Today’s News - Friday, January 14, 2011
• Weinstein tackles Thadani's "The Language of Towns & Cities: A Visual Dictionary": it is "vastly entertaining, endlessly provocative, and essential...No better visual dictionary pertaining to any facet of architecture and urbanism has ever been produced" (we think he likes it!).
• A "simmering row" to save RIBA Trust could "escalate into civil war."
• King cheers a "stealth infill" project in Berkeley that "deserves study by every city where the need for housing outstrips the supply of obvious land."
• Edinburgh seems to have settled for a "bog standard" (ouch!) revamp of Haymarket station that "could be mistaken for a supermarket."
• Correa is "deeply disturbed" by Bangalore's gated communities: they're "a cause for grave concern. They need to be discouraged."
• Egyptian architect/author Hamid "would love nothing more than to see Egyptian architecture on the rise" (taking lessons from his mentor Fathy would be a good start).
• Ouroussoff finds himself landing in "a digital 3-D version of Oz" at the Museum of the Moving Image (that's a good thing).
• LaBarre is less kind to the "spectacle-laden" Dali Museum that just opened in St. Petersburg, FL: it is "positively Dali-esque. We mean that in all the worst ways."
• Weekend diversions:
• Pogrebin and Caro get a sneak-peek of "Robert Moses Astride New York" (the musical!); if you're in NYC tomorrow, you can see it for free.
• Saffron cheers Kahn's "still ravishingly beautiful" collaborator Tyng finally getting her due with a ravishing retrospective at Philly's Institute of Contemporary Art exhibit (though "it doesn't completely make up for a lifetime of slights").
• Amery affirms that "Rietveld's Universe" in Utrecht is a "chance to be totally immersed in his life and work" - and "well worth the journey."
• The true "gems" of the Ezra Stoller show in NYC are those that "reveal the self-effacing nature of architectural photography: that of an artist recording work of another artist" (great pix!).
• "MIT 150" celebrates "what nerds have wrought": a lot of things we use every day - and "some other gizmos that seem more like weird science."
• Kamin's "Terror and Wonder" is "poignant and timely," underscoring "the importance of thinking critically about design in a time when opulence becomes a liability and natural disasters demand the reorganization of our nation's fundamental priorities."
• Rawsthorn on "Sustainism Is the New Modernism": billed as a "cultural manifesto," it's "more like a branding exercise...designers are already well aware of the principles outlined in the book, most of which have been analyzed in greater depth elsewhere."
• Cheers for Richard Nickel's "The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan" finally seeing the light of day.
• Another posthumously-published tome: "75 Years of Contemporary Iranian Architecture" (in two volumes).
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Book Review: How New Urbanism's Case Triumphs Best Through "The Language of Towns & Cities: A Visual Dictionary" by Dhiru A. Thadani: His oversized reference charms, infuriates, and enlightens. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
Former presidents back fight to save RIBA Trust: A simmering row over the scrapping of the RIBA Trust threatened to escalate into civil war this week...Richard MacCormac, Max Hutchinson, George Ferguson and Owen Luder all spoke out in support of former trustee Roger Zogolovitch after he launched plans to “reinstate” the trust...- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Berkeley zero net energy cottage deserves study: ...stealth infill that in its own discreet way deserves study by every city where the need for housing outstrips the supply of obvious land...such units could increase the supply of housing in older transit-friendly neighborhoods by 5%. By John King -- Karen Chapple; Mark Creedon/M2 Studio [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
"Bog standard" revamp of Haymarket station approved: Edinburgh Councillors "not thrilled" by design, but say there was no option to leave existing "awful" facilities...new building "could be mistaken for a supermarket"... -- IDP Architects [link to images]- Guardian (UK) |
"Metro is ruining the aesthetics of the city": Charles Correa, India’s foremost architect who was in Bangalore, took time off to discuss his latest book — "A Place in the Shade: The New Landscape & Other Essays"...he is deeply disturbed by Bangalore’s gated communities..."a cause for grave concern. They need to be discouraged."- Bangalore Mirror (India) |
A journey through an Egyptian's new modern architecture: "Hassan Fathy and Continuity in Islamic Arts and Architecture: The Birth of a New Modern"...a study on not only the aesthetic, but also the psychosomatic, environmental and socioeconomic components and effects of Islamic architecture and its ability to coexist with innovation rather than collide...Ahmad Hamid would love nothing more than to see Egyptian architecture on the rise after its dip that started in the late 1960s...- Daily News Egypt |
Immersed in Images and an Age of Blurred Boundaries: For those familiar with the old Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, stepping into the new addition will feel like Dorothy landing in a digital 3-D version of Oz...high level of architecture is all the more unexpected given that this is an institution getting by largely on public financing in these lean times. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Gwathmey Siegel (1988); Thomas Leeser [images]- New York Times |
Spectacle-Laden Dali Museum Now Open for Business: HOK's new home for the largest collection of the Surrealist painter's work outside of Spain is positively Dali-esque. We mean that in all the worst ways. By Suzanne LaBarre [images]- Fast Company |
Sing of the Master Builder: A sneak peek at the budding musical “Robert Moses Astride New York,” in the company of Robert Caro...he was excited by the musical because it attested to the endurance of “The Power Broker,” that 37 years after it was published “we are talking about this book as if it’s a new book.” By Robin Pogrebin- New York Times |
Kahn collaborator Anne Griswold Tyng gets her due in Institute of Contemporary Art exhibit: Had they embarked on their storied collaboration today...They would call their firm something like Kahn & Tyng..."Anne Tyng: Inhabiting Geometry"...doesn't completely make up for a lifetime of slights...offers the chance to see [her] ideas before they were subsumed by Kahn's own strong vision. By Inga Saffron [images]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
A World Where Less Made More: "Rietveld's Universe," at the Centraal Museum Utrecht, shows the designer's development from furniture maker to town planner and architect of more than 100 buildings — in a setting that shows his work put into practice...The chance to be totally immersed in the life and work of Gerrit Rietveld is well worth the journey. By Colin Amery- Wall Street Journal |
A Stroll Through Modernism with Ezra Stoller: ...the gems of the show are those taken off the beaten path...reveal the self-effacing nature of architectural photography: that of an artist recording work of another artist; at the Yossi Milo Gallery in New York through February 12 [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
"MIT 150" Celebrates What Nerds Wrought: ...MIT Museum has assembled 150 objects that encapsulate the work and culture of the school...Over the years, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has had a hand in developing a lot of things that are part of our everyday life...as well as some other gizmos that seem more like weird science.- Wall Street Journal |
Triumphs and Failures in Retrospect: "Terror and Wonder: Architecture in a Tumultuous Age
" by Blair Kamin...Poignant and timely...underscores the importance of thinking critically about design in a time when opulence becomes a liability and natural disasters demand the reorganization of our nation’s fundamental priorities.- The Architect's Newspaper |
Sustainism: It's Got a Name, Now Do It: “Sustainism Is the New Modernism: A Cultural Manifesto for the Sustainist Era” by Michiel Schwarz and Joost Elffers bills itself as a “cultural manifesto”...is more like a branding exercise than a conventional book...designers are already well aware of the principles outlined in the book, most of which have been analyzed in greater depth elsewhere. By Alice Rawsthorn- New York Times |
A Decades-Long Study Is Finally Published: After more than 50 years, a study of Louis Sullivan’s Chicago architecture has come to fruition...the Richard Nickel Committee...identified and analyzed about 250 buildings for “The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan"... By Eve M. Kahn- New York Times |
“75 Years of Contemporary Iranian Architecture” by the deceased veteran Iranian architect Seyyed Hadi Mirmiran...His brother Seyyed Hamid and architect Iraj Etesam have completed the unfinished book...Cosponsored by the Mirmiran Architecture Foundation, Iran’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the Naghshe-Jahan Pars Consulting Engineers...published in two volumes.- Tehran Times (Iran) |
Q&A with James Anderson, LEED AP re: Low Impact Development: LID is an alternative, cost-effective method for those who want to be sensitive to sustainability, but lack the resources to pursue LEED certification.- ArchNewsNow |
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-- Gwathmey Siegel & Associates: Teel Family Pavilion, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
-- Reiser + Umemoto (RUR): Port and Cruise Service Center, Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, ROC |
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