life's a beach 10/09/2011
I photographed an apartment in the Laurier Building, one of three Beach Towers situated at 1600 Beach Ave between Cardero and Bidwell in Vancouver's west end. Later that day I found out there was a rezoning application to develop the surrounding open spaces to include four new buildings to densify the area further, completely altering the integrity of the original design. Below are a few exterior shots I took while there. From the Beach Towers website: The City of Vancouver has recognized Beach Towers as the finest example of Le Corbusier inspired ‘towers-in-the-park’ residential architecture in the city, listing it as Category A in the Post-1940s Heritage Register. Proposed redevelopment would destroy this landmark. Encompassing four high-rise towers, ranging in height from 19 to 21 stories, Beach Towers is located on Vancouver’s waterfront overlooking English Bay. Built in 1965 and 1968, they house over 1000 renters seeking views, sunlight, and ocean breezes. This award-winning, category A heritage site is threatened by a rezoning application seeking to build four buildings between and around the existing towers. This development will obliterate the open spaces integral to the original, Modernist-era site design. Learn more at www.beachtowers.ca and watch a video with the original project architect, Ojars Kalns Beach Towers at English Bay is a cherished Vancouver landmark that combines high density living with park-like surroundings and ocean views. Three additional buildings are planned for this over-developed block. What's in it for the community? Nothing. The development will: block views of English Bay, add hundred's to the West End's second most dense site, build modern buildings on a mid-century landmark, without reference to its award-winning design, and add luxury waterfront apartments to a neighbourhood that needs affordable housing. What's in it for the developer? $7 million more in annual rental revenue. Visit http://www.beachtowers.ca for more info Add Comment urbanized out 09/20/2011
I've been looking forward to Urbanized for a looong time. I really enjoyed Gary Huswit's last two films, Helvetica and Objectified, I'm just bummed there isn't a screening date scheduled for Vancouver. reading room 09/19/2011
Taking a break from photo work involves reading articles about design.. installing picnurbia 08/30/2011
I had fun making a little time-lapse video of the installation process of PICNURBIA on August 9th, 2011 in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. From the Loose Affiliates website: PICNURBIA. The Yellow Picnic Wave. In the summer, Vancouverites leave their neighbourhoods and head to the beach, thereby inhabiting the edge of the city. PICNURBIA suggests an alternative to this exodus, creating an inland zone for people to gather and picnic in the heart of downtown. At PICNURBIA, the summer act of picnicking is heightened by an über–picnic-blanket. This undulating landscape provides spaces for people to hang out and play in alternative formations, providing a new experience of urban picnicking. PICNURBIA offers space for people to come together, relax and watch. Inserted into the urban downtown neighbourhood, a community where people already live, work and visit, the site is intended to become an easily inhabited summer zone, where people may gather to enjoy the long summer days. PICNURBIA is designed to offer an ‘on-the-block’ amenity where people can drop by on purpose or stumble upon more informally as they walk or bike home. This will establish PICNURBIA as a summer node, carried on mouth-to-mouth, “Let’s meet at PICNURBIA” Picnurbia is realised in collaboration with Viva Vancouver and is supported by SYNLawn, suppliers of PICNURBIA's vibrant yellow turf. Loose Affiliates | looseaffiliates.com Viva Vancouver | vancouver.ca/viva SYNLawn | synlawn.com/ music: This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody) - The Talking Heads filmed/edited by:krista jahnke kristajahnke.com new orleans is crumbling 06/04/2011
It's really sad and unfortunate that Modern Architecture isn't maintained and appreciated for its simplistic forms, forward-thinking ideals, innovation and engineering. It's usually the quietness and efficiency of these structures that gets ignored and over-looked. Someone needs to tell Brad Pitt that Phillis Wheatley Elementary School needs preserving before it's too late. Learning that New Orleans was once a hot bed for Modern Architecture makes me want to travel there even more to document what was and what is now. A Plea For Modernism from Evan Mather on Vimeo. The Phillis Wheatley Elementary School has served the historic New Orleans African-American neighborhood of Tremé since it opened in 1955. Celebrated worldwide for its innovative, regionally-expressive modern design – the structure sustained moderate damage during the storms and levee breach of 2005. Although it is scheduled for demolition in Summer 2011, DOCOMOMO Louisiana is advocating for its restoration via adaptive reuse. "A Plea For Modernism" is narrated by actor Wendell Pierce (“The Wire”, “Treme”). model architect 06/03/2011
Seeing this video about Bart Prince's creative and design process through models, makes me realize how much I miss building architectural models. Aside from photography, model-making was probably my favourite part of studio at Carleton University. So, uh, ya, anyone need help with making models? brutal russia 05/20/2011
French photographer Frédéric Chaubin's book CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed is a collection of photographs highlighting ninety buildings constructed twenty years before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Over several years he visited fourteen former republics photographing these futuristic and mammoth structures that look as if they're out of a sci-fi movie. What's interesting about this construction period is that there wasn't one style of architecture, demonstrating a surprising freedom in design after Stalin's strict controls in 1920s Constructivism which moved into Khrushchev's Modernism of the 1950-60s. "These extraordinary structures represented the dreams and hopes of a few innovators looking toward the future, a space-age era with endless possibilities while their country was collapsing around them." -- Liesl Bradner Frédéric Chaubin has been, for the last fifteen years, editor-in-chief of the French lifestyle magazine Citizen K. Since 2000 he has regularly featured works combining text and photography. The CCCP collection research was carried out from 2003 to 2010, through an intuitive and creative travel process. This project has been shown throughout the world, from Japan to the United States. --TASCHEN accidental sea 05/18/2011
Wow. This is amazing. There's so much I want to see in California. Next time I'm there will be for an extended period of time. Christopher Payne - revisted 05/05/2011
I wrote a post last year about the work of Christopher Payne and today found out about this presentation he made at the University of Florida's College of Medicine about his work. links: http://www.chrispaynephoto.com/asylum.html http://psychiatry.ufl.edu/education/residency-and-training/video/Payne.shtml toxic·city 04/27/2011
Check out this photo essay of graffiti in post-Chernobyl city, Pripyat by Alex Cheban on English Russia. The graffiti art as well as the urban decay are well documented.  ps. this might be one of my new favourite websites. | krista + blog = klog
> what the world needs now, is another blog <<<<<<<<<<  authorKrista Jahnke lives and works in Vancouver, BC and likes to ask archivesJanuary 2012 categoriesAll   |
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