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Today's News - Monday, July 28, 2008

-- ArcSpace brings us McAslan in Moscow and a small book of a candid conversation between de Portzamparc and Sollers.
-- We lose a master from pre-Castro Cuba's modernist architecture and planning movement.
-- Another Atlanta library under threat; this time, a Brutalist building by Breuer ("the bigger, younger brother to the Whitney"); and an impassioned plea for its preservation.
-- There may be no hope for Robin Hood Gardens, but a 1930s London housing estate is "sensitively restored to pay homage to its original ambitions."
-- Critic Curtis takes on the Stirling shortlist (he's not all that impressed).
-- Glancey pleads: "Please don't do it, Margate," and should resist the Bilbao effect.
-- As Victoria, Australia's first Government Architect steps down, Denton minces no words: "When it comes to choosing bids, money, not design, tends to win out."
-- Greer on the ghastly state of eco-house design and developers "terrified of innovation."
-- The future has arrived in the Philippines (even if some of it is a "bit more like Mad Max than Star Wars").
-- Denver firm treads lightly with design of mega- business and tourist complex next to one of the most historic Islamic sites in Egypt.
-- An impressive shortlist (with one unknown) for San Francisco's new Museum of Performance & Design.
-- Rochon has high praise for RAIC's 2008 gold medalist Hanganu: he "wears his heart on his architecture."
-- Bayley on Gehry's Serpentine: "To be frank, Frank, it's daft yet delightful." -- New National Hockey League HQ is frosty (in a good way).
-- Rawsthorn says the only constant in design is change.
-- An eyeful of a Mexican architect's "mollusk mansion" (you "thought Gaudí was far out?").
-- Aging levees leave D.C. landmarks exposed (but new ones better be beautiful).
-- Two Arkansas bridges "only an engineer could truly love" are up for grabs.
-- Miles and miles (and myriad categories) of IDSA/BusinessWeek 2008 International Design Excellence Awards.

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-- John McAslan + Partners: Stanislavsky Center, Stanislavsky Theater, Moscow, Russia
-- Book: Writing and Seeing Architecture by Christian de Portzamparc & Philippe Sollers

Obituary: Nicolás ''Lin'' Arroyo, 90: Prominent Cuban architect who played a leading role in pre-Castro Cuba's modernist architecture and planning movement -- Arroyo & Menéndez- Miami Herald

Beauty, truth and bonds: Is library a classy eyesore? The aesthetic charms of Atlanta's Central Library aren't necessarily visible to the naked eye...But the building's intentionally off-putting stance may end up contributing to its own obsolescence...Piedmont-Palladino described the library as "the bigger, younger brother to the Whitney." -- Marcel Breuer- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Op-Ed: Progress in preservation: Downtown library merits renovation: If young global architects like David Adjaye...can convert a landmark former train station into a cutting-edge center of information arts for the Nobel Peace Center museum...surely a vibrant community on the verge of the future like Atlanta can envision such an outcome for a 28-year-old modernist icon in our city. -- Marcel Breuer- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Long live Lubetkin’s republic: Tecton’s Spa Green Estate, a legacy of 1930s radical housing policy in north London, has been sensitively restored to pay homage to its original ambitions [images]- BD/Building Design (UK)

Stirling Prize shortlist is not Britain's best, says William JR Curtis: He was not over-impressed ...Attempts to define a 'British architecture' are doomed to insularity and caricature...It is hard to believe that this is truly representative of the best current architecture. -- Allford Hall Monaghan Morris; Chipperfield; Denton Corker Marshall; Feilden Clegg Bradley/Alison Brooks/Maccreanor Lavington; Zaha Hadid; Grimshaw/Arcadis; Pawson [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK)

Margate should resist the Bilbao effect: As the long-awaited Turner Contemporary gallery finally begins construction, Margate needs to look inwards to learn how to transform its fortunes and not to a faraway city. By Jonathan Glancey -- Evans and Shalev (1994); Frank Gehry; David Chipperfield; Snohetta [image]- Guardian (UK)

Departing architect warns state to keep watch on its legacy: For 2˝ years, John Denton held his tongue. Now, as he stands down, Victoria's first Government Architect has criticised Labor's handling of big building projects...He believes his own successor, Geoffrey London, will continue to work towards a new model for major projects. -- Denton Corker Marshall- The Age (Australia)

New houses are universally horrible, and eco-houses are the most horrible of the lot: It is already pretty clear that the developers of the dreaded eco-towns are uninterested in design and terrified of innovation...if less energy was spent on faking sameness, the costs could be kept down. By Germaine Greer- Guardian (UK)

The future has arrived: 30 years after the first “Star Wars,” we find ourselves in the future although in our underdeveloped nation, our local urban environs seem to be a bit more like Mad Max than Star Wars...despite limitations, we still manage to create designs that are forward-looking...- Philippine Daily Inquirer

Architect treads softly in shadows of history: Vast Cairo Financial Center [$730 million, 8.1 million-square-feet] poses tall challenge for Denver's Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative [slide show]- Rocky Mountain News (Denver)

Zaha faces two big-hitters and little-known Brit, Mark Dziewulski, in San Francisco competition: ...Hadid shortlisted alongside Steven Holl and Diller Scofidio & Renfro to design the new $35 million (Ł17.5 million) Museum of Performance & Design- The Architects' Journal (UK)

Lust and light, shadow and steel: The winner of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's (RAIC) 2008 gold medal says his craft is all about emotion. His buildings prove the point...as always, wearing his heart on his architecture. By Lisa Rochon -- Dan Hanganu- Globe and Mail (Canada)

To be frank, Frank, it's daft yet delightful: Frank Gehry's Serpentine Pavilion is wonderful and absurd. Wonderful because it is exuberant. Wonderful, too, simply because it exists (if only for three months). Absurd because it repudiates logic. By Stephen Bayley- Observer (UK)

A Frosty Headquarters for the N.H.L.: The interior of the National Hockey League’s new headquarters in Midtown Manhattan is a montage of materials and wintry colors that reflect the game of hockey. -- TPG Architecture- New York Times

In the creative world, the only constant is change: ...the most thrilling periods are the ones of the greatest change, when designers interpreted shifts in science, technology, behavior and politics for the rest of us. By Alice Rawsthorn -- Participle; Live Work; IDEO [slide show]- International Herald Tribune

Snail space: Thought Gaudí was far out? Welcome to the weird world of Mexican architect Javier Senosiain and the mollusc mansion he created. [slide show]- Guardian (UK)

Gaps in aging levees leave D.C. landmarks exposed: "It's going to be a lot of work in a short amount of time...Yet it's incumbent upon us, since it's on the National Mall, for it to be a beautiful system." (AP)- Washington Post

A Giveaway in Arkansas: Two Bridges, Old and Plain: Only an engineer could truly love them...To the unschooled eye, the cement and steel assemblages...appear strictly utilitarian, utterly unremarkable, even ugly. But to architecture buffs, they are minor marvels. [images]- New York Times

IDSA/BusinessWeek 2008 International Design Excellence Awards -- Ralph Appelbaum Associates; Rockwell Group; Hoberman Associates; Grimshaw/Billings Jackson Design; etc. [images]- Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA)

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