Today’s News - Monday, December 22, 2008
• ArcSpace brings us eyefuls of Stout's museum in Roanoke, and photographer Konchel's "architectonic: St. Louis."
• Ouroussoff reviews '08: "It was fun til the money ran out" (and the end of "outsize architectural statements that serve the rich and self-absorbed").
• Hume calls out Toronto's AGO and Wychwood Art Barns as proof that this was the city's "year of the architectural turnaround."
• Rawsthorn sees '08 as the "year that substance and sustainability reigned" and "survivalism," not style, was the "cool design aesthetic."
• Baillieu looks at the new uncertainties facing the new year (it might even make the "government more responsive to its critics").
• A dramatic makeover of Mecca is not a "Dubai-fication," but "something Muslims should celebrate,"."
• Hawthorne calls for L.A.'s MOCA to face "some stubborn architectural challenges" before it finalizes any rescue plan.
• Farrelly flails at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art plans for concrete boxes that are "hollow shells for art": "dump the koala" and "do something wild" (like previous competition-winning designs, perhaps?).
• Regionalism taking root in green design: "The greenest brick is the one that's already in the wall."
• Campbell hopes for the best as the fate of Faneuil Hall and the Design Research store step into limbo.
• Paris is particularly peeved with Qatari plans to alter historic Hôtel Lambert with "the aesthetics of a James Bond villa."
• The Sydney home where Utzon celebrated winning the Opera House design competition is threatened with demolition.
• Risen reviews the "banner year for the architect in brown suede shoes" (a.k.a. Robert A.M. Stern).
• An Indonesian architect finds it ironic - and "a pity that architects and urban planners today are not always able to influence their clients. What is even worse is they don't seem to care about it."
• An architect who "has helped shepherd architecture into the age of globalization."
• London, Paris, and Moscow will all miss out on Hadid's Chanel pavilion as world tour is cancelled (easy as a handbag to mothball?).
• Foster + Partners shares 1st Prize in London's double-decker bus competition.
• Glancey's "Lost Buildings: Demolished, Destroyed, Imagined, Reborn" is an "enthralling book" with "stimulating opinions that merit serious consideration."
• Pugh + Scarpa among Interior Design Hall of Famers.
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-- Randall Stout Architects: Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, Virginia
-- The Camera: Ken Konchel: architectonic: St. Louis |
It Was Fun Till the Money Ran Out: ...this era will probably be remembered as much for its vulgarity as its ambition...the public’s tolerance for outsize architectural statements that serve the rich and self-absorbed has already been pretty much exhausted. This is not all good news. A lot of wonderful architecture is being thrown out with the bad. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Koolhaas Hadid, Gehry; Herzog & de Meuron; Nouvel; Libeskind; UNStudio; Foster; Piano- New York Times |
2008: The year of the architectural turnaround: The economy may have tanked, but building design flourished, with two projects standing out – no thanks to business or government...projects such as the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Wychwood Art Barns have become important exercises in community-building. By Christopher Hume -- Frank Gehry; Joe Lobko/du Toit Allsop Hillier- Toronto Star |
2008: The year that substance and sustainability reigned: Disturbing shapes and dystopian subplots made survivalism the cool design aesthetic of 2008...not style. By Alice Rawsthorn -- Nacho Carbonell; Participle; Buckminster Fuller; Richard Sennett; IDEO; Tord Boontje; etc. [slide show]- International Herald Tribune |
New year, new uncertainties: The problems of the economy may be making the government more responsive to its critics in other areas...the pretence that the only way to solve the housing shortage is to build over the Thames Gateway or wrap new estates up in the guise of eco-towns is being robustly challenged, and rightly so. By Amanda Baillieu- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Op-Ed: Skyscraping ambition for Mecca: The dramatic redevelopment of Islam's holiest city is something Muslims should celebrate. By Ali Eteraz -- Zaha Hadid; Norman Foster [links]- Guardian (UK) |
What MOCA needs is a reborn identity: The Museum of Contemporary Art’s financial and management problems have become depressingly clear over the last several weeks...also faces some stubborn architectural challenges — ones that the museum and its potential saviors...would be smart to confront before they finalize any rescue plan. By Christopher Hawthorne -- Arata Isozaki (1986); Frank Gehry (1983)- Los Angeles Times |
Quayside concrete boxes are hollow shells for art: ...the all-wrap-no-pressie dropped by the Museum of Contemporary Art under our collective tree...To be honest, the wrap could use some help...grew almost by accident from a spare-change exercise in "solving access and circulation problems" into the $50 million unspectacular we now see...I say dump the koala. Do something wild. By Elizabeth Farrelly -- Kazuyo Sejima (1997); Sauerbruch Hutton (2001); Sam Marshall Architect- Sydney Morning Herald |
What's old is green: Reintroducing regionalism to green building: ...we've been under the impression that the greenest buildings are the newest buildings...Not necessarily..."The greenest brick is the one that's already in the wall." By Lisa Selin Davis -- Steve Mouzon- Grist Magazine |
Two urban drawing cards are now in limbo: Challenges ahead for Faneuil Hall Marketplace and a glass icon in Cambridge...Is the festival marketplace concept now dead? Will a deus ex machina show up to properly inhabit the Design Research (DR) store? Let's hope for the best. These are two of the significant works of 20th-century Boston architecture. By Robert Campbell -- Ben Thompson (1976)- Boston Globe |
Paris outrage over Qatar royals' plans to alter landmark: Plans for refurbishment of venerable Hôtel Lambert spark row over £70m property's painted ceilings...will be a monstrosity with "the aesthetics of a James Bond villa" -- Louis Le Vau (1644); Jean-François Cabestan- Guardian (UK) |
Utzon's signature home threatened with demolition: ...Beaconsfield Parade house - where Utzon celebrated winning the Opera House design competition - is threatened with demolition to make way for a five-storey, 69-unit complex. -- Sydney Ancher/Ancher, Mortlock and Murray (1954)- Sydney Morning Herald |
Stern Gets Scully Prize: A banner year for the architect in brown suede shoes. By Clay Risen- The Architect's Newspaper |
M. Ridwan Kamil: Creativity at heart of success: "A good design is balanced with economic, social and ecological aspects. In Indonesia, these last two requirements are not always met, especially with public buildings...It's a pity that architects and urban planners today are not always able to influence their clients. What is even worse is they don't seem to care about it. It's ironic." -- Urbane- The Jakarta Post |
Francis Bulbulian: Mastermind of design wonders: His work shines in some of the world’s most exquisite buildings...has helped shepherd architecture into the age of globalization. -- Parker Durrant- Armenian Reporter |
Chanel cancels Zaha Hadid's London pavilion: ...blamed the 'current economic crisis' for the decision to end the exhibition circuit early, meaning London, Paris and Moscow will all miss out...- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
London Sees Red: Aston Martin and Foster + Partners raked in a not-much-needed $38,000 (£25,000) and a first-prize award along with Capoco Design for re-jiggering...double decker bus, the Routemaster. By Julie V. Iovine -- Héctor Serrano Studio/Miñarro García/Javier Esteban; Jamie Martin [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Book review: Sadly missed: Miranda Seymour is devastated by a catalogue of architectural vanishings: "Lost Buildings: Demolished, Destroyed, Imagined, Reborn" by Jonathan Glancey...enthralling book...stimulating opinions merit serious consideration.- Guardian (UK) |
Interior Design Hall of Fame: The Fame Game: Inductees include: Gwynne Pugh, Lawrence Scarpa, Takashi Sugimoto, Steven Harris, Lucien Rees-Roberts, and Erwin Hauer. [images, links]- Interior Design magazine |
Best Architecture Books of 2008: 10 tomes from the superior to the indispensable. By Norman Weinstein -- Felix Candela; Jerry Yudelson; Bauman Lyons; etc.- ArchNewsNow |
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