Today’s News - Wednesday, March 10, 2010
• Levinson takes on Lange's essay re: the job of architecture critic "might be doomed": The "fundamental problem of contemporary criticism" is the (growing) "global beat - dateline: placeless...we're near the end of our collective patience with this kind of global-beat, star-centric critique."
• Betsky wonders what Cincinnati and every American city will become in this century if they don't "acknowledge sprawl and make it work."
• United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) launch the Green Building Initiative.
• A new airport in Florida is almost ready for its close-up; now they hope development will follow (nature be damned, it seems: "It's been oversold, underdesigned, undermanaged and now botched as a construction project").
• Cardinal designs domed stadium on former rail yard in Regina (high hopes lots of development will follow).
• Ratner brings in a big gun to give Atlantic Yards stadium design a "once over" (he likes it), and discusses bringing in "different architects, good architects, to do each of the residential buildings" (the project breaks ground tomorrow).
• Hadid's Broad Museum (finally) breaking ground in East Lansing, MI, despite some raised eyebrows (lots of pix).
• Another take (and lots of great pix) on SANAA's Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne.
• A new training and conference center for the life sciences in Heidelberg takes its architectural cue from DNA.
• San Antonio has big plans for an eight-mile stretch of its river to reconnect it to its neighbors (no souvenir margarita glasses or "funky, modern artwork to confound people").
• King on a San Francisco architect's answer to disaster relief: House Arc modular cottages: "every creative initiative helps."
• Hungary picks curators and theme "BorderLINE Architecture" for Venice Biennale (great pix, video).
• Bernstein bemoans the "heavy, kitschy artwork" on the "ethereal, sculptural" façade of the New Museum.
• A Spanish town ventures into solar industries - its brief boom-turned-bust is a cautionary tale.
• Seoul's Grand Park gets an OLEV "train" for public transportation - next stop: the city's bus routes.
• A new concept for freeways to solve the distance problem in driving electric cars.
• An eyeful of the world's first printed building ("Dini wants to build a cathedral with it").
• Winners all: an eyeful of the Zumtobel Prize winners from Brazil and New York; and Imagine H2O Prize ideas can save the world hundreds of billions of gallons of water.
• Call for entries: Game Changers: Design a game that aims to create change by improving lives or inspiring new behaviors.
• We couldn't resist: a naughty word hidden in a Tucson building's trim: "the work of a mischievous architect in the late 1960s" (who remains unnamed).
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Critical Beats: Alexandra Lange begins her recent essay...with a provocative allusion to the possibility that the job of architecture critic "might be doomed"...I'd like...to suggest that architecture criticism...is doomed...for reasons that have to do not just with the quality of the critical players but also with the rules of the critical game. By Nancy Levinson -- Ouroussoff; Lewis Mumford; Jane Jacobs; Ada Louise Huxtable; Michael Sorkin; Christopher Hawthorne; David Dillon; Blair Kamin- Places Journal |
Making a City Work: Cincinnati has all the problems of a former industrial city...what will it become? What is any American city going to be in this century? Acknowledge sprawl and make it work. Invest in the institutions that make the place work and make it worth being here. Every city in America should be doing this, though few are. By Aaron Betsky- Architect Magazine |
The original green: Alarmed by the irreversible impact of climate change, many Filipino architects and engineers are taking a second look at traditional, native designs and techniques which were, for centuries, in tune with a tropical environment...United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) launched the Green Building Initiative.- Manila Bulletin (Philippines) |
Airport Built, It’s Time to See if the Traffic Comes: The first new international airport in the United States in more than decade is set to open in May near Panama City, Fla...Northwest Florida Beaches International...more of a real estate project than an effort to address a pressing transportation problem...“It’s been oversold, underdesigned, undermanaged and now botched as a construction project"- New York Times |
Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal designs domed stadium for Regina: ...multi-purpose entertainment facility with a retractable roof would include a casino that could potentially draw Las Vegas shows...facility would be built on a 35-acre piece of land on the current site of the CP Rail yards...another 727,000 square-feet would be developed for residential and commercial use. [images]- Archiseek (Canada) |
‘Childs’ play: Bruce Ratner may be bringing in top architects to work on Atlantic Yards: ...David Childs...met with Ratner earlier in the year to give the developer’s arena plans a “once over"...wants to bring in different architects, good architects, to do each of the residential buildings... -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Ellerbe Becket; SHoP Architects- The Brooklyn Paper |
A Long-Awaited Groundbreaking for Hadid’s Broad Museum: ...on the East Lansing campus of Michigan State University...concept has raised eyebrows in the local architectural community and sparked a renewal of the long-running debate over the relationship between form and function in museum architecture. -- Zaha Hadid; Integrated Design Solutions [slide show]- Architectural Record |
A Haven for Book Culture: Rolex Learning Center Will Run Like Clockwork: ...a glorious modernist library...There is simply never ending space...the recipe to create a product both nourishing of creativity and pleasing to the eye..."The risk is that they feel it's like a cathedral. It's so magical it will take time to get used to it." -- Ryue Nishizawa + Kayuyo Sejima/SANAA [images, links]- Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
New training and conference centre for the life sciences at European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg...architecture of the building is inspired by the structure of the double helix, the carrier of genetic information, DNA. -- Bernhardt + Partner [image]- Nanowerk (Germany) |
Portals aim to reconnect river, residents: The design of the eight-mile Mission Reach of the San Antonio River will have...No funky, modern artwork to confound people...there will be hike-and-bike paths and something called “mission portals”...architectural features, pathways and landscaping to reconnect the river to both the Spanish missions and the South Side neighborhoods that dot its banks. -- Rialto Studio [images]- San Antonio Express-News |
Architect pitches House Arc for disaster relief: ...modular cottages that can be assembled with ease...lightweight steel ribbing and posts and lightweight wall panels that can be shipped in a single box...erected in a day or two... By John King -- Bellomo Architects [image]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Only Architects can Really Draw: ...Venice Biennale is the most important foreign event of Hungarian architecture...displays...were so far accompanied by fierce debates at home and thick silence abroad..."BorderLINE Architecture"...concept emphasizes the role of the line as a universal architectural element... -- Andor Wesselényi-Garay (WAG); Marcel Ferencz [images, video]- hg.hu (Hungary) |
Hell? Yes.: I’ve never loved the New Museum Building, in part because I know what SANAA is capable of achieving...And yet I appreciate [it] for what it is: an ethereal, sculptural presence, a kind of apparition...Which is why the decision to place a heavy, kitschy artwork on the façade is so infuriating...a rainbow hued sign that declares Hell, Yes!... By Fred Bernstein [image]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Solar Industry Learns Lessons in Spanish Sun: A national commitment to solar power transformed one community but big subsidies led to unsustainable growth...Puertollano’s brief boom turned bust...wrenching fall points to the delicate policy calculations needed to stimulate nascent solar industries and create green jobs, and might serve as a cautionary tale... [slide show]- New York Times |
KAIST reveals proof of concept OLEV power road: ...has taken another step forward with the introduction of an OLEV “train” for public transportation in Seoul’s Grand Park in Gwacheon City...to introduce eco-friendly vehicles to the city's public transportation system, beginning with a bus route in Seoul.- Gizmag (Australia) |
Electric Avenue: Riding the Electromagnetic Wave of the Future: Christian Förg devoted his student thesis to solving the distance problem in driving electric cars...developed a whole new concept for freeways..."Speedway" earned him a top grade...But there's lots of work to be done. [images]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
The World’s First Printed Building: Enrico Dini wants to build a cathedral with it. Or houses on the moon...[his] machine marks a vital step change from the shoebox-size 3D printing of today, to tomorrow’s ability to print complete structures on site. [images]- Blueprint Magazine (UK) |
Futuristic New York and Sustainable Sao Paulo Projects Win Zumtobel Prize: A creative work environment that's completed in Sao Paulo, and a visionary research proposal for a "self-sufficient" New York City. By Alissa Walker -- Triptyque; Architects Terrefuge/Terreform ONE [images]- Fast Company |
Imagine H2O Prize: New Global Water Prize Winners: ...winning business ideas...ready to save the world hundreds of billions of gallons of water.- Imagine H2O |
Call for entries: Game Changers: Design a game that aims to create change by improving lives or inspiring new behaviors; cash prizes; deadline: May 11, 2010- DESIGN 21: Social Design Network |
Tucson Oddity: Naughty word hidden in building's trim: ...apparently was the work of a mischievous architect in the late 1960s...Even the El Con Mall brass doesn't know why the upside-down dirty word occurred. [image]- Arizona Daily Star |
Book Review: "Design through Dialogue: A Guide for Clients and Architects," by Karen A. Franck and Teresa von Sommaruga Howard: A helpful communications primer offers...but as useful as this book proves, it leaves some uncomfortable questions about communication unaddressed. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
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Zaha Hadid Architects: King Abdullah II House of Culture & Art, Amman, Jordan |
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