City of Culture of Galicia

One of my favorite works of Architecture in modern time is the City of Culture of Galicia:

"As construction continues on the six-building City of Culture of Galicia, the first completed building, the Galician National Archive, opened to employees this spring. The Archive is the southernmost building in the complex and, at 86,000 square feet, one of the smallest. Its undulating form – and that of all of the buildings – evolved from the layering of three sets of information on the hilltop site. First, the plan of the medieval center of Santiago de Compostela, a historic, religious pilgrimage city, was placed on the site. Second, a Cartesian grid representative of the modern city was laid over the medieval routes. Third, the topography of the hilltop was allowed to distort the flat geometries, thus producing a topological surface that posed old and new in a simultaneous matrix of figure and ground."

Read more, visit: CLICK HERE


Credits:

Architects
Eisenman Architects

Senior Partner & Principal Designer: Peter Eisenman
Partner-in-Charge: Richard Rosson
Project Director: Sandra Hemingway

Design Team – Competition: Elena Fernandez, Sebastian Mittendorfer, Selim Vural

Design Team – Schematic Design: Hernan Diaz Alonso, Matteo Cainer, Andri Gerber, Chien Ho Hsu, Bradley Khouri, Jorg Kiesow, Ceu Martinez, Paul Preissner, Jeremy Ricketts, Andy Saunders, Onur Teke, Chia Fang Wu

Design Team – Design Development: Jennifer Mujat-Kearns, Ashraf Sami Abdala, Jeremy Carvalho, Stephanie Choi, Christiane Fashek, Erkan Emre, Eric Goldemberg, Zheng Ji, Orit Kaufman, Lucia Martinez, Matias Musacchio, Mikako Oshima, Rafael Ivan Pazos, Anna Pla, Maria Sieira, Theo Spyropoulos, Yakob Sutanto, Federica Vannucchi, Raquel Vasallo, Khalid Watson

Execution Architects & Engineers of Record: UTE Andres Perea Ortega & Euroestudios, Madrid

Software: Revit or AutoCAD?

There are many architecture programs for the computer out there in the web marketplace. What is the overall best one for it's value? Well, to tell you the truth, I've had experience with AutoCAD and Revit Architecture. Out of those two programs, Revit is the simplest to use. AutoCAD has a lot of different features but it can be confusing for a beginner with very little experience. There are, however, schools that have courses in order to get you AutoCAD certified, which is a plus for any architect and/or graphics designer.

Revit Architecture's features are very easy to use. I mean, you still need to know the basics, but it is simpler than AutoCAD. Revit has the feature of adding different camera angles to your final render. You can take pictures and render the image from different angles. You are even allowed to make a video clip of your design. I once designed a house and made a video clip of the inside, to visualize how it would look walking from room to room.

Visit the Revit Architecture website HERE and find more information about it. If you want to learn about AutoCAD click HERE. I mean, which ever one you use, they will both be a benefit to your career.

God Bless!

p.s. If you've had experience with either of the programs mentioned here or any other software, drop me a comment. How did you use it? Was it beneficial for your area of work? Would you recommend it to anyone?

Architecture?

I have posted an article on Associated Content entitled: What is Architecture? Here is a sample:

What is architecture? According to Dictionary.com, architecture is: "the profession of designing buildings, open areas, communities, and other artificial constructions and environments, usually with some regard to aesthetic effect. Architecture often includes design or selection of furnishings and decorations, supervision of construction work, and the examination, restoration, or remodeling of existing buildings."

Sounds interesting right? Well, some of us are not very artistic. Some can't even draw a straight line regardless of how hard they tried. Architecture can be learned and it doesn't only focus on the artistic area of a person. There are computer programs that can help someone design a building, home, or even a city block without having that person physically draw one line. We have the Autodesk Autocad software, which are a group of Computer Aided Design programs that aid in the design of buildings.

If you want to read the rest you can visit the article HERE. I would love some feedback; what do you think? Does architecture interest you? How could architecture be improved? Feel free to comment!

God Bless!

Christmas Home?

I hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas with family members and loved ones. I know some of us were busy shopping last minute, but we all enjoyed the warmth of being with our loved ones. I ask my self this question:

What is the best design for a warm, Christmas-like, family-ortiented home?

I very quickly picture a log cabin, with a fireplace in the living-room/family-room area. I also think of a cozy, New York-style apartment, with windows over-looking the city. I think about these things and realize that not all of us live where there is cold weather. Sure, the northern United States have snow and colder temperatures; but what about Southern United States? Can a home in Florida have that "family, cozy, Christmas" feeling like a log Cabin home does in up-state New York? Well, a home, a house, a dwelling, can symbolize a lot of things but its main purpose is to house a family. Now, the Christmas feeling can be achieved not because of the house, but through the family getting together and spending time together. Never forgetting the meaning of the day, which was the birth of Christ.

As I thought about this, I realized that a home doesn't have to be designed in a special way to make it feel like Christmas; it needs to have a loving, kind, and grateful family that remember's the birth of Christ!

God Bless!