5 March 2010

Architectural Heritage Auction

London, South Kensington - Christies auctioneers will hold the sale of Architectural Heritage: The Adrian and Suzy Puddy Collection on March 10 at 2pm. Viewing is the 6 - 7 March 10am - 4pm, 8 March 9am -  7.30pm, 9 March 9am - 5pm. For further information please contact Anna Evans 020 7752 3374 aevans@christies.com.

Christie's catalogue [source]

End of an era

Bath, Somerset - Walcot Reclamation was started in 1976 and ended in February 2010 with an auction sale (see last week's eSalvo) but some of its spirit was captured forever by photographer Heidi Anne Morris. So those who are nostalgic for its glorious past might find this brings a little tear to your eye (or not). Thanks Heidi!

Yesteryear's most extravagant fads for pennies

San Antonio, USA - "Salvage yards are a great place to pick up yesteryear's most extravagant fads for pennies," said architect Arrol Gellner. "There you'll find a whole galaxy of one-time architectural must-haves, from stoneware sinks, pinstriped toilets and gold-plated faucets to rocket-ship fireplaces, wet-bar cabinets and heaven knows what else. At one time, somebody somewhere paid dearly for each of these moldy castoffs in order to be at the forefront of architectural fashion."

San Antonio Express-News [source]

Extreme demolition in Nottingham

Nottingham, UK - Footage of the demolition of Nottingham Victoria Station during the 1960s. 

Best ever Listed Property Show

Olympia, London - The 2010 show closed it’s doors at the end of the two day event (20 – 21 February), with over 35 per cent increase in attendance to 5,743. The number of exhibitors rose by 20 per cent.

The Listed Property Show

Bangladesh school made from the earth

Trudrapur Dinajpur, Bangladesh - Hand-built in four months by architects, local craftsmen, pupils, parents and teachers, this primary school in rudrapur, a village in north west bangladesh, uses traditional methods and materials of construction but adapts them in new ways. The traditional local materials are bamboo for constructions and earth for walls and foundations, straw for the roofs and jute rope for lashing constructions. Earthbound materials such as loam and straw are combined with lighter elements like bamboo sticks and nylon lashing to create a environmentally sustainable foundation.

SalvoWEB blog

Designboom [source]

Chinese artists protest over demolition

Beijing, China - It has been reported that about twenty Chinese artists including outspoken activist Ai Weiwei have protested in central Beijing over the demolition of an art zone in the east of the capital. Chinese land seizures are widely acknowledged to involve corrupt officials keen to secure real estate profits.

Ai Weiwei is the artist who helped design the birds nest stadium at the Beijing Olympics - "I've already forgotten about it. I turn down all the demands to have photographs with it, it is part of a pretend smile of bad taste," he now says.

SalvoWEB blog

AFP [source]

Tantalising Tomlin at Ecobuild

London, UK - Ecobuild was bereft of any sign of reclaimed building material at Earl's Court this week, but Masco's Steve Tomlin gave a rabble-rousing twenty minute rant in support of all things reclaimed at one of the trade seminars on Tuesday.

Aside from the more normal 'reclaim and reuse, don't recycle and destroy' message, Steve mentioned the work he was doing for a major UK retailer on sustainable building practices to encourage future reuse when building newbuild stores. 

"I can't divulge too much," he said, "but they have now started barcoding every item in their newbuilds, including things like the steel frame members, with its specification and provenance, using microchips." Being contractually sworn to secrecy, it was unclear exactly what this depth of chain of custody was designed to achieve. A member of the audience asked whether this was forward planning for reuse by the store owner, or whether it was intended that this information would make it easier to dismantle and resell the components to a third party in thirty years time. The answer was noncommittal, we suspect for commercial reasons, which was intriguing and tantalising to some present.

Reuse of the week:

Plastic bottle palace made from thousands of discarded drink bottles.

Puerto Iguazu, Argentina - The Santa Cruz family have created their very own plastic bottle palace, constructed from thousands of PET plastic bottles which were heading for improper disposal. It is portable, simple and creative and “a tool for promoting ecological and social responsibility” said Mr Santa Cruz. The walls, columns, beds, couches, coffee tables, and even an outdoor garden playhouse are all made from discarded drink bottles.

Inhabitots [source]

SALVO FAIR 2010, 25th - 27th June, BOOK NOW!

Next Auction
13 March 2010 Modern Design