Today’s News - Friday, February 25, 2011
• Jenkins argues that Christchurch cathedral bell tower should be re-built: "Why should the gaping scars of other people's tragedies be left unrepaired, so some pundit can exult in 'the pleasure of ruins'?"
• A marathon charrette will explore what Facebook wants for (and from) its new neighborhood: "It's very likely that these ideas will have a significant impact on the development of this area of Menlo Park for many years to come."
• Heathcote explores "perhaps one of the world's most promising urban experiments" in Doha: "It is, in its quiet way, the most radical thing in the Gulf."
• Australian architects get behind an alternative plan for Barangaroo.
• BBC's new HQ: "is it a feat of architectural elegance and practicality, or just another prime-time flop?" (turns out it's a bit of both).
• Mays cheers Toronto's newest lesson in urbanism (a.k.a. Vancouverism) that "will vividly animate" a streetscape that "needs all the animation it can get."
• The battle continues over plans for a massive highway bridge in Germany's wine country (judging from the renderings, we're with the wine makers).
• RIBA Building Futures findings: architects better become better at business, and "the name 'architect' could disappear from firm's names and be replaced by 'spatial agencies' and 'design houses'" (spatial agencies?!!?).
• Weekend diversions:
• Ouroussoff finds "Kevin Roche: Architecture as Environment" at Yale "makes a convincing case for the deep intelligence of much of his work...For all their bluntness," his "optimism seems like something worth revisiting."
• "Jugaad Urbanism" at NYC's Center for Architecture "has design lessons for Americans" and "opens up a debate" for urban planners and architects.
• Moore cheers Adolf Loos show at RIBA HQ as "a good introduction to the work of this astonishing man...Both buildings and writings express a singular, tortured personality, with strange views on desire."
• San Francisco's Museum of Craft and Design sets up a pop-up with a "show-stopping" exhibit of Bay Area architects and landscape architects.
• atelier Bow-Wow is wowing them in Prague with doll-house sized models of some of their unique buildings.
• Glancey is totally taken by Sauerbruch Hutton's Turkentor gallery in Munich housing just one exhibit that "sits in totemic splendor...lit solely by the sun and the moon."
• Parnell "gets stuck in" Schumacher's "The Autopoiesis of Architecture": the language "is bombastic and war-mongering, with assertion laid upon assertion in true manifesto style."
• Ulrich Franzen's 1969 film "has much to teach us" today.
• "How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster?" will "leave you reeling from the fog of flatulent flattery"; on the plus side: the man "comes across better than his buildings."
• A video tour with the curator of the Brit Insurance Design Awards at London's Design Museum.
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Restoring Christchurch's bell tower is a first step to easing the city's trauma: The spire lost in New Zealand's earthquake matterss...Western historians may feel that when a building is damaged or destroyed the ruin should be retained as "part of its memory"...Why should the gaping scars of other people's tragedies be left unrepaired, so some pundit can exult in "the pleasure of ruins"? By Simon Jenkins -- George Gilbert Scott (1864)- Guardian (UK) |
Facebook wants designs for its new Menlo Park neighborhood: More than 100 architects and other design professionals will descend on Facebook's new campus in Menlo Park on March 5 for a 12-hour charrette..."It's very likely that these ideas will have a significant impact on the development of this area of Menlo Park for many years to come."- Mercury News (California) |
Bridge in the Gulf: Doha is not Dubai, but still its cityscape smacks of the same developer greed, the same architectural autism in which buildings ascend as if alone...Musheireb...is perhaps one of the world’s most promising urban experiments...It is, in its quiet way, the most radical thing in the Gulf. By Edwin Heathcote -- AECOM; Arup; Allies & Morrison; Michel Mossessian; John McAslan; David Adjaye; Mangera Yvars- Financial Times (UK) |
Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) supports alternative A Better Barangaroo proposal by a group of 57 independent architects: ...put forward by a group called Architects and Planners Concerned About Barangaroo. -- Rogers Stirk Harbour [images]- Australian Design Review |
This is the BBC ...: After 9 years, two architects and £1bn, the controversial BBC Broadcasting House refurbishment is winding up. But is it a feat of architectural elegance and practicality, or just another prime-time flop? ...resembles a monster kit of parts rather than a finished whole...also displays moments of extraordinary technical ingenuity...has become a building that may have lost sight of its soul. -- MacCormac Jamieson Prichard; Sheppard Robson [images]- Building (UK) |
Toronto gets a lesson in urbanism: ...what does Cheng’s urbanism have to teach Toronto? We are finding out now...If all goes according to plan, the luxurious 66-storey Shangri-La complex will vividly animate its short stretch of the University Avenue streetscape – which, of course, needs all the animation it can get. By John Bentley Mays -- James K.M. Cheng; Hariri Pontarini Architects- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
Plans for the Moselle Bridge: Winemakers Flex Muscles Before Upcoming State Election: Wine lovers around the world are livid about the planned construction of a massive highway bridge...that threatens both its beauty and famous wines...winemakers are learning the art of squeezing as much as they can out of local politicians...issue is unfolding somewhat like the highly controversial Stuttgart 21 project... [images]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
Change or die, RIBA tells architects: RIBA Building Futures report says architects will have to become better businessmen to compete with foreign firms...too many firms pursuing architecture as a vocation rather than a business...the name “architect” could disappear from firm’s names and be replaced by “spatial agencies” and “design houses”.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Turning a Rearview Mirror on Kevin Roche: Few figures better illustrate the divide between how architects see the world and how the general public does..."Kevin Roche: Architecture as Environment" [at Yale]...makes a convincing case for the deep intelligence of much of his work, as well as for its raw power...For all their bluntness, [his] buildings can have their own kind of poetry...Roche’s optimism seems like something worth revisiting. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo [slide show]- New York Times |
Indian 'jugaad' has design lessons for Americans: "Jugaad Urbanism: Resourceful Strategies for Indian Cities," exploring what architects, designers, and urban planners can learn from the 'jugaad' strategy of 'making do'...first exhibition in US on contemporary Indian urbanism focuses on design by the people...For urban planners, the New York show opens up a debate... -- Kanu Agrawal- Sify (India) |
"Learning to Dwell: Adolf Loos in the Czech Lands": ...at the Royal Institute of British Architects...seeks to reclaim Loos for his homeland. It should also, distributed across several floors of Riba's headquarters, be a good introduction to the work of this astonishing man...Both buildings and writings express a singular, tortured personality, with strange views on desire... By Rowan Moore [images]- Observer (UK) |
Museum of Craft and Design opens pop-up location: ...houses the latest showstopping exhibit entitled "Crafting Architecture: Concept, Sketch, and Model" highlighting works from more than 20 Bay Area architects and landscape architects... -- Gensler; Haas Architecture; Bionic; Matsys; Surfacedesign; Fletcher Studio [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Bow-Wow examines the ‘behaviors’ of buildings: atelier Bow-Wow’s idea of ‘behaviorology’ can be seen in doll-house sized models of some of their unique buildings in "House Behaviorology" in Prague [images]- Czech Position |
Walter de Maria's all-seeing eye: The barracks where Adolf Hitler began his rise to power have been given a new lease of life – as [Turkentor] gallery boasting just one exhibit..."Large Red Sphere"...sits in totemic splendour...lit solely by the sun and the moon, through a glass roof...a delicious tension between the organic and the geometric, the straight and the curved... By Jonathan Glancey -- Sauerbruch Hutton [image]- Guardian (UK) |
The style war continues: Patrik Schumacher, director of Zaha Hadid Architects and evangelist for Parametricism has released volume one of his magnum opus. Steve Parnell gets stuck in "The Autopoiesis of Architecture"...the language employed throughout the sweeping generalisations in the book is bombastic and war-mongering, with assertion laid upon assertion in true manifesto style.- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Ulrich Franzen’s Street: ...architect and urban planner's 1969 film articulates a bold vision to reclaim Manhattan’s congested streets. 40 years later, we’re still talking about the same thing...[his] film has much to teach us. [video]- Urban Omnibus |
Foster comes across better than his buildings: More congratulatory bio-epic than probing documentary, "How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster?" will leave you reeling from the fog of flatulent flattery bestowed upon the work of the office, but in the end I couldn’t help leaving with a sense of appreciation for, and better understanding of the man. By Tarek Merlin/Feix and Merlin Architects- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Best of British Design Award Highlights: Designer coffins, energy-generating paving stones and the so-called "Boris bike" are among the shortlisted entries for the fourth annual Brit Insurance Design Awards, on display at the Design Museum in London...Curator Alex Newson gives a tour... [video]- BBC (UK) |
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Álvaro Siza Arquitecto: Mimesis Museum, Paju Book City, South Korea |
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