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Today's News - Friday, February 8, 2008

Is the Middle East "construction heaven" or a recipe for firms to become overcommitted? -- Building boom in India a boon to architects (and architecture schools). -- Hong Kong developers cashing in on starchitect cachet. -- Boddy bemoans that the density debate in Vancouver is getting un-civil just as the rest of the world is championing "Vancouverization." -- Parman protests: why does NYC get a "fresh Nouvel" while San Francisco settles for "Pelli's leftovers." -- Hume fumes over "insider" jury for Sugar Beach plan pick. -- Plans to build a city under Amsterdam's canals (if you can't float 'em, then sink 'em?). -- A call to not discard historic buildings' natural sustainability in craze to build new green buildings. -- U.K.'s National Trust has green plans for ancient castles. -- This depressed us: "Studies deem biofuels a greenhouse threat." -- Goldhagen marvels at Miralles's "truly revolutionary" ability to "slow complexity down" (unlike the "digitally besotted fortysomething generation of architects"). -- A profile of the man who rescued La Maison Tropicale. -- Weekend diversions: Farrelly's "Blubberland" sure to stir things up. -- "USA" by Wright is "a rich, inspiring and highly intelligent account of an exceedingly complex story." -- Saga of FLW in NYC is "a cleverly written book and delicious read." -- A Tokyo show of two Japanese architects working in China is "a brief historical moment in Sino-Japanese relations." -- In D.C., photos of the city's "accidental architecture," and on view in Beirut, an anthology of modern architecture. -- A rare tour of FLW's La Miniatura textile-block house in Pasadena.

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Planet Gulf: construction heaven? Currently there are £92bn worth of construction projects...in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries...A further £462bn of projects are planned...so it is no surprise that Middle East clients are scouting the world for consultants and contractors...If you are not careful you will find yourself overcommitted...- New Civil Engineer (UK)

Booming real estate pushes up salaries of architects, even expats are in demad: Architects now play a critical role in areas such as evaluation of new projects, developing prototypes or liaisoning with national or overseas architect firms...- The Economic Times (India)

Hong Kong revels in high-end design: ...[developers] will only spend more on a star architect - and it always costs more - if there is money to be made and now it seems there is." -- Zaha Hadid; Norman Foster; Andrée Putman- International Herald Tribune

The density debate needs to be reinvigorated: Talk about residential density...is getting un-civil... What a strange world if Vancouver derails its experiment with density...just as the rest of the planet has turned us into a verb, speaking of "Vancouverizing" their sprawl into compact urbanity. By Trevor Boddy- Globe and Mail (Canada)

Protest: NY Gets Fresh Nouvel While SF Gets Pelli’s Leftovers. How Come? Transbay Tower reminds me of the new east span of the Bay Bridge, a chance squandered to do something on a par with the Golden Gate....it makes me wince. By John Parman [images]- The Architect's Newspaper (Los Angeles)

Latest waterfront fiasco: Umbrellas and sand pit: It may be too late for the Jarvis St. Slip...but the waterfront can absorb a certain amount of mediocrity before it hits the point of no return. Let's hope we learn from the mistakes and manage not to repeat them. By Christopher Hume -- Claude Cormier; Janet Rosenberg; Ned Kahn- Toronto Star

£1bn ‘city beneath a city’ planned for Amsterdam: Lack of space and high land prices drive engineers to plan 1 million m2 project under canals...six-level underground development to provide retail, leisure and parking facilities...called Amfora... -- Strukton; Zwarts & Jansma [images]- Building (UK)

That Old Building May Be the Greenest on the Block: Architects must understand that new green buildings are but one of the factors along with historic and natural resource integration that provides the full answer to a sustainable built environment. By James T. Kienle, FAIA [links]- AIArchitect

The 1,000-year-old castle fighting climate change: ...generating green electricity from solar panels tucked away behind its battlements...Lessons learned at Dunster are to be used across the National Trust's properties.- Guardian (UK)

Studies Deem Biofuels a Greenhouse Threat: ...cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account "...land use problem is not just a secondary effect..."- New York Times

Making Waves: Miralles and his partners, like Gehry, and like the digitally besotted fortysomething generation of architects, revel in complexity. But then Miralles and his partners do a truly revolutionary thing: they slow complexity down. By Sarah Williams Goldhagen (for The New Republic) -- Miralles/Piños (1984 to 1991); Benedetta Tagliabue/EMBT Architects- SarahWilliamsGoldhagen.com

House hunting: Eric Touchaleaume has been called the Indiana Jones of furniture collecting...one of his most extraordinary acquisitions: a house designed by...Jean Prouvé...Maison Tropicale...next challenge is the restoration of a building by another neglected modern architect, Robert Mallet Stevens. By Steve Rose- Guardian (UK)

Book review: Telling good blubber from bad: 'Blubberland: The Dangers of Happiness': "If we were to design a green settlement… from scratch, the product would not be suburbia, or urban villages, or Greek fishing towns or even, say, Barcelona. It would be Manhattan." Elizabeth Farrelly can always be relied on to stir things up. By Peter Davey- The Architects' Journal (UK)

Book review: "USA: Modern Architectures In History" by Gwendolyn Wright: The secret history of American modernism...a rich, inspiring and highly intelligent account of an exceedingly complex story.- BD/Building Design (UK)

Book review: Frank’s Last Stand: "Frank Lloyd Wright in New York: The Plaza Years, 1954–1959," by Jane King Hession and Debra Pickrel...a cleverly written book and delicious read. Which raises the question: A half a century has passed since his death, why hasn’t there been another Wright?- AIArchitect

Two Japanese Architects in China: "REALIZE -- Emerging from China to the World: Keiichiro Sako / Hironori Matsubara" at Gallery MA (Tokyo) is the most timely and exciting in recent memory...for the symbolic and actual importance of the careers of the two architects on display...capturing a brief historical moment in Sino-Japanese relations... By Thomas Daniell Matsubara- Artscape (Japan)

Beauty Isn't Skin-Deep, It's in Buildings' Bones: In AIA Exhibition, Photographer James Stokoe Tips His Hard Hat to the 'Accidental Architecture' of Washington Construction Sites. By Philip Kennicott [slide show]- Washington Post

Framing the charisma of modern architecture: "Lightscapes: A Photographic Anthology of Modern Architecture" by Nagib Khazaka on display at Beirut's Goethe Institute, features dramatic, occasionally sensual and always detailed 'portraits' of buildings- Daily Star (Lebanon)

Tour shows off the blocks architect Wright played with: La Miniatura in Pasadena, the first of four textile-block houses Frank Lloyd Wright designed and built in the L.A. area...flawed jewel of a structure...- Los Angeles Times

A Bridge Between: California Academy of Sciences and Steinhart Aquarium Transition Facility: So just where has Nemo been living while the new academy rises in Golden Gate Park? -- Melander Architects- ArchNewsNow

-- Foster + Partners: Khanty Mansiysk, Siberia, Russia
-- Manfredi Nicoletti: Arezzo Law Court, Arezzo, Italy

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