private bunker : photography : carsten güth

private bunker by carsten güth via offmag

Private Bunker Series, the collection of photographs show a variety of residential houses shut-off from the outside world; their windows and doors nowhere to be seen. There’s a surrealism and a beauty to these images. In many ways they feel claustrophobic – even horrific – but there’s also an elegance to be found in their minimalist forms and their obscure abstractions. Carsten Güth studied architecture but now lives and works in Stuttgart as a designer. Recently he released this series as a zine and you can check out photographs of it on his blog.                                                              .

ideological dreams : architecture : buzludzha : shipka bulgaria

photos : Chris Kuklok, Buzludja, Evgeni Dinev, Xiao Yang and Nicola  text : Guéorguy Stoilov

via : architectuul

This monument located on Mount Buzludzha is the biggest ideological building in Bulgaria. It was built as a tribute to the creation of the Bulgarian socialist movement in 1891. Several access roads were built (today in a really bad condition) from Shipka and from the main road Stara Zagora – Roussée. The road exit for Buzludzha is a gigantic statue of Dimitar Blagoev. The construction of Buzludzha was made possible thanks to government funds and supporters’ donations for an amount of around 14 186 000 leva (around 7 000 000 €). The site was built by civil engineering troops from the Bulgarian army and volunteers. The master builder was General Delcho Delchev who was in charge of the Stara Zagora civil engineering section. The author of this project was the architect Guéorguy Stoilov. Several famous painters and sculptors have participated to the decoration. Ever since the superseding of Bulgarian president Todor Givkovand and the political changes that occurred in Bulgaria from 1989, the state of the monument has been worsening. portraits of Ludmila and Todor Givkov have been voluntarily destroyed. The copper adornments have been stolen. The building is slowly disintegrating; marauders are consistently breaking windows and stealing mosaics and ornaments. Nowadays, the monument is abandoned and no public institution seems to be concerned by the conservation of renovation of the building. The Bulgarian socialist party itself is not taking any action towards the maintenance of its most important symbol.                                                              .

a town resurfaced : epecuen argentina : photography : natacha pisarenko : the associated press

photos by natacha pisarenko via gawker

Epecuen, Argentina was once a popular lakeside resort town, known for its saltwater baths and spas. It was especially popular among Argentine Jews from nearby Buenos Aires, who found the lake, which had 10 times more salt than the ocean, and was buoyant, similar to the Middle East’s Dead Sea. But then in November 1985, after a series of wet winters, the lake flooded the town. A retaining wall failed and the salty water submerged the streets. Now the waters have receded, exposing what remains of the former resort. The Associated Press’s Natacha Pisarenko took these photos as she followed a tour guide through the ruins.                                                                                                                                   .

beauty in brutalism : architecture & photography : louis kahn visual archive by naquib hossain

louis kahn by naquib hossain via oen

here are some incredible images of buildings designed by the great architect Louis Kahn, photographed by Naquib Hossain.

Interestingly enough the pictures on the website were shot using an old Minolta SLR and colour slide film, most of the black and white photographs were taken with Agfa Scala film. Obviously, I couldn’t present these exact photographs as they’re a lot smaller in size, but Naquib also has a nice selection on his Flickr page for us to peruse and I’m really chuffed to present them here on the site! The buildings are monumental to the least, the shapes and textures are just mind blowing. A true genius at work. In terms of photography I’m undecided which collection I like best, I think the film camera brings an interesting element to the whole Louis Kahn experience. It’s almost as if it adds an extra dimension and unveils new details and textures that you wouldn’t see otherwise. I guess it also takes you back to the original drawings and how it would of been imagined in his brain as a designer.

Although his works are big in stature and can often be brutalist on the eyes, Louis had a way of using abstract shapes that gave buildings depth and detail. An interesting concept that I’ve been drawn to lately is the idea of “bearing all the scars”, I saw this first through ceramic/pottery work and it made a good link through to architecture as well. Lo and behold, whilst watching a Louis Kahn documentary they talked about this exact same idea and how Louis used it in his own works. In my eyes this links back to various other concepts that I’ve personally surrounded myself with, embracing time and progression, celebrating cracks and natural marks, also the weathered look that appears due to time and use. Maybe this is a way of thinking rather than a design principle, but I think it affects the final piece in some way or another and you can see it throughout the builds here. It’s not often that I have my breathe taken away, but these builds are sure to do that, so why not have a look around on the Louis Kahn Visual Archive to see if anything takes your fancy in terms of inspiration. Enjoy!

ando in the desert : architecture meets fashion : tom ford’s ranch in sante fe by tadao ando

tom ford‘s ranch by tadao ando via somewhere i would like to live photos by guido mocafico

finding momo : photography & visual art : andrew omer knapp and momo the black & white border collie

momo (a sweet black and white border collie) is hiding in every shot on find momo  by visual artist

andrew omer knapp.

                                                                                                                          

altered images : the illusionist : art & photography : felice varini

the swiss artist felice varini creates installations with optical illusion paintings on architectural spaces. the visitors notice geometric, monocolor shapes stretching and sprawling across the room but if they walk around and explore the space, they notice that the shapes change. photos andré morin & felice varini  via stylepark                                                                                                                                 .

growhomes : art installation : photography : taiyo onorato & nico krebs

 

taiyo onorato & nico krebs via meeatings 23

super history : photography / art : foto marvellini : milan

everytime i go to stefano and giuseppe’s house i am always intrigued by two pictures they have in their kitchen. i found out that they are both by foto marvellini, from milan, who take old photos, and cover the faces with masks for the super heros or other such famous goodies or villains. but they dont stop there. each print is sold in an old frame, where the original painting or picture is still there but turned around to face the back.                                                                                                                .

above ground : architecture : archaeological museum of praça nova do castelo de são jorge by joão luís carrilho da graça : portugal

sitting on one of lisbon’s most prominent hills, next to the castle of são jorge, this museum by local architect joão luís carrilho da graça was designed to house the finds of a nearby archaeological excavation. carrilho da Ggraça’s sensitive white addition to the delicate historical site allows the visitor to wander through the exhibits that range in date – from the iron age to a 15th century palace.

text via wallpaper photos by FG+SG fernando guerra                                                                        .