Glorious Ski Jump

Anders Malmø’s dog art

My wife and I have a little black puppy, a furry bundle of mischief called Selma Lou. Perhaps one day we’ll have her immortalized in an artwork by Anders Malmø. The Norwegian artist has a thing for mutts. And it’s very fun thing indeed. Read more

Röyksopp’s This Must Be It video

For the video for their latest single, This Must Be It, Norwegian uber-producers Röyksopp ditched the futuristic stylings and went back to their … ah … roots. Or at least, the roots of a motley collection of tribal dancers. Interesting.

Kings of Convenience’s 24-25

I saw Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience play the other week in New York. As a long time fan of the group, this was a much anticipated show. And while I was a little disappointed that they opened the set playing their entire new album — Declaration of Dependence — from beginning to end (which no one had been able to hear yet), and not any of their earlier material, there were some truly beautiful songs amongst it all that have quickly become oft-repeated favorites. At the top of that list is this typically wistful and melancholic track, 24-25.

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