What We’re Reading on the Web

As usual, we’ve read the Internet cover-to-cover and rounded up some of the most interesting reads out there for your perusal. Enjoy!

It’s pretty rare that architecture 1) makes headlines, and 2) is prominently featured on entertainment websites, but when Kanye West is involved even non-architects find architecture compelling and that’s just what happened this weekend. I would try and come up with something clever to say about his appearance but the Atlantic nails it simply by saying, “Kanye West Goes to Harvard, Delivers Manifesto on Architecture.” Regardless of what you think of him as an artist, it’s good to have a (as the article says) “promising champion of good design – with a voice that can travel far.”

While we’re talking Hollywood, the LA Times had an excellent piece on what we can learn from the Astrodome. The Houston sports arena will be demolished after a recent bond initiative to fund the historic stadium failed. (More about that here!) This article takes a look at what the world can learn about preservation, specifically as it pertains to saving other Modernist structures and “proactive advocacy.”

This article from FastCoExist shows off the latest in water collection design from Mumbai. Dutch designers from Mars Architects, a studio headed by Neville Mars, have created beautiful benches that act as a water collection mechanism. They’re currently placed in several parks around Mumbai and are an awfully chic way to solve the water shortage issue.

These incredible images of tree houses designed by architects from around the world are stunning, inventive, and will bring out the adventurer in anyone…except for those with a fear of heights. [via]

Time Magazine released their top 25 inventions of 2013 last week and amongst them were four architectural innovations! Check them out here. Maybe we don’t need Kanye to make the news after all – we’re on a list that includes the cronut!

Have a great weekend!