Today’s News - Tuesday, June 29, 2010
• Q&A with Goring & Straja re: how they manage an international practice as a small firm.
• Spain wants to move ahead with rail tunnel near Gaudi's Sagrada Familia - but perhaps "the worriers have won a small victory."
• Some very familiar names offer 25 Big Ideas to help make NYC (or anywhere else) "better, smarter, stronger, wealthier and maybe, just maybe, a little friendlier" (some interesting small ideas, too).
• Shilling shines a light on some hits and misses in promoting civic tourism that should benefit residents - not just tourists: "If place is so important why is it disappearing, along with the organizations responsible for its preservation?"
• Australia's first Aboriginal architect tells his non-indigenous colleagues who are "often too arrogant to consult indigenous communities": "get over yourselves."
• King chronicles his ongoing access to the selection process that went into final choice of architect (DS+R) for UC Berkeley's BAM/PFA project: it "evolved into an elaborate ritual that's part business, part seduction."
• Birnbaum bristles that too many recent and upcoming museum expansions do not consider their existing designed landscapes as part of their collections.
• L.A.'s port city of Wilmington has big plans for its own High Line (sort of).
• Rooftop greenhouses that "look a bit like giant larvae with outspread legs" (pix to prove it!) "could help speed the widespread adoption of green roofs."
• Ouroussoff cheers a near-empty tower that still holds hope: it's an example of how NYC's "recent embrace" of starchitects "can also lead to inspired work from unexpected sources."
• An eyful of RUR's "temple to Tai-Pop," where "musical culture meets high design" (it will also "work as an urban space during downtimes").
• University of South Carolina expands its library for special collections with an annex that will "keep the modern feel" of Durell Stones 1959 original, "and play with that a little."
• Expanding Kahn's 1966 Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (called a 'graduate seminar' for young Indian architects) is a daunting challenge.
• AIA President George Miller calls on Congress to reconsider proposed legislation that fails to account for the fact that many "architects - a quarter of whom are out of work - are working for S corporations struggling to stave off dissolution."
• Betsky doesn't object to 2010 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards winners: they're "mostly pleasant and perfectly fine, but not great": it "would be nice if design would blow your mind, rather than be bland enough not to mind it."
• Virginia Tech wins inaugural Solar Decathlon Europe by tweaking "Lumenhaus," its 2009 DC entry (that placed 13th).
• AIA San Diego celebrates its 50th awards program with "striking" and "vibrant" projects taking top honors.
• Call for entries: NYC launches urbancanvas Design Competition to develop creative artwork for construction fences, sidewalk sheds, and scaffolds.
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Small Firm, Global Practice: An Interview with Jim Goring and Andre Straja of Goring & Straja Architects: How they manage an international practice as a small firm.- ArchNewsNow |
Spain defies vote to delay rail tunnel near Gaudi's masterpiece: For years, architects, engineers and Barcelona residents have been sounding the alarm...Sagrada Familia...could be endangered by a government plan to build a high-speed rail tunnel only 13ft away...Now the worriers have won a small victory.- Independent (UK) |
25 Big Ideas to change New York: (Plus a few modest suggestions) to help make NYC better, smarter, stronger, wealthier and maybe, just maybe, a little friendlier. -- Paul Katz/Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF); Stanton Eckstut/Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn; Vishaan Chakrabarti; Dan Kaplan/Mark Strauss/FXFowle; Anne Vaterlaus/MKMLA; Richard Olcott/Polshek Partnership/Ennead; Majora Carter; Richard Florida; etc. [slide show essay]- Crain's New York |
Civic Tourism, and the Importance of Place: If place is so important why is it disappearing, along with the organizations responsible for its preservation?...Civic tourism flips the frame, privileging the needs of residents, not visitors; asking how we can use the industry to enhance the things people love about their place, rather than how we can use place to increase the industry’s bottom line. By Dan Shilling/Civic Tourism project- PLANetizen |
Barangaroo lacks Aboriginal consultation, says architect: Australia's first Aboriginal architect...has a blunt message for his non-indigenous colleagues: get over yourselves...said architects were often too arrogant to consult indigenous communities...''An indigenous presence on the harbour is absolutely essential, and long overdue" -- Dillon Kombumerri/Merrima Design Group- Sydney Morning Herald |
California museum lays foundation with architect pick: Design competitions of this sort...resonate far beyond the morale boost for the winning firm. Cultural buildings are a leading indicator today of shifts in the urban landscape...That's why the selection process has evolved into an elaborate ritual that's part business, part seduction...nothing follows a predictable course. By John King -- Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA); Diller Scofidio + Renfro; EHDD; Ann Beha Architects; Tod Williams Billie Tsien- San Francisco Chronicle |
Shouldn’t a Museum’s Collection Include its Designed Landscapes? Collectively, these examples raise questions about the management polices at these institutions...For all the celebrated transparency and light in these new centers of energy why are we and the historic designed landscape all too often left in the dark? By Charles A. Birnbaum -- Herzog & de Meuron; Daniel Libeskind; Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.; S.R. DeBoer; Edward Bennett; Rick Mather; Stanley Saitowitz; Lawrence Halprin; Dan Kiley; Louis Kahn; Renzo Piano; Foster + Partners; Gustafson Guthrie Nichol- The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) |
SoCal Seeks High Line West: Port city of Wilmington its completing its own elevated park, a buffer between loading docks and domiciles...now known as the Harry Bridges Boulevard Buffer...consists of a 30-acre, nine-block-wide stretch of sloping land... -- Sasaki Associates [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Galactic Gardening: A futuristic-looking - but surprisingly pragmatic - new design could help speed the widespread adoption of green roofs...modular rooftop greenhouses look a bit like giant larvae with outspread legs, but they do wonders in terms of function. -- Natalie Jeremijenko; SYSTEMarchitects [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
Near-Empty Tower Still Holds Hope: One Madison Park...is a choice example of the hubris that led to the financial crash...take a measure of solace from the quality of the building’s architecture...It jolts the neighborhood into the present...an example of how, despite the endless bellyaching about the poisonous effects of “starchitecture,” New York’s recent embrace of megatalents...can also lead to inspired work from unexpected sources. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- CetraRuddy- New York Times |
Reiser + Umemoto Designs a Temple to Tai-Pop: If all goes as planned, Taiwanese pop will get an expansive home where musical culture meets high design...Taipei Pop Music Center, a $110-million entertainment complex...When not hosting concerts, the space offers a park-like environment..."it also has to work as an urban space during downtimes" -- Reiser + Umemoto RUR Architecture; Arup [images]- Architectural Record |
New Library Annex Boosts Access to Historical Papers: Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library [at the University of South Carolina]..."The idea of the building is to keep with the modern feel and play with that a little" -- Edward Durell Stone (1959); Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle & Wolff (1976); Watson Tate Savory [image]- Free Times (Columbia, SC) |
The shape of an icon: Louis I Kahn...built only one building in India but left a big impression on the modern Indian architectural imagination. His Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (1966), is generally considered one of the great buildings of 20th-century architecture...IIM-A has been called a ‘graduate seminar’ for young Indian architects...Adding to a masterpiece...is a daunting challenge. -- Anant Raje; Sen Kapadia; Balkrishna V Doshi; Bimal Patel- Business Standard (India) |
Op-Ed: Closing tax 'loophole' would hurt honest small firms: The proposed legislation fails to account for the fact that many of my fellow architects - a quarter of whom are out of work - are working for S corporations struggling to stave off dissolution. By George H. Miller, president, American Institute of Architects- Washington Post |
OK American Design: ...jury of the 2010 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards...have given their top prizes to work that is mostly pleasant and perfectly fine but, in my opinion, not great...it would be nice if design would blow your mind, rather than be bland enough not to mind it. By Aaron Betsky -- KieranTimberlake; Jane Thompson; Ralph Caplan; Smart Design; James Corner Field Operations; USGBC- Architect Magazine |
Virginia Tech Takes Top Prize at Solar Decathlon Europe: ...has beaten teams of architects and engineers from 16 other universities from around the world..."Lumenhaus," which was inspired by the Farnsworth House by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, got some upgrades since its appearance at the [2009] Washington contest... [images]- The Chronicle of Higher Education |
50th year for architecture awards: Three projects win top prizes in AIA San Diego program -- Safdie Rabines Architects; Clive Wilkinson Architects; Jonathan Segal Architects; Lloyd Russell; Kevin deFreitas Architects; Harley Ellis Devereaux; Studio E Architects; IS Architecture; FoundationforForm Architects [images, links]- San Diego Union-Tribune |
Call for entries: urbancanvas Design Competition: develop creative artwork for construction fences, sidewalk sheds, supported scaffolds and cocoons in New York City.; cash prizes; registration deadline: July 19 (U.S. residents)- City of New York |
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Morphosis: University of Cincinnati Campus Recreation Center, Cincinnati, Ohio |
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