Are we on the brink of a new era in construction? With commercial space travel finally within our reach, will we see space colonies within our lifetime? And with Earth’s resources running low, will we soon be forced to move into previously uninhabitable areas of the planet? Japanese construction group Shimizu Corporation seems to think so on all counts, and they’ve come up with a whole series of architectural plans for the world of tomorrow. Their bold ideas, which they collectively call Shimizu’s Dream, illustrate what life on Earth and in space will be like in the not-too-distant future.
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by Clifton Bertram Photos 1 and 5 by Clifton Bertram
When I was a kid, the first tent trailer my father bought to take his young family camping was a beat-up vintage fifties number with a once-shiny aluminum body. Unlike most trailers today, the tent portion folded out of the trailer base and over onto the ground resulting in a tent-like configuration whose floor was on the ground, with a double-bed set-up on the bed of the trailer. (If you're having trouble picturing this, check out this 1964 Apache tent trailer, which had a similar layout.
Best of all though was the fact that below the bed of the trailer were two compartments with exterior doors that were meant to access cargo. Fortunately for us, when the tent was erected, the doors were within the tent, which allowed us to put a foam mattress in one of the compartments, as well as bedding and pillows - the perfect second bed to put my sister and I on summer-long family camping trips. To this day, sleeping in that cargo compartment, with my pillow-comforted head sticking out of the cargo bay and resting on the lowered drawbridge-style door.
Looked at from a Modernist perspective, our aluminum-bodied vintage tent trailer was very much a mid-century phenomenon. In the aftermath of WWII, alumimum - which had been rationed as a strategic resource - became plentiful again, and there were dozens of aircraft fuselage manufacturers and second-tier subcontractors with the tooling and expertise to produce churn out recreational trailer products as effectively as they had Grumman Hellcats.
The golden age of midcentury recreational trailering was born, with the standard being borne by industry leaders like Airstream, but venerable manufacturers like Spartan Aircraft (builders of Spartan Trailercoaches) and Modernistic Industries (the Aljoa trailer) easily contributed as much.
For those interested in learning more about vintage modern aluminum trailers, Douglas Keister's Silver Palaces is well-thought of by those in the community, and on-line, one of the best resources is Doug's Vintage Trailers.
(top photo an Airstream Trailer rented as 'capsule accomodation' at 10,000 Waves Spa in Santa Fe, NM; bottom photo, your humble narrator in his cargo bed, source of many fond childhood memories)
I am planning to do a full article on Retro-Futurism at some point in the future, but in the meantime, here is a mini-gallery of retro-futuristic images to whet your appetite...
The street-corner gallery of Artcenter/South Florida is hosting a small exhibition devoted to the architect Morris Lapidus. That the show is small and even a bit lackluster is not a reflection of Lapidus, whose work and personality were larger than life and never without energy and spirit. Still, it's an important gesture in a week when, for the first time in almost half a century, the American Institute of Architects held its national convention in Miami Beach, bringing some 20,000 architects and others in design-related professions. Lapidus, who died in 2001 at 98, gave us the Fontainebleau and the Eden Roc, which are currently enjoying a renaissance after multimillion-dollar renovations. That fact in itself should be something to talk about -- hotels somehow re-emerging as top travel destinations and playing on the still-growing reputation of their architect and his era. In many ways, Lapidus also gave that era to Miami Beach -- a fancy-dressing, fast-talking, high-living time of big, blowzy hotels and beachfront condos, the rat-pack period. Not inappropriately, less than a year before his death, he reflected on the Charlie Rose Show, ``I said `I'm going to do it my way.' '' The curved shell of his first major work, the Fontainebleau (1954), was actually a sleek structure influenced by the tropical modernism of Brazil and rather cutting edge, but the embellishment of the interior commanded the attention. Inside, the hotel was over the top, all pretension and cinematic glamour -- Busby Berkeley does the French chateau in Miami Beach.
There are curves aplenty on show at Saltdean Lido. Activity abounds in the pool, the sharply-cut swimming costumes somehow matching the architecture. Round the edges, however, far less energy is being expended: dozing in the deckchairs is a generation determined not to expose knees.
Looking beyond the people, architecturally Saltdean relies on harmony of line and curve. Strong horizontals move around the building uninterrupted: stark, white cornices wrap around the building at ground and first floor levels; thin railings, with their posts widely spaced, trace the edges; folding doors, decorated only by their glazing bars, throw light into the interiors; even the fountain is a linear essay, the water cascading down a set of steps, rather than from some sea serpent or mermaid. Swelling curves offer some relief from what would be monotony of lines. Materials are of secondary importance. Simple and industrially produced, the metalwork and concrete proclaim function not craft. The only decorations permitted are the flagpole and the neon lettering, proudly proclaiming that Saltdean is the place to be.
This suntrap is a delightful place to escape to, with its bars, restaurant and people watching potential. Designed by Richard W.H. Jones in 1938, it was one of many lidos built in the 1930s, when a diet of exercise, fresh air and sun was prescribed for good health. But Saltdean is quite distinct from other lidos. No doubt inspiration came from nearby Bexhill-on-Sea, for this is a self-consciously modern building. Saltdean strains to be progressive, but lacks the confidence of her more famous neighbour, the De La Warr Pavilion.
Text and photos from the Royal Institute of British Architects website, architecture.com.
Fascinating and visually striking, "Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman” preserves and pays tribute to the legacy of the famed architectural photographer who died last year at age 98.
In the 2008 documentary, released last week on DVD, filmmaker Eric Bricker cannily depends on Shulman's stunning images and extensive interviews with the charming artist to tell the story. Through his photos, Shulman helped popularize and spread mid-century modernism.
Government has always been the most important patron of architecture in Canada, says the Canadian Encyclopedia, and I'm inclined to believe that is true. Certainly, it was government funding - at the federal, provincial and municipal levels - that made possible an explosion of modernist architecture in Canada in the mid-1960s, infrastructure spending in honour of Canada's Centennial (1967) that left a legacy of very impressive public buildings, and provided the architectural inspiration for many of the privately funded modern architecture edifices that were to follow.
Right in my backyard is an excellent example of what I have come to call 'Centennial Modern', the St Thomas Public Library, my favourite modern building in St Thomas. Funded by a Federal Provincial Winter Capital Fund grant, the library opened in 1974, featuring the statue 'Mother and Child' by sculptor Jiri Hanzalek at the structure's entrance.
The following are some other fine examples of 'Centennial Modern'. . Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg MB
Ahh, the atom. Its a love/hate relationship we have with our little nuclear friend, isn't it? I love the electricity coursing through my house that allows me to upload this post, keep all sorts of yummy food in the fridge and provide cheerful light on this gloomy day.
But I hate knowing that to enjoy these basic necessities of modern life I depend on the splitting of atoms and the resulting deadly waste. Just one hour of exposure to a spent fuel rod from one of Ontario's nuclear reactors and I'd be a dead man. Right now there are 30,000 tonnes of spent fuel rods in temporary storage at Ontario's three nuclear generating stations. They will be dangerous to everyone and everything on earth for half a million years. No one has been able to determine where or how to store them safely and permanently.
Does that pool have a sheet of glass on it? What’s with the guy in the background in the slacks and shoes but no shirt, nerd alert! The Deluxe guest room is too groovy for words.
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Living Homes today announced the launch of its expansion into Canada with an eco-enclave of four modern homes in North Toronto. Steve Glenn, founder of Living Homes, was kind enough to share with us some detail of the upscale project, which will be fabricated by Conquest and developed by a new company called Nexterra Green Homes.
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