Today’s News - Tuesday, June 14, 2011
• We are pleased to introduce a new series by Bernard and Kleppel about how to foster a thriving practice even in tough times.
• Goldhagen tackles historic preservation turning into the "unwieldy behemoth that it is today" because "too many buildings are preserved not because of their historic value or aesthetic significance, but because of political or economic deal-making."
• Cavanaugh calls her on the carpet for "this kind of Platonic flapdoodle"; as for "the attraction of urban planning: It allows discrimination but dresses it up as discriminating taste."
• Meanwhile, Lewis lauds D.C. Preservation League's 40 years of standing between historic buildings and wrecking ball and helping to turn a grass-roots movement into "an integral part of public policy at all levels": even though "not every old building is worth saving, they at least deserve due consideration before being torn down or radically altered."
• Russell minces no words re: Piano's Whitney that "looks like a top-heavy container ship run aground" next to the High Line, and Snohetta's SFMoMA "behemoth" that "feels a bit squishy for such a big building" (though "it may yet find the sweet spot between gravitas and welcome).
• Ednie is much kinder re: Hadid's Glasgow museum: showing "little sign of penny pinching, design dilution or discord," it "must be as good as it gets in terms of visceral museum experiences"; and if anything can pull off rejuvenating the Clyde Waterfront, "it's this" (fyi: the much-mentioned green interior color is actually "Decorous Lime" - now we know!).
• Eisen tackles the challenges of implementing landscape urbanism: it takes more than "inspiring rhetoric and compelling forms" - like a "prosaic set of tools" and teamwork - "if sustainable design solutions are to be pushed beyond the commonplace."
• Stratigakos engagingly explains Architect Barbie's political beginnings (and astonishment at school girls' architectural imaginings at the AIA convention in New Orleans).
• Hospitals are really taking evidence-based design seriously now research results are irrefutable.
• A new Winnipeg hospital will be neighborhood-friendly because of cutting-edge techniques that "could help lead to the eventual commercialization of a made-in-Manitoba building technology."
• Rogers Stirk Harbour submits plans for the on-again-off-again O2 Skywalk over the Millennium Dome.
• In Germany, plans are afoot to build a mosque with wind turbines in its minarets (that at certain times of day would create a kind of light show - alas, no pix).
• Dream houses up for sale? U.S. Coast Guard looks to sell two 1880s Jersey Shore lighthouses "to anyone with the guts - and the cash - to buy one" (they "need more than a coat of paint").
• This might be a good time to consider taking up a career in architecture in India: "increasing numbers of people are being able to afford homes," so "architects can be assured to have their hands and pockets full for a long time to come" (one can hope).
• A good reason to head to L.A. next week: Dwell on Design 2011 (ANN readers purchasing tickets online, use code: ARCHNEWSNOW75 - and get great discounts!).
• A good time to think about heading to New Zealand in July: the 4th Healthy Cities: Making Cities Livable Conference.
• An eyeful of the winners in the Changing the Face - Moscow 2011 competition to re-think the city's classic Pushinsky Cinema (interesting, but really doable?).
| |
|
|
|
To subscribe to the free daily newsletter
click here
|
You Survived: Introduction: Your Firm Survived the Recession - Now Foster a Thriving a Practice. By Michael S. Bernard, AIA, and Nancy Kleppel, Assoc. AIA- ArchNewsNow |
Death by Nostalgia: The lack of tools to manage urban development, and the outsize power of private developers, have turned preservation into the unwieldy behemoth that it is today...too many buildings are preserved not because of their historic value or aesthetic significance, but because of political or economic deal-making. Instead of bashing preservation, we should restrict it to its proper domain. By Sarah Williams Goldhagen- New York Times |
Urban Design Hipsters Are Evil: Goldhagan argues that what’s holding our recessionary cities back is not the layers of bureaucracy...Apparently we need even more layers of bureaucracy, but they have to be layered more prettily, or something...This kind of Platonic flapdoodle is easy in a world of design mavens who believe people would like housing projects if only they were drawn up by Rem Koolhaas. By Tim Cavanaugh [links]- Reason Magazine |
For 40 years, D.C. Preservation League has stood between historic buildings and wrecking ball: ...the historic preservation movement...no longer a grass-roots effort, it is an integral part of public policy at all levels...Of course, not every old building is historic, and not every old building is worth saving. But most old buildings at least deserve due consideration before being torn down or radically altered... By Roger K. Lewis [slide show]- Washington Post |
Piano Whitney Clunker; Snohetta San Francisco Behemoth: ...Whitney Museum of American Art looks like a top-heavy container ship run aground in Manhattan’s Chelsea district...Snohetta curved and creased a massive box to slither into a tight mid-block site...In Renzo Piano’s hands, architectural deference plays out as convictionless. SFMoMA feels a bit squishy for such a big building...It may yet find the sweet spot between gravitas and welcome. By James S. Russell [images]- Bloomberg News |
Hadid still has the edge: Zaha defies her critics with first major public commission in the United Kingdom...Glasgow’s new Riverside Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects...must be as good as it gets in terms of visceral museum experiences..it’s hoped that the building will have a rejuvenating effect on...the Clyde Waterfront...if any can pull it off, it’s this. By Caroline Ednie- World Architecture News (UK) |
Landscape urbanism: The challenge of implementation: ...inspiring rhetoric and compelling forms provide a strong, poetic evocation of a more sustainable way to build. But...they need to be harnessed to a more prosaic set of tools...if sustainable design solutions are to be pushed beyond the commonplace. By David Eisen/Abacus Architects + Planners -- Chris Reed/Stoss Landscape Urbanism; Diller Scofidio + Renfro/James Corner Field Operations; Shauna Gillies-Smith/Ground Inc.; Ben Lynch; Fred Yalouris- ArchitectureBoston (Boston Society of Architects/BSA) |
What I Learned from Architect Barbie: "[her] real beginnings were political." Architectural historian Despina Stratigakos describes how she came to lobby a multinational toymaker to view architecture as a viable profession for its iconic doll — and in the process stimulate new discussion in a field "which has struggled more than most professions to foster diversity." [images]- Places Journal |
Hospitals turn to design to promote healing: Employing...evidence-based design, an increasing number of architects are building hospitals using research which shows that environmental elements...can produce positive patient outcomes. -- Roger Ulrich; Center for Health Design; Tom Chessum/CO Architects- San Diego Union-Tribune |
New hospital innovative, warm: Cutting-edge techniques will make Women's and Newborn Hospital neighbourhood-friendly...could help lead to the eventual commercialization of a made-in-Manitoba building technology. -- Smith Carter Architects; University of Manitoba Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (CAST) [image]- Winnipeg Free Press (Canada) |
Rogers Stirk Harbour submits plans for bridge across Millennium Dome: The O2 Skywalk will be 365m in diameter...and will take visitors some 50m above the ground. [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Eco-friendly mosque planned for Germany: Norderstedt's Muslim community to build a £2m mosque with wind turbines in its minarets...a pair of 1.5-metre glass rotor blades in each tower. At certain times of the day light will be beamed at the blades to create a kind of light show. -- Selcuk Ünyilmaz- Guardian (UK) |
U.S. Coast Guard looks to sell 2 Jersey Shore lighthouses: ...auctioning off two lighthouses to anyone with the guts — and the cash — to buy one...Built in the 1880s, both lighthouses need more than a coat of paint before they can resemble the cozy getaways of prospective buyers’ dreams. [images, video]- The Star-Ledger (New Jersey) |
Drawing a pictorial archi-future: "It is important for those that want to pursue architecture to really be sure that they have the aptitude and interest for it"..."...as we progress into a time of real estate and construction boom, increasing numbers of people are being able to afford homes, architects can be assured to have their hands and pockets full for a long time to come." -- Deepti Algani/Team One India; Council of Architects (CoA); Ravi Kiran; Sameera Rao; Meenakshi Pappu- Times of India |
Dwell on Design 2011: The West Coast’s Largest Design Event Features Design Talent from Around the World; features special exhibitions, a new awards program, and home tours; Los Angeles, June 24-26 [purchase tickets online using code: ARCHNEWSNOW75 - and get great discounts!)- Dwell |
4th Healthy Cities: Making Cities Liveable Conference: examine the impact of urban and transport planning on the health and well-being of the population and the planet; 65 presenters including speakers from the U.K., U.S. and New Zealand; Noosa, Queensland, Australia, July 27-29- Healthy Cities |
Changing the Face – Moscow 2011 winners announced: ...a brief to re-think Moscow’s classic Pushinsky Cinema, a local landmark and prototype for all post-war performance halls in Russia...sponsored by DuPont, Union of Architects of Russia, YEM, RIBA and Architizer -- Juan Andres Diaz Parra/Charlie Kentish/Evelyn Sam Soon; Adrian Reinboth/Franziska Böttcher/Jenny Grossmann; Joseph Sung [images]- Architizer |
|
Zaha Hadid Architects: Riverside Museum of Transport, Glasgow, Scotland, UK |
|
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window.
External news links are not endorsed by ArchNewsNow.com.
Free registration may be required on some sites.
Some pages may expire after a few days.
© 2011 ArchNewsNow.com