Today’s News - Friday, May 7, 2010
• A note from Denise Scott Brown alerted us to the National Park Service's proposed alterations to Philly's Franklin Court (Venturi and Rauch, 1976), her letter objecting to some of them - and request for public comment so "lovers of this project can weigh in on the proposed changes - there is little time."
• Hume on Deutsche Bank HQ's LEED Platinum makeover in Frankfurt: the "complex has nothing to recommend it architecturally, but as an example of corporate enlightenment, it stands tall."
• Just how did FXFowle win SAP Americas HQ LEED Silver expansion? They asked "What about going for Platinum?"
• Hosey's 10 green building trends for the next decade (#10: "Death to starchitecture").
• A proposed EPA fly-ash ban could stunt use of green materials.
• Better news: silent, fully enclosed, bladeless wind turbines are on the way (good news for birds - and the rest of us).
• Kamin on two of Chicago's urban plazas: one "merits a big thumbs up," the other "a Bronx cheer."
• Sanders' oh-so thoughtful essay on John Lindsay's "gift for bringing a spirit of joy and 'fun' to New York" (sometimes successful, sometimes not) - movies and art, parks and pedestrians included.
• Oklahoma City digs out its massive 1964 Pei Plan model - and why it "was despised by the city's locals and outdated in the end."
• Berlin's new Topography of Terror documentation center's "modest metallic gray building is deliberately sparse and functional" (great slide show).
• More on SOM's 5th Ave. campus center for The New School - this time with lots of pix.
• Despite the bad economy, SF Jazz is "making waves with a bold proposal for a historic expansion" in San Francisco.
• Rose on Maggie's Centres: "uplifting buildings benefit both body and soul. But are they just an architectural placebo?" (terrific slide show).
• 2nd Annual Architect 50: who leads the pack in terms of profitability, design, and commitment to green (metrics make for some surprises).
• Call for entries: 7th Annual International A/L Light & Architecture Awards (deadline looms!).
• Weekend diversions:
• Iovine tours the Richard Meier Model Museum (it reopens for the season today) with the man himself: "You can see what a lousy model maker I was back then."
• UB architecture students go over the top with "The Living Wall" (great video).
• Jencks and Heathcote's "The Architecture of Hope" shows off Maggie's Centres' starchitecture, but "most interestingly, however, it shows how much architecture can influence the way people feel."
• Bayley's "Liverpool: Shaping the City" charts the city's up's and down's through its buildings.
• "Havana Revisited: An Architectural Heritage" is "marvelous."
• "Velo: Bicycle Culture and Design" celebrates bicycles as a way of life and icon of modern design.
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Rehabilitation of Benjamin Franklin Life & Legacy Museum, Philadelphia: Letter of comment from Venturi Scott Brown objecting to some of proposed alterations + Invitation for public comment; deadline: May 15 -- Venturi and Rauch (1976); Quinn Evans Architects- National Park Service |
Green and iconic, German bank towers rise above the rest: The Deutsche Bank towers in Frankfurt will be the first renovated skyscrapers to achieve LEED platinum rating...The twin-towered complex has nothing to recommend it architecturally, but as an example of corporate enlightenment, it stands tall. By Christopher Hume -- Mario Bellini- Toronto Star |
SAP Americas Headquarters Expansion: The RFP for the 210,000-square-foot building in Newtown Square, Pa....included a requirement for LEED Silver compliance. One of the reasons SAP chose FXFOWLE Architects was that the firm said: What about going for Platinum? [slide show]- Architect Magazine |
10 for ’20: Ten building trends for the next decade: Now that sustainability, at least in some baseline form, is standard practice for the building industry, what’s next? By Lance Hosey- Architect Magazine |
Pain in the Ash: EPA fly-ash ban could stunt use of green materials...would designate fly ash and other coal combustion byproducts as hazardous waste...Though the spirit of the law may be to prevent more toxic spills, stakeholders worry that the letter of the law could turn fly ash into a material with the same reputation as asbestos or lead paint...- The Architect's Newspaper |
Virtually silent, fully enclosed, bladeless wind turbines on the way: ...patented by Solar Aero, a New Hampshire based not-for-profit scientific research organization. Modeled on the 1913 Tesla steam turbine, the Fuller turbine...avoids many of the drawbacks of bladed turbines such as noise, radar interference, visual pollution and wildlife injuries.- Gizmag (Australia) |
A tale of two urban plazas: Trump's merits a big thumbs up; the Wrigley Building's, a Bronx cheer. By Blair Kamin -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Adrian Smith; Peter Schaudt/Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects; L.R. Solomon/J.D. Cordwell & Associates (1957) [imsges, slide show]- Chicago Tribune |
Adventure Playground: John V. Lindsay and the Transformation of Modern New York: The desire to actively enjoy the existing landscape of the city...was no longer the private, somewhat suspect pleasure of a few eccentric individuals...but had come to be societally approved and officially supported. By James Sanders -- Robert Moses; Richard Dattner; Van Ginkel Associates [images]- Places Journal |
Downtown Oklahoma City's plan revisited: Model of architect I.M. Pei’s 1964 plan for Oklahoma City core to be displayed at Cox Center...included the demolition of more than 500 buildings, was despised by the city’s locals and outdated in the end, and met its demise in the late 1980s... [images, video]- The Oklahoman |
New Third Reich Monument in Berlin: Revealing the Young Bureaucrats Behind the Nazi Terror: The new "Topography of Terror" documentation center...in Berlin...reveals the faces of the almost unknown perpetrators of the Holocaust...modest metallic gray building is deliberately sparse and functional. -- Ursula Wilms/Heinle, Wischer und Partner; Heinz W. Hallmann Landscape Architect [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
Brass Holes: New School moves ahead with downsized SOM campus center: While the visible stairs create bold diagonal slashes in the building’s rectangular volume, the rest of the enclosure is more demure, though no less unusual for the Greenwich Village. -- Skidmore Owings & Merrill; SLCE Architects [images, slide show]- The Architect's Newspaper |
New Home for Jazz in San Francisco: ...SF Jazz is making waves with a bold proposal for a historic expansion...will offer passers-by a peek into the inside bustle... -- Mark Cavagnero Associates [image]- New York Times |
Maggie's Centres: can architecture cure cancer? Cancer care doesn't have to mean grim hospital wards...uplifting buildings benefit both body and soul. But are they just an architectural placebo? By Steve Rose -- Richard Rogers; Frank Gehry; Zaha Hadid; Rem Koolhaas; Kisho Kurokawa; Piers Gough/CZWG; Chris Wilkinson; Edward Cullinan; Richard MacCormac; Page \ Park; MacCormac Jamieson Prichard; Wilkinson Eyre [slide show]- Guardian (UK) |
The 2nd Annual Architect 50: 2009 was a tough year for U.S. firms, but we found out who leads the pack in terms of profitability, design, and commitment to green. -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Perkins+Will; DLR Group; Fentress Architects; HOK; VJAA; ZGF Architects; Epstein; Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architects; Gensler; etc.- Architect Magazine |
Call for entries: 7th Annual International A/L Light & Architecture Awards; deadline: May 21 (late entries: June 4)- Architectural Lighting magazine |
Richard Meier, Model Citizen: ...the Richard Meier Model Museum reopens for the season...150-plus models cover the architect's entire career, going back to the 1965..."You can see what a lousy model maker I was back then." By Julie V. Iovine [image]- Wall Street Journal |
University of Buffalo architecture students go over the top with "The Living Wall": A mixture of interactive public sculpture and teaching tool...14 pod dwellings...you're allowed to climb in, on and around... [image, video]- Buffalo News |
"The Architecture of Hope" by Charles Jencks and Edwin Heathcote: ...wholly persuasive in putting forward the merits of architecture for health...deserves a look for the innovative building designs alone. Perhaps most interestingly, however, it shows how much architecture can influence the way people feel.- Financial Times (UK) |
New RIBA book celebrates Liverpool’s architectural story: "Liverpool: Shaping the City" by Stephen Bayley...charts the city’s story through its buildings – from centuries-old splendour, through devastating decades-long hiatus and finally to the sudden burst of confidence and frenetic activity of the early 21st Century.- Liverpool Daily Post (UK) |
The past is present: "Havana Revisited: An Architectural Heritage" by Cathryn Griffith...marvelous book juxtaposes old postcards...with recent pictures of the same spots. Some places look untouched by time, some are transformed, others are not there anymore...11 architects, scholars and preservationists wrote essays for the tome...- NY Daily News |
Bike Culture Bible: Two-Wheeled Revolution: Who needs cars? True freedom starts with two wheels and a push on a pedal, according to "Velo: Bicycle Culture and Design," a new book that celebrates bicycles as a way of life and icon of modern design. [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
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C.F. Møller Architects: The Sil(o)houette, Aarhus, Denmark |
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