Frank Lloyd Wright House for Britain, Part 2

The Frank Lloyd Wright house originally planned for the sunny west coast of America and now possibly set for realisation in Sommerset England, has been seen it's hopes slightly set back as North Somerset Planning Department consider it's future. The council board have issued a refusal on the recent application citing a lack of environmental strategy for a green belt site as the main sticking point.

However, the Architects behind the scheme (Stephen Brooks Architects’) are planning to pursue the dream and appeal the councils decision and reinforce the cultural importance and significance of the plans.

http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/daily-news/client-to-appeal-after-uks-first-frank-lloyd-wright-house-refused/8656559.article

"An Board Pleanála showing “a failure in both scientific and legal competence” – An Taisce"TheJournal.ie

"An taisce has accused An Board Pleanála of showing “a failure in both scientific and legal competence” in allowing Edenderry power station to keep burning peat until 2023.

The independent environmental charity says that the decision is acting “contrary to the national interest” and that, by their decision, An Bord Pleanála have “made a clear statement of its anti-climate policies”.

The  power station is owned by Bord na Móna and is An Taisce claim that the facility releases emissions of up to 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

Bord na Móna say that at present over 20 per cent of fuel burned at Edenderry is recycled biomass. The company have targeted that this will increase to 30 per cent by 2015 which would account for the burning of 300,000 tones of biomass fuels.

An Taisce however have further concerns and claim that the Environmental Impact Assessment on the direct and indirect effects of the project are deficient.

“In granting permission to continue peat-burning, the Board failed entirely to address the legal basis of the extraction source of the peat from surrounding bogs,” said An Taisce."

Society of Chartered Surveyors - cost calculator

http://www.scsi.ie/about_us/rebuildcalculator

Apple Campus 2

Photograph: City of Cupertino

"All hail the mothership: Norman Foster's $5bn Apple HQ revealed

Set in rolling fields, this shimmering spaceship promises to follow Apple's values of 'innovation, ease of use and beauty'. But is it a techno-utopia too far?"

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/nov/15/norman-foster-apple-hq-mothership-spaceship-architecture

Saving Industrial era buildings - Austin, Nichols and Company Warehouse

Austin, Nichols and Company Warehouse, New York

In 1915, Brooklyn New York, the Austin, Nichols and Company building on the docklands was completed. Designed by american architect Cass Gilbert, (architect of the Woolworth building, New York 1913) it was utilised as a food and drinks manufacturing plant until the mid 1900's and subsequently as a warehouse. This building is a strong example of the precarious situations that historic buildings find themselves in, especially those whose merit is under appreciated or misunderstood and often written off as mere relics of a former age. Toward the end of the 1900's, movements were under-way to redevelop the site which included demolitions and drastic transformations. Luckily, many people recognized the importance of the building, both culturally, architecturally and historically, and undertook steps to have the building listed for protection. The pro-retention side eventually won out after years of lobbying and petitioning and in 2005, the former warehouse was designated as a protected and listed building.

Facade prior to restoration -  forgotten-ny.com

In recent years, SLCE Architects were employed on behalf of the warehouses owners to sympathetically restore and adapt the building for re-use. The restoration work included restoring of the entire facade, new waterfront pathways and promenade and streetscaping, interior green courtyards, roof-top beach, interior gardens and boardwalks as well as modern residential units. The scheme won the 2011 award for adaptive reuse (Brooklyn Awards)



Restored facade : Flickr user - JOSH

Internal courtyard - bevanddara.wordpress.com

2008 video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNGcR21x7xQ

http://saveindustrialbrooklyn.org/pdf/austin_nichols.pdf
http://www.slcearch.com/adaptive-reuse/184-kent-avenue/

Woodstock Visit

Woodstock House & Gardens.

Signage everywhere but for some reason, I never ventured toward the gardens when passing through the village of Inistioge. I thus didn't connect this place with the many grand country houses dotted around the country which were burned down at the height of the fight for Ireland's impending freedom and then left to rot. Many of the houses which were spectacles to behold prior to this and were utilised sometimes as show-pieces, and which employed hundreds of people in the locality, now stand as husks in overgrown estates. The grounds and boundaries of the estates also, unrecognisable, existing only in historic photographs and maps. Fortunately for Woodstock, the site has been partially rescued and is currently maintained albeit on a less grander scale by volunteers under the guidance of Kilkenny County Council. The once thriving and busy vegetable and fruit gardens and green houses are now confined to a few patches of vegetables maintained by a handful or workers. The grounds however are well maintained for what exists and a fine selection of original period ornamental trees still stand proud on the site. Even though the true splendour of the original gardens can only be viewed through black and white photographs, the scale and extent can nonetheless be appreciated just be strolling around the site. Unfortunately, the house itself is now in a serious state of decay and almost beyond rescuing having missed out or been overlooked for various economic reasons during the boom time when opportunities were possibly more plentiful. No matter what sentiment people have toward these estate houses, it cannot be denied that they represent an intangible connection to the islands history and to see what was probably a magnificent building in it's day now in such a sorry state is a tragic fact.
















1. www.askaboutireland.ie
2. www.jerpoint.com



































milton jones

Some things to look at...... 


Google headquarters in Dublin

http://www.home-designing.com/2013/02/googles-new-office-in-dublin.


Smog and Pollution in China

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/chinese-city-blanketed-heavy-pollution-051503205.html#DgVD5Mz

Detroit Ruins & Urban Decay

“The ruins of Detroit's proud industrial past have become something of a tourist attraction in the now bankrupt city. But development is revitalising some of the grandest ruins downtown, leaving ruin aficionados with mixed feelings.” (1)

The story of Detroit when told nowadays is one of boom and bust, indeed, the story of many cities and countries could said to be similar. However, Detroit stands out amongst these as being one of the more severe cases of bust.

Pic. Michigan Central Station

As of July 2013 the city of Detroit was officially declared bankrupt.

In the early 1900’s three major car manufacturers were spearheading the industrial revolution in the Michigan area, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. By the mid-point of the 1900’s (circa 1950), Detroit rose to become the 5th largest city in America, it’s population rising toward the 2 million mark. (2)

Moving into the second half of the century, the auto industry required significant restructuring which resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs in the city. This was to be the start of a long period or woe for the remaining inhabitants, those who choose to stay behind or those who were trapped by impending poverty. The well-off fled as the car manufacturers closed door after door. The city’s population rapidly declined to under 1,000,000 over the next four decades.

Left behind in the wake of the collapse of the regions primary industry were many splendid buildings built at the height of the boom. Many of the buildings still stand today as monuments to a golden age, but pose an ever increasing risk of collapse through abandonment, neglect and vandalism. Some of the more significant ruins include; Michigan Central station which closed in 1988 and Michigan theatre, parts of which now house a car park below its deteriorating ornate plaster moulds. 

Some buildings have now begun to see some sparks of new like as new owners take over some of the buildings. For example, the owners of Michigan central station are considering their options for re-use, and there is examples of completed projects such as a ruined apartment being converted to a boutique hotel.

This movement doesn’t stick well with so called “ruin tourists” who have been flocking to Detroit over the last decade or so to visit and photograph these ‘modern’ ruins.

Theatre 

Farwell building

David Broderick Tower

David Whitney buildind

Detroit National Bank

Vanity Ballroom

Highland Park Police station

William Levingston house

Former Unitarian Church 

Ref: 

1. AFP UK

2. http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/politics-reform/essays/motor-city-story-detroit

Websites for photo documentation:

http://www.forgottendetroit.com/

http://www.marchandmeffre.com/detroit/

Frank Lloyd Wright

From California to Somerset, Frank Lloyd Wright's final sketch proposal for a sunny American situated domestic Villa by the sea will finally come to fruition.................. at a lakeside setting in England. Designed in 1947, the Villa is being built approximately 60 years after it's inception and almost 50 years after Wright's death. The long sought dream of Somerset councillor Dr Hugh Pratt, the house will be constructed under the strict and prestigious permission from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation having been approved by the Foundation's own architect. 


"The original design is characteristic of Wright's later domestic work, composed of a long, low-lying wing of rooms extending out into the landscape, emerging from a central core of intersecting circular forms. Little cylindrical towers, clad in rough stonework, emerge like defensive sentinels, housing a library and study that anchor the horizontal planes. Elements slip and slide past each another, framing a dining and dancing area that steps down to a poolside terrace, the whole thing sailed over by a projecting copper roof."

Photograph: Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation / SWNS.com/SWNS.com

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2013/sep/19/frank-lloyd-wright-villa-built-somerset