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FACETED GEOMETRY- new post with examples of architecture. http://mars.stephenalton.com — 20 weeks 4 days ago
2010 WORLD EXPOSITION TRAVEL TIPS http://mars.stephenalton.com — 20 weeks 6 days ago
RT @Curbed High Line Gives Up Waiting on the Whitney http://curbed.cc/dCAERr — 21 weeks 7 hours ago
Was great to see Preston Scott Cohen here in Shanghai and his great new projects. — 21 weeks 18 hours ago
Perrine Bridge Base Jumping Station on http://mars.stephenalton.com — 21 weeks 18 hours ago
China World Expo 2010 in Shanghia - helpful information and links on http://mars.stephenalton.com — 22 weeks 5 hours ago

MARS

FACETED GEOMETRY One of the key conceptual design strategies informing the work of our office, Stephen Alton Architect is what we loosely call Faceted Geometry. In distinction to contemporary architectural trends in fractal geometry where complex form is derived from the triangulated subdivisi...

SERIES ONE: Architectural Language Research_Part Five NATURAL SELECTION “The reality and reliability of the human world rests primarily on the fact that we are surrounded by things more permanent that the activity by which they were produced”. Natural selection is not purposive in the sense that hu...

SERIES ONE: Architectural Language Research_Part Four ARCHITECTURE AND ADAPTATION If one considers the ecological term adaptation applied analogously to contemporary culture, to adapt, it can be argued is the reconstitution of individual identity in a hypertrophic cultural ambivalence. &...

SERIES ONE: Architectural Language Research_Part Three EXAMPLES OF ADAPTATION MOLLUSCS Primary Concepts: Survival demands innovation and great variation of body plan New weapons prompt adaptive counter-measures Adaptation Types In the Abalone: A Biomechanical Foot is used to outrun ene...

CHINA

SIX MONTH PHOTO SEQUENCE Inspired by the dynamic pace of construction and general beautification of Shanghai in the months leading up to the 2010 World Exposition, we recorded a view from our office on a daily basis over a period of six months leading up to the opening. The composite selection...

CONSTRUCTION WORKER HOUSING IN SHANGHAI INVESTIGATIONS OF URBAN MOBILITY – PART 2 Urban mobility in China, is intrinsically linked to prefabricated housing, and speaks to the constant need for inexpensive and practical housing for its floating population. As elucidated in Part One, the cultural and ...

CONSTRUCTION WORKER HOUSING IN SHANGHAI INVESTIGATIONS OF URBAN MOBILITY – PART 1 Exemplified by the frenzied race to complete the World Exposition before May 1st, 2010, a substantial migrant worker force fuels the construction ambitions and pressing housing needs of Shanghai’s burgeoning population...

2010 WORLD EXPOSITION TRAVEL TIPS OVERVIEW With fewer than 100 days to the official opening of the 41st World Exposition on May 1st, 2010, it seems appropriate to present a general overview of the event as well as review planning essentials for international and regional travelers.

USA

Stephen Alton Architect, P.C. Perrine Bridge B.A.S.E. Jumping Platform Proposal Stephen Alton Architect, P.C. developed a design proposal for the Design-It Google Guggenheim Shelter competition as part of a creative development exercise for our New York Studio. Alton's proposal poses that if a...

CHELSEA CONDOMINIUM: DESIGNED BY STEPHEN ALTON ARCHITECT, P.C. The Chelsea Condominium project, currently in design by Stephen Alton Architect, P.C., reflects the refinement and steady advancement of our interest in Faceted Geometry, applied here as a typology for the building facade. The over...

ECHELON RESIDENTIAL INTERIOR COMPLETED: DESIGN BY STEPHEN ALTON ARCHITECT, P.C. Stephen Alton Architect, P.C. is pleased to announce the successful, recent completion of The Echelon, an elegant interior project on 21st Street and Fifth Avenue, New York City, that reflects a sophisticated lighting a...

BIM and the Ever Changing Building Process Many think that Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the next generation/ standard for how buildings will be built. BIM is best thought of as “a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility.” Simply put BIM is comparable to the transformation that occurred in the aircraft, microprocessor and automotive industries. Early on BIM was thought to be simple a 3D model of a facility, but the truth is that does not adequately communicate the potential of digital, object-based, interoperable building info...

Sustainable

SUSTAINABILITY MISGUIDED: ARCHITECTS AND GREENWALLS One of the more recent trends in the sustainability movement that architects have co-opted without comprehensive understanding is the green wall. Often interpreted as a conceptual extension of the green roof merely with different plants and subs...

OBAMA VISITS CHINA President Obama is scheduled to make his first trip to China in November. He and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have said cooperation on climate change is a new top priority in United States-China relations. But the two countries have yet to take concrete steps together on any proposals. Some environmental advocates feel there is little prospect of concrete steps being taken at this time. New technology is critical to alleviating climate change to the two largest greenhouse gas emitters in the world that rely heavily on coal for their energy needs.

SUSTAINABLE DIET Sustainability requires the reconciliation of environmental, social, and economic demands. Architecture, planning and interior design play integrate roles in this balance as our observations fuel the important public debate. In this ongoing series of articles we will share our observations, opinions, and solutions that we encounter. As we have begun a new adventure in China, the ground for work is even greater. Sometimes the choices are not what we expect- as I ran across this debate in London on my trip to Shanghai-

Cultural

WINDOW WASHING Amidst the frenetic pace of construction around the nearby 2010 World Exposition site, a regular washing of the exterior windows is always a good idea. We observed this cleaning crew using full torso harnesses to lower themselves down the building façade with buckets and sponges...

COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE

Notable

EXPOSITION TYPOLOGY 1: Thematic Branding in Modern Culture through Semiotic Content. Man is, The symbol-using (symbol-making, symbol-misusing) animal inventor of the negative (or moralizing by the negative), Separated from his natural condition by instruments of his own making, Goaded by the spir...

Response to "Is ZAHA HADID part of the “dead era of delirious architecture” as proclaimed by Nicolai Ourousoff? " Working backwards, I think one of your most striking points is to call out the conceit of Ouroussoff who reads like a fashion major rather than (presumably) someone with an academic background. As a result any valid points in his earlier commentary, It was fun till the money ran out, are rendered mute. Ouroussoff’s “critique” is the kind that amplifies the sense that architecture is like fashion. It highlights the commodified characteristics that validates branding an...

Is ZAHA HADID part of the “dead era of delirious architecture” as proclaimed by Nicolai Ourousoff? by Stephen Alton In a recent article posted in the Huffington Report the Co-founder of Architecture for Humanity and the Open Architecture Network, Cameron Sinclair opened a debate with the following:

Urban

URBAN ADAPTATION ARCHITECTURE AND ADAPTATION "It is architecture’s very impression of fixity that makes its manipulation such a persuasive tool." &nbs...

NEWARK VISITORS CENTER PROPOSAL NEWARK VISITORS CENTER PROPOSAL Consistent with the site’s history, the design for the Newark Visitors Center by Stephen Alton Architect, P.C. is proposed as mediation between urbanity and landscape, infrastructure and community. The Center celebrates the heritage ...

URBAN ADAPTATION

RESISTING URBAN CHANGE