Reference Page: March 2005

Public Access
Pure Detroit, www.puredetroit.com, which recently opened an outpost in the restored Union Trust-Guardian building, is the ultimate source for novelty items and products made in “D-troit,” as it is pronounced locally. You can order a copy of Rebecca Binno Savage and Greg Kowalski’s Art Deco in Detroit (Arcadia Publishing, 2004) from the Pure Detroit Web site. Pewabic Pottery, www.pewabic.com, still produces custom architectural tiles and runs a ceramic art education center in the landmarked building. Erstwhile owner the SmithGroup provides a few old images on its Web site, www.smithgroup.com, of the Guardian building’s vaulted mezzanine. But the Sterling Group, www.sterling-group.com, ponied up the dough for the restoration, the best sign yet of Detroit’s long-awaited revival.

The Holly Whyte of Retail
We have it on the highest authority that Paco Underhill’s books Call of the Mall (Simon & Schuster, 2004) and Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping (Simon & Schuster, 1999) are lively reads. Underhill describes his company, Envirosell Inc., www.envirosell.com, as specializing in “the interaction between people and commercial space, people and products, and people and services in those spaces.” Or, in a word, retail.

A Bicycle Built for Three
The Bakfiets company’s site, www.bakfiets.com, is entirely in Dutch, but there are lots of photos to satisfy your browsing desires under “Modellen,” which presents various Cargo Bike models. Don’t miss “Extra informatie,” with its entertaining fotos of various carbon-based life forms enjoying bike rides.

Rustic Scene
View photos of Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge at the fittingly eclectic www.dougfirlounge.com and follow the link to a story in the Oregonian entitled “LoBu Rising,” heralding the restaurant/club as a beacon of the Lower Burnside neighborhood’s revitalization. Architect Jeff Kovel’s firm Skylab, www.skylabdesign.com, also features pictures of the venue, including one of a superhip guy with either a bleached mohawk or a raccoon on his head.

Guerrilla Planning
Place in History’s Web site, www.placeinhistory.org, is a veritable treasure chest of information on the group’s many initiatives and projects, such as its ongoing Long Island City and Pulaski Bridge projects. The latter is an elegant memorial to two Keyspan gas tanks—formerly prominent features of the North Brooklyn skyline—that were imploded in 2001. You can also buy PIH’s self-published book on the recently demolished Phelps Dodge Copper Refinery of Maspeth, Queens, for a mere ten spot. Anyone interested in PIH’s mission is also encouraged to visit the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) at www.anothercupdevelopment.org. Check out PIH’s “Resources” page for other like-minded groups.

Distance Learning
The SOM Foundation annually grants two United Kingdom Awards (for £1,250 each) and six traveling fellowships (architecture bachelor’s and master’s degrees for $15,000 each; urban design, new design, and new building technology for $7,500 each; and structural engineering for $10,000). Students must be nominated by their school to be eligible for a fellowship. At press time, the SOM Foundation had announced significant changes to the fellowship guidelines, so students are encouraged to consult the Web site www.somfoundation.som.com, where they can also read about the adventures of past fellows.

Everything Counts
To inquire about Allsteel’s PinPoint asset-management software, contact the company by phone at (888) 255-7833. For Herman Miller, call (888) 443-4357, or reach representatives via www.hermanmiller.com. At www.steelcase.com, click on “Services” and then “Furniture Asset Management” to find a description of Steelcase’s program, along with some infographics explaining how two unnamed companies saved millions by using it.

Pop Goes the Gehry
While Philip Nobel might be too shy to plug his book in his column, we certainly aren’t. Sixteen Acres: Architecture and the Outrageous Struggle for the Future of Ground Zero is available for $25 from Metropolitan Books. Take it on a long trip because it’s addictive—and for all of its opinion and bluster, it seems to be the definitive chronicle of the rebuilding process to date. To draw your own conclusions, you might want to check out what was formerly known as Restroundzero.org: www.network54.com/Forum/271674, where you’ll find hundreds of relevant links to articles, blogs, and online forums discussing all manner of World Trade Center-related developments.

Trojan House
Steven Holl’s book, Anchoring: Selected Projects, 1975-1988 (Princeton Architectural Press, 1989, is what originally piqued Alan Wardle’s interest in Holl’s residential work. For a more recent exposition of his methodology and conceptual proclivities, check out Parallax (Princeton Architectural Press, 2000) and Steven Holl: Written in Water (Lars Müller Publishers, 2002), a collection of 365 watercolors. Holl’s Web site, www.stevenholl.com, features descriptions and images of dozens of completed projects.

Dutch All-Star Team
For more on the architecture firm MVRDV, go to www.mvrdv.nl. A great resource for all manner of Dutch design info is www.ooo.nl. Dutch design-related events in the U.S. are touted on www.dutchdesignevents.com. The Lloyd Hotel’s knowledgeable receptionists speak perfect English and can be reached on the Web at www.lloydhotel.com, by phone 31-20-561-3636, fax 31-20-561-3600, or e-mail post@lloydhotel.com. Annette Lubbers’s book Lloyd Hotel, on the history of the Lloyd (Bas Lubberhuizen, 2004), is currently available in Dutch only. To learn more, or to order a copy, visit www.lubberhuizen.nl or call Wieneke ‘t Hoen 31-20-618-4132.

Trading Spaces
Andrea Blum is represented by In Situ-Fabienne LeClerc in Paris. Her books Metropolitan Biography (Le Crestet Centre d’Art Contemporain, 2003), Maison Nomade (Art3, 2003) and Home (l’Observatoire, 1997) are available in New York through St. Mark’s Bookshop (212-260-7853). Jouke Kleerebezem’s monograph Andrea Blum: Domestic Arrangement/Public Affairs (Stroom HCBK, 1997) is sold on www.stroom.nl/engels/index.html. Biological installation artist Noel Rose can be reached at noelrose100@hotmail.com or (718) 781-2830.

Checkpoint Checkup
There’s surprisingly little on the Internet about the International Building Exhibition, but most participating architects mention individual projects on their Web sites. Take a gander at the chronology of the late Josef Paul Kleihues’s work on www.kleihues.com—if you can read German. If not, consider it a good excuse to visit the New York Public Library’s beautifully restored Humanities and Social Sciences reading room to request the English-language catalog International Building Exhibition Berlin 1987: Examples of New Architecture (Rizzoli, 1987). The reading room’s mostly filled with drawings, but where else can you watch pneumatic tubes in action?