Today's ArchiPic #100

I have been doing this series called "Today's ArchiPic" for a long time now.  I started it a little longer than a year ago, and this installment is the 100th.  And I have some special architecture to show you guys.  

    "Driving this perpetual change in 2012 are the celebrated men and women of the new AD100, from an influential decorator working solo to visionary architects managing a spectrum of satellite offices. The following esteemed firms represent a fellowship of trailblazers and standard-bearers whose work is imaginative, intelligent, and inspiring."  - Architectural Digest

[All pictures' links were broken.  I will make sure this never again happens in the future.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  This has been fixed for most recent posts.  Older posts might still have this issue.]

    These 10 pictures are part of Architectural Digest's AD100, which includes the top architectural firms in the nation.

>> See all of the best firms only at Architectural Digest

>> All pictures also from Architectural Digest

20K Special?

    Sorry, I won't be posting the 20K Special tonight because I am very busy with school.  It would probably be best if I worked on it during the weekend, since I have more free time than on the weeknights.  It should be up by this weekend.

    Also, I will probably be working on our current Minecraft project this weekend on the server, which is the town of Sidka.

    But I do have time to do one quick post for the night.  (*cough* Today's ArchiPic #100 *cough*)

Today's ArchiPic #99

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation HQ from Architectural Record

    Today's ArchiPic is the new headquarters of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington.  While the architects were still designing the complex, they decided to make the entire project have a campus style layout.  They split the headquarters into four separate complexes.  "A pair of curved office buildings, a reception pavilion, and a 1,000-car parking structure anchor three corners of the site and may be joined by a third office building in the future," mentions Architectural Record.

>> Read More at archrecord.construction.com

Changed My Profile Picture...Finally

    I have finally gotten around to changing my profile picture.  Before, it was a roller coaster, which didn't make much sense.  (other than I have posted some Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 architecture on my blog before)  I changed it to one of my new favorite buildings: the Frost Bank Tower in Austin, Texas.  I featured it on Today's ArchiPic a couple of weeks ago.  I just wanted to say that I have changed my picture to something that relates more to my blog.  Stay tuned because there will be a new post coming tonight.  And yes, after that post, I will be working on the 20K special.  I may just work on it tonight and post it tomorrow.

Skyrim Architecture | Whiterun

Welcome to the next installment of my Skyrim Architecture series, where I scout the Skyrim world in search of the most beautiful structures and landmarks Bethesda's award-winning franchise has to offer.

    

    Whiterun is an intricate and beautiful city.  Right in the center of Skyrim, it sits on the plains of the tundra, which is inside a huge valley bordered by mountains.  It has a Nordic style of architecture and each building is unique in its own way.  This is the Plains District, which is the first district you see when you walk into Whiterun.  It has many shops, inns, and taverns.  In the back, the market sits on a circle/round-a-bout area that leads you straight into the Wind District.  (which is residential)

    This is the Wind or Residential District.  It consists of all the homes in Whiterun, and again, each house is very unique from the other.  By the way, the details are amazing.  Near the back of the Wind District is an ancient tree called the Gildergreen.  Behind the Gildergreen lies the Companions' hall, Jorrvaskr.

    The last district in Whiterun (and the most magnificent), is the Cloud District.  It gets its name because of Dragonsreach, which is an ancient palace that sits on the highest point of the city.  As you walk up the steps to the palace, there are beautiful waterfalls that mix into a small pond.  Once you get to the top, you will see an archway that connects to the entrance.  

    This is a picture of the entire city of Whiterun.  The only thing not included is the palace, which is behind the picture.  I really need to take inspiration from Skyrim and put it into our Minecraft cities.  Skyrim is a great game full of architecture that is simply breathtaking.  Join me next time when I show you guys Windhelm.

References:

>> http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Whiterun_(City)
>> Previous Skyrim Architecture Post
>> Dragonsreach

Today's ArchiPic #98

The Chrysler Building courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

    Today's ArchiPic is the glorious Chrysler Building in downtown New York City.  It is most famous for being a "leading example" of Art Deco architecture, which is a eclectic artistic design style that originated in Paris after World War I.  Its iconic terraced crown is another big reason why the Chrysler Building is famous.  

     "Art Deco in France found its American equivalent in the design of the New York skyscrapers of the 1920s. The Chrysler Building ... was one of the most accomplished essays in the style."  - John Julius Norwich

An Update...

    Yesterday, I reached 20,000 page views, which means I will be posting a 20k special on my blog soon.  Also, Minecraft Creations will resume for the town of Sidka by the week of April 1.   

Today's ArchiPic #97

Soumaya Museum from Instagram courtesy of ArchDaily.tumblr.com

    Today's ArchiPic is the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City.  It is a private museum and you don't even have to pay anything to get in.  Admission is free.  The 170,000 square foot building was finished in March 2011.  It also resembles the style of the Selfridges shop in Birmingham, England, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. 

Minecraft Architecture | The First Houses

    Since creating and designing the landscape on Wednesday, we have created two houses for our next big build.  I have decided to name the town Sidka, after the village that we inevitably would never finish in the adventure map.  This next project is going to be really fun, and we will finish this time. 

(Click on the image to enlarge.)

    As you can see, the mountain is taller than it was last post.  (It looks a lot better.)  The only thing we have built are the two houses on the mountain.  They have a Swedish/Tudor/Skyrim style to them. 

    Both homes also have Nordic/curved designs coming out from the top of the roof.

    This house has a higher roof than the other one, and personally, I like this one better than the smaller one.

    We also focused on making sure each had a cozy feel to it.  We want people to think that they are really immersed in these beautiful mountains. 

    Both houses have thatch for the roofs, which you can only get if you download a custom texture pack by Jamziboy.  (The lime and pink wool blocks are replaced with the thatch texture.)

    Here is a new chimney design that I thought was really cool.  (I have never seen stairs used in that position to make a hole like that.)

    Here is the last picture, which is a beautiful shot of what night looks like with the houses and lights.  That is it for this week's Minecraft Creations.  I don't know if we will be able to finish before Spring break is over though.  Some of the main builders are gone on a vacation for a week. 

    On a side note, I am using yet another new texture pack remix.  I put a texture pack together using textures from different packs to make one that fits what I need for this build.  You can go here to download it.

References:

>> Previous Minecraft Creations

>> JamziboyMinecraft

>> Thatching

MORE CONTENT TOMORROW!

    Don't worry!  I haven't abandoned all of you.  There is more content coming tomorrow, including Minecraft and Today's ArchiPic.  And if you have noticed, I am nearing 20,000 page views, which means be looking for a special post around the time I reach 20,000!

Minecraft Architecture | Landscaping

    Since our next project in Minecraft is around the corner, and I decided to make a snow/mountain village, I am going to show you guys what our landscape looks like.  These pictures will also show you where the three parts of the city will be.  We edited the terrain just a few hours ago, and with the help of Worldedit and VoxelSniper, we got it all done within a very short amount of time.  The end result is breathtaking.  Although we couldn't get it exactly like Skyrim, I still love the shape.

    Basically, as I said before, there will be three parts: a residential area in the mountains, a commercial district/town square area in the valley before you go up into the mountains, and a farm/lower district area.  I was thinking about doing a river walk.  Although that still might be an option, I'm not sure how to make a good and natural looking river using our world-editing tools.  I think it looks really good overall though, and I'm looking forward to making a massive village with my friends on the server.

References:
>> Previous Minecraft Creations Post

Today's ArchiPic #96

"Frost Bank Building at Dusk" by Trey Perry - http://perrygraph.com/products/frost-bank-tower. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    Today's ArchiPic is the Frost Bank Tower in Austin, Texas.  It has 33 floors and is Austin's third largest building.  Designed by Duda/Paine Architects, it was opened in 2004 and was, apparently, the first high-rise building to be made after the 9/11 attacks.  It is one of the most unique buildings in Austin and most adored because of its intricate design.  The main part of the building is made from a blue low-e glass skin.  The low-e glass skin is thicker than normal glass, and it spreads across the tower as a whole. 

Sources:
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost_Bank_Tower
>> http://archdaily.tumblr.com/

Minecraft Talk...with Skyrim Pics!

     I have been thinking about what we should do for our big project coming up during spring break next week!  We will hopefully get the landscaping and layout done by this weekend.  I'm still not sure what style of architecture will be part of the build.  After looking at FyreUK's Valentine's Day timelapse, I was very inspired to create a Venetian/Roman city, but I kind of want to come up with something on my own that is different.  I may do something with snow and mountains.  And since I have been playing Skyrim, it's obviously going to be an inspiration source for architecture.

    I'm thinking we should make the city have three parts: a river walk area by the river, a central commercial district before you come up to the mountains, and a residential area in the mountains.  This is going to take a ton of landscaping work, but since we have the whole week next week to work on it, I think we can get it done before spring break is over.  I, obviously, will not work on it constantly though.  I do not, by any means, want to use up all my time playing Minecraft during the break.  Besides, we can most likely get it done by working on it a couple of hours each day just in time for school to be back in session.  I'll be looking forward to starting our next project.

 Pictures From:
>> pcworld.com
>> gamertechtv.com
>> threepartstheory.wordpress.com

References:
>> FyreUK's Valentine's Day Timelapse Video
>> Official Skyrim Website

Today's ArchiPic #95

Watha T. Daniel - Shaw Neighborhood Library from Architectural Rechord

    Today's ArchiPic is the Shaw Neighborhood Library in Washington D.C, and is listed under Architectural Record's "Lighting" tab.  With its illuminating glow, the library stands out like a beacon on Rhode Island Avenue.  The architects partnered with a lighting firm called MCLA to make their building unique from all the others in Washington.  To complete their goal, they brought in a lighting design called the T5.  "...they developed an electric lighting system based primarily on the T5 linear fluorescent with a 3500-Kelvin color temperature—the lamp preferred by the client for energy and maintenance efficiency," mentions Architectural Record.

Sources:
>> http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/lighting/2012/02/Shaw-Neighborhood-Library.asp

Minecraft | Colosseum of Venatum

    The video above shows a colosseum designed and built with no cheats on Minecraft.  It's called the Colosseum of Venatum.  It was built on the Godcraft server and the people that built it had to legitimately find and mine the resources, which took two and a half months!  It's an almost exact replica of the Colosseum in Rome. 

    I think it's funny that I thought our colosseum was amazing, but compared to this, it is simply puny.  We need to start making actual Minecraft structures that are out of the ordinary and massive.  (Go big or go home!)  Our next big project should start soon, and I'll be sure to keep you guys updated to what's going on.

References:
>> Check out the Freaking Awesome Sounas' Channel on YouTube
>> Click here to see more amazing architectural creations from the Godcraft server

Today's ArchiPic #94

Maya Romanoff's New Manhatten Showroom from the one and only Architectural Digest

    Today's ArchiPic is a Manhatten showroom.  Appearently owned by Maya Romanoff, who has experience with textiles and wall coverings for over 40 years, the showroom has very delicate features.  It was designed by Tom Marquardt, and his interior architectural firm finished the job quite nicelly.

>> Read More at Architectural Digest

HOUSES 101 | A Dutch Mountain Home

   This Dutch mountain house in Huizen, Netherlands has quite an exclusive feel to it, and its design is very unique, which is obviously catered to harsh climates. 

    Although located in a rural area, this Dutch mountain house was built on top of a historical agricultural plot covered with snow, pine trees, and hayfields.  Since the clients didn't want to take out the natural terrain to make the home, the architects made an artficial hill for the house to set on.  One side of the house is covered with the hill acting as a blanket, which keeps the home well insulated from the Netherlands' brutal temperatures. 



    "The spatial structure of the house is a rectangular 12 x 19 meter open space. Steel cross the entire 12 meter width allowing great flexibility to the interior arrangement," said ArchDaily.  All the rooms are built with light wood structures, and they are not symmetrical.  They are scattered across the house randomly, which allows the clients to easily add and remove rooms at their disposal.



    ArchDaily also mentions that the Dutch mountain house also has two discintive atmospheric feels to it: "Either you are in a room, with a cave-like atmosphere, daylight coming to you through deep cuts in the mountain – or you are in the large open space in front of the stacked rooms."  Parts of the house also open up into a massive glass facade, which makes the outdoors clearly visible.  Basically, the whole house is one big experiment.  When they built this, the architects had to make the concept, structure, material, and technical installations work with what the clients wanted.



Sources:
>> http://www.archdaily.com/213884/dutch-mountain-denieuwegeneratie/
>> Previous HOUSES 101 Post

Minecraft NEWS

    Lately, I haven't been on the server, so there is no new tour for our colosseum.  (Besides, I showed most of what I wanted you guys to see.)  And we still haven't started our next big city project.  Some people want to build an ark though.  That's a good idea, and it sounds like it would be really fun to make.  (I'll be thinking about it.)

    (This picture doesn't relate to our server.  I just wanted to show you guys a picture of some really cool Minecraft architecture and I found this.  It's obviously the Golden Gate Bridge.)  Anyways, I will be posting some Minecraft content this weekend maybe.  If we are going to make an ark, I want to make an exact replica.  It goes into detail in the Bible about what it looked like and its dimensions.  By the way, our ark will not be small!  If we decide to build it, it would be the biggest creation on the server yet!

    On a side note, FyreUK has done another timelapse.  I should have shown this earlier to you guys because it was on Valentine's Day.  Here is the video!  Make sure you subscribe to FyreUK if you haven't already.

References:
>> http://schattenw0lf.deviantart.com/art/golden-gate-bridge-minecraft-201505940
>> http://www.youtube.com/user/FyreUK 

Dazzling Designs | Tokyo Sky Tree

The tallest communications tower in the world standing at 2,080 feet, which was recently built to withstand high magnitude earthquakes, is Tokyo's new prized possession.  The Tokyo Sky Tree is a wonder and was just completed on February 29 of this year.

    The project was led by Tobu Railway, and the tower is part of a larger-scale project that centers around a commercial district.  It is a communications tower, which its obvious purpose is to relay and transmit radio broadcasts and television signals.  Designed by Tadao Ando and sculptor Kiichi Sumikawa, the Sky Tree's foundation is not a normal rectangal.  It is perfectly triangular.



   
    As the tower goes up, it spirals on the inside, which helps it be more sturdy.  They currently finishing the interior spaces and plan to open it in May of this year.  It is twice the height of the Tokyo Tower that will be replaced by the Sky Tree. 



"Builder Obayashi, which recently announced plans for a space elevator to start services by 2050, declared the Sky Tree complete ahead of a ceremony Friday," said cnet.  (The video below is a timelapse of the construction)

Sources:
>> http://www.3news.co.nz/Tokyo-Sky-Tree-Worlds-tallest-freestanding-broadcast
>> http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57388126-1/japan-builds-tokyo-sky-tree-worlds-tallest-tower/