Haus-Rucker-co

Haus Rucker Co is an Austrian art and architecture collective. Some of their pieces ceased to be built but the ones that did had a very sc-fi-esque feeling to them.

I love their work because of its scientific and futuristic approach to architecture, a lot like the Soviet Russian architecture blog post. An example of their architectural work is the Inflatable Retreat.
 

One piece of art they made was the Mind Expander (1967-69), it was a collection of helmets you had to put on and it could ‘alter the perceptions’, for example, Fly Head made your sight and hearing “an entirely new apprehension of reality.”

As I said earlier not all of their work was built, but Haus Rucker Co appeal to me, not for the architecture as much but for their thought behind it, creating something that “altered perceptions of space” or expanding consciousness through art and architecture: I think people are becoming more aware of separate realities and since the 60s and the psychedelic movement, consciousness movements are growing rapidly and people are always trying to find alternate realities, whether it’s through drugs or art or any other means. The curiosity is always there.

Alexander Golod

Alexander Golod created scientific experiments into the power of the pyramids. The structures are purely made of fibre glass, there is no trace of metal, they are 44 meters high and weigh 55 tons. They are build in different locations, e.g, in the countryside or next to mines. The pyramids are said to have special properties such as:

• The Immune system of organisms increased upon exposure in the pyramid (Scientific Research Institute named by Mechnikov, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences);

• Specific properties of medicines increase with decreasing side effects after exposure in the Pyramid (SRI of Virology named by Ivanovskiy, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences);

• Agricultural seeds placed in the pyramid showed a 30-100% increase in yield;

• Russian military radar detected an energy column above the Pyramids built by Alexander Golod which is thought to have repaired the Ozone layer in Russia (the same can be done for example in Australia);

• The pathogenic strength of different viruses and bacteria becomes less with exposure in the pyramid;

• The amount of radioactivity becomes less after exposure in the pyramid.

This is what the structures look like:

If you’re interested here’s an informative video of David Wilcock (author of Source Field Investigations) talking about its crazy healing powers.

EAMES: The Architect and The Painter – Trailer

Zvi Hecker

Zvi Hecker is the Israeli architect, another architect who followed a frequent theme using symmetry and geometry. He was born in Poland and later moved to Israel to study at the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology. Two years after he graduated he studied painting then he finally decided his career was in architecture. He often used concrete as it was low maintenance and wasn’t effected by ‘sandy winds’.

What I also enjoy about Hecker’s work is his artwork.

Some of my favourite of his architectural projects is his Spiral Apartment house.

Whilst researching his work I also came across this poster for an exhibition of his work which i really enjoy.

Kenzo Tange

This is the interior of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Tokyo and it’s the only piece of architecture by Kenzo Tange that I enjoy. The symmetry and shape of the interior is incredible and reminds me of something off the set of a film.

Unfortunately, the outside of the Cathedral isn’t as appealing, it looks like it’s just fell out of the sky from another planet.

Carlo Scarpa

Carlo Scarpa is an Italian architect,

influenced by the materials, landscape, and the history of Venetian culture, and Japan.

What draws me to Scarpa’s work the most is his high sensitivity to details, geometry and shape. I think that sometimes the drawings he did whilst planning the building or structure are more admirable than the final building itself.

 

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio

Vitruvius was “a Roman writer, architect and engineer. He worked in 1st century BC, most famous for his book On Architecture (De Architectura) and this is also the only surviving work and little is known about his life. The book is divided into ten sections:

• Town planning, architecture or Civil engineering in general, and the qualifications required of an architect or more modernly the civil engineer
• Building materials
• Temples and the orders of architecture;
• continuation of book 3
• Civil buildings
• Domestic buildings
• Pavements and decorative plasterwork
• Water supplies and aqueducts
• Sciences influencing architecture – geometry, mensuration, astronomy, sundial
• Use and construction of machines – Roman siege engines, water mills, drainage machines, Roman technology, hoisting, pneumatics

Here is a quote from his book.

In like fashion the members of temples ought to have dimensions of their several parts answering suitably to the general sum of their whole magnitude. Now the navel is naturally the exact centre of the body. For if a man lies on his back with hands and feet outspread, and the centre of a circle is placed on his navel, his figure and toes will be touched by the circumference. Also a square will be found described within the figure, in the same way as a round figure is produced. For if we measure from the sole of the foot to the top of the head, and apply the measure to the outstretched hands, the breadth will be found equal to the height, just like sites which are squared by rule. 

Lukasz Kos – 4Treehouse

Most notably, Lukasz has been recognised internationally in architecture and design magazines, books, as well as television for his 4Treehouse Project on Lake Muskoka, Canada.

In 2002-2003 this treehouse was built and designed in Lake Muskoka in Canada by architect Lukasz Kos, his budget was $50,000. He has worked with other architects all over the world on exciting projects such as the  1km tall building in Jumeirah Garden City, Dubai

Antoni Gaudi

Antoni Gaudi, a famous Spanish architect who worked on Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and Casa Mila. Before I visited Barcelona I had only seen Gaudi’s work in books and on the internet, mind-blowing as the structures were it is nothing like seeing them in real life.

Here are some of my photos from Park Guell.

Color in certain places has the great value of making the outlines and structural planes seem more energetic.

– Antoni Gaudi

Étienne-Louis Boullée

Étienne-Louis Boullée is a French ‘Neoclassical’ architect.

“Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the “classical” art and culture of Ancient Greeceor Ancient Rome. One such movement was dominant in Europe from the mid-18th to the 19th century.”

What stands out the most to me is his regular repetitive geometric style. He was most famous between 1778 and 1788 and his main inspiration for his geometric designs was ‘Classical forms’. In his designs he would repeatedly use geometric shapes in a large scale and repeat these shapes, which can be clearly seen in the picture of the Metropolitan Church interior below. His unique way of working was uncommon at the time which is why I think he became an architectural inspiration or many.  Here are his most recognisable works that carry on to influence architects to this day.

Metropolitan Church interior – 1780/1781

Newton’s Cenotaph – 1784