ArchNewsNow

Home Yesterday's News Calendar Contact Us Subscribe

Today's News - August 16, 2006

A priest and a prophet of "green" at odds (somewhat) about the odds for a future sustainable society. -- It's time to get angry about architecture and the "depressing mess left by urban architects." -- Maybe things would be better if planners became masters of the sound bite (some amusing suggestions). -- Survey shows Brits bemoan a loss of community spirit, green spaces, and more. -- Winning plan for an orphan space "hopes to resolve its identity crisis" (now all it needs is a construction budget). -- Hawthorne asks where the "daring vision" in Eisenman's stadium is as sports architecture awaits its "Bilbao moment." -- First LEED Platinum for residential project. -- The next hot neighborhood in New York (it's been waiting for 30 years). -- University of Alberta thinks big as Canada rethinks its healthcare education model. -- Johnson's Glass House gets ready for its close-up. -- A major makeover for Montpelier (not everyone agrees it was the way to go).presidential estate Montpelier. -- A Lifetime Achievement Award for a casino architect who dislikes awards. -- A gigantic crystalline model of Sydney Opera House that took 7 years to build is found after 32 years (and it only took 2 years to put it back together - check out the pix!). -- Two new TEDTalks to view or listen to.

To subscribe to the free daily newsletter click here

The Priest and the Prophet: Can industrial civilization really become sustainable? Should it? ...two contemporary thinkers for whom this question is primal: William McDonough, green architect and designer, and Derrick Jensen, neo-tribal environmentalist and philosopher...the elemental planners of a future sustainable society.- Grist Magazine

City plans? Hand me the matches: We need design champions to sort out the depressing mess left by urban architects: We should get angry about architecture...This need for an architectural overview is widespread...Nowhere is that more apparent than in Edinburgh... -- Will Alsop; Terry Farrell; Allan Murray; Norman Foster; Hoskins- The Times (UK)

Op-Ed: Sound Bite Society: ...as the rest of the world turns to...the sound bite for information and even to influence their decisions, the planning world remains mired in old-fashioned report writing and long-winded presentations...it's time that planners...embrace the sound bite. By Rick Bishop, AICP- PLANetizen

Report reveals loss of community spirit: Vanishing Britain reveals that the majority of people in the UK are concerned that we are turning into an urbanised, work-obsessed nation of out-of-town supermarket shoppers.- Guardian (UK)

Neighbourhood cliff-hanger: Cliffside Village is more asphalt than community; a design team hopes to resolve its identity crisis...a design competition for a series of neglected zones citywide — "Orphan Spaces"...and Cliffside Slips won. -- Lateral Architecture- Toronto Star

Grass isn't greener: Where’s the daring vision in Eisenman’s design for Arizona Cardinals Stadium? ...sports architecture now stands roughly where museum design did in the mid-1990s...sports fans in this country continue to wait for their Bilbao moment. By Christopher Hawthorne -- HOK Sport [slide show]- Los Angeles Times

The USGBC LEED for Homes Pilot Program Awards LivingHomes the First-Ever Platinum Rating in Residential Sustainable Design -- Ray Kappe; David Hertz [image, links]- PR Newswire

Next Big Thing Set To Emerge Is Long Island City's Silvercup West: ...may be poised to finally live up to the title it has held for more than 30 years: the next hot thing in New York neighborhoods. -- Richard Rogers; NBBJ- New York Sun

HOK [in association with Stantec Architecture] wins landmark $185-million University of Alberta clinic project: ...Edmonton Clinic will be designed to LEED Silver standard...the first major re-think of Canada's healthcare education model since 1969...- Canadian Architect

Treading Gently on Hallowed Ground: As director of preservation, Marty Skrelunas is helping prepare Philip Johnson’s Glass House for the beginning of public tours in April. By Fred A. Bernstein [images]- New York Times

Madison's Makeover: Project Is Restoring the Dignified and Sturdy Character of His Oft-Altered Home, Montpelier...In a stunning transformation, an undistinguished home for the rich, horsy set has been replaced by a dour but dignified example of Piedmont Palladianism... By Philip Kennicott- Washington Post

Up and Down the Strip, Architect Sees Reminders of His Work on Projects Past: Joel Bergman...has been in the business for so long, he's now redesigning casinos he originally developed. -- Bergman, Walls & Associates- Casino City Times

Together again: the 2500-piece crystal palace: ...not been seen in public for 32 years...But now one of the forgotten wonders of the Sydney Opera House - the beautiful perspex model by Bill Lambert that helped solve some of the building's engineering conundrums - has been painstakingly reassembled. -- Joern Utzon [image]- Sydney Morning Herald

TEDTalks: The Power of Design: Industrial designer Ross Lovegrove presents his recent work - from furniture to water bottles - which is organic in form and inspired by nature. [video an dpodcast]- TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design)

TEDTalks: The Power of Design: MIT engineer Amy Smith designs ingenious low-cost devices to tackle tough problems in developing countries...explains the vision behind her inventions, which include eco-friendly charcoal and a laborartory incubator that doesn't require electricity.- TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design)

Fine Tuning: Utah State University Performance Hall: Inspired by the surrounding mountains, a new building establishes a campus arts precinct that bridges the town/gown divide. -- Sasaki Associates [images]- ArchNewsNow

-- Inauguration: SANAA/Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa: Zollverein School, Essen, Germany
-- Under construction: Rem Koolhaas/OMA: Coal Washing Plant, Zollverein Mining Complex, Essen, Germany
-- Master Plan: Rem Koolhaas/OMA: Zollverein Mining Complex, Essen, Germany

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window.
External news links are not endorsed by ArchNewsNow.com.
Free registration may be required on some sites.
Some pages may expire after a few days.

Yesterday's News