Transplant Community

Quiksilver’s Limited Collection

Quiksilver’s Limited Collection, a premium extension of the main Quiksilver line featuring a collaboration with Disruptive Pattern Material and Hardy Blechman of Maharishi, debuted in Spring of 2007. The latest collection combines a sophisticated, minimalist aesthetic with nautical and military influences.

Wardruna

I may not have a drop of Viking blood in me, but when I hear bands like Wardruna, I feel like lighting a fire and breaking out the cask of mead. A side project of occasional Gorgoroth drummer Kvitrafn and featuring Gorgoroth frontman Gaahl on vocals, the band attempts to capture the lost sounds of pre-Christian Norway, generating an ambient, folk-based sound that invokes pagan spirits and Nordic gods. Many black metal bands have put out acoustic albums, but the absence of guitars and the use of goat horns and other such traditional instruments sets this apart from other pagan folk projects.

77BOADRUM, a documentary by Jun Kawaguchi

77 BOADRUM, directed by Jun Kawaguchi, documents the now-legendary 7/7/07 performance in Brooklyn, New York, by the iconic Japanese band The Boredoms, along with … wait for it … 77 guest drummers. We spoke with Kawaguchi and asked him how difficult it was getting the audio sounding right with so much percussion going on: ‘It was just like doing 7777 pieces of a puzzle! It was the hardest, but also the happiest time ever. I wanted to show this “once in a lifetime” event to everyone who could not be there. And I wanted to show everyone how The Boredoms is the most special group in the world’. Read more

Floating House

This house has many facets that make it an intriguing example. First of all, it is a very aesthetically pleasing project with the use of light horizontal timbers and a clean pitched roof. Designed by MOS, an interesting design collective based in America, the secret to the Floating House is that it floats on a structure of steel pontoons. The house rises and falls with the changing waters and is frozen in place depending on the season. The steel pontoons were constructed first and towed to the lake outside the contractor’s factory and then the house was built atop of it. When finished it was towed to its position, anchored and enjoyed in its unique position. Finally, it forms a bridge between the land and an island. Wonderful!

Torre Bicentenario

Dutch uber-firm OMA, headed by Rem Koolhaas, has created this concept in Mexico City to symbolize the coming two hundred years of Mexico’s independence. There are many layers of symbolism in this building, from Mayan pyramids to which part of the building controls the park and which part controls the city, to the fact that the bulge of the building is below the centre height, and that it all happens on a relatively small footprint. Most of all, in this building there is a barely contained energy that seems near to release and it may be that this is what Torre Bicentenario represents.

Danish Building Bridge

The Danes are renowned for their considered and subtle design. However, in these times of change, they must feel they need something with this selection of a bridge building as the winner of a recent architectural competition in Denmark. The American architect Steven Holl designed this building with a pedestrian bridge that links two sides of the harbour in the distinctly low-rise Copenhagen. Read more