The ring of structures proposed by Dutch firm <strong>MVRDV</strong>, all lined with <br>rooftop gardens, would provide a new green vista in the center of the capital. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> Local Norwegian studio <strong>Snøhetta</strong> proposed a trio of towers that shoot up behind the original government buildings, giving the site gravitas without crowding out ground-level public space. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> Fellow Norwegian firm <strong>Asplan Viak</strong> also suggested adding a set of sleek towers to the city skyline, as well as an expansive city garden.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> <strong>LPO</strong>'s proposal includes a space for a memorial dedicated to the 2011 attacks in Norway amid several office towers of varying height. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> <strong>White</strong>'s more speculative proposal would open up the complex with a series of colorful, angular facades.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> · <a href="http://www.designboom.com/architecture/oslo-government-quarter-regjeringskvartal-snohetta-big-mvrdv-04-14-2015/">BIG, MVRDV + snøhetta unveil proposals for oslo's government quarter</a> [Design Boom]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/competitions">All Competitions posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/4/14/9970752/big-mvrdv-snohetta-oslo-norway-government-quarter-competitionAlexa Carrasco