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Today's News - Monday, March 31, 2008

Arcspace brings us H&deM in Madrid. -- A notably Nouvel day as many pundits ponder his Pritzker Prize. -- More on Rogers' "blistering attack" on regeneration progress (Thames Gateway is "peppering the banks of the beautiful river with shoddy, toy-town houses and Dan Dare glass towers"). -- Are U.K.'s planned eco-towns just bad planning recycled with a "green spin"? -- UIC's City Design Center offers a case study as guide to green schemes. -- Campbell gives thumbs-up to Prince Charles's Knockroon town plans ("So what if he's a little nostalgic?"). -- Are public-private partnerships the best way to go? Hume says yes. -- Are privatized city centers are a "grim vision of the future"? -- Kennicott on the power of architecture to draw people in. -- Lewis on a run-down neighborhood that's coming back to life. -- Menking puts out a call to save Old Stockton to "reverse the trend of reconfiguring California's downtowns around the requirements of the automobile." -- A new luxury housing development outside of Moscow offers "a new kind of civilization... a kind of utopian social experiment - but without poor people" (body guards optional). -- Krens discusses his affinity for massive projects. -- Nucinovitski breaks his silence on the "Bilbao-12" conspiracy. -- Glad for good news: Eiffel Tower "bonnet" extension is "le grand hoax."

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Herzog & de Meuron: CaixaForum Madrid, Spain

Notably Nouvel: 2008 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate: This year's recipient will be saying "merci" in Washington, DC. [images]- ArchNewsNow.com

Jean Nouvel dreams in architecture's practical craft: His finest designs slip into otherworldly realms of desire and memory...creates remarkable and occasionally sublime architectural moments. By Christopher Hawthorne- Los Angeles Times

Jean Nouvel, Bravura French Architect, Wins 2008 Pritzker Prize: When I spoke to Nouvel on the telephone, he professed awe at receiving the prize. By James S. Russell- Bloomberg News

Building Moments: Pritzker Prize winner Jean Nouvel on his battle to reshape a world of cities that all look the same. By Cathleen McGuigan- Newsweek

A Jean Nouvel interview: his surprise in winning the Pritzker Architecture Prize, his philosophy of design, and his visits to Chicago. By Blair Kamin- Chicago Tribune

The Contextualilizer: Every Jean Nouvel building tells a story...With some of his projects, that personality is coolly and irresistibly seductive, and with others, it is brassy, even cheesy...“He’s precarious,” explained Gehry...“He tries things, and not everything works...But Jean is willing to jump in and take on things and try. That’s a great quality.”- New York Times Magazine

Architecture's New Knight: Jean Novel: Some architects produce work with a signature look...Nouvel isn't one of those. He's playful, contradictory and devoted to the idea of context...His career is proof that paying close attention to the neighborhood is a good way to find new avenues. By Richard Lacayo [slide show]- Time Magazine

Urban regeneration may create slums of future, says Rogers: ...issued a blistering attack on what he considers the slow and "shoddy" progress in the rejuvenation of towns and cities...scathing about housing design, saying it lacks 'a community's sense of place, belonging or identity'...- Independent (UK)

Fears that 'eco-towns' will recycle bad planning: Suspicions are growing that many of the 56 bids submitted by building companies to construct the Government's 10 eco-towns are little more than old-fashioned commuter dormitory settlements with a "green spin"- Telegraph (UK)

Designing Environmentally Friendly Communities: University of Illinois at Chicago's City Design Center has produced "Green Schemes: Sustainable Urbanism in Garfield Park"...as a case study for use by Chicago neighborhoods and individuals.- ScienceDaily

Prince Charles's crowning achievement: His second planned community [Knockroon] is designed to encourage residents to exercise...More power to the prince, say I. So what if he's a little nostalgic? There's plenty of room in the world for more than one kind of architecture. By Robert Campbell -- Hank Dittmar; Congress for the New Urbanism- Boston Globe

Are public-private partnerships the best way to go? Christopher Hume and Thomas Walkom give two contrasting perspectives on P3s: Yes, In these tax-loathing, reactionary times, they’re a necessary evil; No, The money still comes from where it always does — us- Toronto Star

Cities for sale: Privatised city centres with no guarantee of public access and patrolled by security guards... a grim vision of the future? No, it's happening right now in London and Liverpool, says Paul Kingsnorth- Guardian (UK)

Architecture and the Ability to Draw People In: What Foster is proposing may not be what Washingtonians are used to, architecturally. But it is a modest effort to produce something that will appeal to those of us who crave more of a city. And what is a city? By Philip Kennicott -- Foster + Partners; Gensler [images]- Washington Post

New Mixes Well With Old In Columbia Heights: ...has come back to life...promises to be a strong example of thoughtful urban and architectural design, as well as of successful economic revitalization. By Roger K. Lewis- Washington Post

Comment: Save Old Stockton: This is the perfect moment for architects, preservationists, and planners to weigh in on the importance of preserving dignified usable structures and to reverse the trend of reconfiguring California’s downtowns around the requirements of the automobile. By William Menking [links]- The Architect's Newspaper (NYC)

Russia builds luxury Agalarov Estate: ...22 miles north-west of Moscow..."a new kind of civilization... a kind of utopian social experiment - but without poor people."...bodyguards...will be banned from living with their bosses. Homes will be built for them on the outskirts of the estate.- Telegraph (UK)

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Will Be 'Pharaonic': Q&A with one of the art world's biggest globalizing forces, Guggenheim mastermind Thomas Krens, discusses his affinity for massive projects...- Der Spiegel (Germany)

Questions for Alexandre Nucinovitski: The Times's longtime architecture critic breaks his silence and reveals what compelled him to come forward with his allegations, how high up the conspiracy goes, and what (or who) is the "Bilbao-12." By Oren Safdie- Metropolis Magazine

Le grand hoax: Eiffel Tower extension is fake: "The whole thing is preposterous. There is no question of changing the way that the Eiffel Tower looks, even temporarily." -- Serero Architects [images]- Belfast Telegraph (Ireland)

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