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Today's News - Monday, December 3, 2007

Brad Pitt pulls in the stars to Make It Right in New Orleans. -- A Japanese almost-ghost town is a laboratory to study more widespread disaster on a small scale. -- A controversial Melbourne project could end up looking like a "sick camel" - unless opponents win in court. -- Battle still rages over Dublin U2 tower (rock stars and architects can be arrogant?). -- Glancey offers a glowing report from Tschumi's Acropolis museum. -- Hawthorne heaps praise on SANAA's New Museum. -- Russell is less kind. -- Two takes on Manhattan's other new museum within the "exotic splendor" of a transformed synagogue. -- Rochon raves about Gehry's AGO: the "redesign is a staggering success." -- Edinburgh architects win new museum in China. -- An Erickson treasure faces the wrecking ball. -- The Indonesian who is an "architect of the soul." -- A helpful round-up of Design Miami/ and Art Basel Miami Beach - both launch this week. -- Winners all: AR Awards for Emerging Architecture (and Heathcote's earlier predictions). -- Interior Design's Best of 2007 and latest Hall of Famers. -- Very thoughtful results in Portland Courtyard Housing Design competition.

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Brad Pitt Commissions Designs for New Orleans: ...designs by 13 architecture firms...Make It Right calls for building 150 affordable, environmentally sound houses over the next two years. -- Mayne/Morphosis; KieranTimberlake; Bingler/Concordia; William McDonough; Graft; Adjaye Associates; Billes Architecture; BNIM Architects; Constructs; Eskew & Dumez & Ripple; MVRDV; Pugh and Scarpa; Shigeru Ban; Trahan Architects [images, links]- New York Times

Brad Pitt busy making it right in the Lower 9: ...focused on Make It Right's efforts to build affordable, environmentally friendly, storm-safe houses...- The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

Empty Theme Parks, Lower Pay: Saving Japanese Ghost Towns: In the wake of Japan's debt crisis, hardship reigns in parts of the countryside...Yubari is the laboratory where a more widespread disaster can be studied on a small scale.- Der Spiegel (Germany)

A triangle that will look like a sick camel: ...planning for St Kilda's Palais Theatre and Triangle site has lost direction...The elegance of the original ARM design has been compromised by too many demands for the site — if it were an animal invention... By Norman Day- The Age (Australia)

Court to decide St Kilda triangle: Opponents of the controversial redevelopment...will mount an 11th-hour Supreme Court legal challenge in the hope of scuttling the $300 million project.- The Age (Australia)

Building plans give U2 hometown blues: Critics say Foster design will ruin Dublin skyline; Band accused of ignoring impact of rising sea level...with Bono and co accused of arrogance.- Guardian (UK)

Acropolis now: Unpretentious, well-built and wearing its ingenuity lightly, his [Bernard Tschumi] building is a relaxed walk through layers of ancient Greek art, architecture and city-making. By Jonathan Glancey- Guardian (UK)

A fuzzy look and a clarity of purpose: The design of the New Museum is a canny fit for an NYC locale, a clientele and a budget...This is the small museum as scrappy, stylish underdog, as informal and enigmatic container. By Christopher Hawthorne -- Kazuyo Sejima/Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA- Los Angeles Times

Shiny, Chilly New Museum Opens Amid Manhattan's Grimy Bowery: ...a pile of six shiny boxes...isn't a great work of architecture. That seems to have been the point of the design...effort is an honest one, but only satisfying if you feel...that art is best served by eliminating the visible hand of the architect. By James S. Russell -- Sejima + Nishizawa/Sanaa- Bloomberg News

Return of a Long-Dormant Island of Grace: ...Eldridge Street Synagogue...as this space’s religious function has faded and been folded into the newly named Museum at Eldridge Street...it is possible to be awestruck by the exotic splendor of this meticulously restored sanctuary. By Edward Rothstein -- Herter Brothers (1887); Walter Sedovic/Jill H. Gotthelf [slide show]- New York Times

Manhattan's Fabled Eldridge Street Synagogue Reopens as Museum: ...now in the home stretch of its 20-year makeover. -- Walter Sedovic Architects [slide show]- Bloomberg News

A year before liftoff, Gehry's AGO already soars: The truth is already plain to see...redesign is a staggering success.Money well spent? Let me count the ways. By Lisa Rochon [slide show]- Globe and Mail (Canada)

Edinburgh architects win bid to design Chinese museum [Cheng Du Museum]: ...beat competition from France and China for the £240 million contract. -- Sutherland Hussey- The Scotsman (UK)

Erickson house faces wrecking ball: David Graham House [in West Vancouver], built in 1963, helped launch Erickson's reputation.- The Province (Vancouver)

An architect of the Soul: Eko Agus Prawoto...is belatedly winning plaudits for his blend of contemporary design, sensitivity to local conditions and use of materials...that are sustainable, often recycled and highly suitable for regions liable to geological disturbances and flooding.- Time Magazine

Miami Heats Up: The annual art and design event energizes the city: Design Miami/ has been riding the coattails of Art Basel Miami Beach since its inception in 2005, but every year the two shows become more difficult to distinguish...Here are some highlights... -- Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Herzog & de Meuron; Shigeru Ban; Jean Nouvel; SITU Studio; etc. [images, links]- Metropolis Magazine

AR Awards for Emerging Architecture -- Ecosistema Urbano Arquitectos; Taketo Shimohigoshi/AAE; FAR: Frohn & Rojas; Takaharu + Yui Tezuka Architects; Studio Tamassociati; Thomas Heatherwick; PTW Architects/Arup/CSCEC; FAM Arquitectura; Sou Fujimoto Architects; Seiji Kamayachi + Masafumi Harigai; TNA; Datar; Shatotto; David Jameson Architect; etc. [links to images]- The Architectural Review (UK)

Light years ahead: The Architectural Review's Awards for Emerging Architecture...a delightful glimpse into...small, often low-cost schemes that never fail to surprise and enthral. This year...the short-list features some genuinely intriguing, charismatic dwellings. By Edwin Heathcote -- Datar; TNA; Sou Fujimoto; Seiji Kamayachi + Masafumi Harigai; Shatotto; Frohn and Rojas; David Jameson- Financial Times (UK)

Interior Design Honors the Best of 2007...and Hall of Fame -- Todd De Garmo/Studios Architecture; Carl D'Aquino/Francine Monaco/D'Aquino Monaco; Ingo Maurer; Gensler; Elliott + Associates; Richard Hywel Evans Architecture; OPN Architects; Randy Brown Architects; Ball-Nogues Studio; Ballinger; Parallel Design; Pascal Arquitectos; Clive Wilkinson; Steven Harris; Shelton, Mindel; etc.- Interior Design magazine

Winners of the Portland Courtyard Housing Design competition announced [images]- City of Portland (Oregon)

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