Architecture and Cuisine

Food for Thought

November 1, 2003

The links between architecture and cuisine, which traditionally reveal the dominant flavors of a region, are breaking.

Architects often design the accessories of eating -- dishware, glasses, cutlery, dining tables and chairs – so perhaps it was inevitable that they would eventually take on the food itself. This summer in New York, Maya Lin organized an auction of architect-designed cakes to benefit the Greyston Foundation, a Yonkers-based non-profit organization that provides community services and also operates a bakery. Participants included Frank Gehry, Rafael Viñoly, Steven Holl, and Richard Meier. While the charity event was just good fun to serve a good cause, it became yet another opportunity for celebrity architects to show off their signature styles, in this case translated into another medium -- one that happens to be edible. Gehry’s sketches featured rolling waves of dough, a baker’s Bilbao. Not surprisingly, Meier’s submission was a "white cake." With icing substituting porcelain panels, his recipe is the gustatory equivalent of his High Museum in Atlanta.

Designing with Concrete in the 21st Century

Now On Demand

Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 IACET CEU

May qualify for learning hours through most Canadian architectural associations

Concrete is a rather ubiquitous, tested, proven, and versatile building material. It has been used for literally thousands of years to create long-lasting man-made structures of all types, including buildings. Architects in the past few centuries have found it to be an appealing choice to express dynamic and vibrant designs in ways that other materials could not.

Housing Our Cities’ Growing Populations

Now On Demand

Credits: 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 IACET CEU

May qualify for learning hours through most Canadian architectural associations.

Population growth within American cities continues to skyrocket. Once empty downtowns in Rust Belt cities like Detroit, St. Louis and Buffalo are filling up; cities across North America like Tulsa, Philadelphia, and Ottawa, hoping to be the next Seattle, are wooing tech companies to bring their offices there.

2019 February

In the February 2019 issue, Architectural Record includes building type studies involving renovation, restoration, and adaptive reuse.

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