Thursday, July 20, 2017
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days; we'll be back Tuesday, July 25.
Click here to see today's news.
ANN is pleased to announce the launch of "From the Treetops," a new series by Dreyfuss + Blackford's Silva (from one of the most tree-populated cities in the world); first up: "Sacramento is on the cusp of something big, building the city's economy around innovation and creativity. But innovation is only worthwhile if put to use." -- Ijeh is left underwhelmed and baffled by RIBA's 2017 Stirling Prize shortlist that "makes for an oddly pallid affair. Sadly great architecture is a commodity in short supply this year." -- RIBA's president, on the other hand, says the shortlist shows the "profession at top of its game" + judges' citations + lots and lots of pix - you be the judge. -- A San Francisco public library presents plans to "homeless-proof" its grounds with "defensive architecture" - King calls the proposal "yet another result of the tension of the balancing act between an open door and safe usage." -- If 20 of Ban's prototyped shelters for a refugee settlement in Kenya work out, another 19,980 will be built. -- Kamin gives us some skinny on a possible future for Kahn's "Point Counterpoint II": Chicago's missed opportunity could be a win for Kingston, N.Y.: "Wherever it lands, the most important thing is that Kahn's "music boat" survive and thrive." -- Early 19th-century (and beautiful) Afro-Brazilian architecture in Lagos is already lost or crumbling - or losing out to bulldozers. -- On a not much brighter note, the Avant-Garde Museum in Moscow commemorates the city's "neglected Soviet-era buildings as the government earmarks Constructivist buildings for demolition." -- Big plans in store for Philly's 30th Street Station; the proposal is open for public comment until July 26. -- Big plans for Memphis's Big Muddy with Studio Gang's vision "to re-link the city's downtown to the underutilized waterfront." -- Melbourne's Southbank art precinct is set to get six acres of new, green public space.
Weekend diversions:
-- A double-header at NYC's Center for Architecture: In "5x5 Participatory Provocations," 25 firms from all over have created models responding to themes like immigration, surveillance, and globalization (only 2 are sited in the city). -- "Kaneji Domoto at Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonia," also at the Center, explores his architecture in Pleasantville, NY, and includes materials "gathered from never-before-seen private archives." -- "Ettore Sottsass: Design Radical" at the Met Breuer explores his "extremely productive - and provocative - career." -- Martin finds "efficient beauty" in "The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945," an "engrossing exhibition" now at Tokyo's National Museum of Modern Art (MOMAT). -- Kafka x 2: London Design Museum's "California: Designing Freedom" is a "generally well-rounded and entertaining exhibition," but "verges on too much [smiley face], with not quite enough [thinking face] (we can't do emojis here). -- He has a great Q&A with Minton re: "Big Capital: Who Is London For?" - a "comprehensive and eloquent analysis of London's housing crisis," and, post-Grenfell, "the role architects and activists will play in making better, safer cities for all." -- Pedersen queries Goldhagen re: "Welcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives" ("nothing less than a meticulously constructed argument for completely rethinking our way of looking at architecture"), and the state of architectural education. -- Kolson Hurley's (also great) Q&A with Goldhagen re: her book and "why so much architecture and urban design falls short of human needs." -- Byrnes's (also great) Q&A with Bozikovic re: "Toronto Architecture: A City Guide," and "his city's architectural ambitions since 1989." -- Davidson gives us a sip of his take on NYC as a "liquid city" with a waterfront walking tour: "Cities like New York rush toward the embrace of rising waters, confident that an ancient, if troubled love affair isn't over yet" (adapted from "Magnetic City: A Walking Companion to New York"). -- Roke's "Mobitecture: Architecture on the Move" shows "madcap" mobile architecture can be fun, and also allows architects to quickly respond to challenging social issues. -- Gray pulls "political musings" from Frampton's "Wright's Writings: Reflections on Culture and Politics, 1894-1959" that chillingly portended today's political climate: "Our worst enemy now is this craven fear managed by conscienceless politicians."
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