I have been subscribing to the Arch Daily Blog for quite a while now, but they went way up in my good books today when they featured the Richmond Olympic Oval, the 2010 speed skating venue, including the photos I took for Cannon Design Architecture.  Kudos to Arch Daily for featuring the amazing Richmond Oval today, on the opening day of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.Check out the Arch Daily blog post including photos by me, and other great photographers, and subscribe to their rss feed to get a little bit of architectural inspiration every day.  If you're lucky enough to be in town for the Olympics,  go and check out this incredible building, or come and visit us in Vancouver after the 2010 craziness has subsided.

It's been a surprisingly busy January for me.  I'm not complaining, busy is good, especially at this time of the year, when it's usually snoozeville around here architectural photography - wise.  With  2010 Olympic Games a few days away, believe it or not, I'm hoping for a bit of a rest.  You see, I live in Squamish, which is about exactly half way between Vancouver, and Whistler, so I pretty much have an Olympic frenzy on all sides.  That means that traffic will be chaos, and I will likely be better off staying at home to prevent a road-rage induced stroke.

I will probably spend a few days on the Olympic buses, visiting some of the Whistler Live! and Vancouver Live! venues, checking our the international pavilions and free concerts.  I can't let the party completely pass me by, but I will likely spend most of the Olympics editing the architectural photography I have been shooting over the last month.  Then, when the 2010 chaos, and fun is over, breathe a sigh of relief, and get beck to work.

Some of my recent shoots have been Olympic related, I took photos for the Ontario Pavilion, and shot some hospitality spaces for Coca-Cola.  I have also been busy with a few other cool architecture projects including Tyax Wilderness Resort, and the Bank of Montreal.  I will post some details of all of my recent shoots soon (after the images have been delivered to the clients!)  but here are a few tidbits so you can see what I have been up to recently.

Ontario House 2010 Olympic Pavilion - Hariri Pontarini Architects

Heli-Ski Chalet at Tyax Wilderness Resort

Olympic Hospitality space - Designed by Imagicorps

Bank of Montreal Vancouver - Iredale Group Architects

More Photos and some Behind the Scenes coming soon!  GO CANADA GO!!!

I just came across this great little video.  Apparently some folks a Volkswagon are working on a project called The Fun Theory, trying to get people to behave differently by making their environment interactive. Project one was the "Piano Stairs" in Stockholm.  Check it out.

Aside from the fact that VW seems to have mastered the purpose built viral video, this project touches on so many other points.  Not the least of which is that our environments affect our lives.  Now, I'm not saying that we should need a piano on every set of stair to keep us from getting lazy, but an example like this supports the growing trend for Architects, and Designers to really consider how people will interact with the spaces they are creating.

I take the stairs most times. Usually (and especially in airports) it's faster because there is so much less traffic, and I don't mind the exercise. But, if these stairs were on my regular commute, I would be practicing a new tune every day so I could show off on my way to the train!  Really, this is public art, but it's presented integrated into the architecture. Another great example of art meets architecture that engages the public is Cloud Gate, more commonly known as the 'Chicago Bean'.

Obviously the piano stairs were designed as marketing for VW, but while looking for an idea that would be interesting enough to go viral, they hit on a vital concept: We are connected to the places, things, and people around us. If those relationships can improve our lives and experiences, even better. So, take a look around you.

I'm not usually prone to linking to corporate advertising, but VW's 'The Fun Theory' has earned this one. Here's the link so you can follow along.  thefuntheory.com

The Richmond Olympic Oval designed and built for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics has been short listed for the World Building of the Year Award, part of the 2009 World Architecture Festival Awards.

Cannon Design Architecture has leased my daylight long exposure images, along with a few others to be used in marketing and award applications.  It is fantastic to be a part of an application for such a prestigious award.

The 2010 Olympic Oval has already been honoured several times, including recognition from the Globe Foundation and World Green Building Council for projects that employ Green Building Practices, and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's 2009 Award of Excellence for Innovation in Architecture. The RAIC award is partly due to the use of more than a million board feet pine beetle kill lumber that forms the 100 meter span gluelam roof supports.  In addition to the RAIC and green building awards, the Richmond Olympic Oval was recently the recipient of the Sustainability Star award. Given by the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Organizing Committee (VANOC), which recognizes the innovative efforts Games partners and sponsors are taking to be sustainable.

The 2010 Olympic Oval is a spectacular building, and a marvel of modern construction  that blends function and aesthetics. If you can, get yourself to Richmond and take a look for yourself.

Hopefully we will see the Richmond Oval walk away with the World Building of the Year Award. (with an ever so little help from my photos )

A while back I finally got a chance to get out ans shoot with my 10 stop neutral density filter.  It allows me to take photos with 30 second - 2 minute long exposures in daylight.  you can see my first attempts in the original post here.

I bought this filter to experiment with, and to use for personal work, photos that might end up as art, or shots that might be just for me.  I had fun experementing, and was pretty happy with the results.  I left the filter in my most used gear bag, and forgot about it for a while.

When my brother asked me for a ride to the Vancouver Airport a few weeks ago, I grabbed my gear, remembering that the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Speed Skating Oval had recently been completed near the airport, and was supposed to be a unique and spectacular building.  I thought I'd take a look at it after dropping my bro at YVR.  Great Architecture always intrigues me, that's why I became an Architectural Photographer.  Sometimes I just go out and look at buildings, sometimes I photograph them for fun, even if it's not a work assignment.  When I arrived at the Olympic Oval, the conditions could not have been better.  The light was in just the right place, still quite low in the sky, but with a bright daytime look.  The blue sky and clouds mirrored the brilliant colours of the ice blue architecture, accented with orange wooden beams for a dash of contrast.

In a case like this, I have to take photos, I don't have a choice.  It's like an addiction, looks.....soooo.....goood,........must.....take......photos....!  It's the same feeling that would compel a tourist to take 2 dozen shots of a beautiful sunset, even though each one looks just like the one before.  It just looks so good.

I took about 150 frames, wandering around, exploring angles, different lenses, from far and near, low and high.  I was just about to pack up and move on, when I remembered the 10 stop ND filter in my gear bag ( I use a Lowe Pro Photo Trekker in case you were wondering - Free plug for Lowe Pro cause their stuff is so good, and has a lifetime warranty)  It was a pretty windy day, so the clouds and trees were moving quickly, if I made a long exposure I would probably get a unique look to the architecture image. And did I?  Yes. 

Now, I'm not the first to take a daylight long exposure of a building, and I won't be the last.  But, what I did was add a technique to my photography style quiver.  I learned something new by experimenting, and applied it to my personal style.  I really love the results, they add an bit of artistic flair to a standard assignment result.  I will experiment more with the technique, and refine it, learn how to use it as a tool to provide my architectural clients with a better, more unique product.  I will definitely use it on assignments in the future, for the right clients.

The take away here? No matter what your discipline, your style is not static, it grows and evolves.  If you try something new, and it feels right, then go with it.  Experiment, learn, apply, repeat.

The Guggenheim has a great competition going on. Titled "Design It: Shelter Competition", it's inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's tendency to make apprentice architects design, build, and live and study in a shelter in the Arizona Desert.  The competition invites anyone to follow in the footsteps of Architectural Students at Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and design a shelter that relates to the outside.  The shelter must have a study space, and a sleeping space, and may not have any utilities (no AC in the Arizona desert will motivate you to design a well shaded shelter with good airflow!).

Tetrahedron Tent in Google Earth, Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1937

Google is in on the competition, to enter the contest, you will design your shelter using Google Sketchup, and then pin it to Google Earth, so it can be viewed in the setting you intended, anywhere in the world.  I usually just photograph architecture, but I might try my hand, just for fun! Entries can be made by anyone, and are being accepted until August 23rd.  ENTER HERE,   Good Luck!

Also, just in time for the 50th anniversary of the passing of Frank Lloyd Wright (and since the Guggenheim Opened) you can order a Lego kit of  Falling Water, one of Wright's most famous designs.

Seriously, I think i'll order one for my office!

I recently finshed post production on an Interior Design Photography project for Susan Parker, a Designer from Vancouver.  In an awesome place right on the Nicklaus North Golf Course in Whistler, BC.  Susan designed a Modern Mountain Kitchen in granite, stainless and slate with red accents to make it feel amazingly warm, but clean and modern at the same time.

With the same approach, Susan also designed the living space surrounding the kitchen for an up to date cozy ski town feel.  The interior is accented by a brilliant custom stairway designed by Architect Dennis Maguire.

Modern mountain style interior design is one of my favourite things to shoot, clean but warm and inviting.

Photographing Architecture is a big part of what i do, and seeing new and creative architecture regularly gets me excited for the future.  There has been a real move recently towards increased housing density.  Vancouver, BC is one of the most vibrant cities in the world because of its density.  I have been to cities like Dallas, and recently Phoenix that are practically abandoned on a Sunday, because there is very little residential housing in the core of the city.  Vancouver on the other hand, is always alive. Before I lose the point, the trend in residential, since no one is making any more land has been to go up.  This does some great things. Aside from creating metropolitan vibrance, is keeps people living closer to where they work, shop, and play, reducing the need for transportation.  It does mean however that more supplies need to be shipped in from out of town.

photo from http://www.verticalfarm.com

Several innovative architectural designs offer a vertical solution to the urban food supply.  The one above is "The Living Tower" designed by SOA Architects in France. (more designs by other architects here)  Essentially it's a farm in a high rise, using clean energy to grow fresh food for the city centre, reducing transportation costs for produce, eliminating growing seasons, and even cleaning city waste water to provide fresh clean drinking water a s a by-product.  Imagine a farmers market on the ground floor, where you can buy hydroponically grown fresh food that was harvested 15 minutes ago. Not to mention it's an architectural photographer's dream!

While the logistics are not simple, and solutions are more complicated than producing a great looking rendering, it's the innovative thinking that gets me excited.  Solving problems through original architectural design could someday revolutionize the way we live, interact, and even eat.  Personally I'm looking forward to seeing, eating from, and hopefully photographing an amazing vertical farm in the future!

Checkout http://www.verticalfarm.com for more information.