Today’s News - Monday, March 7, 2011
• ArcSpace brings us Nishizawa's Teshima Art Museum on an island in Japan.
• Saffron offers an eloquent and touching tribute to Cywinski, the "paterfamilias of Philadelphia architecture" - gone much too soon.
• Glancey on RIBA's Building Futures report: it may be "downbeat," and the very word "architect" may soon disappear, but "it's not all doom and gloom."
• Moore takes on the U.K. education secretary who "claims architects have 'creamed off' money...If Michael Gove were a building, he would leak."
• A look at the merger mania going on in the U.S.: the good, the bad, and the ugly: "mergers, like marriages, are not all happy."
• Mumbai "is morphing rapidly" - and two new idea hubs hope to create platforms for new types of conversation to work towards a better city (with "more than intellectual backscratching").
• An architect calls for colleagues to become more politically active instead of confining themselves "to earnest conferences and clientless urban speculations, the political equivalent of howling at the moon" ("If you're not at the table, you're on the menu").
• Menlo Park's marathon charrette offers Facebook some intriguing proposals as it prepares to move into the neighborhood ("Zuckerberg seemed stoked by the ideas").
• Mays hopes Toronto will change its ways of thinking about "laneways and little streets and neglected nooks and crannies of the city could be opened up to a kind of intensive, small-scale housing development."
• The Museo Soumaya in Mexico City "is a civic gift and unrivaled masterworks trophy case."
• An 80-year-old dairy barn is given new life as a design center for Morrisville State College (milking parlor included).
• Asked to compile a list of 20 designers who will influence design in the next decade, Rawsthorn and Antonelli find "there are encouraging signs that female designers may fare better in the future."
• GraftLab is moving way beyond being Brad Pitt's fave firm: it may have put them on the map, "but that lasts about five seconds. After that, you have to prove yourself."
• The draft of 2010 Los Angeles Bicycle Plan is released, with plans to create 1,680 miles of interconnected bikeways by 2035.
• NYC's transportation commish attracts kudos and criticism for her visionary plans (bike lane brouhahas included).
• Call for entries: The Resourceful Architect Ideas Competition: how can architectural skills be re-deployed and architectural education teach transferable skills that will endure despite changing economies.
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Ryue Nishizawa: Teshima Art Museum, Teshima Island, Seto Inland Sea, Japan |
Obituary: Bernard Cywinski, 70, paterfamilias of Philadelphia architecture: ...never taught at any of the city's design schools, unlike many of his peers, yet became a friend and mentor to a cross section of architects young and old during his 30 years at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson... By Inga Saffron- Philadelphia Inquirer |
RIBA v Bieber and Barbie: the battle for architecture's future: The RIBA's latest Building Futures report is downbeat, but the profession retains its allure...Some of the 40 architects interviewed...say that the very word "architect" itself will soon be as outmoded...It's not all doom and gloom. By Jonathan Glancey [link to report]- Guardian (UK) |
Architects do matter, Mr Gove: The education secretary claims architects have 'creamed off' money that could have gone to teachers. It's time he opened his eyes to the far-reaching benefits of a beautifully designed school. If Michael Gove were a building, he would leak...Behind a pretentious facade, he would be shoddy in design and execution. By Rowan Moore -- Penoyre & Prasad- Observer (UK) |
Merger Mania: In tough economic times many architecture firms are being swallowed in a merger and acquisition frenzy, sometimes with unexpected results...“We are running a humongous chemistry experiment here...Some will end badly and others will turn out to be quite good.” -- Paul Nakazawa; RTKL; AHS International; Stantec; Granary Associates; Anshen + Allen; Burt Hill; NBBJ; Chan Krieger Sieniewicz (CKS); AECOM; Ellerbe Becket; WWCOT; DLR Group; Remiger/Suda; Thomas Fridstein; Hillier; RMJM; ikon.5; Cambridge Seven- Architectural Record |
Bring your own thoughts: Mumbai is morphing rapidly, and more than ever there's a need for...architects, urban planners, builders, engineers, artists and policy makers to be able to exchange ideas...has led to two new hubs for the purpose — Arbour Research Initiatives in Architecture and Studio X Mumbai [branch of a Columbia University]. -- Kaiwan Mehta; Mark Wigley; Rajeev Thakkar- Times of India |
Comment> It Pays to be Civic-Minded: Eric Davis/CDM reminds architects that the profession is an inherently political act...as a profession we typically show up for battle completely unprepared. When we do “get involved,” it is usually confined to earnest conferences and clientless urban speculations, the political equivalent of howling at the moon...“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”- The Architect's Newspaper |
Volunteers dream up ways to change Menlo Park neighborhood as Facebook prepares to move in: Not only did architects, artists and landscapers give up their Saturday for the cause, but community members also showed up in droves...Zuckerberg seemed stoked by the ideas. -- Susan Eschweiler; David Schnee; Paul Jamtgaard; Group 4 Architecture [images]- Mercury News (California) |
Squeezed in, but abounding in open space: With some imagination and ingenuity on the part of planners and their political masters in city council, laneways and little streets and neglected nooks and crannies of the city could be opened up to a kind of intensive, small-scale housing development that is now highly restricted by law. By John Bentley Mays -- Atelier A5 [images]- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
Emperor's New Museum: Billowing into the Mexico City skyline, Carlos Slim's Museo Soumaya is a civic gift and unrivaled masterworks trophy case. Welcome to the art house of a billionaire..."Slim told me, 'There will be two architects on this project—one of them will be me' " -- Fernando Romero [images]- Wall Street Journal |
Framework for the future: Morrisville State College converts dairy barn into Sheila Johnson Design Center: Offices are in the former milking parlor; studio spaces now fill the hay loft with its gabled roof. The feed silo now has an elevator and spiral staircase. -- Perkins Eastman [images]- The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY) |
Women at the Drawing Board: Design has been a man’s world since the Industrial Revolution, but there are encouraging signs that female designers may fare better in the future....I was asked to compile a list of 20 designers who will influence design in the next decade with Paola Antonelli...There was no shortage of women. By Alice Rawsthorn -- Dunne & Raby; Doshi Levien; Studio Wieki Somers; Hella Jongerius; Patricia Urquiola; Ilse Crawford/Studioilse; Neri Oxman; Daisy Ginsberg; Hilary Cottam; Emily Pilloton- New York Times |
Designing a New Urban Landscape: "The work we did for Brad Pitt put us on the map. But that lasts about five seconds. After that, you have to prove yourself." -- Lars Krückeberg/Thomas Willemeit/Wolfram Putz/GraftLab; Make It Right [images]- Wall Street Journal |
Plan designates 1,680 miles of interconnected bikeways for Los Angeles: ...As part of the city's commitment to transform LA from an auto-centric metropolis to a city with a multi-modal transportation system...has released the draft 2010 Los Angeles Bicycle Plan...proposes three new bicycle networks that will crisscross the city...completion targeted for 2035... [link to plan]- Gizmag (Australia) |
For City’s Transportation Chief, Kudos and Criticism: Janette Sadik-Khan has been lionized as a visionary city planner but roundly criticized for a management style that declares: My way or the highway...“The test of Janette is whether she can take all of these great ideas and bold proposals and actually sit down with the community and get them accomplished in a way that can be long-lasting.”- New York Times |
Call for entries: The Resourceful Architect Ideas Competition (international): how architectural skills could be re-deployed in the immediate term and how, in the longer term, architectural education can evolve to teach transferable skills that will endure in spite of changes in the economy and workforce needs; deadline: April 8- The Architecture Foundation (UK) |
Architecture as a Social Instrument: Interview with Bjarke Ingels of BIG: cBy Vladimir Belogolovsky [images]- ArchNewsNow |
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