Today’s News - Thursday, January 22, 2009
• December's AIA Billing Index was bleak, but $100 billion would help things look up.
• Russell bemoans probable boondoggles that won't help a thing: "Look for freeway spectaculars among the proposals...Mark them "D" - for delusional."
• Brookings Institution experts offer advice to the Obama Administration: Invest in the principal drivers of prosperity - infrastructure, human capital, innovation, and energy efficiency.
• Winnipeg proposes a novel way to proceed with "smart development."
• A Tacoma architect is taking things into his own hands by running for mayor.
• Brussat hopes Obama embraces "his inner architect by initiating a national conversation about architecture" to "change architecture from the modernism of the past half a century to a new traditionalism for the future."
• If the design profession doesn't rein in its trend towards the abstract, "we can all look forward to living in cities overcrowded by alienating glass behemoths&helliprather than communities built to serve our needs."
• Pearman sits down with Rogers, Stick, and Harbour, "the modern Goths."
• U.K.'s National Trust hopes to preserve a home "boasting one of the most extraordinary interiors in Britain" (great slide show!).
• A little-known mid-century gem in L.A. was headed for tear-down, now respectfully restored (terrific slide show).
• Voelz Chandler cheers the restoration of "one-of-a- kind emblem of the golden age of aviation" in Denver.
• Anderton has lively conversations about the Obamas: their "cool" style, their new designer; Lifson on what lessons Obama might have learned (or not) about architecture from Chicago.
• The Obamas "need to show reverence for the past without living in it"; the appointment of Michael Smith "is a promising start."
• A profile of the man himself.
• Call for entries: 2009 Torsanlorenzo International Prize in Landscape Design, Urban Green Spaces, and Private Gardens.
• Call for presentations: ASLA 2009 Annual Meeting "Beyond Sustainability: Regenerating Places and People."
• An eyeful of the IIDA/Metropolis 3rd Annual Smart Environments Awards: "all three winners combined sustainable design and functional beauty."
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American Institute of Architects seeking $100B in federal stimulus funds: ...to beef up spending in a number of areas, including green building, schools and community development grant funding..."geared towards the construction industry, and how quickly developers who have projects on hold can get them moving again."- Baltimore Business Journal |
Stop the Boondoggles, Six-Lane Highways, MPOs [Metropolitan Planning Organizations]: ...“shovel ready” means boondoggles...No bridge to nowhere will be left behind...Road projects do little more than rearrange the traffic jams. Look for freeway spectaculars among the proposals...Mark them “D” -- for delusional. By James S. Russell- Bloomberg News |
Memo to the President: Invest in Long-Term Prosperity: The nation’s economic crisis requires attention to the principal drivers of prosperity — infrastructure, human capital and innovation. By Bruce Katz and Robert Puentes [images]- Brookings Institution |
How Energy Efficiency Can Ensure the Green Recovery Will Leave No One Behind- Brookings Institution |
Winnipeg ponders 'smart development' to accommodate Ikea: ...proposing a novel way to develop a massive, $400-million, multi-use retail and commercial project...private developer pays the upfront costs...Taxpayers will eventually repay Ikea the upfront development costs for those civic amenities.- CBC (Canada) |
Tacoma architect Merritt to run for mayor -- James R. Merritt FAIA/Merritt Arch- The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington) |
Hope for change we can look at: It is possible that change of great magnitude will want an aesthetic component...Obama should embrace his inner architect by initiating a national conversation about architecture. If he does, he will do far more for his country than he could ever have done as an architect. By David Brussat- Providence Journal (Rhode Island) |
Op-Ed: The art of designing abstract: Contests like [Storefront for Art and Architecture's White House Redux] speak to wider trends in the architectural profession...If it continues, we can all look forward to living in cities overcrowded by alienating glass behemoths competing for our attention rather than communities built to serve our needs.- The Santa Clara (California) |
At home with the modern Goths: Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour: Conviviality is not everything. "Not all piazzas should be full of people"... By Hugh Pearman [images]- HughPearman.com (UK) |
National Trust look for £4m to preserve Khadambi Asalache's house: ...attempting to raise funds to protect and share the home of the African poet, a modest Lambeth house boasting one of the most extraordinary interiors in Britain. [slide show]- Guardian (UK) |
Haralamb Georgescu's midcentury Pasinetti house (1958) renovated: Architectural gem headed for tear-down is respectfully upgraded. -- Aaron Torrence/Design Plus [slide show]- Los Angeles Times |
Restored icon Hangar 61 still soars: ...a rare surviving example of thin-shell concrete construction and engineering...Now...just needs someone to turn it into an office unlike any other. It's an instant logo. It also is a reminder that when a building is gone, it's gone. But this one is not. By Mary Voelz Chandler- Rocky Mountain News (Denver) |
DnA/Frances Anderton: Design, Architecture and Inauguration Day...a lively take on the Obamas, their “cool” style, Diane Dorrans Saeks on Michael Smith’s appointment as White House designer, and Hello Beautiful’s Edward Lifson on what lessons Obama might have learned (or not) about architecture from Chicago, etc.- KCRW (Los Angeles) |
Op-Ed: Free the Blue Room: To revive the spirit of Camelot in decorating the White House, the Obamas need to show reverence for the past without living in it...to truly be “the people’s house,” should reflect its living character as much as its history...appointment of Michael Smith...is a promising start. By Deborah Needleman/Domino magazine- New York Times |
Santa Monica designer Michael S. Smith to decorate Obama's White House living area...has achieved a reputation for balancing the glamorous and the functional, the modern and the classic.- Los Angeles Times |
Call for entries: 2009 Torsanlorenzo International Prize in Landscape Design in Transformation of the Territory, Urban Green Spaces, and Private Gardens in Cities and Suburbs; no fee; deadline: March 6- Torsanlorenzo Gruppo Florovivaistico |
Call For Presentations: ASLA 2009 Annual Meeting "Beyond Sustainability: Regenerating Places and People"; deadline: February 20- American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
IIDA/Metropolis 3rd Annual Smart Environments Awards Winners: Faced with tight budgets, all three winners still combined sustainable design and functional beauty. -- Richärd + Bauer Architecture; Core Architecture + Design; NBBJ [links]- Metropolis Magazine |
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Jean Nouvel: DR Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark |
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