Metropolis Magazine - Metropolis Magazine September 2012
Welcome to Williamsburg
Our intrepid columnist moves to Brooklyn's hipster epicenter
Our intrepid columnist moves to Brooklyn’s hipster epicenter
The Getty Celebrates L.A. Architecture, Including the Buildings That Might Have Been
At a time when urbanites are looking past America to Asia to see what’s really new, this series marks a return to the serious study of L.A. as an urban laboratory.
Architecture shows in Los Angeles examine the city that is, and the one that might have been.
For Steven Holl, Morning Watercolors Are Akin to Meditation
For visualizing concepts and pulling all aspects of a project together, the architect is a firm believer in the art of the watercolor.
All of Steven Holl’s buildings begin the same way: with an intuitive brush stroke, usually first thing in the morning. “For me, drawing is a form of thought,” he says. “I start every project with a concept diagram. I used to do pencil drawings. Those took eight hours. Around 1979, I streamlined it to five-by-seven-inch watercolors, because they were easy…
Ultimate Oxymoron
Hotels are now worse for the planet than ever before. Recently built properties use twice as much energy per night as hotels built
50 years ago. Even so-called “green hotels” are often merely less-bad alternatives. Is hotel design inherently unsustainable?
New Berth
An addition encased in a nautical material reorients the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
Computers and Crafters
Cmmnwlth’s exquisite products forge a link between tradition and technology.
Homegrown Ideas
A new book on Japanese houses traces the conceptual connections between three generations of designers.
The Human Dimension
Ilse Crawford’s brand of immersive empathy results in rooms of uncommon warmth, tactility, and grace.
DIALOGUE
A Better View FROM MICHAEL F. MCCAULEY: Where, oh where are images of the Piero Lissoni–designed staircase for his Conservatorium Hotel in Amsterdam (“History Lesson,” by Eva Hagberg, July/August 2012, p. 66)? The “grand staircase” is mentioned no fewer than 11 times. But there’s no photo—not even one—showing how the “signature piece in his modern addition to the new hotel”…
I Have Seen the Future
A new book on Norman Bel Geddes takes a fresh look at the utopian dreamer.
Visual Fixation
When designers favor only one sense, they fail to serve the full human experience.
Global Designers Tap Into Traditional Czech Glass Technique
Collaborating with global partners, the Czech lighting-and-glass manufacturer Lasvit brings centuries of tradition & craftsmanship into the digital present.
Collaborating with global design partners, the Czech lighting-and-glass manufacturer Lasvit brings centuries of tradition and craftsmanship into the dazzling, digital present.
Going Big
Working at all scales, Lake Flato transforms from a regional player to a national powerhouse.
Old Lamps and New
Recent lighting designs run the gamut from modernist classics to LED technology.
Tailor-Made
Cecilie Manz creates an understated formal chair meant for informal meetings.
Dividing Line
While New Orleans continues to debate the fate of I-10, local design students propose solutions.
