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Today's News - May 19, 2006

Architecture billings as economic indicator. -- Losing European capital of culture title is actually a big win. -- Shanghai's skyscrapers causing concern. -- "Eurotecture" invades Manhattan. -- Miami's building boom a bit too rapid for some. -- Fort Worth looking forward to a new architectural "wow." -- Stuttgart's Mercedes-Benz museum is Stuttgart's newest "wow" factor (great slide show!). -- New Toronto courthouse is "a brilliant example of architectural reconciliation." -- University R&D building marries creativity with economy. -- A sad case of an historic Philadelphia building slated for demolition while its bones are still sound. -- Doors Open Toronto will illuminate the city's "vibrant urban soul." -- And the winners are: Design Montréal Awards. -- Irish architects lauded, but urged to be "braver, more daring and progressive way." -- Weekend diversions: Gehry flick is "intriguing but a bit behind the curve"; from "shlub to hero" and a household name. -- On view: thumbs up for Fuller/Noguchi. -- Piano in Dallas. -- In print: A lengthy review of "Planet of Slums." -- "Healthcare Spaces No 2" a "cornucopia of imagery to gladden the heart of any healthcare architect."

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Are commercial real estate loans going to hurt banks? ...Architecture billings are a sort of leading indicator, with changes in activity presaging by about nine months either a slowdown or speedup in construction activity.- USA Today

Flood on the Tyne: David Ward finds a cultural revival in full spate on the banks of the Tyne. Perhaps losing the contest to be European capital of culture was the best thing that ever happened to Newcastle-Gateshead- Guardian (UK)

Safety Concern over Shanghai's Skyscrapers: Amazing to tourists... pride of its citizens...concerns have been raised about the strong and thus damaging winds that are result from the dense population of skyscrapers so central to the metropolis.- CRI (China)

High resolution: Eurotecture invades Manhattan: Why is New York, with its heritage of superb architecture, looking across the Atlantic for its next generation of landmarks? By Hugh Pearman -- Piano; Foster; Taniguchi; Grimshaw; Rogers; Calatrava; Nouvel; Herzog & de Meuron; Libeskind [images]- HughPearman.com (UK)

Downtown Miami in Midst of a Building Explosion: The city is trying to remake its business district into a place where people live, shop and play around the clock, but many believe that the growth has been too rapid.- New York Times

The Wow Factor: Fort Worth Museum of Science and History colors could shift district out of neutral -- Legorreta + Legorreta; Johnson; Kahn; Ando [slide show]- Star-Telegram (Dallas/Ft. Worth)

From Horsepower to the Popemobile; On Friday, Mercedes-Benz will open the world's largest museum dedicated to automobiles...The building couldn't be more German...equipped with incredible technology, and yet it looks a bit beat-up somehow. It almost resembles a dented can. -- Ben van Berkel/UN Studio; Hans-Günter Merz [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany)

Bohemian Queen gets new elegance: ...a brilliant example of architectural reconciliation...mediates between funky and formal, commercial and institutional, thereby enhancing the urban fabric enormously. By Christopher Hume -- Tom Payne/Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg (KPMB) [image]- Toronto Star

Minimizing Cost While Maximizing Creativity: An innovative use of economic materials and an open floor plan provides a state-of-the-art facility for research in engineering structures and materials. Arizona State University Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building II (ISTB II) -- Richärd & Bauer Architecture [images]- R&D Magazine

Historic house deserves better from university: ...the saddest cases by far are those that have been arbitrarily designated for execution while their bones are still sound. You wouldn't expect Philadelphia University to be the hangman for such a thoughtless act. By Inga Saffron -- George T. Pearson (1880s) [slide show]- Philadelphia Inquirer

Our history, our future: The city celebrates its identity and sense of `home' in the seventh annual Doors Open Toronto event [5/27-28]: Contemporary architecture juxtaposed with historic buildings illuminates Toronto's vibrant urban soul. By Christopher Hume -- architectsAlliance; KPMB; Goldsmith Borgal; Darling & Pearson [images, links]- Toronto Star

Personalities honoured and winners of the 2006 Institute of Design Montréal Awards - Design and Its Universality -- Atelier T.A.G. + Jodoin Lamarre Pratte; Atelier Big City; AEdifica Inc.; Groupe Cardinal Hardy; etc.- Canada NewsWire (CNW)

Tipperary retreat wins top design award: Architects were urged to use their skills in a ' braver, more daring and progressive way' at the recent Architectural Association of Ireland (AAI) Awards. By Frank McDonald -- Bates Maher; Boyd Cody; ODOS; Donaghy and Dimond; Noel J Brady; Niall McLaughlin; Grafton; McCullough Mulvin; Tom dePaor; FKL; Gerard Maccreanor'- Irish Times

'Sketches of Frank Gehry': "Gehry" is intriguing but a bit behind the curve. By Christopher Hawthorne- Los Angeles Times

Shlub to Hero: Film Sketches Gehry Life...The real question here is: How did this lower-middle-class Jew from Toronto become the most celebrated architect in the world, and one of the rare people in the profession...to become a household name?- The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles

The Architect and the Sculptor: A Friendship of Ideas: "Best of Friends: Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi"...a tribute to a great friendship between two minds teeming with ideas. [slide show]- New York Times

On Tour with Renzo Piano and Building Workshop: Selected Projects at the The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas- TravelVideo.TV

Book review: The accumulation of the wretched: "Planet of Slums" by Mike Davis... Abandon all hope those who dream about the glamorously high-tech cities of the future.- Asia Times

Book review: Designing Facilities For Children Is Now At The Cutting Edge Of Healthcare Design: "Healthcare Spaces No 2" [by Roger Yee]...contains within its bulk a veritable cornucopia of imagery to gladden the heart of any healthcare architect.- Express Healthcare Management (India)

Under construction: Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects: Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall/Samueli Theatre, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa, California

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