to move up and down
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Happy birthday, Frank Lloyd Wright. You would have been 146 last weekThe Darwin D. Martin house (1903-05) in Buffalo is a great example of Wright’s Prairie house style. Our Homes editor Shari Kulha takes a closer look at the great architect’s legacy after visiting some of the most important houses in his oeuvre.[Photo credit: James Walker]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/ae05e3e253da8985557ff3a221947730/tumblr_moar5i3GqT1s0oiwfo1_1280.jpg)
Happy birthday, Frank Lloyd Wright. You would have been 146 last weekThe Darwin D. Martin house (1903-05) in Buffalo is a great example of Wright’s Prairie house style. Our Homes editor Shari Kulha takes a closer look at the great architect’s legacy after visiting some of the most important houses in his oeuvre.
[Photo credit: James Walker]
![npostlife:
Ever wonder what it would be like to live in a shipping container?Well, with a bit of the design savvy of Victoria’s Keith Dewey on your side, it could very well be as cozy as this: presenting the Zigloo Domestique. (Click through for a full gallery of the home, created from eight industrial shipping containers.)[Nik West/Canadian Press]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/a28daff2353b4ad838db49bd1e0751b3/tumblr_mnoddlQ8tt1s0oiwfo1_1280.jpg)
Ever wonder what it would be like to live in a shipping container?
Well, with a bit of the design savvy of Victoria’s Keith Dewey on your side, it could very well be as cozy as this: presenting the Zigloo Domestique. (Click through for a full gallery of the home, created from eight industrial shipping containers.)
[Nik West/Canadian Press]
NYC’s One World Trade Center gets its shiny, silver topping: spire installation completes symbolic height of 1,776 feet
The silver spire topping One World Trade Center has been fully installed on the building’s roof, bringing the iconic structure to its full, symbolic height of 1,776 feet.
The spire’s installation was completed Friday morning, after pieces of it had been transported to the roof of the building last week. Construction workers below applauded the milestone.
The 1,776 feet is symbolic of the year 1776, when the U.S. declared its independence. (Julio Cortez / AP Photo)
The Month Ahead: March
Spring has not yet sprung, but by the end of March, it will have! Here’s our list of cultural entertainments to keep you busy while you weather the slush and wait for the showers: http://natpo.st/15TKB7o
18th-century French chateau demolished ‘by mistake’ when builders confuse it with separate building
With its twin outside staircase and arched entrances, the Château de Bellevue was one of the most eye-catching sights in Yvrac, a wine-making village nestling among the famous vineyards of Bordeaux.
Beautiful, but rundown and in need of repair when bought by Dimistry Stroskin, a Russian millionaire, the building received a renovation permit and was due to be restored to its former glory.
Instead, it was razed by a Polish building firm. Workers were supposed to demolish only a separate smaller structure in the estate’s grounds, but that is the only one still standing. Villagers are furious about the “accident” and local authorities have opened an investigation. (domainedebellevue.info // Taris Philippe/Newscom)
Above the world in 90 days: China building world’s tallest skyscraper — 220 storeys — in just three months
When Pierre Beaudet was told about a Chinese corporation’s plans to build the world’s tallest building in record speed — 2,479 soaring feet in just 90 days — the global studies professor marvelled Thursday: “Ah. There’s nothing they can’t do.”
Having already revolutionized construction by literally stacking factory-made modules like Lego blocks, Broad Sustainable Building Corporation is sending the world a message — not just about itself, but also about its home country: Make no mistake, China is an epicentre of technological progress and a nation worthy of awe.
“It’s a symbol of their new superiority,” said Takashi Fujitani, the director of Asia Pacific studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs’ Asian Institute in Toronto. “Modernity today is really about speed in a lot of ways, so being at the top of the world is about being able to do things fast.” (Broad Construction)
‘Monstrous and unnecessary’: Canadian millionaire angers U.K. neighbours with proposed four-storey basement
A plan by Canadian cable mogul David Graham to dig a sprawling underground lair beneath his U.K. mansion is prompting the residents of one of London’s most posh neighbourhoods to decry the project as overly-extravagant.
“These plans are absolutely monstrous and unnecessary … no one needs that much space,” the Duchess of St Albans, a neighbour, told the London Evening Standard.
In mid-October, Mr. Graham’s contractors went before officials at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and presented the blueprints for a gargantuan underground addition descending four storeys into the ground.
World Trade Center’s spire being held for ‘ransom’ in Quebec company’s backyard
The 137-metre-long spire intended to crown the skyscraper replacing the World Trade Center on Manhattan’s skyline sits in the yard of a Quebec company which, a lawsuit claims, is holding the pinnacle for “ransom” and jeopardizing the completion of the tallest building in the Western hemisphere.
“I know I’m not making friends right now but at the end of the day, money is money and business is business,” said Jean Paschini, chairman and chief executive officer of ADF Group Inc. of Terrebonne, Que.
“I’m not holding it hostage, it’s here in my backyard,” he said. He then added: “Pay me and then you get your antenna… Let’s resolve everything, then you get your nice antenna so you can put it up.”
Frank Gehry thinks Toronto’s architecture is ‘mostly banal,’ but don’t worry, every city is like that
After announcing his new vision for Toronto’s entertainment district, renowned architect Frank Gehry sat down with the National Post’s Megan O’Toole to discuss his views on the city’s broader architectural landscape. She also examines the new project’s highlights and its initial reception in the city.
A Shard pierces heart of London: Europe’s tallest building launched amid debate
Europe’s tallest skyscraper the Shard was inaugurated Thursday with a spectacular laser show, as critics debate whether it is an architectural triumph or a blot on the London skyline.
Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, sang the Shard’s praises, calling it “a quite astonishing piece of architecture.”
“Of course it’s not like any piece of architecture in the city at the moment, but that’s the whole point about London,” he told BBC radio.
But in a nod to Londoners’ split opinions on the building, he added, “I think it is important that we do not pepper-pot the city with skyscrapers everywhere. There’s got to be control.” (Photos: AP Photo; Getty Images)
A home with a 360° view: Rotating P.E.I. house lets you see the ocean from every room — in turn
When Steve and Stephanie Arnold finish building their house on Prince Edward Island, every window will have a stunning view of the Gulf of St. Lawrence — at the click of a button.
Their two-storey circular house, being built in North Rustico on a rotating platform, will be able to swivel and place an ocean view outside whatever room they choose.
It will be the first rotating house in Canada when it is finished next spring, Mr. Arnold says.
The best-kept secret tree house in Whistler
Joel Allen’s decision to learn a trade was the best move of his life, he says. It led him to Whistler, where he’s built a spectacular fort whose precise location is top secret unless you’re among the lucky few to find it.
Mies van der Rohe’s architecture celebrated with a Google Doodle to mark design pioneer’s 126th birthday
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the groundbreaking German architect whose sharp, angular designs still feature prominently on city skylines across North America, got a Google Doodle Tuesday for his 126th birthday.
In Toronto, Mies is responsible for the Toronto-Dominion Centre, a six-acre cluster of buildings that, on any given week day, houses about 20,000 workers. (Google; Reuters)
Uranium City is small-town Canada taken to the extreme
Northern Saskatchewan’s Uranium City may be a life too isolated for the likes of most city dwellers, but as photographer Ian Brewster and anthropologist Justin Armstrong discovered on their trip to the ghost town, the city’s sense of community has kept its remaining 70 inhabitants going strong.
“The idea of the abandonment wasn’t as interesting as the people who stayed,” Brewster says. “You know, I don’t really view this as a story about the town and all the people that left, I view the story more about the people that have stayed and why they stayed and that was sort of the more interesting aspect of it for us.” (Photos: Courtesy of Ian Brewster)
