Dezeen Wire: a London architect has launched a website, named Arch Leaks, where architecture professionals are invited to anonymously comment on the environments of offices in which they’ve worked.
Initial comments have been made about the studios of Foster + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, David Chipperfield Architects and Herzog & de Meuron.
See them all at www.archleaks.com
Dezeen Wire: architect Frank Gehry discusses how the success of the Bilbao Guggenheim sparked an inevitable backlash against iconic architecture in an interview with architecture critic Rowan Moore, but says expression is still a fundamental quality of his buildings – Observer
You can see more stories about Frank Gehry here, including the rippled steel skyscraper he completed in New York last year.
Dezeen Wire: the folding electrical plug designed by Royal College of Art graduate Min-Kyu Choi for his graduation in 2009 has gone into production and will be on sale in the UK from next week under the name Mu. More »
Dezeen Wire: French footballer Thierry Henry has submitted plans to demolish and rebuild his £5.9 million home in north London to accomodate a four-storey-high fish tank – Daily Mail
The existing house was designed in 1999 by British architect Sir Richard MacCormac, founder of British firm MJP Architects. You can see a couple of projects by MJP on Dezeen here.
Dezeen Wire: Alex Maclean and Caroline Matthews, formerly co-founder and MD of acclaimed design firm Airside, have announced the launch of their new studio, to be called Rupert Ray.
Airside are to close next month – more details in our earlier Dezeen Wire story.
The new company will open in April working on branding, graphic design, illustration, animation and live action in London. Rupert Ray is named after a historical figure who happens to be distantly related to both Maclean and Matthews. More »
Dezeen Wire: the Royal Institute of British Architects‘ Future Trends Survey for January indicates that larger architecture practices in the UK are more confident about future workloads than medium and small-sized studios. More »
Dezeen Wire: London architect Mike Rundell of MRJ Rundell + Associates has revealed in a local meeting that he is working with artist Damien Hirst on proposals to build over 500 sustainable homes in Devon, England - North Devon Journal
Dezeen Wire: a documentary about controversial Chinese artist Ai Weiwei filmed by American journalist Alison Klayman is now screening at the Berlin International Film Festival. The movie follows the artist from 2009, when he was preparing for the Sunflower Seeds installation at Tate Modern, up until his release from 81 days of detention. More »
Dezeen Wire: American musician Moby has started a personal blog documenting architecture in Los Angeles. The artist says it’s “a daily (or weekly) collection of some of the random and strange and banal and beautiful architecture I see” - see it for yourself here.
Other musicians interested in architecture and design include Ice Cube, who was filmed explaining how architects Charles and Ray Eames inspire him, and Kanye West, who announced plans to launch a design collaborative earlier this year.
Dezeen Wire: British architecture critic Jonathan Glancey has announced his departure from newspaper the Guardian to pursue a freelance career. In a departing article published on Sunday the writer summarises his favourite buildings and stories from a fifteen-year stint with the publication – the Guardian.
You can see our pick of Glancey’s most interesting articles here.
Dezeen Wire: the Cité Radieuse housing estate in Marseille, one of the most famous works by Swiss architect Le Corbusier and the first building in his influential Unité d’Habitation project, has been damaged by fire in a blaze that began in a first floor apartment yesterday afternoon - Guardian
Dezeen Wire: Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will collaborate on the design of this year’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in Kensington Gardens, London, which will tunnel underground. More »
Dezeen Wire: architect Zaha Hadid is to design new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq in Baghdad. More »
Dezeen Wire: architect and structural engineer Charles Walker has been appointed head of architecture at the Royal College of Art in London, while designer Ab Rogers will become head of interior design. More »
Dezeen Wire: design show Designjunction 2012 will take place at the Sorting Office, 21-31 New Oxford Street, London WC1 from 19 to 23 September during the London Design Festival and the organisers are now accepting applications from exhibitors. More »