I am sure we are all familiar with this image - appearing as it does in the Old Testament, (The Book of the Skyscraper, Chapter 2 Verse15 to be precise)

For those yet to partake of the delerium, it was taken in 1931 at the Beaux-Art Costume Ball and features a bunch of New York’s architects of the time dressed as zoning a setback controls with skyscrapers for hats. That’s William van Allen in the centre outshing the rest with his spectacular deco leather and timber veneer smock.

In a similar, albeit slightly slicker, slightyl corporate, vein the IIDAM in Boston holds a yearly fashion where interior design firms partner up with suppliers and dress up as furniture.

This year, first prize went to the Gensler/Knoll team for a wonderful rendition of Saarinen Tulip chairs, table and Corb Vase:

Kneeling, the chairs skirts became saarinen bases and perched around the table they made quite the setting.

Second prize went to the Eames Eiefel chair rendered in plastic coat hangers:

It goes without saying that interior designers and furniture reps are always going to be better costume makers than architects - their tools are often softer and stretchier than ours. While some have mastered the art of the pliable, the supple and the parametric-non-uniform-splineal-splendour, our craft is generally one of hard edges. Thus, when clothing is attempted there is always an element of improbability and the ridiculous attached.

Which of course leads to CARPARCH - DARCH’s Dress Ups Christmas Party. It will be in the carpark of Tusculum, the venue for our first slidenight, on Friday 2nd December.

The Dress code is White Paper so get stapling, folding, ripping, creasing, taping, holepunching, scissoring, scrunching today, because it is only three weeks away…

All drinks and food are covered in the ticket and there will be prizes for best dressed etc.
Click here now to download an order form.

Previous Darch_DARCH+10×10x10+REMARCH

DARCH is holding a forum - REMARCH - to continue the discussion on the East Darling Harbour Competition and its role in the future of Sydney’s working harbour foreshore. Part of the problem with the competition was that the architects were brought in too early in the process - before the Sydney Ports Strateegic Plan 2020 had been reviewed, the myriad of infrastructural and public transportural woes had been untangles, before an appropriate use for the site had been considered and before an adequate brief could be written. To this end DARCH has assembled a panel of pollies, activists and architects to discuss and dissect the problem under the watchful eye of eminent silk, Malcolm Craig QC.

+
Entry including drinks is free for RAIA members and only $5 for non-members. The last DARCH event was massive, so make sure you RSVP as seats are limited this time around.

++
If you have any issues you would like addressed or specific questions for the panel, email them to DARCH and they will be addressed on the night.

+++
Download a PDF of the flyer! Print it out!

++++
Previous EDH gear on gravestmor: Entry. The shortlist. Other entries. Open letter to the Jury. Slidenights.

Last Thursday night went smashingly thankyou very much - the carpark at Tusculum was packed with a little over two hundred people and the ten presenters each showed some wonderful images.

There are a bunch more photos over at my flickr page and stay tuned for more DARCH events as they are dreamt up.

This is a short reminder to all that our DARCH 10×10x10 slidenight is on this Thursday night at Tusculum. All the details are still here.

The ten showing slides are:

• Brett Boardman - Lapsed architect, practicing photographer guru
• Mark Dytham - Tokyo based wunderkind, coming to you via satelite/whatever
• Madeleine Hetherton - Architect now filmaker
• Tim Horton - Architect/provocatuer
• Eoghan Lewis - Likes to mine, elevate the everyday I am told
• Genevieve Lilley - Ex- Chipperfield, now jeweller
• Jesse McNicol - Architect and planner/Parramatta Rd, Sydney Olympic Park Rescue Mission.
• Antonia Pesenti - Ex Jean Nouvel’s office, now based in Sydney
• Adam Russell - Architect
• Sophie Seck - Architect and RAIA

As I said before, you should all come along. Even if you are in New Orleans. You can still get a flight. Its not that far.

A little while ago a group of us, spurred on by Tim, started up the young architects committee at the RAIA. The Institute currently has a noticeable lack of recently graduated youth in its ranks and it is our agenda to change that. I am not sure how we will do this but we have called ourselves DARCH and we are going to start with the humble ol’ slide night.

It will be at Tusculum and named 10×10x10, it will be a rapid fire slide night. 10 presenters will each present 10 slides each with a maximum of 10 seconds per slide with drinks before, during and after. If you know how to do complex maths, like I do, you will have already figured out that there is a much higher ratio of drinking and talking time to politely watching slide time. I will put up a list of the 10 folk doing the powerpoint thing closer to the date, when we have them all confirmed.

Below is our suitably grim/We-Are-The-Business invite:

It is on the 21st of July so if you are:

• a) Sydney. Or Australia for that matter…
• b) Hardcore
• c) A youngish architect
• d) Whatever

Then come along. It should be fun.