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Today’s News - Wednesday, April 20, 2011

EDITOR'S NOTE: We will not be posting the newsletter tomorrow, and possibly missing Friday as well...but we'll be back for sure on Monday, April 25.

• On the first anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico (and two days a way from Earth Day), Beatley ponders "blue urbanism" and its many challenges.

• A world gone mad: an arsonist strikes Gaudí's Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona, destroying the sacristy and badly damaging the crypt.

• A report on the end of the skyscraper boom: "The age of bling is over. The tall glass box is dead," says Shuttleworth (and why bankers, not architects, are shaping city skylines these days).

• A cheer for South Brisbane finally coming "one step closer to becoming the vibrant, cultural urban hub that it has long deserved" (after too many years waiting).

• Litt is hopeful that the Cleveland Browns' vision for the city's lakefront will send "clear signals to potential developers about civic goals."

• NYU's ambitious expansion plan in Greenwich Village hits pothole (to the cheers of many, no doubt).

• Pearman is at his poetic best re: the restoration of London's "astonishing" St. Pancras hotel: "Its real reason for existence is not to lodge well-heeled visitors...It is there in order to exude magnificence" (with exquisite pix by Morley von Sternberg).

• Heathcote has a happy visit with Levete on the day AL_A found out about its V&A win.

• AIA Billings Index for February was "tepid at best."

• Port of Los Angeles cruise terminal competition scuttled, "dashing hopes of an area rebirth" (and ticking off the architects involved).

• AIA UK 2011 Excellence in Design Awards winners announced.

• Call for entries: 2011 Best Tall Building and Lifetime Achievement Awards (deadline looms!) + Arch Record's 2nd Annual Cocktail Napkin Sketch contest (we hope it's an annual!).

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Blue Urbanism: The City and the Ocean: Urban designers need to think not just green but also blue...
the main challenge facing blue urbanism: How do we generate support for habitats so physically and emotionally distant from the urban populations whose consumption patterns, resource use practices and policy decisions will determine their fate? By Timothy Beatley -- Snøhetta; Vincent Callebaut Architectures; WHIM; Kenzo Tange [images]- Places Journal

Gaudí's Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona evacuated as arsonist strikes: The sacristy was destroyed in the blaze and the crypt – part of the building completed while Gaudí was still alive – was badly damaged by smoke.- Guardian (UK)

Skyscraper Boom Reaches End as City of London Goes 'From Vanity to Sanity': “The age of bling is over,” said Ken Shuttleworth...Tenants are demanding “austere and efficient” buildings that are more likely to be “ground-scrapers” than high-rises...The tall glass box is dead.” Make; Foster + Partners; Aecom; Renzo Piano- Bloomberg News

Comment: South Brisbane's Riverside Neighbourhood Plan: ...one step closer to becoming the vibrant, cultural urban hub that it has long deserved...finally brings certainty to their development timetables with densities... -- Scott Whiteoak/Ellivo Architects; -- PLACE Design Group- Architecture & Design (Australia)

Cleveland Browns' vision for the lakefront could benefit from public input: Initial renderings...look more polished than they actually are...intended to create interest among potential developers, who would then hire their own architects...it’s important to make sure that Cleveland is sending clear signals to potential developers about civic goals for the lakefront. By Steven Litt -- Elkus Mandfredi Architects [images]- Cleveland Plain Dealer

NYU's expansion plan hits pothole: New York State rules that Washington Square Village site where the school plans to add two new buildings may be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places...ambitious expansion plans for its core Greenwich Village campus may be even harder to pull off...- Crain's New York Business

The saintly and the sybaritic: restoring London’s astonishing St. Pancras hotel: Nice to see it back in use again as intended. But its real reason for existence is not to lodge well-heeled visitors to London. That’s just an excuse. It is there in order to exude magnificence...one of the very best buildings in Britain. By Hugh Pearman -- George Gilbert Scott (1873); Richard Griffiths Architects; RHWL Architects [images]- HughPearman.com (UK)

Sci-fi fluidity in public space: ...Amanda Levete is “hugely proud” of the Future Systems work but says “if we were to describe the difference it would be less object driven, less about form-making and more about the thought process.” A distinctive aesthetic is indeed emerging in a number of compelling projects nearing completion. By Edwin Heathcote -- Jan Kaplicky; AL_A; Anish Kapoor- Financial Times (UK)

Billings: Pace Yourself: For AIA Billings Index, it's the turtle not the hare...February results tepid at best. “Overall demand for design services seems to be treading water over the last two months"- The Architect's Newspaper

No Winners at the Port of Los Angeles: Cruise terminal competition scuttled by timing and economics...abandoned in favor of a less ambitious in-house redesign, angering the architects involved and dashing hopes of an area rebirth. By Sam Lubell -- Tetra Design; MVE Institutional; Anil Verma Associates; TFO Architecture [images]- The Architect's Newspaper

AIA UK Announces the 2011 Excellence in Design Awards Winners -- Terry Pawson Architects; Hugh Strange Architects; Zaha Hadid Architects; Haworth Tompkins [images]- American Institute of Architects UK Chapter

Deadline reminder: Call for entries: 2011 Best Tall Building and Lifetime Achievement Awards; deadline: April 29- Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)

Call for entries: Cocktail Napkin Sketch: Who says drawing's dead? Enter our 2nd annual sketch contest (U.S.); deadline: July 21- Architectural Record

UNStudio: Galleria Centercity, Cheonan, South Korea

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