Today’s News - Friday, June 3, 2011
• Weinstein offers up "an obscure book of French poetry in a flashy translation that goes to the heart of every architectural practice."
• LaBarre gets a few more details from Snøhetta's Simon Ewings re: the SFMOMA expansion and finds "a compelling logic emerges...Though criticized by some, the design appears exquisitely considered."
• King hopes SFMOMA gets serious about architectural arts and "engaging with urban issues close to home": the museum has been "missing in action with regards to a branch of the arts that people here care about intensely, that shapes the place in which we live."
• LeBlanc cheers "local good guys Sustainable.TO" for their winning design for a shotgun passive house in New Orleans: "it is simple, but brilliantly so" - and he hopes it "will be the architectural shot heard 'round the world."
• Wing finds the $300 house for developing nations competition all well and good (and "an attention-grabbing gimmick"), but "what is a fair figure for housing urban poor homeless families in developed nations?"
• Glancey reviews the week in architecture that was all about "industrial chic" (with a video ya gotta see!).
• Australia to get a new Venice Biennale pavilion via a design competition among "a small hand-selected group of Australian architects" that will surely "disappoint the architecture community that believes an open competition brings more interesting results."
• We're sad to hear Team Hawaii has had to pull out of the 2011 Solar Decathlon, but glad to hear some donors requested that their gifts be used to support the 2013 effort.
• Obama offers Pritzker winner Eduardo Souto de Moura high praise, cheers Chicago's skyline, and admits he once thought of being an architect: "I expected to be more creative than I turned out, so I turned to politics instead."
• A good reason to be in D.C. on Monday: the Intelligent Cities Forum to explore the intersection of data, technology, and cities.
• We couldn't resist: an amazing slide show of "giant ears on the British Coast" - enormous concrete shells that were pre-World War II acoustic experiments designed to listen for enemy aircraft that "led to some extraordinary architecture."
• Weekend diversions:
• Ouroussoff finds the CCA's "Architecture in Uniform" an "engrossing, often unsettling new show" that is "one of the most important architecture exhibitions I've seen in years."
• Lamster and Lange lunch over Koolhaas's "Cronocaos" at the New Museum: "'chaos' is an apt descriptor for this show, although perhaps not entirely as intended. It lacks cohesion, it's infuriating, it's all over the place" - but realize "the scruffy presentation and lame charts are all part of the faux-insurgent pose."
• Campbell cheers one of his "favorite museums in New England, or anywhere for that matter, yet hardly anyone has heard of it."
• "Pier Luigi Nervi: Architecture as Challenge/Architettura come sfida" on view in Torino.
• LA Forum offers "New Park Design in Los Angeles" to "foster discussion about the current state of public park space and design within the city."
• Davidson reviews "David Adjaye: A House for an Art Collector" that reveals "both garish taste and a formal inventiveness that hasn't been seen...since the days of Paul Rudolph"; it's "a dim, almost gothic lair" (with a slide show to prove it).
• A fascinating excerpt (and great pix!) from Susan Roy's "Bomboozled" - a fascinating history of America's domestic fallout shelters.
• An eyeful of amazing views of Germany from the sky from Launer's new book, "Deutschland: Entdeckung von Oben" (Germany: Discovery from Above).
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Book Review: Diving into Architecture from Every New Angle: Reading Guillevic's "Geometries": Why an obscure book of French poetry in a flashy translation goes to the heart of every architectural practice. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
Snøhetta Defends Its Controversial Design For San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: When you delve into the details, a compelling logic emerges, despite the critical griping...Though criticized by some, the design appears exquisitely considered. By Suzanne LaBarre [images, links]- Fast Company |
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art needs to include architectural arts: ...there's been no sign of interest of late in engaging with urban issues close to home...It's as though SFMOMA viewed architecture as a topic for abstract contemplation and social critiques...missing in action with regards to a branch of the arts that people here care about intensely, that shapes the place in which we live. By John King -- Snohetta; Henry Urbach; Joseph Rosa- San Francisco Chronicle |
Toronto team designs architectural shot heard ’round the world: ...“Low Cost/Low Energy House"...by local good guys Sustainable.TO...awarded first place in Passive House for New Orleans international competition...it is simple, but brilliantly so...it’s not a stretch to suggest that Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation might decide to make it real... By Dave LeBlanc [slide show]- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
The $5,000 Home for Developed Nations: We all know that the $300 house [competition] was an attention-grabbing gimmick. What’s more, it was for developing nations. So what is a fair figure for housing urban poor homeless families in developed nations? By Sherin Wing [links]- Metropolis Magazine |
Constructive criticism: the week in architecture: Industrial chic has a steel grip on the Palace of Versailles, a reimagined Manchester steelworks and Stratford's DLR station. By Jonathan Glancey -- Bernar Venet; Caruso St John; Alistair Weir/PRP Architects; Peter Saville; Malcolm Garrett; the modernist/Manchester Modernist Society; Hawkins Brown [images, video]- Guardian (UK) |
Australia to get a new Venice Biennale pavilion: Even the original architect Philip Cox is on record as urging a permanent replacement...design will be selected by invitation, from a small hand-selected group of Australian architects...a decision that will disappoint the architecture community that believes an open competition brings more interesting results.- The Age (Australia) |
University of Hawaii offers alternatives for solar team gifts: The university decided to withdraw from the decathlon because of financial difficulties and other challenges...Some donors requested that their gifts be used to support the 2013 Solar Decathlon...Team Hawaii...was working on Hale Pilihonua, a cylindrical home covered with solar thermal collectors and photovoltaic panels... [image]- Honolulu Star-Advertiser |
Who Knew President Obama Once Wanted to be an Architect? Last night, at a dinner in honor of Pritzker Prize winner Eduardo Souto de Moura...Obama admitted that he once harbored dreams of becoming an architect..."I expected to be more creative than I turned out, so I turned to politics instead" [video]- Curbed |
Intelligent Cities Forum: On June 6 the National Building Museum will convene a one-day forum to explore the intersection of data, technology, and cities...will engage thought leaders, government officials, and the public to think about how to use existing and emerging technologies to improve our built environment...event will be simultaneously broadcast on the web.- National Building Museum / TIME / IBM / The Rockefeller Foundation |
Listening for the Enemy: Giant Ears on the British Coast: The enormous concrete shells are as tall as a house, and they were designed to listen for enemy aircraft in the 1920s and 30s. Pre-World War II acoustic experiments led to some extraordinary architecture... [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
Architects in World War II: Construction Amid Destruction: “Architecture in Uniform: Designing and Building for the Second World War,” an engrossing, often unsettling new show at the Canadian Center for Architecture, is a major and belated step in coming to terms with this awkward chapter in modern architectural history...one of the most important architecture exhibitions I’ve seen in years. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Jean-Louis Cohen; Albert Speer; Mies van der Rohe; Le Corbusier; Szymon Syrkus; Tecton Group; Richard Neutra; Walter Gropius; Marcel Breuer; Ernst Neufert; Eberhard Kuen- New York Times |
Lunch with the Critics: "Cronocaos," an exhibition by OMA/Rem Koolhaas at the New Museum: "as a manifesto and a provocation, [it] paints the field of preservation with such a broad brush that it's unrecognizable"..."I found the exhibit to be a compelling work of provocation, and often at odds with itself..."...is certainly a catch-all for a lot of ideas, most of which are worth considering. By Mark Lamster and Alexandra Lange [images]- Places Journal |
Art of the illustrator in a proper grand setting: Rockwell, Parrish, Pyle, Nast and their 'most American' art: It’s one of my favorite museums in New England, or anywhere for that matter, yet hardly anyone has heard of it...National Museum of American Illustration... By Robert Campbell -- Carrere & Hastings (1898)- Boston Globe |
"Pier Luigi Nervi – Architecture as Challenge/Architettura come sfida" until July 17at Torino Esposizioni Palace, in Turin...home to two of the architect's most celebrated works... [images, site in English & Italian]- Associazione Pier Luigi Nervi Research and Knowledge Management Project |
"New Park Design in Los Angeles": exhibition surveys six major parks that are currently being designed, that are in construction, or have been completed recently...to foster discussion about the current state of public park space and design within the city; at LA Forum Events @ WUHO through July 8 -- Ken Smith Workshop; James Corner Field Operations; Rios Clementi Hale Studios; AECOM; Mia Lehrer and Associates; Hargreaves Associates- Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design |
Radical Secrets: A century-old Upper East Side façade conceals the aggressively modern design: "David Adjaye: A House for an Art Collector" documents...the Lindemann-Dayan house, revealing both garish taste and a formal inventiveness that hasn’t been seen...since the days of Paul Rudolph...a dim, almost gothic lair for a family with idiosyncratic predilections. By Justin Davidson [slide show]- New York Magazine |
Better Homes & Bunkers: The Fallout Shelter for the Nuclear Family: In the 50s and 60s...How could so many people believe that hiding in an underground concrete cube would save their lives during a nuclear attack? ...why did they believe they could function in a post-apocalyptic world with fires raging, cities destroyed, and a landscape littered with the dead and injured? By Susan Roy- Design Observer |
What Germany Looks Like from the Sky: A disused mine. A public swimming pool. Berlin's television tower. Hardly scintillating stuff. But as photographer Gerhard Launer's new book, "Deutschland: Entdeckung von Oben" (Germany: Discovery from Above), makes clear, when photographed from above, Germany looks completely different. [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
INSIGHT: Collaboration and Compromise: A Misunderstood Aspect of the Design Process: True collaboration is a symbiosis between the architect's design ideas, a project's setting, and the intentions of its users. By Peter Gisolfi, AIA, ASLA, LEED AP- ArchNewsNow |
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-- Expansion: Snøhetta: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)
-- The Camera: Duccio Malagamba: Brasilia -- Lucio Costa; Oscar Niemeyer |
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