Blog Pick :: Archidose

Blog pick :: Archidose
By: Phil Reville, M.Arch Candidate

A Daily Dose of Architecture (Archidose) is simply one man’s architectural musings and reflections. From book reviews to project features, creator John Hill has put together a website devoted to all things architecture. The simple blogspot website is newsfeed-formatted, but also has links to two of his other blogs, Unpacking My Library and Slat Happy, as well as links to his social media pages. At the top of the page, Hill has a constantly updated World Architects - Daily News feed that directly links you to http://www.world-architects.com/en, where he is often featured. While directly visiting sites like World-Architects provide more context and in-depth investigations into the projects you’re viewing, I appreciate the image stream laid out by Hill in Archidose for its simplicity and his curatorial eye. Archidose always has links alongside posts, but sometimes, pictures are really all you need.
 

On Wednesday, Archidose (Post) #845 featured the new installation at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, New York. COSMO by Andres Jacque / Office for Political Innovation is this year’s winner of MoMA’s annual Young Architects Program (YAP).  The project is a moveable installation, made out of customized irrigation components, to “make visible and enjoyable the so-far hidden urbanism of pipes we live by”.  The systems of COSMO constantly filter and purify water. The idea behind the giant moveable system is to bring to light the serious issues of water shortage around the world and to address them with a fun and highly transparent solution that might also be aesthetically pleasing.

The most recent book review Archidose featured was an interview Hill did with the author of Solid Wood: Case Studies in Mass Timber Architecture, Technology and Design, Joseph Mayo. A link to the full interview featured on World-Architects was followed by an excerpt:

While obviously geared toward architects, given the voluminous technical advice in its pages, Solid Wood is hardly an esoteric read. Following an introductory section where Mayo gives a short history of building in wood, speaks about the carbon-sequestering benefits of mass timber construction, details various solid wood materials and concepts, and addresses concerns of building with wood (structure, fire, etc.), he then presents the case studies in eight geographical chapters: England, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, North America, and New Zealand and Australia. For each case study he clearly describes each project's details, aided by numerous illustrations: photographs of the completed buildings, construction photographs, floor plans, detail drawings, and diagrams. Too many books limit themselves to the first (glossy photos of finished buildings), so Solid Wood is a valuable book for architects interested in designing with wood.

The full interview discusses many of the projects reviewed in the book as well as several accompanying images. While this book review was featured on World-Architects, his book reviews are often featured on other sites or directly on Archidose.

In addition to project features and book reviews, Archidose contains posts ranging from event coverage to exhibit visits. The site’s constant finger on the pulse of all things architecture and design makes your job of staying up to date easier. And make sure to check out his other blogs. Unpacking My Library is quite literally just that - Hill goes through his massive collection of architecture and design books, writes a quick review and posts some photos of the contents. Slat Happy on the other hand is a funny tumblr photo stream of Hill’s favorite architectural detail… the slat.
 

I like to think of Archidose as “ArchDaily light”. After a long studio work session or exhausting day of work I think sometimes we just need some cool design photos to look at, text excluding. We all want to be kept abreast of what’s going on in the world of architecture, but sometimes we don’t have the time or energy to fully invest… let Archidose do the work for you, and then decide for yourself if you want to delve a little deeper. And if you’re not afraid of text after all, the book reviews will certainly point you in the right direction.