Coffee shop in Halifax

An unfortunate bridge railing design when casting a shadow.

Thanks to Karen at forepoint for the nod.

Remember Richard Wilson? Creator of the ‘turning the place over’ installation in Liverpool (below).

He has a new work on the corner of the London School of Economic’s (LSE) New Academic Building called ‘Square the Block’, a striking but subtle addition to the original building. It’s worth a look by all accounts.

When Wilson won this competition in 2007 his proposal was to place a corner where none existed. This huge five-storey structure is remarkably deceptive due to its construction from jesmonite, a lightweight moulded acrylic fibreglass, the attention to detail and matching of colouring, which is so precise that you could easily be convinced into thinking it’s the real thing.

More here

Andy Bainbridge has asked me to post this paper by Eamonn Canniffe of the Manchester School of Architecture. It’s a critique of the urban regeneration program undertaken by Manchester City Council over the last 15 years.

“Manchester’s regeneration has accelerated to place it as a frequently cited exemplar of British urban policy. Questions remain, however, as to whether the trickledown urbanism to which it is host represents a sustainable urban future, most especially in social terms.

To base an urban strategy, as Manchester has done, on the needs of the independently mobile is to abandon the young, the elderly and the poor to and impoverished existence.“

The two sides of modern day Manchester?
Shameless advertisement in front of the Beetham Tower 2005-06

This makes the origami swan look somewhat redundant. More images of this amazing structure can be found at Tokyobling’s blog.

Letterpool is a photography site dedicated to found type on the streets of Liverpool.

This amazing architecture is situated in Singapore at the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University. It’s a 5 story facility with a grass covered roof.

Not a patch on Victoria building though…

Burj Dubai is already the tallest building in the world.

When complete next year it will stretch half a mile into the sky over the United Arab Emirates, taller than three Canary Wharf towers balanced on top of each other. It will stand a whopping 189 stories high (Manchester’s tallest building, the Beetham Tower is a mere 47 stories).

The statistics are staggering. It cost £2 billion. Designed by American architect Adrian Smith it includes lifts that can carry 42 people at a time, traveling at 40mph. According to the official website, at peak cooling times it will require 10,000 tons of cooling per hour. This is equivalent to the capacity provided by 10.2 million kg of melting ice, in one day.

Here’s a snap from my Google Earth. It casts an ominous shadow.

This is how it compares to the worlds other tallest buildings. The Empire State Building is currently the 9th tallest in the world (it was the tallest for 41 years). The World Trade Center would have been 8th if still standing.

And finally, this short video captures the vastness of the structure

Official website here http://www.burjdubai.com/