Today’s News - Thursday, July 1, 2010
• The Dirt dishes up two excellent synopses of The Atlantic magazine's Future of the City forum and the TEDx conference on the continuing catastrophic oil spill.
• Former Barcelona mayor Joan Clos offers his advice and philosophy for urban planning that could help make Istanbul the next Barcelona.
• A call to give Jane Jacobs' "ideas something of a rest" - and re-think NYC's ULURP, a "generally valueless document" that is "crafted mainly to foil any lawsuits by opponents of development."
• Q&A with HUD head honcho Donovan re: "the opportunity for architects to play a larger role in transforming communities" + the very green Via Verde affordable housing in the Bronx.
• HUD may also give a leg up to Louisville's long-stalled REX-designed Museum Plaza project (remember that one?).
• London and South Africa ponder the future of new sports venues; with any luck, "white elephant stadiums could be an endangered species."
• Pearman says the new Royal Shakespeare Company may not be perfect, but "bravo for the architecture of bricolage."
• Flint cheers the "satisfying outcome" for Riverside Park in Cambridge, a site "with a tortured history" that finally came together because of "a team effort rather than a one-man [read starchitect] show."
• The appalling state of St. Paul's historic Union Depot is about to change for the better.
• One of Toronto's PUG winners "was a long time in claiming her prize," but there was a "morass of mediocrity in the residential category."
• A new alliance of Singapore design industry organizations hopes to encourage a cross-pollination of ideas and concepts.
• Docomomo Ireland re-launches next week.
• Winners all (and well worth a look): 2010 Passive House Awards, and IDEO/DESIGN21 Living Climate Change Video Challenge.
• Call for entries: RFQ for consultant services for Seattle Central Waterfront Project.
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The Future of the City: three-part series on The Atlantic magazine’s forum; part two: “Building Information and Energy Technologies into Cities"; part three: “The Effect of Place on Energy Use and Climate Change.” [links]- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Oil Spill Having Catastrophic Impact on Ocean Ecosystems: The TEDx conference in Washington, D.C...During the day’s discussions, one powerful statement seemed to come through...dispersants and oil mix will be absorbed into all nodes of the ocean ecosystems, creating catastrophic impacts for ocean wildlife... X Prize announced a campaign to raise $10 million and create a new contest for a fix for the oil spill clean up. [links]- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Istanbul could be new Barcelona, says Spanish envoy: A delegation of 20 Spanish architectural companies met with Turkish institutions and companies to network and hear Joan Clos...further expanded the comparison, explaining his advice and philosophy for urban planning...having a large percentage of public land was central to the success of the urban transformation of Barcelona.- Hürriyet Daily News (Turkey) |
Op-Ed: Enough With Jane Jacobs Already: In New York her philosophy has been legislatively memorialized in the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure [ULURP]...a better balance needs to be struck between considered judgment and citizen participation...More attention ought to be paid to the finely grained thinking of William H. Whyte and less to Jacobs's overblown pronouncements and unprovable theories.- Wall Street Journal |
Architects + Public Housing: Yes, You Can: Q&A with Shaun Donovan, the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development...about the stimulus package, his focus on planning, and the opportunity for architects to play a larger role in transforming communities + Via Verde: Affordable Housing Goes Green in the Bronx -- Grimshaw Architects; Dattner Architects- Architectural Record |
HUD Gives Museum Plaza Leg Up: Loan guarantee could restart Joshua Prince-Ramus/REX-designed mixed-use tower in downtown Louisville...many assumed that a project of that scale and complexity would never rise...But through a combination of programmatic reshuffling and creative fundraising, the project’s developers are working to revive it... [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
London 2012 organizers ponder future of venues...ever since they launched their bid in 2005, but are still seeking long-term tenants: ...lawmakers have already put the white-elephant tag on London's £533 million ($803-million) showpiece, so doubtful are they that a tenant will be found.- NBC Sports |
Finding a fitting future for stadiums: Two new stadiums in South Africa...now face an uncertain future...Should they fail, the stadiums...risk becoming costly white elephants in areas already blighted by poverty...But white elephant stadiums could be an endangered species as architects, event organizers and governments put sustainability at the heart of their plans. -- Populous- CNN |
Shakespeare Central: the new RSC theatre at Stratford on Avon: The Royal Shakespeare Company is opening up its previously hermetic main theatre to embrace the tourist hordes...There's a rooftop restaurant...Oh, and there's the tower...It's not perfect, but it's miles better than what they had before. Bravo for the architecture of bricolage. By Hugh Pearman -- Elisabeth Scott (1932); Bennetts Associates; Charcoalblue [images]- HughPearman.com (UK) |
After battle, park at Harvard site manages to please: ...a satisfying outcome for a parcel with a tortured history...and a case study for when a big "starchitect" project doesn't happen...a team effort rather than a one-man show...Riverside gets a well-designed park, Cambridge gets housing, and Harvard gets a sleek retrofit for its art museum... By Anthony Flint -- Renzo Piano; Halvorson Design Partnership; Touloukian Touloukian; Kyu Sung Woo Architects; Elkus Manfredi [images]- Boston Globe |
Reviving St. Paul's Union Depot: A team of planners is laying the groundwork for the $240 million job of transforming the Union Depot into a transportation hub...part structural stabilization, part historical preservation, part hazardous materials abatement and part beautification/renovation. -- Beyer Blinder Belle; HGA [slide show]- Pioneer Press (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN) |
The triumph of a PUG winner: Marianne McKenna...was a long time in claiming her prize...“The Royal Conservatory of Music is one of the best buildings in the world...there is a morass of mediocrity in the residential category,” a state of affairs that these awards can perhaps help to change. -- Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg (KPMB); Teeple Architects- National Post (Canada) |
Alliance for Singapore designers: ...eight design-related industry organisations, came together to launch DesignS...to collaborate and encourage a cross-pollination of ideas and concepts... -- Designers Association Singapore; Interior Design Confederation; Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC); Singapore Institute of Architects; Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects; Singapore Institute of Planners; etc.- The Straits Times (Singapore) |
Docomomo Ireland relaunches July 8: ...succeeds and replaces the Irish DOCOMOMO Working Party, established in 1991.- Archiseek (Ireland) |
2010 Passive House Award winners -- Halle 58 Architects; Cukrowicz Nachbaur Architects; Key Architects; Schweger Associated Architects; Huke-Schubert Berge Architects; D'Inka Scheible Hoffmann Architects [link to images]- Passive House Institute |
IDEO and DESIGN21’s Living Climate Change Video Challenge winners: ...drew 96 entries from 28 countries. [link to videos]- DESIGN 21: Social Design Network / IDEO |
Call for entries: The City of Seattle has issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), seeking consultant services for the Central Waterfront Project; deadline: August 4- City of Seattle |
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 |
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Morphosis: University of Cincinnati Campus Recreation Center, Cincinnati, Ohio |
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