Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tsunami in Japan





As I watch nature unleash its destructive powers I am surprised that despite the shock my instinct to make beautiful places prevails. 

It is a reminder to better understand why we have the instinct to make beautiful places - to re-affirm it and to re-double our efforts to better understand nature...






Friday, March 18, 2011

Richard Weston's Words

AI-Architects attends lectures and conferences, reviews trade publications and studies, and regularly participates in higher education endeavors.  This is part of an on-going process to stay fresh and aware with our industry.  In a recent issue of E-Architect Newletter, Architect Richard Weston writes an appealing view which has found our attention. 


AI-Architects lead Istanbullu responds, "Once in a while an article makes delightfully refreshing connections between works that we care about - "Along the Lines of Architecture" by Richard Weston frolics through and around some of our 20th + early 21st Century icons and makes us want to re-visit a few - cerebrally if not corporeally."

Richard Weston's article is below:  
.
A year or two ago I heard an interview with Zaha Hadid about her Aquatics Centre for the London Olympics in which she observed that ‘there’s nothing special about the right-angle’. Tell that to Mondrian, I thought! I bet even Ms. Hadid sleeps on a horizontal bed and walks in a vertical posture – her load centred under the influence of gravity unless a strong wind demands otherwise.
Sometimes, of course, structural or other requirements do demand otherwise – as in Nikolaus Pevsner’s notorious misunderstanding of Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia. In Pioneers of Modern Design he criticized the inclined columns as irrational, clearly unaware of Gaudí’s admirably simple explanation of the rationale behind his brilliant elimination of the ‘crutches’ of buttresses deployed in medieval Gothic: ‘my columns lean for the same reason that I place my walking stick at an angle if I wish to lean on it for support.’
These thoughts were prompted by the shortlisted designs for the V&A’s Boilerhouse Yard – site of Daniel Libeskind’s ambitious, ill-fated and determinedly anti-orthogonal ‘Spiral’ extension. As befits our economically straitened times the new brief calls for a far more modest underground gallery with public plaza above. Tony Fretton’s proposal, not surprisingly, is of Miesian probity in its observance of traditional orthogonal norms, but all the other finalists opt for swirling angles, flowing curves or the unashamedly biomorphic.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

AI-Architects Principal Istanbullu featured in University Sustainability Documentary [VIDEO]

AI-Architects principal Aleks Istanbullu often participates in teaching: classroom, workshops, lectures.  It’s a way of giving back to the educational community which has been so kind and generous to him through on-going decades of study and work.
The below video was made by several students from the University of California in a Sustainability II class which is led by Istanbullu.
The video details Los Angeles’ Downtown resurgence, including how it was legally prepared with the adaptive reuse ordinance and the area’s transformation from factory to lofts.






.

Friday, March 11, 2011

AI-Architects Crafts Buildings that Last and Inspire

Aleks Istanbullu Architects is an award-winning professional design studio with aesthetic foundations rooted in the modernism of Europe, Chicago, and Southern California.  We are a creative studio with a team of architects committed to producing contemporary architecture.  Our balanced practice resists niche marketing and addresses design challenges that range from smaller single-family housing to community institutions.

Our process distills each design premise to a core set of requirements and desires.  Within this context, we aim to craft buildings that last and inspire.  We respect the nature of materials, both traditional and new,  and carefully detail our buildings to celebrate the craft of our profession, while optimizing the effectiveness of current technologies and labor.  Our high ratio of built projects demonstrates our realistic approach to design, as well as our experience in guiding projects through the construction process.





Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Meet Aleks Istanbullu, Design Principal of AI-Architects


Aleks Istanbullu Architects is based in Santa Monica, California. Known for our elegant spatial planning, attention to detail, and commitment to sustainable contemporary design, we are internationally recognized for award winning projects, which we shape in response to clients, context, and community.

Aleks grew up in Istanbul and came to Los Angeles via Geneva and Chicago. He worked at SOM Chicago and Los Angeles on commercial, institutional and planning projects before opening his own office in 1986. The early work of Aleks Istanbullu Architects includes private residences and community buildings as well as three ground-up loft buildings that anticipated the loft market by a decade. 

We recognize the complexities of public/private partnerships in urban settings, prioritizing the tactile, functional and aesthetic needs of residents and pedestrians alike. Our current work applies this sensibility to thoughtfully designed and detailed projects from single-family dwellings to urban planning.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)