Today’s News - Wednesday, January 27, 2010
• Haiti on our minds: Davidson on the pluses and pitfalls of rebuilding, "beginning with the word 'rebuilding'...Nobody wants to put things back the way they were."
• Haitian architects and engineers now meeting daily to discuss "not how to rebuild but how to start anew"; a major challenge: "There is a two-page building code that nobody used."
• A small solace: it seems the earthquake didn't cause any major, immediate damage to Haiti's ecosystem, so it won't be starting from scratch - and there's already a 20-year initiative in place to develop natural resource management programs.
• Ho tools around the Dallas Arts District: even with "a slew of starchitect buildings," it "has a long way to go, but at least the AT&T Center has given it more of a sense of place."
• King on San Francisco's "green development agreement" allowing landowners to keep their right to build - if they fill their empty lots with visual, environmental, or cultural installations until construction begins.
• A new study shows urban green spaces may not be as green as urban dwellers might think.
• Gehry's next Abu Dhabi adventure: a golf clubhouse that will be "an ephemeral mirage floating above the greens."
• Schumacher on Foster's new S.C. Johnson's Fortaleza Hall in Racine: it "could not be more unlike the iconic Frank Lloyd Wright buildings erected more than 60 years ago."
• Saffron finds Stern's 10 Rittenhouse Square a "traditionalist pretender" with an "anorexically flat" façade - but it does get some things right.
• Heathcote on Moscow's new business school by Adjaye: "The Russians' choice seems to have been justified in an extraordinary looking building" (on 148 acres - helipad included, of course).
• King finds a new shelter for homeless teens in San Francisco "a reminder of what they can aspire to: a safe haven and a comfortable home...what all residential architecture should offer."
• In the U.K. a new home for British veterans at risk of homelessness.
• Glancey on a Kapoor/Balmond Olympic adventure: artist as architect - without having to worry about plumbing.
• Berlin has plans for a new museum for disgraced statues.
• Kamin x 2: he cheers the scaffolding coming off Sullivan's former Carson Pirie Scott & Co. store: it "dazzles anew" after Harboe's "painstaking work."
• He talks to three Chicago architects who have formed an interesting alliance with one of city's largest developers - and a new firm, a good "counter-recessionary strategy."
• An eyeful of 2010 P/A Award winners: they "exemplify the speculative value of progressive design."
• Bernstein on Baan: he's "remaking the genre" of architectural photography (people included!).
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Haiti, Renewed: But how? Why Haiti’s Trauma Should Bring Rebirth...Rebuilding Haiti will mean untangling a knot of paradoxes and contradictions, beginning with the word "rebuilding"...Nobody wants to put things back the way they were...If Big Aid and Little Aid can coexist and cancel out each other’s drawbacks, perhaps they can do more than paper over blight. By Justin Davidson- New York Magazine |
Builders dream of a better Haiti: A group of architects, engineers and urban planners has met every day since the devastating quake, discussing not how to rebuild but how to start anew..."There is a two-page building code that nobody used"...it has captured the ear of the government...envision a new Port-au-Prince that might bear only a passing resemblance to the...capital that existed before... -- Jean-Marie Raymond Noel; Marie Daniele; Winifred Galvan- Los Angeles Times |
Haiti's Environmental Aftermath: It's a small solace, but the terrifying 7.0-magnitude earthquake seems not to have caused any major, immediate damage to Haiti's ecosystem...won't be starting from scratch when it shifts from short-term crisis management to long-term environmental planning. [links]- Slate |
Enough Arts; More District: Dallas seeks to create a vibrant urban neighborhood out of a slew of starchitect buildings...30 years in the making, the Dallas Arts District...is more coherent as a concept...than as an urban plan or spatial experience...has a long way to go, but at least the AT&T Center has given it more of a sense of place. By Cathy Lang Ho -- Foster + Partners; REX/OMA; Michel Desvigne; Edward Larrabee Barnes; I.M. Pei; Renzo Piano; Brad Cloepfil; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)- Architect Magazine |
Myriad ideas to fill void of empty lots: ...drafting legislation to encourage San Francisco developers to occupy empty lots on a short-term basis with such initiatives as tree farms or public art..."green development agreement"...Landowners...could lock in their right to build if the land is used in ways that offer visual, environmental or cultural benefits until construction begins. By John King -- Rebar Group; LentSpace- San Francisco Chronicle |
A Drawback to Urban Green Spaces: While city dwellers are always clamoring for more green space, urban parks may not always be as “green” as they seem. A study...says that the irrigation, fertilizer, mowing and leaf blowing all add up, emitting more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases than the spaces absorb.- New York Times |
Saadiyat Beach Golf Club unveils Frank Gehry-designed clubhouse: ...designed to meet Estidama regulations, the Abu Dhabi-specific building sustainability methodology...will include a boutique hotel..."The design is intended to be an ephemeral mirage floating above the greens"... [image]- AME Info (United Arab Emirates/UAE) |
High-flying wing fits just Wright: S.C. Johnson's new building lends a glassy, lighter touch to firm's iconic headquarters...light-filled, spherical Fortaleza Hall...could not be more unlike the iconic Frank Lloyd Wright buildings...erected more than 60 years ago. By Mary Louise Schumacher -- Foster + Partners [slide show]- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
Rittenhouse Square's traditionalist pretender: ...a facade so anorexically flat that it might be confused with a two-dimensional rendering...Increasingly, I find that looking at a Stern building is like gazing into the eyes of someone who has undergone a lobotomy. There is an emptiness...a great many things that 10 Rittenhouse does right...design pays back the city with great sensitivity at the ground level. By Inga Saffron -- Robert A.M. Stern; Ismael Leyva [slide show]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Russian evolution at Skolkovo Business School: ... aims to give Russia its first genuinely international facility...The Russians’ choice seems to have been justified in an extraordinary looking building...“It’s about the idea of the emergence of a new managerial class in Moscow"... By Edwin Heathcote -- David Adjaye [images]- Financial Times (UK) |
Shelter offers homeless teens a sense of safety: Anyone who doubts the beneficial role of thoughtful design should arrange a tour of the new Diamond Youth Shelter...doesn't solve all the problems of the guests...But it's a reminder of what they can aspire to: a safe haven and a comfortable home...what all residential architecture should offer - no matter the style or scale. By John King -- Sam Davis Architecture; Glass Associates [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Work begins on new centre for Armed Forces veterans at risk of homelessness: The Beacon in North Yorkshire...is just one of the many projects and initiatives being developed to help provide first class services to ex-servicemen and women...will offer...the opportunity to work on the building site to gain valuable construction training skills for future employment. -- Croft Goode Architects [image]- 24dash.com (UK) |
Anish Kapoor at the Olympics? At least he won't have to worry about the drains: ...proposal for a tower on the Olympic games site is the ultimate luxury – architecture unencumbered by day-to-day functionality...will draw attention to the Olympics Park more persuasively than any of the architecture commissioned for the event. By Jonathan Glancey -- Cecil Balmond- Guardian (UK) |
"Hello Lenin": Berlin to Resurrect its Disgraced Monuments: In a sign of how time is healing wounds, the city plans to dig up the giant Lenin monument it famously buried in 1991 and place it in a new museum for disgraced statues...100 monuments will go on show in the Spandau Citadel, a Renaissance fortress...in 2013.- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
A new show on State Street: Restored cast-iron at Louis Sullivan's former Carson Pirie Scott & Co. store dazzles anew...after nearly three years of painstaking work, we can finally reacquaint ourselves with Sullivan’s beloved naturalistic ornament... By Blair Kamin -- Harboe Architects [images]- Chicago Tribune |
Hard times demand creative solutions: Three Chicago architects, including former Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) partner Tom Kerwin, form alliance with one of city's largest developers...a good “counter-recessionary strategy.” By Blair Kamin -- Brininstool, Kerwin, and Lynch- Chicago Tribune |
2010 P/A Awards: What If? The 57th annual P/A Awards recognizes nine projects that exemplify the speculative value of progressive design. -- Office dA/Adamson Associates Architects; Works Partnership Architecture; Preston Scott Cohen; Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill; Steven Holl; Trahan Architects; Architecture Research Office (ARO); 5468796 Architecture [images]- Architect Magazine |
Structural Integrity and People, Too: Chilly perfection is traded for humanity in Iwan Baan’s architectural photographs...Just five years after he took up architectural photography, [he] is “remaking the genre"... By Fred A. Bernstein [slide show]- New York Times |
Market Research Strategies in Uncertain Times #5: Market Research on Shoestring Budgets - 10 Tips for 2010: Firms operating on shoestring budgets can still create positive change if they follow the mantra of THINK. By Frances Gretes- ArchNewsNow |
INSIGHT: Redeveloping Downtown Pittsburgh - The Last 20 Years: Many factors have led to an interesting take on the traditional tension between central city decline, suburban competition, and revitalization efforts to bolster Downtown's primacy in the region's economy and identity. By Michael A. Stern, ASLA, LEED AP- ArchNewsNow |
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-- Tabanlioglu Architects: Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan
-- Whitearchitecture: Southport Broadwater Parklands, Southport, Australia |
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