Thinking "Architecture in the Alps ≠ Modern Architecture"? - Surprise!

If you by chance were thinking "Architecture in the Alps ≠ Modern Architecture" - you would be in for a big surprise.

Every time I go to Munich – I just came back – I'm astonished how much modern architecture is put into place in this area, public and private. Actually, I don't stop and document interesting construction often enough. And it pops up not only in Munich, a cosmopolitan city with a metro population of  1.49mm.

No – you see interesting examples of Modernism in small villages in farm areas, which are very much imprinted by typical alpine architecture influenced by functionality (i.e., an integrated barn, roof overhangs to protect stacked firewood from snow, etc).

But perhaps not by accident was this beautiful pre-alpine area (locally referred to as "Das Blaue Land") home to then-radical modernism before: The "Blaue Reiter" school of painters, formed in 1911.

A few examples observed over the last weeks:

(from top: Linde HQ, Pullach; Buchheim museum, Berg; Kindergarden, Feldafing; traditional Bavarian house and modern construction directly opposite, Feldafing; Highschool, Grünwald; Elementary School expansion, Starnberg) Photos: Kaiser

Have you been in the Munich area? Architecturally, what did you notice?

Have a fine Labor Day weekend!

To a nice relaxing Labor Day weekend!

Photo: tckaiser

NC Museum of Art, Raleigh

Classic pose: drawing a Rodin sculpture

On my third visit of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh last week, I had the chance to see both the new and old building as well as the sculpture garden.

Origins

The NCMA opened in 1956 as the first major museum collection in the country to be formed by State legislation and funding. In 1967, the current site was chosen for a new building, as the museum had outgrown its previous location.

Designed by Edward Durrell Stone of New York and Holloway-Reeves Architects of North Carolina, the building on Blue Ridge Road opened in 1983. Stone used spatial experimentation with pure geometric form for the museum, by using a square as a basic unit and designing the entire site by manipulating the square form.

After Stone's death in 1978, the exterior was changed from white marble to red brick.

In the East Building

Expansion (West Building), east elevation

2010 Expansion

In April 2010 the museum opened the $72m 127,000-square-foot (11,800 m2) West Building, designed by Phifer and Partners. The single-story structure, clad with anodized aluminum panels that are canted back two degrees, and surrounded by sculpture gardens and pools, was created to feature the museum’s permanent collection as well as more than 100 new works of art, acquired on the occasion of the expansion.


Offerings

Erich Heckel, Tiergarten im Herbst

The NCMA offers a collection of art spanning more than 5,000 years from antiquity to the present, an amphitheater for outdoor performances, and a variety of celebrated exhibitions and public programs. It features more than 40 galleries as well as more than a dozen major works of art.

Highlights include a gift of 30 Rodin sculptures and work by artists Roxy Paine, Ursula von Rydingsvard, El Anatsui, Jaume Plensa, Jackie Ferrara, Ellsworth Kelly, and David Park. The project also transformed the older East Building into a center for temporary exhibitions, education and public programs, public events, and administrative functions.

Museum park

The nation’s largest museum park with 164-acres (0.66 km2) includes walking paths, bike trails, ecological projects conceived with artists, and site-specific commissioned works of art in a rolling green landscape.







Impressions

The contrast between old and new (east and west) building is startling. While the expansion shows  the architecture and (mostly) light qualities museum visitors today would expect from contemporary museum design, the old building in its current form (or what was accessible on a recent Sunday afternoon) looks dark, a bit cavernous and somehow forlorn. It reminded me of a favourite tool, forgotten in the shed.

Main lobby; wall-mounted: "Doors of Jerusalem" by Jaume Plensa

What really caught my eye is the very broad palette of art styles and periods at the NCMA – everything from Egyptian art via Rodin sculptures (a lot!) and some lovely Germans (Schmitt-Rottluff, Heckel, Richter), to famous Americans such as Motherwell.

But amidst this plethora of styles and periods, I was not able to recognise a defined focus. Perhaps the focus is "A Bit of Everything" as a general overview; a subject my local friend and I discussed at length but came to no conclusion. An interesting museum nevertheless, and certainly worth visiting.


If you go

Admission to the permanent collections is free, to the special exhibits usually not.

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday. 9:00 - 17:00, Fridays - 21:00, Sundays 10:00 - 17:00. The museum's lovely Iris restaurant is open for lunch Tuesday-Saturday, dinner on Friday, and brunch on Sunday.

2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC 27607, (919) 839-626, http://ncartmuseum.org

At the Iris restaurant; it could be art. Who knows?

S. Florida Homes Sales, 2nd Quarter 2014

It's time for us number-geeks to gather, isn't it? Let's do it:

For the first two quarters of 2014, absolute inventory of Single Family Homes (condos and townhouses are not subject of my data) remained glued to the table at just over 17,000 homes for sale, with a monthly variance of less than 400 units.

But the absorption – the rate of sales – increased every month this year, so much so that relative inventory shrunk from 6.3 months in January to 4.3 in June (relative inventory means: if no homes came to market, in 4.3 months at the current rate there would be nothing left to sell. A balanced market is said to linger around six months).

The blue curve shows the inventory volatility over the last three years very nicely:

SE Florida Single Family Home sales data, June 2011 to June 2014, ©tckaiser

Asking prices went up too, big surprise: from a median $378,000 in January to $398,000 in June, though the movement happened in the first quarter, while the second barely twitched.

Noticeable is an increase in selling prices: from a median of $251,000 in the always-lame-January (only few people think of real estate between Thanksgiving and New Year when January deals are signed) to a much more robust $274,000 in June.

That’s a solid nine percent increase over six months, and seven percent year over year. The culprit: lack of good and affordable inventory and a tighter market at the bottom price end.

If you know and like my “Disconnect” index – what sellers want and buyers are willing to pay:

That one sank. Two percentage points from the first quarter 2014 and a hefty 11 percent from the second quarter 2013. It seems sellers did not over-stretch buyers' willingness and wallet, as both became aware of a more limited selection.

One oddity I can not explain: the median duration of houses on the market - from hitting the MLS to contract – has hardly blinked in the last twelve months.

That goes against instinct when looking at dwindling inventory, but it's reality. Maybe you have an explanation?

Thoughts on Independence Day

On Tuesday, I congratulated my Canadian friends and clients on Confederation Day, Canada's Day of Independence from the British. Today we in the US are celebrating it.

It is a major Holiday, not because all supermarkets are closed, which is unusual enough, but because of the significance for this country, just as Canada Day is for our Canadian friends.

By coincidence or by design, today I also wrote a former prospective client who had acted rather unprofessionally: after a flurry of important emails from him, super-urgent phone calls – often several a day – and a property search that couldn't wait one single second, all of a sudden: nothing. No more response, no "thanks, not interested any more".

Until today, when he asked to be taken off my email list. Which of course I did, but I also added a cool-ish (but polite) comment about his unprofessional behaviour.

Silly of me? Perhaps. Did I write it to make me feel better? Nope.

But I strongly believe one shouldn't offer the other cheek: bad behavior, tolerated, breeds more bad behavior.

Luckily, my business is successful enough to allow me to pick my clients, to voice my opinion, to assert my independence.

What about you – Can you, do you, have you?

Happy Fourth to y'all,

Tobias

Fireworks over Miami Bay, shot from a bobbing sailboat. ©tckaiser

Economic boost for Miami through EB-5 designation; Matsumoto Prize

Miami to receive economic boost through EB-5 program

Miami has received an EB-5 Regional Center for Foreign Investment designation, making it easier – and more attractive – for foreigners to invest in South Florida.

The City of Miami has received approval for designation as an EB-5 Regional Center for Foreign Investment under the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services immigrant investment visa program.

By utilizing the EB-5 investment program, foreign capital investment in Miami is expected to increase, which in turn will likely translate into the creation of thousands of new jobs and economic growth for both the city and the entire South Florida region.

Mayor Tomas Regalado said the approval by the USCIS is a “tremendous vote of confidence”.

The program allows the city to assist foreign nationals who inject capital in to the U.S. economy by granting them special immigration status. To be accepted into the program, investors must spend at least $500,000 and prove in two years that they created 10 jobs.

Please contact me for more details if you are interested.
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Matsumoto Prize for Modern Architecture

The George Matsumoto Prize is a unique design competition, focusing on Modernist houses in North Carolina. It features a jury of internationally-known award-winning architects, and an online People's Choice Vote. 

Which is where you come into play.

Matsumoto was one of the founding faculty members of the NCSU School of Design, who created some of North Carolina's most well-known and well-loved Modernist houses.

The Matsumoto Prize engages the public in the value of architecture, and demonstrates the unique talent of exceptional Modernist architects and designers in North Carolina. 

Voting is open until 5 pm Eastern on Sunday, July 13. You do not have to live in NC to vote, but you better have an opinion about modern architecture (good taste doesn't hurt). 

I participate every year and can tell you it really is fun - so head over to the Matsumoto Prize page, take your time to evaluate the entries and cast your vote – it does count! 

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Photo: Lebda Guest House by Michael Kersting

Radical Punk Architect Strikes Fear in Heart of Peaceful Raleigh

At least that's what seemed to be going on at first glance, when I learned about an architect's design for his own residence in this lovely city.

Then I came across this piece by Paul Goldberger.

Mr. Goldberger, Pulitzer-price winner and noted architectural critic – ex-NYT, among other publications, now Vanity Fair – offers a cool-headed view of the debate: about an unassuming ground-up construction by respected modernist architect Louis Cherry, far from being radical or even polarising, but obviously still pissing off a neighbour (and fellow real estate agent; how embarrassing).

The plat de résistance:

Photo ©Louis Cherry

And – did you drop your ipad in the loo because of this flag-burning acid punk outcast design?

I didn't think so. Me neither.

Looks rather civil, or to quote Goldberger "modernism on its best behavior". (Judging from his published portfolio, I'd be elated to own a Cherry one day).

But it is obviously still radical enough to have neighbor Gail Wiesner object to the house after the design was approved by the Raleigh Historic Development Commission and the building permit was issued.

After the permit was issued and construction began, not before.

Luckily, so far Mrs. Wiesner did not succeed in getting the house razed. Though at some point she was able to temporarily stop all construction, while piling up substantial legal fees for the owners who have to defend a permit they legally obtained. Where are we here?

Shame on the city for even contemplating to retract an existing permit for a conforming construction well under way, but even more shame on Gail Wiesner and her petty little ways.

So let's hope the Cherrys will be able to finish and enjoy their home.

As for Mrs. Wiesner – with such an eyesore opposite her house, perhaps she feels like moving far away? Probably an ideal solution.

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A detailed time-line of events can be found on the website of NC Modernist Houses, as well as a link to the Legal Defense Fund for the Cherrys, if you are inclined to help.  – Hat-tip to Leilani for the story.