Today’s News - Thursday, November 12, 2009
• Ouroussoff visits Hadid's Maxxi museum and likes what he sees: it "jolts" Rome "back to the present like a thunderclap...proof that this city is no longer allergic to the new" (great slide show, too!).
• Litt says the "sudden proposal" to site Medical Mart on Cleveland's main mall is "an architectural shocker. But it need not be an architectural stinker" (but even with a solid design team in place, should "a designer with a proven ability to design a global icon" be on board?).
• A project challenging designers to use research in rethinking design for the homeless: "determine a brief rather than merely to respond to one."
• Q&A with Paul Morris, FASLA re: the CDC's efforts to fight widespread public health problems through healthy community design: it's a case of "if you build it, they will use it."
• Nashville [hearts] Hargreaves, first tapped to create a riverfront master plan, now back in town to design projects on both banks of the Cumberland.
• An in-depth look at the "many lives of Tempelhof Airport: "Berlin's increasingly sophisticated economy of public appropriation and temporary use will begin to work on it for better or worse" (great pix).
• Hatherley's analysis of Cardiff: "a city confused by its architectural patchwork" that is "badly planned, but still "marvelously rootless and cosmopolitan."
• Portland's not always successful attempts at design competitions spark "a great debate."
• An eyeful of a giant "digital cloud" that might "float" above London's skyline (it's made the mayor's shortlist).
• Mouthfuls on Modernism: Brussat calls it a "cult" and warns "friends don't let friends drive modern architecture" (last week, Salingaros was Moses on the Mount, this week he's Paul Revere).
• Connecticut takes stock of some of its Modernist buildings: they have their place in history, but "here's hoping we don't save too many of the uglier ones."
• Saving America's icons of modernist landscapes is preservationists' next big battle "likely to be tougher than the rescue of buildings."
• Changes to Pittsburgh's Mellon Square sparks architects' debate: "what constitutes a restoration?"
• How the KPF 'breakaway five' became 65: "the team has an air of confidence about it - a necessary attribute in recession time."
• More details re: the rescue of Glasgow's Lighthouse (and some under-reported awards).
• One we couldn't resist (good news is hard to find): 13 "extinct" animals found alive - "a bewildering reminder that when given a chance, life finds a way to survive" (some amazing looking creatures!).
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Modern Lines for the Eternal City: Maxxi...jolts Rome back to the present like a thunderclap. Its sensual lines seem to draw the energy of the city right up into its belly, making everything around it look timid...no big visual fireworks, and at first glance it looks surprisingly sedate...proof that this city is no longer allergic to the new... By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Zaha Hadid [slide show]- New York Times |
Sudden Mall C proposal for Medical Mart raises stakes on architecture: The sudden proposal...is an architectural shocker. But it need not be an architectural stinker...Clevelanders have a right to expect something brilliant...Anything less than a superlative result could mark...a city willing to tolerate mediocrity...a distinction the city can ill afford. By Steven Litt -- Valerio Dewalt Train; Thompson Ventulett Stainback/TVS- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
Private/Public: Rethinking Design for the Homeless: how small-scale design can address broader social issues...designers can use research to determine a brief rather than merely to respond to one. By Deborah Grossberg Katz and Terri Chiao/Katz Chiao [images, links]- Urban Omnibus |
Q&A with Paul Morris, FASLA: ...discusses recent efforts by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to fight widespread public health problems through healthy community design...it’s a case of “if you build it, they will use it.”- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Nashville hires riverfront designer: ...firm that came up with Nashville's riverfront master plan three years ago will be returning to town to design $30 million worth of downtown projects on both banks of the Cumberland. -- Hargreaves Associates- The Tennessean |
The Many Lives of Tempelhof Airport: ...has been the subject of intense controversy and numerous architectural competitions...Berlin’s increasingly sophisticated economy of public appropriation and temporary use will begin to work on it for better or worse. -- Klaus Overmeyer; Raumlabo; Michael Braum; Chora architects; Gross Max; etc. [images]- Blueprint Magazine |
Cardiff: Baudrillard at the Eisteddfod: ...a city confused by its architectural patchwork...especially noticeable here is how badly planned all this is, how disconnected...marvellously rootless and cosmopolitan. It has no “vernacular.” By Owen Hatherley -- Benoy; BDP; Capita Symonds; Capita Percy Thomas; Alsop & Störmer; William Frame; Rogers Stirk Harbour; WYG Group; HOK; Holder Mathias; JR Smart; Jestico & Whiles [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Design competitions: a great debate: Design competitions don’t always work out...Yet many architects love [them]...Portland, however, is not eager to revisit competitions...need effective management to be successful. -- Whelton Architecture; SUM Design Studio; William C. Tripp, Architect; Brad Cloepfil/Allied Works Architecture- Daily Journal of Commerce (Oregon) |
Digital cloud plan for city skies: ...would "float" above London's skyline...envisaged as a centre piece of the city's Olympic village...shortlisted in a competition set up by London Mayor Boris Johnson..."It will be a monument to crowd-sourcing" -- Carlo Ratti/Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Umberto Eco; Arup; Tomas Saraceno [images]- BBC |
Time to intervene in the modernist cult: Friends don't let friends drive modern architecture...many tales of horror from students in architecture schools...description of them...as star chambers of humiliation designed to brutally snuff out independent thought. By David Brussat -- Nikos Salingaros; Frank Gehry; Daniel Libeskind; Zaha Hadid- Providence Journal (Rhode Island) |
A look at CT buildings we know and, eh, like: Several buildings of this period strike critics as ugly...but in the debate over whether to preserve them, there are nonaesthetic factors to consider including their place in history..."If we don’t have the architecture, there’s no way to tell the story"...Here’s hoping we don’t save too many of the uglier ones. -- Philip Johnson; Harvard Five; Louis Kahn; Paul Rudolph; Eero Saarinen; Marcel Breuer; Robert A.M. Stern; Kevin Roche; John Johansen- New Haven Register (Connecticut) |
Back to the Land: ...America's modernist landscapes are under siege...saving icons of landscape design will be modernism’s next big battle, and the challenges are likely to be tougher than the rescue of buildings. By William L. Hamilton -- Charles Birnbaum/Cultural Landscape Foundation; Daniel Kiley, John Ormsbee Simonds, Hideo Sasaki, and Lawrence Halprin; Laurie Olin; M. Paul Friedberg; Thomas Church/Robert Royston; Thomas Balsley; Richard Haag; etc. [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Mellon Square changes prompt architects' debate: Although details for proposed restoration have not been revealed, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and The Cultural Landscape Foundation are making a strong case for why one is needed...what constitutes a restoration? By Patricia Lowry -- John O. Simonds; Astorino; Jack R. Scholl/Environmental Planning and Design; Mitchell and Ritchey- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
How the KPF 'breakaway five' became 65: Since controversially breaking away from former practice Kohn Pedersen Fox to found PLP Architecture, how are Lee Polisano and his team getting on in their bid to build a new firm?...With such early successes the team has an air of confidence about it – a necessary attribute in recession time.- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Jobs saved at under-threat Lighthouse in Glasgow: About 10 members of staff will transfer to the government agency Architecture and Design Scotland...announcement [made] during the Saltire Society Housing Awards...held in the Lighthouse... -- Foster + Partners; Simon Winstanley Architects- BBC |
Lazarus species: 13 'extinct' animals found alive: Their rediscoveries are a bewildering reminder that when given a chance, life finds a way to survive. [slide show]- Mother Nature Network |
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-- Alsop Architects: Chips, New Islington, Manchester, UK
-- Exhibition: "Bits 'n Pieces," Material ConneXion, New York, NY |
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