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Today's News - March 30, 2007

Australian courts will decide "whether exploitative property speculation carries similar climate responsibility to exploitative coalmining," and Farrelly asks: "If not, why not?" -- More Pritzker patter: Rogers minces no words. -- 18 projects garner GSA Design Excellence Awards. -- A shortlist of "architectural powerhouses" for new Miami Science Museum. -- Boddy disappointed in Vancouver's Olympic Village plans that have been "bled of verve." -- The "octopus" design for Czech library demonstrates "Modernism's flatulence." -- Are new rules in L.A. "finicky restrictions on architectural freedom"? -- It's Ando vs. Hadid as Pinault and Guggenheim vie for Venice site. -- A movement underway to save Moscow's Shukhov towers. -- No more "grotty Chelsea" as high-end developments line up along the High Line (designed by "a ridiculously well-muscled list of architects"). -- Rybczynski has an interesting take on Foster's $16 million yacht. -- 7 New Wonders of the World that are worth the trip. -- Call for entries: World Habitat Awards for practical and innovative housing. -- We couldn't resist: Berlin built of Legos (and pix to prove it).

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Courts the new battleground in war against nature: Now the courts must decide...whether exploitative property speculation carries similar climate responsibility to exploitative coalmining. And if not, why not? By Elizabeth Farrelly- Sydney Morning Herald

Improving the World One Building at a Time: Richard Rogers, who just won architecture’s Pritzker Prize, talks about making cities livable, building on Ground Zero and his wife’s famous restaurant. By Cathleen McGuigan- Newsweek

Architecture prize-winner says modern design not a patch on past: ...launched a scathing attack on modern British building design hours after being honoured with the industry's most prestigious accolade..."We still haven't achieved a high enough quality in terms of both the buildings and public spaces in contemporary architecture. There's a long way to go"... -- Richard Rogers- The Scotsman (UK)

Turning Buildings Inside Out: Richard Rogers [has] made himself into an architectural and city planning power at home, pushing for real architecture over kitsch revivalism and for high-density city living over suburban sprawl. By Richard Lacayo [link to photo essay]- Time Magazine

GSA Design Excellence Awards Honor 18 Projects -- Gruen Associates/Moore Ruble Yudell; Ross Barney; Kallman McKinnell and Wood/Karlsberger; Garrison Architects; Bohlin Cywinski Jackson; Lehman Smith McLeish; BNIM; SmithGroup; Westlake Reed Leskosky; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; etc. [link to projects/images]- U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)

Five Architectural Powerhouses Initiate Selection Process for New Miami Science Museum: Three Regional Architects Considered for Executive Architect Role -- Grimshaw; Polshek Partnership; Steven Holl; Wilkinson Eyre; Zaha Hadid; Burns & McDonnell; Leo A Daly; Rodriguez and Quiroga- PR Newswire

A design marathon disappoints at the starting gate: Stringent site requirements have bled Olympic Village design of verve...Vancouver is failing to spark artful city-building and innovative architecture. ...because a culture of mere sufficiency has prevailed over a culture of true excellence. By Trevor Boddy -- Merrick Architecture; Gomberoff Bell Lyon- Globe and Mail (Canada)

Sad joke on the Czech Republic: ...merely proves that architecture has abandoned any pretense to making the world a better place...Modernism’s flatulence demonstrates its own reductio ad absurdum. By David Brussat -- Jan Kaplicky/Future Systems- Providence Journal (Rhode Island)

From Persian folly to boring boxes: Plans to make Lala Land look like anywhere else, almost ...Compared with such finicky restrictions on architectural freedom, the measure proposed by the Los Angeles planning department is a wrecking ball.- The Economist (UK)

Pinault, Guggenheim Intensify Battle on Venice Exhibition Space: ...are neck and neck in the race to turn a disused Venice customs building into a contemporary-arts center. -- Tadao Ando; Zaha Hadid- Bloomberg News

Disappearing Towers: Vladimir Shukhov was one of the most prolific and innovative architects in early 20th-century Russia. But today his legacy is endangered. -- Vladimir Shukhov [images]- Moscow Times (Russia)

High Line Park Spurs Remaking Of Formerly Grotty Chelsea: At least 27 projects—mostly luxury condos and hotels—are in various stages of development... -- Gehry; Nouvel; Piano; Selldorf; Field Operations; Diller Scofidio + Renfro- New York Observer

Stormin' Norman Foster: What happens when an architect dreams up a boat? Now that Foster & Partners has designed a yacht that actually resembles an oversized Prius, maybe it could turn its talents to producing something for the rest of us: a better, cheaper hybrid car. By Witold Rybczynski [slide show]- Slate

The New Wonders of the World: At no other point in history have there been so many great buildings worth the trip. -- Le Corbusier; José Oubrerie; Libeskind; Gehry; SANAA; Benjamin Warner/Creative Designers International; Murphy/Jahn [slide show]- Condé Nast Traveler

Call for entries: World Habitat Awards for practical and innovative solutions to current housing needs and problems; deadline: June 1- Building and Social Housing Foundation

Berlin Sites Immortalized in Plastic at New Legoland Discovery Centre [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany)

NEA Director of Design Jeff Speck to Resign in May: City planner heading back to planning cities.- ArchNewsNow

-- Polshek Partnership Architects: Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
-- Platt Byard Dovell White: Green-Wood Columbarium, Brooklyn, NY
-- Book: Architecture of the Air: The Sound and Light Environments of Christopher Janney

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