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Today's News - Thursday, November 29, 2007

We lose the voice who brought social science into the heart of architectural education and practice. -- Exasperated by developers who preach green then do the opposite, a California city looks to define, enforce eco-building practices. -- India dealing with green rating problems. -- Malta's architects setting out a road map for the built and rural environment. -- Australian theaters taking on the green challenge. -- Big plans for Liverpool's historic Hope Street. -- 3XN boss minces no words about National Museum of Liverpool. -- Gardner finds NYC's Hudson Yards plans (mostly) "dispiriting." -- Hawthorne saddened that an L.A. sports landmark risks becoming a crumbling relic. -- Architects are obsessed with creating openness in research buildings (but many researchers aren't so thrilled). -- Lewis on architectural hubris and MIT's Stata. -- King gives thumbs-up to a new Saitowitz project "understands its place - and what that place can become." -- Two controversial projects in Bath, U.K., win approval (though one called "a return to the dumbed-down municipal architecture" of the '60s). -- Make wins Olympic Handball competition. -- A look at Adjaye's "inky new house" in London. -- Kahn's plans for FDR memorial dusted off (again), but some claim it's "more a memorial to its architect than to FDR." -- Livable communities win awards.

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Obituary: Robert Gutman, sociologist devoted to the study of architecture, 81: ...was a key figure in American academics to bringing social science into the heart of architectural education and practice.- Princeton News

Napa City Council looks to define, enforce eco-building practices: ...exasperated that some developers have talked green during the city approval process, then stripped out energy-efficient features to save money.- Napa Valley Register (California)

Green rating problems: GRIHA, a rating system for green buildings developed by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), has been formalized as the first national rating system...a LEED accredited professional from Delhi says the “social” aspect, which is “most important”, is missing in GRIHA — and LEED as well.- Down To Earth.org (India)

Support for Chamber of Architects' proposals: Ideas on quality in architecture set to reach wider audience...setting out a road map for the built and rural environment...to create a sense of pride in architects, making them more aware and responsible.- Times of Malta

Enter a greener limelight: Every theatre has a green room, but few are green in the modern sense...theatres are energy-hungry beasts...will the theatre of the future return, as in Shakespeare's day, to daylight diversions under an open sky? -- Design Inc; Project Andromeda; Ashton Raggatt McDougall; Ashton Raggatt McDougall- The Australian

Multi million plans for Liverpool's historic Hope Street: ...to be transformed by four new developments featuring office space, a boutique hotel, bars and restaurants and luxury apartments, with a total estimated end value of £100m. -- UAD Architects- Liverpool Echo (UK)

3XN boss slams 'meddling' Museum of Liverpool: Kim Nielsen...has launched a withering attack on the National Museum of Liverpool (NML) weeks after being dropped from the £50 million flagship scheme.- The Architects' Journal (UK)

Dispiriting Plans for West Side: ...it would be a fine thing if a vibrant, 24-hour community were to rise...But to do that, you need far more than a shotgun marriage of office towers, affordable housing, and, as a sop to public sentiment, cultural institutions. By James Gardner -- Kohn Pedersen Fox/Robert A.M. Stern/Arquitectonica; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)/SHoP Architects/Diller Scofidio + Renfro/SANAA; FXFowle/Pelli Clarke Pelli; Helmut Jahn/Peter Walker; Steven Holl- New York Sun

A landmark risks becoming a relic: ...our sports facilities are full of history and architectural character but are also old and crumbling...if this city's architectural history teaches us anything, it's that irrelevance is usually the quickest path to the wrecking ball. By Christopher Hawthorne -- John Parkinson (1923)- Los Angeles Times

Monuments and instruments: The architecture of the buildings in which researchers work can have a crucial effect on the fruits of their labour...Openness has become something of an architectural obsession...but for the researchers, maybe they don't want to be on display..."don't tap on the glass, we feel like fish." -- Gehry; Viñoly; Pei; Kornberg Associates [links]- Nature.com (UK)

The Hubris of a Great Artist Can Be a Gift or a Curse: MIT's lawsuit will lead to analysis of Stata's defects by outside experts, elicit opinions about the origin of the defects and yield a list of proximate causes. Maybe hubris should be on the list. By Roger K. Lewis -- Frank Gehry- Washington Post

New kid on the block fits right in: ...really good buildings nudge us to remember that cities are never done...That's why Stanley Saitowitz's relatively small building at 1234 Howard St. in San Francisco is such a big deal...It understands its place - and what that place can become. By John King [image]- San Francisco Chronicle

Holburne extension wins approval: Eric Parry's massively controversial extension to the Bath museum finally wins planning following design changes...Council also granted planning for Feilden Clegg Bradley's...mixed-use project for...2,000 homes...has been criticised by Icomos. [image]- BD/Building Design (UK)

Make wins Olympic Handball design contest: Ken Shuttleworth's firm is working with PTW Architects and Arup on the 10,000-seat project...- The Architects' Journal (UK)

A Black Box Among the Georgians: ...inky new house lurks among the 1830s brick Georgians in De Beauvoir Town in London like a stealth bomber in a field of biplanes. -- David Adjaye [images]- New York Times

Plan revived for FDR memorial in the city: Now, after lying dormant for three decades, plans are being revived to give Roosevelt his due...Money problems, political inertia and faded public interest kept Louis Kahn's plan on the shelf until it was recently dusted off...- NY Newsday

Winners of the Urbanism Awards 2008: European City of the Year: Berlin- The Academy of Urbanism (UK)

International Awards for Liveable Communities: UN backed Livcom Awards: Communities from around the world have been recognised for their achievements in tackling the most pressing environmental issues for the planet.- Livcom Awards

2007 AARP and NAHB Livable Communities Awards: ...creative and unique homes and communities with accessible features that improve the daily comfort, ease of use, and safety, of all their residents, no matter what their ages or physical abilities.[links]- AARP/NAHB (Association of Retired Persons)/National Association of Home Builders

A Civic Gateway: Santa Monica Civic Center Parking Structure: The humble parking garage is humble no more with a bold design that makes it a sparkling destination point in itself - oh, it's LEED green, too. -- Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners [images]- ArchNewsNow

-- Kyu Sung Woo Architects (KSWA): Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas
-- Erick van Egeraat Associates: Federation Island, Russia
-- Will Bruder + Partners: Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada

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