Photographer Julius Shulman Dies

Above are two of the most famous photographs in archives of architecture. Both were shot by the photographer, Julius Shulman. Shulman, the legendary architectural photographer, died July 15th at the seasoned age of 98. His images brought fame to a number of mid-20th century Modernist architects and made him a household name in his time.

His home town of Los Angeles provides this obituary. It includes a video of Shulman and a collection of his photographs plus a Q&A with him done in 1994. May he rest in peace.

Quote for the Day

"Study Hall" at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan,
by Junya Ishigami, who created Japan's installation at the architecture
exhibition in Venice. (junya.ishigami+associates)

The Venice Biennale's International Architecture Exhibition is in full swing. Here is a brief review of the goings on. The theme of this year's exhibition is "Out There: Building Beyond Architecture." This coupled with the text over the entrance hall, "Architecture is not building. Architecture is about building," set the tone for reported "feast" of design.

The article ends with a thought about the rich and inexhaustible coupling of traditional and modern ideals. Catalonian architect Victor Lopez Cotelo proposed that the future lies

in combining rural and the urban, the spontaneous and planned, the natural and the built, the pre-existent and what is to come, so that memory finds its rightful place in the present.

A tall and inspiring order.

Cosmic Communist Constructions

The Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) has put together a show of "Cosmic Communist Constructions." The 48 photographs, represent buildings shot over a five year period by French photographer, Frederic Chaubin. The buildings, constructed behind the iron curtain during the 1970s and 1980s, represent a treasure of little known Modernist architecture. One building is so unique, it was once erroneously designated a missile silo by American intelligence operations.

These images show creative freedom from a nation usually thought to be devoid of imaginative work,” said Gregory Dreicer, Vice President of Exhibitions and Programs. “They are comparable in imaginative force to the designs of Bertrand Goldberg and Harry Weese.”

Many of the structures featured in this show are threatened with demolition. We know a lot of you are out there on the road for work and/or pleasure. If you are near Chicago, put some dazzle in your trip and take in this surprising exhibition.