Today’s News - Thursday, August 7, 2008
EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ll be taking Friday’s off for the rest of August...see you Monday, August 11.
• Is a German city turning into a "green dictatorship," or is it more "like an argument between the enlightened environmentalists and the really enlightened environmentalists."
• Are eco−town dreams going the way of the supercasinos?
• Architects look for a "solution that allows us to enjoy luxury and shrink our footprint at the same time."
• Findlay’s pink starfish that was to be the English country home of the 21st century gives way to an Adam 35,000−square−foot "Georgian−style stone pile straight out of Pride and Prejudice" − and green to boot (yeah, right).
• An eyeful of some fanciful visions of homes of the future.
• McCloud’s own ’grand design’ to transform the quality of British housing is in chaos.
• Baillieu says his goal is good, but perhaps he’s "biting off rather more than he could chew."
• Plans in the works to bring back ancient Thrace capital buried in a reservoir.
• Beijing reopens historic Qianmen shopping street (but how much of it is actually authentic, we wonder − do check out the garbage can!).
• Nadel takes on security of Olympic proportions.
• Goldberger on the "King of Central Park West" (a.k.a. Robert A. M. Stern), and the "art, as well as the limits, of grand nostalgia" (and pix with Vanity Fair flair, no less).
• Spring hopes eternal that Mecanoo can give Birmingham a much−needed "a social heart."
• King finds a San Francisco infill project that actually looks better in person than on paper (take heed, developers and architects).
• A baby brother for London’s Gherkin?
• Interns offer grand vision to turn a piece of L.A. pavement into paradise.
• A call for the Parliament House in Melbourne to finally get its dome.
• Call for entries: 3rd Annual Ed Bacon Student Competition.
• Klein commissions a "Serpentine" for the High Line − by Pawson this time.
• Eliasson’s waterfalls put NYC trees under stress.
• Page turners: Kwinter offers "an undeniably bracing and enlivening volume."
• Despite probing essays, a tome on Sert is "too deferential to be able to say anything relevant to today’s debates about how to correct them."
• Of note: Dubai just bought 20% of Cirque du Soleil, but no word yet on who will design its theater on Palm Jumeirah (where else?).
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German City Wonders How Green Is Too Green: Marburg’s decision to require solar−heating panels has thrown it into a vehement debate over the boundaries of ecological good citizenship...led opponents to charge that their genteel town has turned into a "green dictatorship."- New York Times |
Is the eco−town dream dead? Who remembers the supercasino? ...could it happen again with Brown-s eco−towns? The firms bidding to build one of them are sensing horrible parallels..."we might just have to strip it of its eco−town credentials to continue promoting it."- Building (UK) |
The Green Housing Boom: Will we, a nation that equates bigger with better, ever be able to downscale our housing ambitions? Can creative designers find a solution that allows us to enjoy luxury and shrink our footprint at the same time? −− Matthew Berman/Andrew Kotchen/Workshop/apd; Edward Mazria/Architecture 2030; Ray Kappe; KieranTimberlake; LivingHomes; Wilfried Wang- Fast Company |
No takers for ’stately starfish’: It was supposed to be an English country house for the 21st century ...pink−tentacled modernist mansion has been replaced with something entirely more classical − a 35,000 sq ft Georgian−style stone pile surrounded by formal gardens straight out of Pride and Prejudice. −− Ushida Findlay; Robert Adam; Atelier Ten [images]- Manchester Evening News (UK) |
Home sweet... jellyfish! Architects share their vision of what homes of the future will look like; Fab Tree Hab grows itself and is fully edible; Loftcube is a house for the nomadic lifestyle −− Mitchell Joachim; IwamotoScott; Mass Studies; Sybarite [slide show]- CNN |
Kevin McCloud-s own ‘grand design- in chaos: TV presenter replaces Wright & Wright with practice ready to work weekends for no money: Happiness Architecture Beauty (Hab) has now appointed Glenn Howells Architects as a replacement...- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Op−Ed: We need to talk about Kevin: Kevin McCloud is right to want to raise the standard of housebuilding, but first he must learn how to be a good developer...No one seemed to be asking if, despite his enthusiasm, he wasn-t biting off rather more than he could chew. By Amanda Baillieu −− Happiness Architecture Beauty (Hab)- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Ancient Thrace Capital to Be Drawn out of Water Reservoir for EUR 100 Million: ...ancient Thracian capital Sevtopolis...is currently located at a depth of about 20 meters on the bottom of the reservoir but has been found to be in an excellent condition. −− Zheko Tilev- Turkish Weekly |
Beijing reopens historic Qianmen shopping street one day before Olympics [slide show]- Xinhua News (China) |
Security of Olympic Proportions: Conventional Wisdom on Safety at Public Venues: Large public venues have more demanding security programs than most buildings because these iconic structures are often considered terrorist targets. With sound planning and preparation, they can also be safe havens during a disaster. By Barbara A. Nadel, FAIA- Buildings.com |
The King of Central Park West: ...Robert A. M. Stern-s 15 Central Park West, an ingenious homage to the classic Candela−designed apartment buildings...Paul Goldberger examines the art, as well as the limits, of Stern-s grand nostalgia. [images]- Vanity Fair |
Birmingham’s new library: an architectural shot in the arm: Mecanoo’s design could bring excitement to the city centre..."a social heart" of the city. By Martin Spring- Building (UK) |
Mission Bay condominium complex stands out: Arterra may prove to be an aberration, a bright spot amid the bland boxes that typify infill housing in San Francisco...With luck, it will be something else: a signal to developers and architects that they shouldn’t settle for something that just looks good on paper. By John King −− Kwan Henmi Architecture/Planning [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Foggo Associates reveals neighbour for Foster’s Gherkin [images, link]- The Architects’ Journal (UK) |
Turning Pavement Into Paradise: EDAW interns propose new park over LA’s 101 Freeway [image]- The Architect’s Newspaper |
Dome sweet dome: Alfred Deakin, an early prime minister, did a lot for Australia...His biggest mistake was, in the 1880s, cancelling the grand dome planned for our Parliament House. −− Karl Fender- Melbourne Herald Sun (Australia) |
Call for entries: 3rd Annual Ed Bacon Student Competition: Rebuild | Revive...Ludlow Neighborhood of North Philadelphia; cash prizes; registration deadline: September 30- Ed Bacon Foundation |
Calvin Klein Plans 40th Anniversary Party: ...giving its friends, family and hometown a gift...a purpose−built provisional John Pawson structure adjacent to the much−anticipated High Line [and] making a significant donation to fund the project-s future operations...- Womens’ Wear Daily/WWD |
A−Salted by the Falls" River Cafe’s Trees in Danger: ...80−foot waterfall at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge has turned the famed waterfront eatery’s trees and plants prematurely brown...Public Art Fund hopes to nip the crisis in the bud...also at Governors Island... −− Olafur Eliasson- New York Post |
Book review: "Far From Equilibrium: Essays on Technology and Design Culture" by Sanford Kwinter: ...reads in some ways like a time capsule, recalling the halcyon days of Studebakers and Stalin...an undeniably bracing and enlivening volume.- Icon magazine (UK) |
Book review: "Josep Lluís Sert: The architect of urban design, 1953−69," edited by Eric Mumford & Hashim Sarkis...tells how Sert was a little too in love with ordering the city...Despite probing essays...it is too deferential to be able to say anything relevant to today-s debates about how to correct them.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
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