Today’s News - Tuesday, August 3, 2010
• We lose architect and activist Simmons, "known for his work in equal rights, urban planning and community development from San Francisco to Detroit, Harlem and South Africa."
• Remember Masdar City? It's "a shame that news emanating from Masdar City in the last six months has been notable only for its absence."
• The "Green City in the Middle East" may seem like a sinking ship, but "amidst the grey skies" (and dust storms), "a few rays of hope."
• Foster's long-awaited revised master plan for the Abu Dhabi mega-project is nearly complete: the "review has been an opportunity to reflect on 'lessons learned' over the past three years."
• Trainor tours Tel Aviv during Houses from Within, "an ideal (if exhausting) means by which to...see up close how the often contradictory municipal attitudes toward development, planning, and preservation play out in the built environment."
• Israel's (almost secret) architectural treasure trove treasured by "Israeli architecture's lone arranger" - the "obsession of a crazy person," the architect says.
• Eisenman's brother calls for a "utopian architectural competition" for the "most thoughtful, serious, innovative and elegant, insightful, and advanced ideas" of how to deal with Temple Mount in its totality.
• Newark could be home to the first vertical farm: Weber Thompson's "sane, grey, industrial-style facility looks like it can actually be built."
• Farrelly finds herself in the middle of Sydney's cycle wars (car-on-bike road rage, not the Tour de France).
• On San Francisco's Octavia Street, "necessity has spawned invention" with two vacant lots to be transformed by modified shipping containers into a creative compound.
• A thoughtful farewell to Pflueger's 1939 Transbay Terminal (some great pix).
• A professor of acoustics calls for architects and planners to use soundscape research to create "vibrant calm" urban soundscapes.
• Q&A with Hadid about what it means to be Number One: "It's just exciting that people know about architects. Twenty-five years ago, they didn't."
• Johnson's Glass House is a "50-year diary of his architectural genius and philosophy" (great pix!).
• U.K.'s Atkins buys into the U.S. market by acquiring Florida-based PBSJ.
• Call for entries: Solutia World of Color Awards International Design Competition (deadline looms!).
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Obituary: Architecture professor and activist Kenneth Simmons, 77: ...known for his work in equal rights, urban planning and community development from San Francisco to Detroit, Harlem and South Africa.- UC Berkeley News (University of California Berkeley) |
Second Wind: As master plans go, Masdar City was always larger than life...with its ban on automobiles and carbon-neutral aspirations, was way ahead of its time when it was orginally announced in 2006..In light of this, it is a shame that news emanating from Masdar City in the last six months has been notable only for its absence.- ConstructionWeekOnline (Dubai, UAE) |
Masdar City Update: The Green City in the Middle East Struggles With Dust and Departures:
Ship sinking; band instructed to keep playing...Amidst the grey skies, a few rays of hope...Abu Dhabi is loaded, and can afford to foot the bill. But if they build it, will the tenants come? [images, video, links]- Greentech |
Architect says Masdar green city review "imminent": A long-awaited revised master plan for Masdar City is nearly complete...Abu Dhabi mega-project...review has been an opportunity to reflect on "lessons learned" over the past three years. -- Foster + Partners- ConstructionWeekOnline (Dubai, UAE) |
Letter from Tel Aviv: Houses from Within...is an ideal (if exhausting) means by which to assess the current moment in the city’s rebirth, and to see up close how the often contradictory municipal attitudes toward development, planning, and preservation play out in the built environment. By James Trainor -- Guy Zucker/Z-A Studio; Ohad Yehieli; Amir Navon; Mayslits Kassif Architects; Massimiliano Fuksas; Yoav Messer Architects; Ron Arad; Preston Scott Cohen; Amit Nemlich [images, links]- Metropolis Magazine |
Israeli architecture's lone arranger: ...in a remote underground wing of the Shalom Tower, is one of the lesser known and most interesting treasures of Israeli architecture. Hundreds of thousands of items...Israeli Architect's Archive, founded and operated by architect Zvi Elhayani, is in fact a large private collection without institutional academic or financial support. -- Dov Carmi; Ze'ev Rechter; Arieh Sharon; Shlomo Gilad; Genia Aberbuch; Zvi Lisher- Ha`aretz (Israel) |
The Greatest "Heritage Site" of All: The best minds of architects, city planners...should be invited to participate and contribute...designs for how to deal with the situation on the Temple Mount in its totality...let this utopian architectural competition be called...and let the most thoughtful, serious, innovative and elegant, insightful, and advanced ideas of how to move forward... By Robert Eisenman -- Peter Eisenman; Frank Gehry; I.M. Pei- Huffington Post |
Vertical Farming Comes Down To Earth: ...unlike previous vertical-farm designs, Weber Thompson’s sane, grey, industrial-style facility looks like it can actually be built...Newark Vertical Farm (NVF) is a decidedly more practical solution...architectural community will also finally be able to examine the efficacy of the concept for themselves. -- Dickson Despommier [images, links]- Metropolis Magazine |
Cyclists up against shock-jock ravings: ...my first experience of car-on-bike road rage, and it did rather take the shine off the ride...less than 5% built, the 200-kilometre cycleway stands to benefit the city greatly...Yet Alan Jones describes it as "the biggest disgrace in traffic management that I have ever seen" and insists it will "destroy the city completely". By Elizabeth Farrelly- Sydney Morning Herald |
2 parcels in Hayes Valley may get a quick fix: Necessity has spawned invention...modified shipping containers and temporary building materials are expected to transform two vacant lots into a creative compound...In a city where resistance to almost any land use proposal is routine, the Proxy development has met with little. -- Envelope Architecture +Design- San Francisco Chronicle |
The end of an era: farewell to the Transbay Terminal: Select pieces of the old building...will be displayed in a new museum to be built near the Port of Oakland...By year’s end, the 70-year-old building will be gone, making way for the construction of a new eye-catching $4 billion transit hub... -- Timothy Pflueger (1939); Therese Poletti; Pelli Clark Pelli [images]- California Beat (san Francisco) |
Beyond decibels: Planning the new sounds of the city: City-dwellers may hate traffic noise and loud, late parties, but they enjoy a "vibrant calm" soundscape, says Trevor Cox, and we should cultivate it... Subtle changes in urban design alter how people use places and consequently the soundscape. One of the major problems will be getting designers to use soundscape research. -- Positive Soundscape Project- New Scientist |
Q&A: Zaha Hadid speaks about what it means to be Number One: ...how has ‘power’ changed you? "I don’t take the acclaim terribly seriously, I’m very grateful for it, but it doesn't affect my life...It’s just exciting that people know about architects. Twenty-five years ago, they didn’t."- Forward Magazine (Syria) |
Philip Johnson's Glass House property remains 'all one art': "This was Johnson's 50-year diary of his architectural genius and philosophy" [images]- Stamford Advocate (Connecticut) |
Global Design Giant W.S. Atkins Plans New Foray into U.S. Market: ...plans to acquire Orlando, Fla.-based transportation engineer and construction manager PBSJ Corp...would link the industry’s 11th largest global design firm with $2.2 billion in 2009 revenue, with an employee-owned engineer that ranks 28th on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design Firms...- Engineering News-Record (ENR) |
Call for entries: Solutia World of Color Awards International Design Competition to honor innovative design and use of colored laminated safety glass in building design and interior spaces; no fee; deadline: August 15- Solutia |
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Snøhetta: National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion, World Trade Center Site, New York, NY |
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