Today’s News - Thursday, October 23, 2008
• A thoughtful tribute to a master who helped raise design standards across the UK.
• Angotti offers an in-depth comparison of McCain and Obama's urban policies and what they will mean for cities.
• Hawthorne wonders if hard times can be good for architecture: "a period of tight credit could force architects to trade glitz for substance" (and the next big thing could be a thousand little ones).
• Glancey wonders if there's poetry in architecture (or at least hopes for some "poetic vision").
• An eyeful of projects that provides a snapshot of state-of-the-art green building.
• The dynamo behind the Designers Accord (a.k.a. the Kyoto Treaty of Design).
• The Ahmedabad-based architects who have challenged perceptions of the modern-day workplace.
• WWCOT to help Dujiangyan, China, rebuild after earthquake - design principles will be adopted by cities throughout the province.
• Dillon on a Dallas development that's transformed a former dumping ground to eco-friendly neighborhood.
• Ouroussoff is pleased as punch with NY Public Library pick of Foster for major renovation: "There is no project today that is more important to the civic identity of New York"; Pogrebin gets into the details.
• Merrick marvels at Hopkins' Sanger Centre for Science and Mathematics: "architectural wonder," "magnificent" (we think he really likes it!).
• At SOM's Cathedral of Christ the Light, "everything has a meaning, and very little seems arbitrary."
• Bahrain's latest towering plans: "Light" and "Reflections" come to mind.
• Leeds gives go-ahead for new dance center.
• Brussat issues a call to save Athens from Tschumi, and Providence from the "shortsightedness and narrow-mindedness" of the city's urban policy.
• Gallagher says renovation of historic hotel "nudges Detroit further along the path to a more up-to-date-looking downtown."
• An eyeful of the American pavilion at the Venice Biennale (the first we've seen!).
• World Architecture Festival announces first eight category winners.
• 2008 National Preservation Award Winners.
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Obituary: Stefan Buzás, 93, Hungarian-born architect...produced highly original buildings that brought sophistication and elegance to functional forms, and in doing so helped to raise design standards across the UK. By Alan Irvine -- James Cubitt & Partners- Guardian (UK) |
The McCain-Obama Mismatch on Urban Policy: How do John McCain and Barack Obama compare on urban policy and what will it mean for New York and other large cities? By Tom Angotti [links]- Gotham Gazette |
Architecture can focus on L.A.'s shared spaces: Amid a period in which bolder has meant bigger, the economic slowdown could help push architects to imagine, identify and define new paths...could force architects to trade glitz for substance. By Christopher Hawthorne -- Foster; Koolhaas; Gehry; O'Herlihy; Dubbeldam; Eisenman; Krier; Venturi, Denise Scott Brown- Los Angeles Times |
Is there a poetry in architecture? Structure, rhythm, balance ... the two art forms are very similar...I can't help wondering if there's something new we could be learning here; a way, at the very least least, of imbuing contemporary architecture with a poetic vision. By Jonathan Glancey- Guardian (UK) |
Innovation from the Innovators: ...some of the world’s most forward-thinking architectural and engineering firms name their newest green products and systems...provide a snapshot of state-of-the-art green building. -- Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill; Busby Perkins + Will; Behnisch Architekten/Nimbus; Kiss + Cathcart; Grimshaw/Jackson Architecture; Hopkins Architects/
Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas; Foster + Partners/Stanhope/Arup/Grants of Shoreditch; Perkins Eastman/Dewhurst Macfarlane/Choi Ropiha; Pelli Clarke Pelli; Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM)/Jaros, Baum & Bolles [images, slide shows]- Metropolis Magazine |
Building a Sustainable Design Community: Valerie Casey is rallying the creative community to her version of a Kyoto treaty for designers...the Designers Accord, formerly (and now informally) known as the Kyoto Treaty of Design...more than 100,000 firms and designers from all disciplines -- one global generation of designers, better than half from outside the United States -- have signed on...- Fast Company |
Making an unconventional design work: It was an unusual and challenging brief: to design low-cost, easy-to-construct, earthquake-resistant, multi-purpose temporary shelters from locally available materials, to serve as administrative offices in Kutch. Ahmedabad-based Kartikeya Shodhan Associates' response challenged perceptions of the modern-day workplace. [images, links]- Livemint.com (India) |
U.S. Firm Helps China Rebuild After Deadly Quake: Dujiangyan...ranks among the most visited tourist destinations in the country...many of these design principles will be adopted by cities throughout the province. By David Sokol -- Chengzhi “Harry” Lu/WWCOT Architects [image]- Architectural Record |
Urban Reserve changed former dumping ground to eco-friendly development: ...a primer on ecologically responsible design that is low maintenance, drought resistant and appropriate for its location. Yet the landscape is about more than sustainability. By David Dillon -- Urban Edge; Kevin Sloan Studio; Water Gardens Galore; Max Levy; Dan Shipley; Vincent Snyder; Lionel Morrison [slide show]- Dallas Morning News |
Treading Carefully but Not Timidly in a Civic Masterpiece: News that the New York Public Library has hired Norman Foster for the job is one of a string of shrewd decisions by the library that should put our minds at ease...There is no project today that is more important to the civic identity of New York... By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Foster & Partners- New York Times |
British Architect to Redesign City Library: Norman Foster has been selected for a major renovation of the New York Public Library’s landmark 1911 main building...'We had to have someone as good as Carrère & Hastings"...expected to cost $250 million, is proceeding despite a steep economic downturn... -- Foster & Partners- New York Times |
Grand design: The architectural wonder that's transformed a private school: A magnificent £5m architectural masterpiece at Bryanston school [Sanger Centre for Science and Mathematics] is setting new standards for the fee-paying sector. By Jay Merrick -- Hopkins Architects [image]- Independent (UK) |
Get Me To The Church: Cathedral of Christ The Light, Oakland: From the pisces-shaped roof, to the north- and south-facing “alpha” and “omega” walls, to the stream of sunlight illuminating a pool of holy water, everything has a meaning, and very little seems arbitrary. -- Craig Hartman/Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Impressive reflections: ...$175 million 'Light of Bahrain', a mixed-use freehold and serviced apartments development in a 44-storey iconic structure as well as 'Reflections of Bahrain', a development project that will include a 240-room business hotel, restaurants and a retail arcade. -- DP Architects [image]- Gulf Weekly |
Go-ahead granted for £12m Leeds dance centre: ...will be home to the Northern Ballet Theatre and Phoenix Dance Theatre... -- Strategic Design Alliance; Jacobs Architecture [image, link]- The Stage (UK) |
Save Athens, and Providence too: ...the New Acropolis Museum...could sit comfortably on the access road to any major airport in the world...Pericles must be spinning in his grave...Next week, the future appearance of downtown Providence will be considered...is as much at risk as the historical character that has long been been central to its beauty and its appeal. By David Brussat -- Bernard Tschumi- Providence Journal (Rhode Island) |
Book Cadillac Hotel keeps Detroit on path to downtown revival: Renovation adds modern twist...offers a more muted modernism. By John Gallagher -- Louis Kamper (1920s); Kaczmar Architect; ForestPerkins [images]- Detroit Free Press |
America the Dutiful: American contribution to the Architecture Biennale...chose to present 16 studios approaching architecture in unconventional ways for unconventional clients...a breath of fresh air in the diversity and ingenuity of the projects proposed about helping people rather than egos. -- Teddy Cruz; Aaron Levy; International Center for Urban Ecology; Center of Land Use Interpretation; Rural Studio; The Heidelburg Project; Detroit Collaborative Design Center; Design Corps; Gans Studio; Studio 804; Jonathan Kirschenfeld; Center for Urban Pedagogy; Rebar; William Menking [images, links]- Metropolis Magazine |
First eight category winners at the World Architecture Festival have been announced. -- Buro II; Snøhetta; Batlle & Roig; FAREstudio; Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden; BIG/Bjarke Ingels Group; Grafton Architects; Weiss/Manfredi [links]- World Architecture Festival |
2008 National Preservation Award Winners [links to images]- National Trust for Historic Preservation |
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-- LAVA: Michael Schumacher Tower, Abu Dhabi, UAE
-- Snøhetta: Petter Dass Museum, Alstahaug, Norway |
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