Architects Datafile (ADF) – August 2019

6NEWS

WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK ADF AUGUST 2019

Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto are the

founders and principals of New York

practice RUR Architecture. Their new

lavishly-produced hardback volume

‘Projects and Their Consequences,’

published by Princeton Architectural Press is

described as a “genre-blending monograph

presenting 30 years of the firm’s work.

The 35-page, fully illustrated tome is,

say the publishers, “autobiographical,

technical, prophetic and meditative.” The

book certainly does present a “unique view

of the intersections of the visionary, the

speculative and the practical work of

architecture and its relationship to art and

culture.”

A total of 15 key projects are presented,

“tracing innovative, multidisciplinary

investigations of form, structure, technique

and planning.” However there are also

interviews and essays, alongside 400

original drawings, collages and

paintings. “Multiple, overlapping

perspectives describe projects that vary

widely in scope and approach.”

These include large-scale infrastructure

studies for the East River corridor and

Hudson Yards in Manhattan, the Alishan

Railway in Taiwan, and schemes for

cultural institutions including New York’s

New Museum, the Children’s Museum of

Pittsburgh, and the University of Applied

Arts Vienna.

“Carefully conceived” smaller projects

are documented too, from an imaginative

water garden, to the Sagaponack House in

New York. There are also “thought-

provoking textual projects,” i.e. narrative

works that “blur the boundaries of art and

architecture,” such as a “meditation on

language in the context of the Globe

Theatre.” Reiser is also principal of

architecture at Princeton University,

and Umemoto has taught at numerous

institutions. They jointly authored ‘Atlas of

Novel Tectonics’ in 1996.

Projects and Their Consequences (priced

at £45) is certainly of interest not only to

those who are keen to know more about

what motivates this firm, and the thinking

behind their projects. It’s also

an intriguing demonstration of the

multi-dimensional nature of architecture

itself (as well as running a practice), from

the problem-solving to the highly artistic.

Projects and Their Consequences

Medical Architecture has secured

planning consent for a new Fracture

Clinic at the Princess Alexandra Hospital

in Harlow. The new facility will enable

the orthopaedic department to expand the

range of services provided by the hospital.

Medical Architecture co-designed the

layout with clinic consultants who

preferred consult and exam rooms laid

out in a ‘butterfly’ configuration, with

an exam room either side of a single

consultation room. “This arrangement

provides an efficient modern clinical

environment to support excellent NHS

acute services,” said the architects.

Bob Wills, director at Medical

Architecture commented, “This modest

project illustrates how good planning,

architecture and technical design can

deliver facilities which expand clinical

capacity and improve operational

efficiency in a complex hospital setting.

Patients and staff will benefit from

this new purposeful, accessible and

well-ordered building.”

Rose Frawley, senior technologist at

Medical Architecture said, “Forging a new

relationship with the Princess Alexandra

Hospital Trust, we have worked closely

with clinicians aiming to provide a new

standard of excellence for the hospital. By

restoring the Fracture Clinic services to

Harlow, a bright, therapeutic new

environment has been developed with an

emphasis on quality and efficiency

through good design.”

Go-ahead for Medical Architecture’s

fracture clinic at Princess Alexandra

HEALTHCARE

BOOK

AWARDS

Resturant & Bar Awards

03 October, London

http://www.restaurantandbardesignawards.com

Architecture MasterPrize

14 October, Spain

http://www.architectureprize.com

EXHIBITIONS

Open House

21 - 22 September, London

http://www.openhouselondon.org.uk

FESTIVAL

World Architectue Festival

04 - 06 December, Amsterdamn

http://www.worldarchitecturefestival.com

SEMINARS

Cost Effective Sustainable Design Solutions

05 September, Birmingham

http://www.architecture.com/whats-on

TRADE SHOWS

100% Design

18 - 21 September, London

http://www.100percentdesign.co.uk

Offsite Expo

24 - 25 September, Coventry

http://www.offsite-expo.co.uk

Decorex International

06 - 09 October, London

http://www.decorex.com

EVENTS