Tag Archives: Architectural Record

library

Piano’s Kimbell Museum Addition: Architectural Record’s Glimpse

As an architecture enthusiast, I have more than just a calendar to remind myself that it’s the beginning of a new month: my subscriptions to design magazines! Some of my favorites that I receive monthly are Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, and Interior Design. The beautiful photography that adorns the covers are a welcome sight amongst my cable and gas bills, that’s for sure.

This month’s Architectural Record cover caught my eye immediately upon reading “Piano’s Kimbell Museum Addition” as one of the main articles. Though I haven’t been to the famed Ft. Worth museum myself, I’ve heard a lot about the new addition, especially being exposed to both Renzo Piano and Louis Kahn’s work in my classes this semester.

The author of the article, Sarah Williams Goldhagen, is the architecture critic for The New Republic and authored Louis Kahn’s Situated Modernism, so her perspective on the contested addition is both informed and compelling. Her words bring the addition to life, almost personifying it, and gives the reader a palpable visual with regards to how it works with Kahn’s original building (like the two structures are having a conversation, as she so elegantly puts it). Her words are framed with site plans, floor plans, sections, and large, vivid images of both the Kahn original and the Piano addition. For those of you that are native Texans and are heading home for winter break, this article is a great precursor to a potential visit to the Kimbell! As someone who will be jetting up north to Wisconsin next week and will be unable to check out the museum until I find myself in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area sometime in the future, I highly suggest paying a visit if you can (and then finding me and telling me about it, because I want to live vicariously through you).

In addition to the Kimbell article, this month’s Building Types Study is museums, so the designs of a few more galleries from across the world are explored in depth (and even more are featured on their website). Because of the upcoming break, I think the focus on museums is especially appropriate, because it’s definitely given me inspiration to visit some of those in the cities I live near!

The December issue of Architectural Record will hit our Reading Room shelf soon, if you’re up for some reading that’s NOT assigned or required. We will be open until December 20th, but we’ll be spreading Christmas cheer with our ample holiday decorations until then.

Happy studying, Longhorns!

library

Austin in the Architectural Press

Throughout the semester, we’ve featured some of our periodical subscriptions that are available in the Reading Room and in our stacks. Two of our selections, Architectural Record and Interiors & Sources, highlighted some awesome elements of Austin in their October 2013 issues, so we were EXTRA excited to read through them this month!

Architectural Record narrows its focus to technology and the city for their most recent publication. Austin – along with Chattanooga, Detroit, and San Francisco – is one of their mini-case study cities undergoing a rapid change at the hands of a technology boom. Noting a steady rise in population, Google Fiber’s arrival next year, and an emerging startup culture that’s permeating the city, the article discusses ways in which Austin is addressing a unique and complex change to their built fabric. Key players such as Jim Robertson, the manager of the city planning department’s Urban Design Division, and Barbara Brown Wilson, Director of UT’s Center for Sustainable Development, weigh in on rapidly-transitioning cultural districts, urban sprawl, and how Imagine Austin was created to help address these housing market changes. Joshua Baer, managing director of Capital Factory, concisely states the issue at hand today: “how do we keep our spirit while we cultivate our entrepreneurial attitude?”. This article exposes the inner-workings of a rapidly-growing city, and as both residents of Austin and enthusiasts of architecture, it’s a fascinating read that truly hits home. Realizing that we’re living amidst a major cultural, economic, and technological transition is a fascinating revelation!

This month’s issue also features a building types study of the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), the United States’ only facility built to host the Formula 1 Grand Prix race that will take place this weekend. Designed in part by Austin-based Miró Rivera Architects, this massive 1,200 acre venue also houses the city’s largest outdoor music venue at 14,000 max capacity. This dual-purpose site is anchored by a dynamic Observation Tower, a stunning feat of modern engineering, built to evoke the “blur of light that trails cars racing in the night”. Rising 251 feet, the Observation Tower is sure to become a recognizable staple in Austin’s more rural acreage. This venue reflects Austin’s rapid growth and, with SXSW, Austin City Limits, and the X-Games calling Austin home, also solidifies it as a true destination city.

Shifting the theme from technology to the environment, Interiors & Sources October issue ranks the Top 10 LEED Projects of 2013. Coming in at #10 is UT’s very own Student Activity Center, obtaining LEED Gold by optimizing energy performance, utilizing recycled content materials from the region, and maximizing daylight. The article divulges key factors in the design process behind Overland Partners‘ final product, and stands out as a wonderful contribution UT’s campus.

Want to read through these featured articles on our great city? Both periodicals are currently located in the Reading Room, and our archive of bound volumes can be found in our stacks. Love the educational design showcased in the Interiors & Sources issue? Keep an eye out for Architectural Record’s November 2013 publication, which showcases higher education projects in their building types study of the month.

As always, we’re huge advocates for periodicals here at the Architecture & Planning Library. They’re an indispensable resource for what’s going on in the design world today, highlight a great range and depth of projects, and offer an incredible source of inspiration for your own design efforts. And we’re even bigger advocates when they highlight our beloved city. Come check ’em out today!

Architectural Record Call No: NA 1 A6
Interiors & Sources Call No:  NK 1700 I64

library

Journal Feature: Architectural Record

To continue our interior design focus throughout October, we’ve selected Architectural Record as this week’s journal feature. Though likely more widely recognized in the American design world versus those we highlighted in last week’s post, we felt Architectural Record was a great periodical to feature this week because of their most recent issue: Record Interiors 2013.

This issue embraces all things interior, ranging from studies on 2013 restaurants, offices, and residences to product briefs on kitchen and bath tiles. Regardless of the issue, Architectural Record always does a fantastic job of integrating drawings, costs, product specifications, and exceptional photography into the summary of each space they feature.

We highly recommend looking through September’s issue, as well as keeping up with the subscription we receive in the Reading Room for detailed articles on beautiful spaces, design trends, and building technology. We’re always happy to continuously offer our journal subscriptions to our students as resources – free of cost!

Call Number: NA 1 A6 v.201 No.9

Happy reading!