Oct 7, 2010 | Architecture
After visiting the 2010 Shanghai World Expo last week, I decided that the night time is definitely the right time to visit. During the day the crowds were overbearing and most of the pavilions less than enchanting. However, when the sun goes down, the expo turns into a festival of lights. Some of the clear architectural winners in my book were the Spanish, Korean, Nepalese and Danish with the UK Pavilion taking the gold. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the six-story structure is stuck like a pincushion with 60,000 willowy rods that glow and quaver in the breeze. The rods extend from the interior where at the root of each a plant seed is seamlessly inserted. The UK Pavilion is supposed to reflect the British love for gardens and emphasize the need for green space in cities. You can read more about the concept on the UK Pavilion homepage.
Aug 28, 2010 | Architecture, Clippings, Development
It seems that my recent photo essay on Chongqing for Foreign Policy is getting mixed up with a surge of attention focused on the fastest growing city in the world. Both James Fallows and Wired’s Raw File mentioned my work, and there is another excellent piece posted by Caixin entitled Chongqing’s Call to Urban Conversion. Chongqing is easily one of China’s (if not the world’s) greatest experiment in urbanization. How these fledgling city slickers decide to dwell in their newly minted megablocks will set new precedents for living standards across western China. It’s going to be interesting to see whether or not such rampant growth will hit a wall by 2020 when the population of the city center is supposed to reach up to 20 million people. Also, see fellow INSTITUTE artist Nadav Kandar’s photo essay Yangtze, The Long River – easily some of my favorite imagery of the beast that is Chongqing.
Jul 11, 2010 | Architecture, Travel
First of all, congratulations to South Africa for hosting such an amazing World Cup. I think they did an exemplary job in the face of many obstacles and managed to pull off one of the most successful World Cups of all time. One of the host nation’s greatest assets was definitely the stadiums. The exterior of Soccer City in Johannesburg and Green Point Stadium in Cape Town were incredible, but the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban with it’s giant arch extending over the field proved to be the clear winner. Attached are a few of my favorite architectural shots from World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
