damn insolent

The urban art in Istanbul (good or bad) emphasis the feeling I had from the city, an appealing honest urban experience.

In Istanbul what fascinates me the most is this colorful vibe, and the variety of details, most of them unspoken and thoughtless. I took this picture first because is my lucky number and second because the door color and the pretty dirty around were making this lovely ensemble.

This Turkish lights.... I wanted to take them all with me! I couldn't, traveling light sucks... But I can preserve the memory. Istambul, Grand bazaar

Remenbering Istambul

So happy to announce that one of my pictures from instagram was this days at a architecture exhibition in Porto. The competition concept was to take pictures of other ways to see and feel architecture, and this was one of my takes on it, the TU Delf library, and the amazing roof top as a garden, that I talked about earlier in here.

Being an architect is also being an urban designer, as we set the architecture around you, transforming the city we live in. We are responsible to design the world we live in.

For the Rotterdam architecture biennale 2014 this was the first pavilion of six that showcase what can a house be, being out of the ordinary. The projects should create a discussion about the needs of the new society regarding the way they experiment space. This particular one intended to be inspired by indigenous architecture of the world but with a somehow luxurious and dreamy twist, using a natural shape of a dorm to recreate a bump in the city, using it as a shelter for busy lifestyles. Being this such a singular example of how spaces interact with people giving them an exact sense and feeling, think how a quiet space like this can change the day of someone, then if we can do this we can do so much more.

This is Adam, a urban sculpture by urban solid, one of my favorite artistes. Within street art I have a sweet spot for everything three dimensional, maybe because it seams more outstanding than painting (that I also love), and more touchable being a added texture to the normal space. And every time I have the joy to stumble into some I wonder what other people feel about it, how it changes their day or days, how it works with the rest of urban image? I believe street art gets to more people, to people that don't give a damn about art, and also to people open to something new, and is that public statement that interest me the most.

The arcade project, by Benjamin Walter

Parkrand, Amsterdam by MVRDV

Parkrand, Amsterdam, by MVRDV

LEVS and MVRDV

Parkrand, Amsterdam by MVRDV

Parkrand, Amsterdam by MVRDV

This made me thought of the Louis Sullivan quote “form follow function” and how some buildings have just one or the other. In this particular case I think this is a great add to the urban design, that matches with the city, the students vibe and breaths with all the different architecture around, but as a library lacks much of a function direction.

Tu Delft library by Mecanoo

Tu Delft library by Mecanoo