Today’s News - Tuesday, December 2, 2008
• Weinstein's Words That Build Tip #9: Work with your clients' contradictions to discover possible solutions.
• After "the calls go out to the architects: pencils down," what will become of NYC's construction pits? (corn mazes or parking lots or something else, perhaps?)
• Christensen illustrates some resourceful reuses of vacant big-box stores sprouting up across the country.
• Rochon on Bing Thom's "radical urban-renewal design" to transform 800+ acres of Fort Worth's "derelict and dangerous downtown land."
• High hopes that New Orleans' first international biennial of art ("a shifting, healing kaleidoscope" or "the bleeding heart biennial") will "foster a love affair" with the city.
• Pogrebin's final installment on preservation in NYC: it's always "a delicate dance."
• A major showdown re: Washington, DC's "Brutalist bunker" church: is it "a modernist jewel," or just "a money-sucking, energy-wasting, decrepit dump"?
• Hume on Torontonians' hard time adjusting to the winds of change: "Change is good, they say, as long as it means we don't have to do anything differently."
• Merrick is spellbound by Pei's Museum of Islamic Art: "Dubai may have Atlantis, but Doha's got Xanadu."
• Despite the otherwise dismal economy, the High Line "is a real bright spot" that "shows that New York can still think big and do big things."
• Rothstein finds some bright (and some dim) spots in the new Capitol Visitor Center.
• An eyeful of Gensler's Shanghai Tower.
• Alsop's urban manifesto: "Street Creatures," and the importance of experiencing architecture.
• Q&A's with Wolf Prix, who has flipped "flip the trend of institutionalized cement-gray high schools"; and IDEO's Stephen Bishop, advocates for a "human-centered design process" that can be applied across all design disciplines.
• Good news for the elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo.
• Bike racks as public art are popping up everywhere.
• We couldn't resist an eyeful of the Aerohotel: forget terraforming - just use stilts.
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WORDS THAT BUILD: Tip #9: Work with your clients' contradictions to discover possible solutions. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
Dept. of Visualization: The Pits: After an extraordinary era of construction...there will almost certainly come a long period in which little to nothing gets built...The calls go out to the architects: pencils down...you have a New York that may be frozen in time.- New Yorker |
For Sale: 200,000-Square-Foot Box: What happens to the store when Wal-Mart leaves town? ...all over the country, resourceful communities are finding ways to reuse these buildings, turning them into flea markets, museums, schools — even churches. By Julia Christensen [slide show essay]- Slate |
Straight from B.C., ideas as big as all Texas: How Vancouver architect Bing Thom is helping the cowboy town of Fort Worth reclaim its waterfront...one of North America's largest infrastructure projects is being built according to a radical urban-renewal design...that will reclaim about 325 hectares of derelict and dangerous downtown land. By Lisa Rochon- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
The Big Easy's Canvas: How Art Can Help New Orleans: Prospect 1...The first international biennial of art...the largest in the United States...To foster a love affair with New Orleans, Dan Cameron spread Prospect 1 across the city and made all of the exhibitions and events free and open to the public [through January 18, 2009] [images, links]- Preservation magazine |
Preservation and Development, Engaged in a Delicate Dance: Over a decade of whirlwind development, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has repeatedly played dance partner to a potent mix of preservationists, developers and city politicians. By Robin Pogrebin [images, links to series]- New York Times |
16th Street Showdown: Demolish Church To Save It? Deep into more than 10 hours of argument and testimony...someone finally dared to predict the fate of the Brutalist bunker...that the Third Church of Christ, Scientist has miserably called home for 37 years...historic preservationists say is a modernist jewel...the congregation contends is a money-sucking, energy-wasting, decrepit dump... -- I.M. Pei [image, links]- Washinton Post |
Winds of change blowing, but resistance gusting: Suddenly it seems the future has come to Toronto – and many are now hoping it will leave just as quickly as it arrived...Whether we're talking about wind turbines in Lake Ontario, fees for plastic bags, garbage levies...Torontonians are having a hard time adjusting...but as tough as change may be, there's no longer any choice. By Christopher Hume- Toronto Star |
Xanadu reborn: Dubai may have Atlantis, but Doha's got Xanadu. Designed by I.M. Pei, the new Museum of Islamic Art is in a different league – and Jay Merrick is spellbound...the shadows it casts are a beautiful riddle of abstracted geometry and texture. [images]- Independent (UK) |
Taking a Stroll Along the High Line: That the park...is being built at all is a marvel...prompting some of the most ambitious development in the city in years...in an otherwise dismal economy, the High Line "is a real bright spot...It shows that New York can still think big and do big things." -- Robert Hammond; Field Operations; Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Jean Nouvel; Annabelle Selldorf; Renzo Piano; Della Valle Bernheimer; Morris Adjmi; Polshek Partnership; Robert A.M. Stern- New York Times |
The Pursuit of Expansiveness Guides the Capitol’s New Visitor Center: ...the one thing that you don’t feel here is what the place so insists on: that this is an extension of the Capitol and a suitable entrance into it...The exhibition itself is deft and informative... By Edward Rothstein -- RTKL; Ralph Applebaum Associates [images]- New York Times |
Despite Sinking Economy, Work Begins on Super-Tall Shanghai Tower...slated to be the tallest building in China. -- Gensler [slide show]- Architectural Record |
Will Alsop's urban manifesto: "Street Creatures" lecture on urban influences at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal – included Corbusier – and the importance of experiencing architecture. [video]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Q&A with Wolf Prix: ...if anyone could help flip the trend of institutionalized cement-gray high schools distinguishable only by the mascot on the marquee out front, it’s Prix. -- Coop Himmelb(l)au [images]- Architectural Record |
Q&A with Stephen Bishop, Design Sustainability Lead, IDEO: Bishop advocates for a “human-centered design process” that can be applied across all design disciplines.- American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Asia exhibit at the Oklahoma City Zoo to include larger area for elephants: 11-acre, $23 million project to open in 2011 -- Torre Design Consortium [video link]- The Oklahoman |
Cities rack up public artwork with bike racks: Cyclists can chain their bikes to a dollar sign on New York City's Wall Street, a pair of giant toothbrushes in Portland, Ore., and sea creatures in Louisville...
Bicycle racks that combine the utility of security with the aesthetics of art are popping up across the USA. [images]- USA Today |
The space-age Aerohotel concept: We've seen some incredible examples of terraforming in recent years...But why shift all that dirt around if you can just use stilts? By the looks of the space-age design, we suspect George Lucas would be one of the first in residence. -- Alexander Asadov [images]- Gizmag (Australia) |
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-- Jørn Utzon 1918 - 2008: "I think back on my life with my father with great joy and love. To be allowed to spend so much time together with such a remarkable man, father and architect, has been a great privilege indeed." -- Jan Utzon |
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