ARCHILEPSY-IssueFOUR

savvy designers

WE BUILT THIS CITY

rad artist spotlight

SPANISH MASTERFRANCISCO MANGADO

SLINKACHU'SLITTLE PEOPLE

LUSTING FOR LOS ANGELES

volume ONE

issue four IN YOUR typeFACE!TOP 10 REASONS TO INTERN WITH US

KEVIN FRANKeditor in chieffinally, summer has decided to grace us with her illustrious presence. Mother Nature’s version of a one-night stand, she’s hot as hell and will be gone before we know it. For the design community, summer marks an exciting time for many of us. All across the country, design students are recovering from sleep deprivation and malnutrition, basking in the glow of...

...their parents’ fully stocked fridge and savoring every empty box on the calendar between now and August. Recent graduates are shopping their shiny new portfolios and strategically inflated resumes, full of wonder and excitement for the professional realm beyond academia. Those intrepid young professional who have found work are reveling in the new experience, and

reluctantly coming to terms with the idiosyncratic characters who make up the typical design office. For those of us who are already gainfully employed, the gradual transition to summer is marked by a perennial urgency to escape the office every day around 4:00pm, an escalating sense of guilt each time our dust-covered 10-speed is passed up on the way to the car/train/bus, and the compulsive desire to destroy every other design firm in the tri-county area on the softball diamond.

Regardless of what summer means to you, I hope that if it finds you in good spirits. To celebrate the season of sun, we’ve included a few features to help you appreciate the longer days and brighter rays. Though I wouldn’t quite call it a “summer issue” (this isn’t Cosmo after all, as if you couldn’t tell by the brutally sexy metal screen on the cover), we’ve tried to curb the jaded half of our forked tongues for the time being. This month we’re also taking a momentary break from our ongoing BRICworks series to showcase the

work of a phenomenal designer from Pamplona, Spain.

Francisco Mangado’s contextually and culturally responsive architecture is the result of principled design fundamentals. He speaks eloquently of

his process, and pulls no punches when it comes to critiquing the contemporary architecture scene, insisting that “The capacity to represent architecture should not be confused

with the capacity to amaze or attract attention. Very often the most published and widely known architecture is not the one with the greatest capacity to give answers, or propose research, but rather the one with the greatest capacity to generate spectacle.” This virtuous philosophy should come as no surprise, considering Mangado operates in the backyard of such greats as Rafael Moneo, Álvaro Siza, and Eduardo Souto de Moura.

So pour yourself a cool glass of Spanish sangria, put those debonair wayfarers aside, and enjoy a refreshing look at summer's savviest. Cheers...

3

summer spectacle

Very often the most published and widely known architecture is not the one with the greatest capacity to give answers, or propose

research, but rather the one with the GREATEST CAPACITY TO

G E N E R A T E S P E C T A C L E .- francisco mangado

want to become a contributor?send a resume + work samples to

[email protected]

ISSUE four

VOLUME ONE

june 2011

editor in chiefkevin frank chicago

associate editorsbryan finnegan chicago

dominick gallegos chicago

breeze glazer new york

alexi karavokiris los angeles

jenny pelc new orleans

contributing editorhannah ambrose chicago

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EDITORIALSUMMER SPECTACLE

Easy there cowgirl...the editorial is one page

flip backwards.

WE BUILT THIS CITY

LUSTING FOR LOS ANGELES

Get an inside perspective on the

City of Angels...before it breaks off into the

Pacific.

THERE'S MORE TO LIFE THAN

BUILDINGSENDLESS SUMMER

From cycling duds and bling bling, to sizzlin' grills and

geek-chic specs, we've got the summer goods you love.

2

PLUS...TOP 10 REASONS TO BE A SUMMER INTERN AT ARCHILEPSY 6BOOK REVIEW 37 MANGADO IPAD APP 80IN YOUR typeFACE! 83THIS JUST IN 84THIS IS WHO WE ARE 86

this is

click an article to get there quick!

5

What’s inside

38

8

RAD ARTIST SPOTLIGHTSLINKACHU'S LITTLE PEOPLEThis London artists invites us to think about the bigger picture...or maybe the smaller picture. It's a matter of perspective, really.

SAVVY DESIGNERSFRANCISCO MANGADOHailing from Pamplona, this accomplished architect has built a stunning array of masterful projects. You heard it hear first...Mangado for the Pritzker Prize in 2012.

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TOP 10You can be

assured that the wage scale

is flat and transparent.

Like a true democracy,

we're all equally broke.

The look on your parents'

faces when you tell them

you're working at a "webzine".

You might get 15 minutes of fame by being

named on a lawsuit when Frank Gehry

finally decides to sue us for defamation.

They don't teach you how to be a cynical

jackass in architecture

school.

You mean, aside from

being awesome?

There are no glass ceilings,

only glass bottles...

filled with...inspiration.

You can work in your underwear.

Seriously. I'm doing it right

now.

The chances of being

cornered at the water cooler by a batshit

crazy project accountant are

slim.

There's a decent chance you can weasel your way into

the press section at

Lollapalooza.

Instead of contributing to your 401k, we contribute to your general

disdain towards the architectural

establishment.

7

reasons to be a SUMMER intern at archilepsy

there's more to life than buildings

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CUSH YOUR TUSH Just what your crummy, uncomfortable IKEA couch needs...a throw pillow that features a graphic print of a wildly expensive designer chair. Simultaneously ironic and iconic. And if you actually happen to own a reproduction Barcelona chair...throw one of these guys on it to confuse your guests.

www.inhabitliving.com

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SAVVY SPECS Get back to the basics with ROLF'S family-owned, award-winning wooden eyewear company. These minimalist frames are produced completely constructed of natural materials like wood or bamboo, without any metal parts. The unique hinges boast an impressive screwless design, making it truly maintenance-free.

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WATCH MY DIVEForget the Jelly of the Month Club. Why not sign up to

receive a new DIVE BAR T-SHIRT in the mail every few weeks? Destined to become your favorite weekend wear, the tees are inspired by real places all over the country. so now you don't have to trek through the

seedy parts of Brooklyn to get a sweet keepsake.

www.divebarshirtclub.com

there's more to life than buildings

SLICK GRILLZChar your patties to perfection this summer with the lightweight, portable BODUM FYRKAT BBQ. The impressive array of designer colors can potentially compensate for your dry, unseasoned excuse for a burger. www.connox.com

BEJEWELED Designed by Belfast native CLAIRE MCALISTER, these delicate pieces of jewelry are made with a combination of silver and wood veneers. Inspired by the possibilities of manipulating a sheet product, McAlister crafts a broad line of lightweight and expressive accessories.

www.clairemcalister.ie

COMMUTER CARGOS How do you improve a classic? You can figure out a way to keep me from flashing traffic for starters. The new LEVI'S 511 COMMUTER JEAN features fabric and construction upgrades like a reinforced crotch and belt loops that increase mobility and durability, while protecting cyclists from the potential hazards of their daily commute. Reflective 3M Scotchlite tape on the cuff offers additional visibility at night.

www.store.levi.com

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SCI-FI DOCK This straight-from-STAR WARS speaker dock from JBL enables you to stream your iTunes library wirelessly from your mobile devices through it’s 360-degree speaker system. If the $350 price tag seems a bit much, you might want to consider the digital FM radio, color LCD screen, built-in alarm clock, DSP technology, and….oh yeah, the adapter that allows you to wear the dock as an accessory at your next DJ gig!

www.jbl.com

inPractice

graphicscalelondon artist slinkachu hits the big time with little people

Article By:Dominick Gallegos

Photographs By:Slinkachu

spotlight

rad artist

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rad artist spotlight

> Boy's Own Adventure

The built environment that surrounds us is a reflection of the people and cultures which inhabit it. From the streets to the buildings to the parks,

we are as much a part of the city as the city is a part of us. It's through this connection that we navigate a series of episodes and routines that define who we are, both collectively and individually. Whether we're commuting to and from work, or relaxing in the park for a moment as dusk approaches, we often take for granted the richness of the context in which we exist.

London artist Slinkachu hopes to change that. Through his miniature street art installations, we are invited to re-imagine the city at a new scale...one that transcends our superficial understanding of the urban condition while tapping into a set of universal emotions that every citizen shares. > The Cave

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Slinkachu uses 1/87th scaled figures, typically purchased from a German company called Preiser. He then reconfigures them, paints them, adds props (usually found online in model railway shops) and oftentimes positions them around found objects that are reinterpreted at their new relative scale. The level of sophistication in animating the figurines can not be overstated. Even at such a tiny scale, Slinkachu is able to focus on the emotional quality of the little events being portrayed, evoking a sense of nostalgia or empathy as we are reminded of similar moments in our own lives.

The result is a unique still life that draws our attention to the texture, detail, and cognitive associations of the things that surround us. Through the skilled use of photographic composition and depth of field, Slinkachu's scenes are momentarily captured for posterity's sake, before being left behind. Each installation is abandoned intact to be stumbled upon by observant passersby, and eventually consumed by the city.

> One Day Son...

rad artist spotlight

Dominick Gallegos[[email protected]]

17

> The Last Resort

rad artist spotlight

19

> After the Storm

rad artist spotlight

21

"My work plays with the notion of surprise. I aim to encourage city-

dwellers to be more aware of their surroundings."

> Wet and Wild

rad artist spotlight

"These scenes aim to reflect the loneliness and melancholy of living in a big city, almost being lost and overwhelmed. But underneath this, there is always some humour. I want people to be able to empathise with the tiny people in my works."

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rad artist spotlight

Buy The Book now!Little People in the City

Slinkachu is a London-based artist. The "Little People Project" began in 2006 and has been exhibited in numerous galleries. Most recently at the Andipa Gallery in London. The solo show titled "Concrete Ocean" was on display at the gallery which also houses works by famed artists Pablo Picasso, Andy

Warhol, and street artist Banksy. For more information visit Slinkachu.com

You can keep up with the latest news and work at Little-People.blogspot.com. Also, don't forget to purchase the book Little People in the City to see over 50 other street installations by Slinkachu.

theonepercent.orga program of publicarchitecture.org

If every designer in thiscountry committed 1% of their time to pro bono service it would be the equivalent of a 10,000 person firm–one of the largest in the world– working full-time for the public good.

theonepercent.orga program of publicarchitecture.org

If every designer in thiscountry committed 1% of their time to pro bono service it would be the equivalent of a 10,000 person firm–one of the largest in the world– working full-time for the public good.

LESSONs from THE LEFT COASTLOS

ANGELESLOSArticle By:Alexi Karavokiriswith Peter Wood

I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're beautiful. Everybody's

plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.

ANDY WARHOL

What exActly is La?

WHY WOULD anyoneWANT T0 LIVE IN LA?

3.8 million

G.M.P. $831 Billion

780 people per day

68-78 degree highsno chance of rain

second largest U.S. population:

second largest U.S. economy:

moving to Los Angeles:

summertime forecast (april - october):

People have been trying to figure that out for a long time. It's a dynamic, ever-changing city marked by constant fluxes in trends, entertainment, cultural influences, notions of beauty, altruism, poverty, immigration, nature....

While some cities grow in a linear process, constantly building on a consistent architectural timeline, LA seems to be in a perpetual state of cosmetic surgery. This future-forward mentality prevails, drawing inspiration from the past with a highly selective memory...focusing instead on what's to come.

For the architectural community, older buildings are often completely forgotten as soon as the next big thing is built. For aspiring young designers, this future-forward mentality paves the way for big opportunities, even in the beginning stages of your career.

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So you're thinking about moving to LA? Well get ready to choose from one of the largest lifestyle menus that this country has to offer! So where to begin? We suggest narrowing down the type of people you want to be surrounded by. But it's not like you can just choose to live in a neighborhood of doctors, lawyers, or architects. Your choices are more like hipsters, the hollywood crowd, or beach bums. So check out this handy (albeit somewhat satirical) map, let your guard down, and find the pad of your dreams!

we built this city

goin' back to CAli? cAli?pick yOur PoisOn

THE NAMELESS HIPSTERS > Almost everyone else fits into this last group. These people are everywhere! Typically, this demographic is characterized by poor eye contact, glorious mustaches, regrettable tattoos, and a variety of other unfortunate grooming techniques. Usually accompanied by dirty clothes, smelly girlfriends, and half-empty packs of American Spirit cigarettes.

THE ANGELINAS > Angie represents the Hollywood crowd. Look past the glamour and limelight of the celebrity scene to discover the more macabre side of Hollywood (ie, wearing a vile of Billy Bob's bloods as jewelry). This demographic is primarily made up of rich kids, models, actors, and celebrities. Popular recreational sports for this group include driving wrecklessly, dropping 4 figures on a Friday night outfit, and checking into rehab.

THE SPICOLIS > This duder is the quintessential surfer, beach bum, life-loving type that populates the shores of LA's beaches. Young or old, this figure represents a group which contributes little to society and prides themselves on their spiritual connection to nature. They can be found on the boardwalk, medicating their glaucoma and planning their next trip to Joshua Tree. It's beautiful man!

Needless to say, we're painting in broad stereotypes here...but the following legend should help you find what you're looking for. Or not looking for.

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> Caltrans Headquarters: Morphosis> Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels: Rafael Moneo

Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles.FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

we built this city

33

> Disney Concert Hall: Frank Gehry > Helios House: Office dA

we built this city

LOCAL DESIGN TALENTMORPHOSISERIC OWEN MOSSBROOKS + SCARPALORCAN O'HERLIHYFRANK GHERY *

HIGHER EDSCI-ARCHUSCUCLAWOODBURY

COOL BUILDINGSCALTRANS DISTRICT 7CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY OF THE ANGELSANYTHING BY LAUTNER OR NEUTRANATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

FAVORITE RESTAURANTSFATHER'S OFFICEKATSUYA FLAKES (order “super Cro-Jo” for breakfast)

TRANSPORTATION2020 traffic authority will mandate A 20 mph speed limit on all highways at certain times.FUN FACT: be on the highway by 7:00 a.m (off the highway by 7:30) or triple your commute time.

FAVORITE BARSTHE EDISON THE VICEROYBASEMENTNIKKIS

BEST COFFEE SHOP212 PEIR

COST OF LIVING (Santa Monica)AVERAGE RENT STUDIO: $1200AVERAGE RENT 1 BEDROOM: $1600AVERAGE RENT 2 BEDROOM: $2200

THE SINGLE LIFEIf your looking to avoid marriage and casually date some of the worlds most attractive and independent people, then LA is definitely for you. Feel free to contact me if you're ever in the Santa Monica area ;)

FOOD TRUCKS KOGI BBQBUTTERRMILK TRUCKTHE GRILLED CHEESE TRUCKHOLLYWOOD BITESFRYSMITHLOUKSTHE GREEN TRUCKBABY BAD ASS BURGERSTHE SWEETS TRUCKTHE NOM NOM TRUCK

GENERAL SUGGETIONSGROW A MUSTACHESHOW OFF YOUR TATSGET USED TO THE SMELL (building = hobo restroom)LOVE DRIVING LOVE YOUR TIME IN THE CARTRY TO BE LESS UGLY (just kidding, you're perfect already!)

35

1 > EL CHAVITO BAR > Great margaritas & unlimited tortillas (Spiciest. Salsa. Ever.)

2 > M CAFÉ > Famous for loaded microburger (totally bourgeoisie)

3 > FIRST FRIDAYS @ ABBOT KINNEY > Amazing scene for "meeting" people

4 > GRILLED CHEESE TRUCK > archrival of the Kogi truck (I'm not kidding)

5 > TOWNHOUSE COCKTAILS (aka Townie Junk Hole) > Late night 40oz cans 6 > SPEAKEASY > Highly competitive shuffle board (yes, there is such a thing)

7 > VOYEUR > Hawtest club in Hollywood (this month)

8 > BRENNANS > Turtle races Thursday night!

9 > KOGI TRUCK > Heaven on wheels

10 > DRIVE the PCH at sunset

pETEY'S ToP ten THIS AINT NO INTERNET LIST, PAL

TRIUMPH OF THE CITYHow Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier

Edward L. Glaeser

Published in 2011 by Penguin Press HC9.4x6.1 inches hardcover352 pages

Triumph of the City is fascinating book on humanity’s greatest invention, the city. Authored by Edward Glaeser, professor of economics at Harvard, the book makes a case for the benefits that cities afford humanity as centers of diversity, innovation, education, and economy. The book explores the history of the modern city through examples both in America and abroad, highlighting the historically negative view of cities and making a case for why they actually represent the best in humanity.

Through his background in economics, Glaeser is able to provide good examples of how some cities have failed as well as the methods that some cities are taking to improve. The success of cities, as the book explains through many examples and in many contexts, is largely dependent on being centers of diverse cultures, quality educational institutions, and innovative businesses, along with a well-managed government that allows business to prosper. For example, LA has one of the most desirable climates in America, but limited building development and an averseness to density has made the cost of living too expensive for many. In contrast, Houston has a less desirable, hot and humid climate yet the lack of control in construction has allowed housing to outpace market demand, making the city one of the least expensive in the country.

Triumph of the City, puts the modern global city in a perspective that allows designers to step back and observe the over-arching economic and cultural influences that define our cities.

dominick gallegos [[email protected]]

37

Article By:Kevin FrankArchitectural Photography By:Roland Halbe

designers

savvy

MASTERFrancisco Mangado

39

SPANISH

savvy designers> 'Patxi' Mangado

Less than 100 miles from the torqued titanium panels of Frank Gehry's iconoclastic

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Francisco Mangado has been quietly producing masterful works of culturally and contextually responsive architecture from a modest studio in Pamplona. His remarkable work can be characterized by a few consistent axioms: a formal restraint that neither dominates nor submits to the site, an acute material sensibility that speaks to both time and place, and a deliberate spatial intent that engages the context in a meaningful way. As a result of this fundamental resolve, Mangado has created a legacy of timeless buildings that will surely endure the throes of architectural sensationalism.

With a recent exhibition at the Juana Mordó Hall of Madrid’s Círculo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Circle), Mangado has entered the larger international discussion on architectural discourse. However,

despite his active involvement in academia, both his work and temperament remain grounded in an explicitly non-theoretical philosophy of what architecture can and should be. In fact, in 2008 he founded the Fundación Arquitectura y Sociedad, which seeks to facilitate architecture's interaction with other fields of knowledge and action. Instead of pursuing conjectural theory, Mangado has committed himself to improving the conversation between designers and society at large.

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VITAL STATISTICS

Location >Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

Education >University of Navarre School of Architecture (1982)

Academic Involvement >Professor at the University of NavarreGuest Professor at Harvard GSDEero Saarinen Visiting Professor at Yale School of ArchitectureVisiting Professor at l’École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

www.fmangado.com

SPAIN

pamplona

> Pamplona, Spain

Deposited into the dense medieval fabric of Vitoria, Mangado's Museum of

Archaeology of Álava is envisioned as a compact jewelry box, protecting treasures that have been entrusted to us by history. The museum is arranged around a shared courtyard, as the building adjoins the Palace of Bendaña, which currently serves as the Museum of Naipes Fournier. Access to both museums is accommodated by this new semi-private courtyard. This basic strategy of engaging the surrounding buildings in a respectful dialogue epitomizes Mangado's approach to contextual design.

At the intersection of old and new, the inner facade of the museum features a dramatic but subdued curtain wall assembly. The cast bronze grille system has clear archaeological references, aging visibly over time with a subtly

heterogeneous patina. The tectonic expression of these bronze blades alludes to the horizontal stratification of the earth, from which many of the artifacts within the museum were excavated. Extraordinarily detailed and sensitively proportioned, this metal brise soleil gives the urban courtyard a refined character while moderating the natural light that enters or escapes the building. Depending on the angle of view, these fins both conceal or reveal the luminous spaces within the new museum. The monochromatic and relentless nature of the screen ensures that the new building complements its historical setting instead of competing against it.

Behind the screen, the primary circulation stair occupies an interstitial space between the curtain wall and the secondary enclosure of the exhibit halls. The movement of people along

savvy designers

> Aerial view of Vitoria

MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY OF ÁLAVA > Vitoria, Spain

> aerial

43> Shared semi-private courtyard

savvy designers

> Bronze brise soleil conceals and reveals

the staircase animates the facade, while the archaeological contents of the museum are revealed only in glimpses, through large square portals at each landing.

The ground plane of the entry courtyard is sheathed with wooden slats that have already begun to age. The graying deck visibly references the

passage of time while also providing a tactile contrast to the cobblestone streets surrounding the museum. The slight elasticity underfoot acts as a subtle reminder of the archaeological richness that exists underneath us. This suggestion is reinforced by several frosted glass windows embedded into the wood decking.res of the

45> Uniform skin over programmatically responsive form

"Discussing environmental architecture as if it were a new way of doing things,

or as if it were a 'new style' is evidence of the loss of

context as a basic element of the project."

savvy designers

> Exterior facade

"The capacity to represent architecture should not be confused with the capacity to amaze or attract attention. Very often the most published and widely known architecture is not the one with the greatest capacity to give answers or propose research, but rather the one with the greatest capacity to generate spectacle. "

47

> Exterior facade > Street view

savvy designers

> West section/elevation

> Luminous interior

49

> Dialogue between old and new

> South elevation

savvy designers

> Monolithic exterior shell

> Light prisms penetrate exhibition space

In contrast to the inner courtyard facade, the outer walls of the museum take on a much more hermetic expression. Lined with prefabricated vertical strips of cast bronze, these walls reiterate the stratification theme with a subtle horizontal reveal at each floor level. Monolithic and impenetrable, the building appears as a fortress from the street, or even as a natural outcropping of solid rock. The perception of mass is further emphasized by the detailing of several large openings, which appear to be carved deeply into the surface of the building skin. The geometry of each opening expands from a recessed window to an oversized aperture. The inner "flesh" of this articulated skin is rendered in warm-colored wood battens, further accentuating the notion of depth.

The texture created by the vertically

corrugated bronze pieces alludes to the erosion of objects over time, and highlights the subtle variation of oxidation in the individual metal pieces.

Inside the museum, the permanent exhibition halls were designed to evoke the adventure of unearthing the artifacts on display. The floor, walls,

and ceiling of the elongated halls are entirely covered with dark wooden surfaces. Such uniformity of space

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"THE SPACE WITHIN CAN BE NEITHER A MERE ORGANIZING ELEMENT, NOR A BEAUTIFUL BUT DISTANT

ARCHITECTURE. IT MUST HAVE THE ABILITY TO EVOKE PLACES AND

PEOPLE FROM A TINY YET RESILIENT FRAGMENT OF CERAMIC WHICH

HAS MANAGED TO SURVIVE."

savvy designers

> Stairwell occupies interstitial space behind bronze screen

53> Wood decking contrasts ubiquitous cobblestone streets

"Bronze, and its slow but inexorable aging, tells us about the passage of time."

> Ground Floor

> Second Floor

savvy designers

> Fourth Floor

> Third Floor

55

savvy designers

removes all traditional perceptions of what it feels like to be "in a room". This allows each visitor's imagination to overtake their cognitive senses, momentarily suspending reality in exchange for a few moments of historical whimsy. Further illustrating this "suggestive and magical" spatial intent, the halls are lit with white glazed prisms, which traverse the spaces at skewed angles like rays of light penetrating a cavernous tomb. These prisms, which are inlaid with graphics and information about the exhibits on display, draw sunlight into the building during the day and are supplemented with artificial lighting during the evenings.

Functionally, the volume is organized so that working spaces, such as the library and work shops, are located on the ground level and oriented towards the street with independent access.

Temporary exhibitions are housed at the public entry level (one level higher, due to the sloping site) with access from the courtyard. The permanent exhibition areas that feature the dark wooden cladding and translucent light prisms occupy the upper floors. In an especially ingenious planning maneuver, an auxiliary annex extends perpendicularly from the main building. This slender addition masks the party wall of the adjacent buildings to offer a more attractive courtyard facade.

Taken together, the formal, material, and spatial elements of the museum create a unique experience for the visitor. Acutely aware that the "scientific history" of experts leaves too little room for the imagination, Mangado succeeded in creating a building that allows for a more romantic view of the past.

> Concept Sketch

> Sunken light well illuminates lower work spaces 57

savvy designers

59

CENTER FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES > Santiago de Compostela, Spain

savvy designers

> Concept Sketch

Situated on a topographically uneven site, the Center for New Technologies in Santiago de

Compostella is essentially two separate buildings. One building is dense and monolithic. The other is light and modular. These two halves extend parallel to one another along a slender courtyard. They are connected only by a series of delicate bridges than span the courtyard, and an assembly hall that anchors both legs at the western end of the site.

The program is split between the two halves, with the administration, control, and back-of-house functions contained in the solid volume, and the educational spaces housed in the lighter form. The rationale behind this bifurcated approach was based on functional needs. The program called

for highly adaptable multi-purpose classrooms and workshop spaces that could be unified and subdivided as needed over time. These spaces would be constantly reconfigured, and would consistently need plenty of natural light. Conversely, the administration and support spaces would remain more or less constant over time, requiring less natural light and a more secure setting.

The admin wing is clad in granite panels, which are set with a pattern of random vertical joints to give the facade a subtly textured appearance. Structurally, this section of the building is constructed from poured concrete walls and floor slabs. Both the courtyard and exterior facades of this volume feature large butt-glazed openings, with expansive sheets of

61> Delicate bridges span courtyard

savvy designers

> North building, north elevation

>Assembly hall anchors building on western edge

> North building, south elevation

63

> Granite panels add texture to facade

savvy designers

> Courtyard serves as an organizational point of reference

65> Building section through education wing

savvy designers

"Material almost always has a dimension that goes beyond the simply physical, acquiring an ideological dimension..."

glass which are detailed to appear frameless and flush with the surface of the stone.

As a counterpoint to the massive tectonic quality of its neighbor, the education wing of the building is detailed with light metal screen system that actual serves as the underlying structure. Paying homage to the late French master metal-worker Jean Prouvé, Mangado designed the system with thin, galvanized sheet metal. The vertical and horizontal fins were fastened together (not unlike an erector set) to form an independent

exoskeleton. Once the superstructure was completed, the interior slabs were constructed within. This expressive method of construction gives the building a unique tectonic identity, while allowing for unobstructed, column-free spaces inside.

Similar to the Archaeology Museum, the porosity of this metal screen changes drastically depending on the angle of view. From an oblique viewpoint, the rhythm of vertical struts creates a moray effect, rendering the building as a textured monolith. However, from a perpendicular

67

> Screen cladding serves as structure

> Concept sketch

> What I would give to design stair with no handrails

> Transparency is maximized inside

savvy designers

69

> Floor plans

viewpoint, the slender galvanized struts all but disappear, revealing a transparent connection between inside and out.

Superb detailing prevails throughout the building. The elegant bridges that span the courtyard feature glazed spandrel panels backed with the same galvanized metal as the primary facade. This subtle detail allows for an uninterrupted reflection across the outer surface of the entire bridge, while grounding the structural expression in a language already that's present in the project. The soffit under the elevated bridges is free of pragmatic light fixtures or conduits. The ceilings throughout the building feature a white lattice system that conceals the mechanical systems while allowing air to flow freely from the plenum into the occupied spaces. The underside of the hovering stair is finished at each edge by a slight reveal, while the opening in the floor slab is clad in the same material. Indeed, no detail escaped the scrutiny of Mangado's adept design team.

What we see in these works is a consistent and passionate application of a few steadfast design axioms. No matter the program, the site, or the budget, the fundamental qualities of the architecture remain the same. As further evidence of Mangado's unrelenting principles of design, enjoy the excerpts from his writings on the following pages.

Kevin Frank [[email protected]]

Thinking about context is the essence...the distinctive feature of the architectural project. The consideration of context lies behind the final sense of an architectural ethic that is unfortunately not so frequent in today’s most ‘flashy’ works. Architecture must turn the idea of service into its main objective; unlike ‘submission’, the concept of service entails an act of transgression, of giving more, understanding context as something with which it is worth to engage in dialogue, even if the ultimate aim is to deny it. This relationship, because it is problematic and intense, is also

extraordinarily fruitful and must be dominated by intelligence and sensitivity rather than by invention or imagination.

The environmental responsibility demanded from architecture today is strongly linked with contextual concern. The awareness of the physical, economic, productive, material and cultural milieu forms the basis of this responsible – and for this reason ethical – performance that society demands from architects. Discussing environmental architecture as if it were a new way of doing things, or as if it were a ‘new style’, is evidence of the loss of context as a basic element of the project. Thereby the importance of

savvy designers

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CONTEXT > Francisco Mangado

recovering context as an obligatory category and, above all, as the key to go beyond and propose more than what is demanded.

The Congress Center and Auditorium of Navarre (Baluarte) rises as a context-building, a city-building, transforming its functional variety and its size into an opportunity or a tool which enables a dialogue with a complex environment starting from a floor plan form that is not too compact. From the point of view of landscape, the dialogue is established at the same time with the fortress wall, the urban surroundings and the natural environment – the latter seen from afar, but also with the structure

of public spaces and institutional references, just as if the new building had always been there. It does not offer a unitary view, a single angle, nor can it be perceived as a whole (this can only be done from afar and overlapped with the fortress). It is a building that should be walked through and around, that is never the same with its many angles and points of view, like the city itself, complex and diverse. The desire to embrace context takes on, in this case, a key intellectual dimension, in contrast with the temptation to build an architectural object that would probably be more expensive and less embedded in the fabric of the city.

savvy designers

Of architecture’s essential elements, the material is probably the only unquestionable one. The material and physical condition of building is not only object of discussion and reflection, but it is also tangible, can be visualized and touched: it is something that can be checked, independently from the ideological position. There have never been as many proposals and as much research as today. Material and program are the two objects of research that have given more interesting and rigorous results over the last years. In the context of an ‘ethical’ architecture, one which demands a greater commitment with the environment, the reflection

about materials also acquires a key value. The new proposals in the field of materials shape the formal concepts – enriching andtransforming them – and are thus substantial in the sense that architecture is in the end form and content, contrasting with merely graphic or calligraphic approaches.

Material almost always has a dimension that goes beyond the simply physical, acquiring an ideological dimension, of value judgement, which appears in the first stages of the project. It gathers aspects that have to do with context, with process or even with intellectual position. In the same way, the material configures

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MATERIAL > Francisco Mangado

the detail or, in other words, the first step is choosing the material; all the work starts after that choice, trying to endow it with high levels of value, use and expressiveness, so that, starting from the project objective, it is possible to define the specific condition of the detail. It is almost never the other way around. The reflection that springs from the premises of the project is an essential filter that goes beyond the merely artisanal dimension. On the other hand, the discovery of new materials is fascinating, as is the rediscovery of existing ones, but with a great expressive capacity thanks to a new way of using or handling them: materials from other

fields which clearly deserve to be looked at twice.

In the case of the Museum of Archaeology of Vitoria, the choice of material is intrinsically related to the idea of the project. Bronze, and its slow but inexorable aging, tells us about the passage of time: the true material, the only one able to transform others into ‘archaeology’. The mutation of the surface, the change of color or the evolution form part of the project idea proper, of the more or less metaphorical but real idea of a bronze box that is at once a museum. Material and substance become the same thing.

savvy designers

The capacity to represent architecture should not be confused with the capacity to amaze or attract attention. Very often the most published and widely known architecture is not the one with the greatest capacity to give answers, or propose research, but rather the one with the greatest capacity to generate spectacle. But spectacle is, by definition, momentary: it does not involve continuity. Representation, however, entails the need for contents, value judgements and ideas. It demands an interpretation in terms of meaning, which refers to a key material in architecture, which is time. Only the passage of time gives

the word ‘meaning’ all its content, and only the judgement of time can truly show which buildings are able to represent a society or a specific time. An architecture that emerges as a temporary solution with no intention to endure in the future, or one that is stems from material criteria with no cultural or ideological implication do not, in the end, seem credible.

Representation, though more usual in public buildings or spaces, cannot be excluded from the private realm: many buildings, regardless of their program, are able to play a representative role because they contain ideas or proposals that act as foundations of a time and a place.

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REPRESENTATION > Francisco Mangado

Meaning, thus, instead of spectacle. Permanence instead of fleetingness. Ideological or propositive assertions instead of triviality.

Beyond the metaphor of the forest, useful in terms of project design, space and structure, the Spanish Pavilion at the Zaragoza Expo reflects a society that, far from ostentation, looks into its own circumstances in search for a path towards the contemporary. An optimistic modernity able to generate, with its own natural and cultural context, a resilient and reasonable model of growth. The tools to achieve this are the building details and the structural systems chosen, the use of

traditional materials (but with the capacity of being rediscovered) such as terracotta, cork, wood or galvanized steel, crafted from the basic material, working with small companies and avoiding the ready-made products on the market; and also the way in which the project arranges transits (not only flows), the entrances and the interior spaces. Architecture, in this case, uses all the devices at hand with the purpose of identifying a time and a way of understanding it, trying to give more than what society demands from it. The public appreciated it, which shows that representation is not equivalent to spectacle.

savvy designers

Architecture can be understood as reason’s attempt to go beyond the immediate and oppressive boundaries imposed by nature. These days the rational process has exceeded the limit of the essential principle of respect for nature, and as a result we are living a period of distrust of reason in general, and of architecture in particular, with working methods and buildings that try to dissolve and to blend with nature, revealing a ‘meek’ position that questions whether architecture may be able to offer positive options, able to deliver more and generate a reciprocal relationship with the natural context. This occurs, regardless of

their expressive capacity, with those architectures that are shaped only as a direct reflection of mineral crystallographic processes, or with the blobs, curved and twisted ad infinitum as if they were made out of clay.

For this reason, architecture must not give up its rational and constructive condition, which is also poetic, and that involves transforming the natural context, because precisely the respect and acknowledgement of nature as alter ego of the rational does not demand that buildings blend or disappear into nature, but rather suggests that they establish with it a respectful dialogue: one in which

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NATURE > Francisco Mangado

the work of the architect keeps maintaining specific technical, social and cultural objectives. Some harmful attitudes to nature have emerged of late, but only from architecture, reconsidered in accordance with more responsible and intelligent – and therefore more ethical – objectives, is it possible to rebuild the relationship between the artificial and the natural.

The Equestrian Center in Ultzama – a valley in Navarre of great natural beauty, protected and rough, where the timeless architecture of the farmhouses, compact and precise, rests boldly and respectfully on the land – shares this idea of establishing a respectful

relationship with the natural environment, though still expressing their architectural condition. The use of clean forms and volumes, such as those of the roofs, or based on agrarian building types like the cow farms common in the region, all of them carefully reinterpreted through materials – aluminum sheet and oak wood – has allowed to keep an approach that only apparently seems to dominate the site. Would it be possible for this green and obsessive nature to admit a different attitude, to establish an attractive dialogue with an objective other than that of placing a bold, compact architecture, and therefore much more respectful of the place?

savvy designers

When the site’s topography is a previous condition, it becomes one of the most useful and fruitful allies of the project. Our retina records images of buildings that are especially interesting because of the way in which they have dealt with topography. From those intuitively topographical, whose form addresses the physical strengths, the direct stresses of the terrain, to the programmatic or artificially topographical ones, as those that turn the idea of platform or plinth into a basic argument, or those that are in essence topography, as is the case of Villa Malaparte. All of them help to understand the importance of this concept not only as a natural determining factor, but also as a

rational starting point, fundamental in the design of the building from the outset.

The project’s indifference to the land on which it rests leaves a sterile and poor result, and has its origin in two causes, one conceptual, the other more instrumental: on the one hand, the culture of the autonomous ‘architectural object’, stripped of all physical or cultural dependence; and on the other, the absence of work from the section, which reveals a way of understanding the project not as a whole, with a spatial dimension, but rather as a development on floor plan, based on a strictly geometrical exercise, the result of a simplification or misinterpretation

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TOPOGRAPHY > Francisco Mangado

of modernity by which the diagram of uses would acquire, as tool, a substantial condition. The section is no longer used as much as starting point, and this reduces the capacity to appreciate or to generate, in the project process, topographies that are able to enrich it and to create spatial connections with the landscape or the city. If the topography – the most immediate physical fact the architect faces – which in the end determines the basic economic and structural systems of the project, is not kept in mind, how much space for contextualization, for true delivery, is left to architecture?

At the Ávila auditorium topography has an instrumental

character. It not only helps to moderate the presence of the volumes required in the brief and to generate interior sections and spaces, but it also becomes a means to establish a relationship with the reality of the place. A place where density, intensity, weight and attachment to the rocks are the essence of the urban landscape, and especially of the powerful historical landscape that the walls represent. The rocks blend into the building to the point that it does not rest on them, but is rather buried in the artificial cuts, suggesting yet another rocky outcrop.

ARCHITECTAPP

REACHING BEYOND THE GALLERY WALLS

ARCHITECTS, MAKE NOTE: IT MIGHT BE TIME TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH ONE OF THOSE "SOFTWARE ARCHITECTS"

81Now available for the iPad and iPhone in the iTunes app store!

While thousands scratch their heads each day figuring out how to effectively use the iPad

in business for more than launching birds and playing words (WWF is effective networking, right?), Francisco Mangado steps ahead with full embrace of the interactive handheld digital movement with his own iOS app.

The FRANCISCO MANGADO ARQUITECTO app goes beyond simply

replicating a website or transferring pdf documents to a handheld

device. The app expands on his current exhibition at the

Circulo de Bellas Artes de Madrid to exhibit his most

current works shown in the exhibit to a much

wider global audience. If you make it

past the flashing intro screen without

a seizure, then you will be greeted with an artistic plan of

the gallery itself and soon find yourself navigating through all of his work as if your were in the gallery itself. Here you

can breeze through completed works, competitions, Moleskine sketchbooks, a materials "timeline", and even a short video interview. The design for building materials is especially interesting as it takes the time to highlight the specifically chosen materials in his projects and exhibit them in built form.

Apps are still a new area to our profession and the general public. In general we are trained to understand two formats: Book and Web. Books scroll left to right and the Web is typically top to bottom. The underlying problem with the introduction of digital publications is that they have leaped into a hyper dynamic mess where a user cannot predict what lies beyond in any direction (up, down, left, right, scrolling image frame, video, etc).

Luckily, Mangado's app seems to lie somewhere in the middle of these paradigms, with enough architectural swagger to prove that they can consistently deliver a high quality product...whether it's a building, an exhibition, or digital iPad application.

COLOUR TRENDZThanks to Ashton Kutcher (or not), the colors of the 70's are coming back. Whether it's graphics, fonts, furniture, fashion, or fancy wall paints, consumers are being drawn to items with colors that mimic our economy’s "back to the basics" mentality. This means there is a plethora of earth and vegetative tones sprouting up everywhere! In addition to the fruit and veggie hues, prints and textured fabrics (think cow spots and burlap sacks) are suddenly in vogue. White is out...ivory is in. And if you're trying to "go green", you're in luck....it's one of the season's hottest colors!

TYPEFACE YOU MUST KNOWCappuccino Serif is this month’s typeface you must know. Just looking at this font makes us want to go play checkers in a coffee shop while sipping on a cup o’ joe. The very pronounced serifs on Cappuccino Serif have an old-worldly feel, yet the slender width of the letters themselves bring in a modern approach. The creator dubbed Cappuccino Serif “a friendlier, modern body type with old-style sensibilities.” We agree.

Grab yourself an orange mocha frappucino and download this typeface by visiting:http://keisans-bold.deviantart.com/art/Cappuccino-Serif-Font-0-563-191977781

But don’t forget to check out the creator’s note about usage!

in yourtypeface!

Column By:Jeremy & Aimée Miller

> This aint no decaf font!

Jeremy and Aimée are the graphic dynamos behind JAM Creative, a full service graphic design studio based out of New Orleans. They also run Shultzilla, a Nola inspired clothing company that features rad tees, hip bags, and cool accessories.www.ThisIsOurJam.com > www.Shultzilla.com

> The year of the gourd?

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Hannah AmbroseCONTRIBUTING EDITOR > Chicago, [email protected]

While applying for college, I had a tough choice to make. Do I pursue architecture or journalism after graduation? I stuck with the former, and am now entering my fourth year in Tulane University’s Master of Architecture program. Without much room in my schedule for writing or journalism courses, I found myself in what I dubbed “plan, section, elevation isolation.” Enter Tulane School of Architecture’s student publication, theCharrette, where I have been able to both celebrate and critique the exhilarating design whirlwind we have thrust ourselves into. Contributing to ARCHILEPSY is a chance for me to further grow as a writer and designer amidst a group of talented, driven young mentors.

THIS JUST IN

INTRODUCING THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE ARCHILEPSY TEAM!

ARCHILEPSY Editor in Chief Kevin Frank was recently named an Assistant Director of FORWARD, the Design Journal of the AIA National Associates Committee. This biannual publication strives to inform Associate AIA members about provocative issues facing the profession of architecture today.

AIA TAPS ARCHILPSY TALENT

85

Doctors save lives.

Architects .

theonepercent.orga program of publicarchitecture.org

Kevin powns the "green carpet" at USGBC Chicago's emerald Gala.

Dom participates in youth outreach services for the chicago aia chapter.

bryan escapes from alcatraz!

sweet handwoven leno scarf from Jenny's etsy store!

DOMinick boxes for charity at the chicago house of blues!

Breeze scopes out a potential new office space for the archilepsy editorial staff.

save it honey...

87

Who

this is

are We

Bryan Finnegan

Dominick Gallegos

Alexi Karavokiris

Breeze Glazer

Kevin Frank

ASSOCIATE EDITOR > New York, [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITOR > Los Angeles, [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITOR > Chicago, [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITOR > Chicago, [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITOR > New Orleans, [email protected]

EDITOR IN CHIEF > Chicago, [email protected]

Logical and rational, a gadget freak and avid outdoorsman.

Urbane and open-minded, in love with the culture of urbanism.

Virtual cheerleader for the profession, fervent fiber artist.

Artist by training, designer by profession, badass by nature.

Sustainability champion, living and breathing the City.

Architect, graphic designer, make-believe rockstar.

Jenny Pelc

roll credits

PHOTO CREDITS:Cover photo > Roland Halbe, www.rolandhalbe.deK. Frank editorial photo > Liz Grube, www.lyzdesign.blogspot.comSlinkachu installation photos > Slinkachu, www.slinkachu.comLittle People in the City book photo > Dominick GallegosLos Angeles article cover photo > Mikhail Tchkheidze, via 123 Royalty Free ImagesLos Angeles sky photo > Konstantin Sutyagin, via 123 Royalty Free ImagesLos Angeles top 10 photo > David Crockett, via 123 Royalty Free ImagesFrancisco Mangado architectural photography > Roland Halbe, www.rolandhalbe.deFrancisco Mangado portraits > Juan RodriguezFrancisco Mangado drawings and illustrations > courtesy of Francisco MangadoHannah Ambrose portrait > Wendy-Sue Ambrosein your typeface image > Jeremy Miller and Aimée Shultz, www.thisisourjam.comloop station > Jeffry Gugick, Pixel and Poly, LLC, www.pixelandpoly.com/nyc_in_hdr

THANK YOUS:Francisco Mangado Roland Halbe > Roland Halbe Architectural PhotographyCarmen Rubio and Francesca Fiorelli > Francisco MangadoSlinkachu

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COVERRolande Halbe provided us with the cover image this month...a tightly cropped photograph of the patinated bronze facade of Mangado's Archaelogical Museum in Vitoria, Spain. Practically ooozing raw materiality, we felt that this image depicted the actual substance of architecture. At the end of the day, timeless buildings shouldn't have to rely on hyperbole, or theoretical posturing...they should stand as physical, tangible manifestos to the potential of great design.

TYPEFACESThe ARCHILEPSY masthead and logo uses a custom designed font by Kevin Frank. Our standard serif paragraph text is Adobe Caslon Pro. We use Myriad Pro (made famous by Apple) for typical san-serif paragraph text. ITC Avante Garde Gothic is our go-to headline font. All other fonts are used with permission. We respect and <3 typographers.

LAYOUTThis magazine was designed in Adobe InDesign and hosted in its online format by ISSUU. The website was designed by Kevin Frank.

stay in touch INTERESTED IN CONTRIBUTING?

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colophon

ARCHILEPSYJune 2011Volume One, Issue FourSuggested Retail Price: still $0.00www.archilepsymagazine.comP.O. Box 902 Chicago, IL 60690© Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.Don’t even think about printing this WEBzine, you dirty tree killer.