Today’s News - Friday, June 5, 2009
• Weinstein reviews a "subversive book every architect needs."
• Gehry's out, Ellerbe Becket's in for Atlantic Yards' Nets Arena (though the master retains master planner title).
• Stern heads to Oxford to end a competition deadlock over whether to choose a modern or classical architect (which will the "modern traditionalist" pick, we wonder).
• Glancey bemoans a "bland serving of spectacle": the "less we make, the more museums we build, so that we can gurn at what we are no longer capable of making."
• Ouroussoff finds mostly marvels (and a few shortfalls) in Mayne's new Cooper Union building that proves "a brash, rebellious attitude can be a legitimate form of civic pride."
• Gordon Murray + Alan Dunlop to make their debut Down Under.
• Fast Company's Fast Cities 2009, where "exemplary initiatives are improving neighborhoods, transforming lives, and helping build better, faster cities for the future": an interesting mix; Seattle takes City of the Year.
• Ando's Venetian adventure: "a cool 21st-century gallery space" in a 17th-century customs building (with a few awkward moments).
• Belgium opens two new museums: a surreal house for Magritte in Brussels, and de Portzamparc's "flat spaceship" for Tintin lands in a green field (worth checking out links for images).
• On view in La Jolla, 9 San Diego designers make their mark by redefining housing, development, and urban design.
• In Philadelphia, the Center for Architecture serves up banal rest stops that have been transformed into astonishing landmarks in Norway.
• U.S.S. Enterprise lands at the Franklin Institute: "make sure your transporter is in working order" (o.k., so it's not all that architectural, but we're ready to beam up).
• "Hydrospatial City" lands in Houston (lots of pix).
• Page turners: Two tomes on Caruso St John "dissect the work of an extraordinarily remarkable practice."
• Isozaki on Isozaki "is a true tour de force."
• "Eiffel's Tower: And the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count" (how could we resist a title like that?!!?).
• Two we couldn't resist: 5-foot bunny-shaped trash cans in London's future? (toss something in and its "tall, perky ears beam on" - we want one!); and an eyeful of Zaha's boots for Lacoste (we'll pass on this one, but her design statement is worth a read - or not).
| |
|
|
|
To subscribe to the free daily newsletter
click here
|
Book Review: A Subversive Book Every Architect Needs: "Architect's Essentials of Negotiation" by Ava J. Abramowitz: Supposedly architects don't need negotiating skills along with other communication skills because great design "sells itself." How lovely that an AIA legal counsel created this definitive book to shatter that thin myth. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
Gehry'd Away: Gehry Partners dumped for Ellerbe Becket at Nets Arena, still master planning Atlantic Yards..."with Frank’s understanding, the arena is undergoing a redesign that will make it more limited in scope." [images, links]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Oxford University calls in Robert Stern to end competition deadlock: ...has been parachuted into the midst of a prestigious competition...thanks to a “deadlock” over whether to choose a modern or classical architect...university was split between the Dixon Jones and John Simpson proposals and now hopes that Stern...may be able to appease both sides- BD/Building Design (UK) |
A bland serving of spectacle: Where once cities were defined but what they made, today they are as likely to be recognised for what they show in their museums...The less we make and the more we rely on a culture “delivered” from outside...the more our cities will begin to look...like a bland global advertisement signifying little, or nothing, truly worth having. By Jonathan Glancey- BD/Building Design (UK) |
The Civic Value of a Bold Statement: Thom Mayne’s design for the new academic building at the Cooper Union...proves that a brash, rebellious attitude can be a legitimate form of civic pride....a bold, aggressive profile that says as much about the city we’ve lost as it does about the future we are building. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Morphosis [slide show]- New York Times |
GM + AD Architects bag Australian debut: Glasgow-based firm has landed its first scheme ‘down under’ - the design of the new Glenroy Specialist School, in Melbourne [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Fast Cities 2009: Seattle, City of the Year...singular bright ideas have earned 12 other cities -- Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Malmö, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Taipei, Tucson, and Vancouver -- places on our honor roll. Their exemplary initiatives are improving neighborhoods, transforming lives, and helping build better, faster cities for the future. [slide shows]- Fast Company |
Pinault’s Venice Empire Grows With Cool Contemporary-Art Museum: Tadao Ando has transformed the 17th- century customs building...into a cool 21st-century gallery space...However, the conversion must be judged only a partial success, as the smooth minimalist structures of the new construction meld awkwardly with the time-worn textures of the timber roof beams and brick walls. By Martin Gayford [slide show]- Bloomberg News |
Magritte Museum Opens as Surreal House, Tintin Gets Spaceship: ...one of Belgium’s best-known artists finally has a standalone museum...in Brussels...Out amid the green fields of sleepy Wallonia, what appears to be a modernist yacht or a large, flat spaceship has docked...south of Brussels. The Herge Museum... -- Winston Spriet; Christian de Portzamparc [links]- Bloomberg News |
On Their Mark: "Mix: Nine San Diego Architects and Designers"...redefining housing, development, and urban design in their own city and beyond. The La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art...giving over most of the museum to installations that encapsulate the concerns and craft of a generation that is dedicated to making a difference. -- estudio teddy cruz; LUCE et Studio Architects; Sebastian Mariscal Studio; Public; Rinehart Herbst; Lloyd Russell; Jonathan Segal [slide show]- The Architect's Newspaper |
"Detour: Architecture and Design Along 18 National Tourist Routes in Norway": notable projects by international architects to transform banal rest stops into astonishing landmarks...through September 11- Philadelphia Center for Architecture |
Gyula Kosice’s "Hydrospatial City" Lands in Houston: The Argentinian artist's space-architecture installation is being shown in its entirety for the first time...at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
The U.S.S. Enterprise, in Strange New World of Museum: It is best to approach "Star Trek: The Exhibition" at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, with phasers set to stun. And to avoid any quantum entanglement, make sure that if you visit the show before it closes on the stardate equivalent to Sept. 20, your transporter is in working order. By Edward Rothstein [slide show]- New York Times |
Book review: Caruso St John: "The Feeling of Things" and "Almost Everything"...Two books dissect the work of an extraordinarily remarkable practice...Despite the differences in style, common themes at the heart of current architecture emerge... By David Leatherbarrow- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Book review: "Arata Isozaki" edited by Arata Isozaki and Ken Tadashi Oshima...is a true tour de force...one finds that a much deeper, more erratic — and more interesting — creative process has taken place, characterised by personal crises and deep questioning of the forces underpinning our modern Western and Eastern societies.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Book review: Lightning Rods and Sideshows: In “Eiffel’s Tower: And the World’s Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count,” Jill Jonnes examines — with splendid attention to detail, if not always with writerly finesse — the importance the tower...“Paris From the Ground Up” by James H. S. McGregor...offers an informative history of the city’s art and architecture...- New York Times |
Paul Smith Designs Bunny-Shaped Trash Cans to Clean Up London: ...part of the “Super Contemporary” show at London’s Design Museum...5-foot (1.52-meter) green rabbit standing on its hind legs and clutching a large trash bag. Every time someone throws litter in, the bunny’s tall, perky ears beam on... through Oct. 4 [image, links]- Bloomberg News |
In Her Shoes: Zaha Hadid’s latest project explores futuristic vessels of movement in relation to the human body, or in non-archispeak she’s designed a pair of shoes! [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
WORDS THAT BUILD: Translate Images Into Touching Performances: Tip#15: Cultivate communication with clients that translates architectural imagery into experience at their fingertips. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
|
-- Pugh + Scarpa: Step Up on Fifth, Santa Monica, California
-- Morphosis: NOAA Satellite Operations Facility, Suitland, Maryland |
|
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window.
External news links are not endorsed by ArchNewsNow.com.
Free registration may be required on some sites.
Some pages may expire after a few days.
© 2009 ArchNewsNow.com