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Today's News - Monday, November 12, 2007

ArcSpace takes us to Munich and Mexico City. -- The heart of Sydney is lacking a ticker. -- Athens contends with pedestrian acitivists. -- Olympic Stadium: Bayley thinks London deserves better. -- Block 37: Kamin thinks Chicago deserves better. -- The "Architects Row" that's rising along Manhattan's High Line. -- Recalcitrant Parisians are going to need a lot of convincing re: plans for Paris high rises. -- Hess is pleased to see San Jose recycling some great buildings: don't "mistake bad maintenance for bad architecture." -- A call to save historic New Orleans avenue from condo plans (design is good, site is bad). -- Bayley muses on architects who have had to contend with their sick buildings. -- Graves delights Detroit with his DIA expansion. -- Refurbished London Transport Museum thrills Glancey. -- A brownfield site to turn green for University of Paisley. -- A new book and exhibition re: Jane Jacobs will compel readers and visitors to act. -- $100,000 isn't what it used to be, says Kamin, as Driehaus doubles his prize. -- Call for entries: Mersey Observatory International Open Design Competition. -- Carmody Groarke wins 7/7 memorial commission. Winners all in 2007 International DesignShare Awards for Innovative Learning Environments.

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-- Coop Himmelb(l)au: BMW Welt, Munich, Germany
-- Pascal Arquitectos: Mourning House, Mexico City

Welcome to the CBD: all arteries, no pulse: Venture into the the heart of Sydney and you'll find it is lacking ticker...how we can accentuate its attractions and make them easier to navigate while unpicking the ugly bits of the urban fabric. -- Jan Gehl [links]- Sydney Morning Herald

Running Out of Space to Park, and Places to Walk: ...in Greece, the concerns and rights of pedestrians are widely disregarded...A string of new traffic measures...have eased the plight of pedestrians somewhat. -- Panayiotis Panopoulos/Streetpanthers- New York Times

Fine, but where's the flair? The Olympic Stadium is in part ingenious and it does its job. But it could have been so much more...functionality is good. But it does not have to exclude imagination, style and emotional content...London deserves better. By Stephen Bayley -- HOK Sport; Peter Cook;- Observer (UK)

Movies back in the Loop: Will the show start on the sidewalk? ...Block 37 development, now known as 108 North State, can either energize its surroundings with distinctive, even raffish, theatrical architecture or drag them down with generic, "could be anywhere" design that has all the flavor of a suburban mall...The architects need to do better... By Blair Kamin -- Gensler- Chicago Tribune

It's One El of a Park: The High Line may be the city's newest jewel - and for Manhattan developers, the rusting rail trestle has been pure gold...At least 30 new projects...are on tap...turning the neighborhood into an enclave of state-of-the-art building design dubbed "Architects Row." -- Frank Gehry; Robert A.M. Stern; Jean Nouvel; Renzo Piano [images]- New York Post

High-rise vision sparks Paris revolt: A dizzying controversy will grip the French capital this week as its mayor tries to convince recalcitrant Parisians of the beauty of high-rise buildings...to unveil drawings produced by 11 architects' firms from France, Germany, Spain and Austria. -- Abalos & Herreros; Brenac et Gonzalez- Guardian (UK)

South Bay suburban designs are worth preserving: It' a sign of a city's maturity when it decides to recycle great buildings instead of throwing them away...It's surprising how many educated people mistake bad maintenance for bad architecture. By Alan Hess -- J. van der Ploeg (1959); Wurster Bernardi and Emmons; Crome Architecture; A. Quincy Jones/Frederick Emmons/Eichler; Raphael Soriano; etc.- San Jose Mercury News (California)

Op-Ed: St. Charles Avenue needs our protection: With so much of New Orleans life these days devoted to repairing damage, it's remarkable to encounter someone ready to inflict new harm on one of the strongest parts of the post-Katrina city...condominium project is actually what the city needs in abundance...but it needs them in other places. By Jack Davis -- Emile Weil (1928); John Wiliiams- The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

Talk about sick buildings: Frank Gehry is the latest architect to catch a cold. By Stephen Bayley -- Pisano; YRM; Stirling; Pei; Foster; Andreu; Yamasaki- Observer (UK)

A whole new DIA: Detroit Institute of Arts puts its users at the forefront...$158-million makeover hopes to capture the imagination of metro Detroit. -- Paul Cret (1927); Michael Graves [links]- Detroit Free Press

All the fun of the fares: A Tube to Scotland, a dazzling poster display and Routemaster cocktails ... the refurbished London Transport Museum thrills Jonathan Glancey -- William Rogers (1871); Avery Associates [slide show]- Guardian (UK)

New campus for University of Paisley by RMJM: The development plan for this brownfield site includes a new 18,000 m² campus building... [images]- Archiseek (Scotland)

What Would Jane Do? A new book of essays and an exhibition examine the legacy of Jane Jacobs: At a time when activism seems woefully stagnant in America, when...the rebirth of geography-altering, developer-driven urban renewal can barely illicit demonstration crowds, Block by Block compels readers to act. [link]- Metropolis Magazine

Driehaus hopes money talks louder for his prize: ...is upping the architectural ante, making his prize worth $200,000...Could it be, I wondered, that $100,000 isn't what it used to be? By Blair Kamin- Chicago Tribune

Call for entries: Mersey Observatory International Open Design Competition Stage I; registration deadline: November 26- Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)

Carmody Groarke wins 7/7 memorial commission: ...just one week after being crowned BD’s Young Architect of the Year 2007...team up with engineer Arup and landscape architect Colvin and Moggridge to create a permanent memorial in Hyde Park.- BD/Building Design (UK)

Winners Announced: 2007 International DesignShare Awards for Innovative Learning Environments -- Environment Design Institute; Planet 3 Studios Architecture; eanne Dekkers Architectuur; CPG Consultants; ArcheStudio Chennai; McCool Carlson Green; DLR; Michel Gagnon; FXFowle Architects; Russell & Yelland; Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype; etc. [links to all winners]- DesignShare

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