Monday, May 21, 2012

EDITOR'S NOTE: We're back from the AIA convention and have a lot of catching up to do! Today is just the beginning...

Click here to see today's news:
ArcSpace brings us eyefuls of soma's EXPO 2012 pavilion in South Korea, and Mecanoo's Maritime and Beachcombers Museum in the Netherlands. -- Kimmelman travels to Medellín to see for himself how - or if - public architecture and public spaces really are changing the city's future, and finds the skepticism of younger architects to be "the most encouraging sign I had encountered." -- Peirce parses Philly's "Green City, Clean Waters" initiative to make "water conservation a centerpiece of its economic and environmental strategy" for its future: it is also "a route to environmental and social justice." -- Doig minces no words about why some cities' efforts to create urban entertainment districts end up being places where you'll find everything except a lot of people, while other cities' efforts thrive. -- Goldberger weighs in on the Nasher's scorching problem with its new towering neighbor: "aren't builders and their architects and engineers supposed to know the properties of a material before they use it?" -- Kamin reflects on public spaces and protests as the action heats up in Chicago (and the legacy of Zuccotti Park): "We have the freedom to assemble - but where?" -- Gehry tweaks his Eisenhower Memorial to "stress leadership over youth" with "heroic-size statues of Eisenhower as president and general" (better than bas-reliefs as photo-ops for tourists is what we see). -- Kennicott offers a thoughtful explanation of what went wrong: Gehry might have "seemed an unlikely fit...but that impression was always based on two misunderstandings." -- Russell, Rosenbaum, Hawthorne, Davidson, Saltz, and Dobrin give their thumbs-up's - and thumbs-down's - to the new Barnes (all eloquent - even the ouches). -- A terrific round-up of library projects that use a variety of partnerships to create some great spaces. -- Q&A with urban planner Mehrotra re: "the rise of 'parasitic' gated communities in India's cities, and the need for planning experts in its smaller towns" that could "start exploding in a pattern that we have not anticipated." -- Q&A with MoMA's Gadanho re: curating as "the new criticism" and his first show: "practice is still more interesting to me than its finished product." -- Rose reviews the week in architecture: Koolhaas's "TV colossus" [China's CCTV] opens for propaganda, some Dutch architects blow bubbles," and lots more. -- Deadline reminder: 72 Hour Urban Action in Stuttgart 2012 Real-Time Architecture Competition - May 26 deadline looms!

A new book and website linked to a recent Canadian Centre for Architecture exhibition offer a healthy tonic countering academically anemic architectural education.

 
by Norman Weinstein

May 4, 2012

This practical handbook is invaluable for practitioners who realize that social media is not a passing phenomenon and can play a part in their business.

 
by George Calys

May 1, 2012

A current project slated for completion this fall offers food for thought for the future of Paul Rudolph's Orange County Government Center.

 
by ArchNewsNow

April 23, 2012

The curators of the exhibition making its world debut in Chicago this week throw the spotlight on five Colombian architects who leverage brick, concrete, and glass forms to improve the lives of ordinary people.

 
by Vladimir Belogolovsky and Fernando Villa, AIA, LEED AP

April 3, 2012