ArchNewsNow

Home Yesterday's News Calendar Contact Us Subscribe

Today's News - Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Hume ponders whether Toronto's "strip-mining mentality" is cause of the city's "plummeting status" as an international player. -- Libeskind, on the other hand, hits Toronto streets and sees "quantum leaps" as the city reinvents itself. -- Jacobs fears that Coney Island might not survive contemporary approaches to entertainment design. -- An in-depth look at the history of sane and insane plans for London's Ugly Betty (and hope for its future?). -- Mid-century Modern in the crosshairs again: Glancey on the battle to preserve St. Peter's seminary, near Glasgow. -- In Australia, the Sydney Opera House might make World Heritage listing - if it's "not vandalized by ignorant, ill-conceived changes." -- And it seems only architects are protesting as a Boyd masterpiece slips out of public hands. -- Better news: Manila's grande dame of theaters reborn in all its "Filipinized Art Deco" glory. -- A mega-plan on the boards for Chicago's South Loop. -- Grand plans for "a moribund chunk" of Kitchener, Canada. -- Another tower for Doha. -- For Kamin, Chicago's new lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community center "teaches lessons that transcend the building itself." -- For Hawthorne, Skirball's Noah's Ark "a welcome respite from the world of plastic and pixels" (but could use a more playful mindset). -- We'll know by August who is tapped for Bush Library. -- Only Bush confidants know who will be the "interpretive planner." -- Versailles in all its glittering glory. -- Boddy looks at the "schizophrenia of modern homes." -- Two we couldn't resist: Raleigh shopping centers don't want bus riders. -- Newson's spaceplane is a trip in itself.

To subscribe to the free daily newsletter click here

A civic cry: We're cheap, not easy: Toronto's plummeting status on global list taps into customary insecurity...The strip-mining mentality...plunder now, plan later – has not fostered a culture of innovation, creativity and nimbleness necessary for success...we are fast falling out of contention as an international player. By Christopher Hume- Toronto Star

The visionary hits the streets: Sporting a new pair of cowboy boots Daniel Libeskind checks out a city with 'momentum'..."There was a huge vision at one time [in Toronto] and now the momentum is back...there are quantum leaps when a city reinvents itself."- Globe and Mail (Canada)

End of the Line: If condos don’t destroy Coney Island, the master-planned amusements will...even if condos are taken off the table, I wonder whether the Coney Island we know and love can survive the contemporary approach to entertainment design. By Karrie Jacobs -- Thinkwell [image]- Metropolis Magazine

The temple of doom: Hundreds of millions of pounds have been sacrificed on the altar of its redevelopment, with plans ranging from the inspired to the insane. Yet Battersea power station remains Britain’s most neglected iconic building. Can its new owners succeed where others have so spectacularly failed? -- Giles Gilbert Scott (1933); Rafael Vinoly- The Times (UK)

The building that God forgot: Spiritually outdated and brutally designed, St Peter's seminary, near Glasgow, was obsolete by the time it opened. So why the battle to preserve it? By Jonathan Glancey -- Gillespie Kidd & Coia (1966); John Allan/Avanti Architects [image]- Guardian (UK)

Shaping the future of a masterpiece: A decision is due this week on World Heritage listing for the Sydney Opera House...There are so few great works of architecture in Australia. We should celebrate this one and ensure that it is not vandalised by ignorant, ill-conceived changes. By Philip Drew -- Joern Utzon- The Australian

Victorians urged to act as house that Boyd made slips from public hands: ...this modernist masterpiece...will be sold at auction next month — and the only cries of protest so far are from architects. -- Robin Boyd Foundation [image]- The Age (Australia)

"Grand Dame" of theater to reclaim lost glory: The curtain will soon rise on the “new” Metropolitan Theater at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila...“It’s Filipinized Art Deco"... -- Juan Arellano (1931); Richard Tuason-Sanchez Bautista- Philippine Daily Inquirer

Mega-plan for vacant site in South Loop: 3,000 housing units, hotel on drawing board for vacant riverside site...transforming an 8-acre tract that has sat empty for 36 years into a densely packed urban neighborhood. -- Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture- Crain's Chicago Business

Kitchener's Centre Block Renaissance: ...a moribund chunk of city-owned land in the core can be transformed into a vital and thriving collection of condominiums, retail outlets, specially designed units for artists and a central courtyard. -- Quadrangle Architects [images]- The Record (Canada)

International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) looks to design its new premises; a high rise tower in the heart of Doha's financial district -- Yamasaki [image]- AME Info (United Arab Emirates)

Character studies: Design for Center on Halsted inspired by prototypes of potential community members...Chicago’s new lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community center...offers a telling reflection on the shifting state of what it means to be gay in a nation where...gender issues remain sharply divisive...aptly expresses that diversity even as it teaches lessons that transcend the building itself. By Blair Kamin -- Gensler [slide show]- Chicago Tribune

For Skirball's 'Noah's Ark' to triumph, let kids go with the flow: ...a welcome respite from the world of plastic and pixels that engulfs most American kids these days...manages periodically to tamp down the sense of discovery it's seemingly designed to celebrate. By Christopher Hawthorne -- Moshe Safdie; Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects- Los Angeles Times

Bush Library Architect Selection Begins: A dozen architecture firms received the RFQ...the winner [to be] announced in early August. By David Dillon -- Cesar Pelli Associates; Robert A.M. Stern; HOK; Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge; Lake/Flato; Overland Partners; HKS; Beck Architecture- Architectural Record

Bush library planner faces delicate balancing act: Challenges include how to inform, dazzle at same time...an "interpretive planner," whose identity – like so many aspects of the Dallas project – is known only to a handful of Bush confidants.- Dallas Morning News

The Glory of France, Restored to Louis XIV’s Glittering Ideal: This week, after a $16 million makeover, the full spectacle of the Château de Versailles finally resumed, with The Hall of Mirrors looking, as closely as possible, the way it first appeared to Louis XIV in 1684. [slide show]- New York Times

Inside-out: The schizophrenia of modern homes: Exteriors of borrowed architectural pastiche and plain vanilla interiors - it wasn't always this way. By Trevor Boddy- Globe and Mail (Canada)

Upscale shopping centers shun buses: It's a long walk for some as four 'upscale' properties keep buses off premises- News & Observer (North Carolina)

The technical challenge of making space travel easy: Marc Newson is working on the interior design of a spaceplane...It will take tourists into space starting in 2012. [slide show]- International Herald Tribune

-- AREP: Doha Sports City Tower, Doha, Qatar
-- Santiago Calatrava: Puente de la Mujer, Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires, Argentina
-- The Camera: Thomas Mayer: IAC/InterActiveCorp Headquarters by Gehry Partners, New York City- ArcSpace

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