Today’s News - Friday, July 29, 2011
• Weinstein finds Crosbie's framing of each architectural firm in "New York Dozen: Gen X Architects" extraordinary (full disclosure: yours truly wrote the foreword).
• Plan to spend some time with a special report on smart cities: Big Bucky dreams + Singapore's "green road map" to become "a city in a garden" + London 2012 "might not be as transformative as planned," but its "legacy will be good. It can be great with a little extra effort."
• Seattle is a poster child for redeveloping brownfields; now, if Congress doesn't cut EPA's throat, "for every dollar of federal money given to a brownfield project, $17 more is generated by private and other public investment."
• Russell strolls the Bronx and finds "a building that could so easily have been a bureaucratic fortress" shows instead "how meaningful sensitive design can be" by architects who "were emboldened to trump the government-building norm."
• Saffron, on the other hand, is sorely disappointed in plans for a new Philly tower with "architectureless architecture" that makes it look "like it got dressed in the dark."
• Rosenbaum on the American Folk Art Museum's "bad-news day."
• Moore says though Hadid's Aquatics Centre might be this week's architectural star (check out underwater pix!), "charming pop-ups on the Olympic periphery also deserve a look (and even though he might agree with Finch (see yesterday's news), "he should have kept his trap shut").
• San Francisco sets its sight on completing a Veterans Memorial (it only took 90 years); don't expect a "man on pedestal wielding sword."
• Q&A with Luca Zevi re: Rome's Holocaust Museum: "The belatedness of the Museo Nazionale della Shoah is emblematic of Italy's difficult confrontation with its fascist past."
• Meanwhile, Croatia's Petrova Gora Modernist memorial to partisan victims of World War II is slowly disappearing (and no one seems to know why, exactly).
• An eyeful of the 7 projects shortlisted for the 15th European Copper in Architecture Awards (great presentation).
• Weekend diversions:
• Fulford finds "Architecture in Uniform" at the CCA a "remarkable" show with "startling juxtapositions."
• Dobrzynski cheers "Supertall" at the Skyscaper Museum, which does "a great service to people who love tall buildings. Or, at least, looking at them."
• In Minneapolis, a team of 10 architects ("boys in black that talk loud") put together "a curious, offbeat and unexpectedly engaging show."
• "Bing Thom Works": for "anyone inspired by nature, his biophilic, environmentally-sustainable, and socially-conscious built sculptures are worth delving into."
• Martin's Olmsted biography explains why he may "be the most important American historical figure that the average person knows least about" (+ great excerpt!).
• Rybczynski's "My Two Polish Grandfathers - And Other Essays on the Imaginative Life": "Disarming, charming, sweet-natured, large-hearted - all these adjectives describe this little book, and I imagine they describe the architect-author as well."
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Book Review: Talkin' 'Bout (Not) My Generation: Uplifting Gen X Architects Showcase Pragmatic Optimism: In "New York Dozen: Gen X Architects" by architect Michael J. Crosbie, the framing of each architectural firm is extraordinary. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
I.H.T. Special Report: Smart Cities: A Pioneering Spirit Despite Visions That Went Unrealized: Buckminster Fuller's 20th-century vision greatly influenced many urban planners of the 21st + An Urban Jungle for the 21st Century: Singapore’s "green road map"...its 10-year development plan to go from being “a garden city” to “a city in a garden" + Will the Olympics Save East London? London 2012 might not be as transformative as planned..."legacy will be good. It can be great with a little extra effort" -- Grant Associates; City Biodiversity index [images, links]- New York Times |
Brownfields Bloom in Seattle: Business Corridor Emerges as Old Industrial Sites Are Cleaned Up and Developed: One key selling point of brownfields: Many of the sites are near city centers, with good access to infrastructure such as roads and power...for every dollar of federal money given to a brownfield project, $17 more is generated by private and other public investment.- Wall Street Journal |
From Bronx Horror to $66 Million Humane Beacon of Hope: ...Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing Center handsomely anchors a corner...a building that could so easily have been a bureaucratic fortress. Cash-strapped state and local governments need to pay a visit...They will see how meaningful sensitive design can be...the architects were emboldened to trump the government-building norm. By James S. Russell -- Ennead Architects (formerly Polshek Partnership) [images]- Bloomberg News |
Planned Chestnut Street skyscraper has pedestrian design: While lean times may produce lean design, the Buck tower fails to meet even the most modest expectations...looks like it got dressed in the dark...architectureless architecture...If construction is really coming back, we could be in for a lot more generic buildings that look exactly like this one. By Inga Saffron -- Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture [images]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
American Folk Art Museum’s Bad-News Day: Sale to MoMA Consummated, Disgraced Patron Sentenced: Undetermined is whether MoMA will knock the building down, gut it or keep it intact..."How we're going to use it, we haven't even begun to think about." By Lee Rosenbaum -- Tod Williams Billie Tsien [images, links]- ArtsJournal |
Constructive criticism: Zaha Hadid makes an Olympian splash: ...Aquatics Centre is this week's architectural star, but charming pop-ups on the Olympic periphery also deserve a look...I happen to agree with Paul Finch that none of the Olympic buildings would be improved by the addition of pilasters, entablatures, dentils or guttae, but he should have kept his trap shut. By Rowan Moore -- Allies and Morrison; Practice Architecture; Alireza Sagharchi; Robert Adam [images]- Guardian (UK) |
San Francisco Veterans Memorial: After 90 years, San Francisco to complete plans for memorial at City Hall...A sketch from the archives shows that the original concept was quite traditional (think “man on pedestal wielding sword”), but the contemporary proposal...winner of a national competition, is in keeping with today’s more subdued approach to memorial design. -- Narduli Studio; Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
From Mussolini’s Estate to Shoah Memorial: A Conversation With Luca Zevi, Architect of Rome’s Holocaust Museum: ...will be built on the historically resonant site of the Villa Torlonia..."The belatedness of the Museo Nazionale della Shoah is emblematic of Italy’s difficult confrontation with its fascist past." -- Bruno Zevi; Giorgio Tamburini [image]- The Forward (NY) |
A Memorial Disappears: Croatia’s Petrova Gora Dismantled: ...the sculptural memorial to the partisan victims of World War II...is being dismantled as we speak...has largely been stripped of its metallic skin...belongs to a much wider and international public. It needs to be protected as an international symbol of anti-fascist resistance on its own ground. [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Seven projects shortlisted for the 15th European Copper in Architecture Awards -- Philippe Schmit Architects ; AllesWirdGut Architektur; Studio Weave; Avanto Architects; Make; Garcia Rodriguez Alcoba; Fritsch und Schlüter Architekten; Cartwright Pickard Architects [links to images, info]- European Copper Institute |
War-born buildings: ...a remarkable exhibition, "Architecture in Uniform: Designing and Building for the Second World War"...at the Canadian Centre for Architecture...an absorbing survey of a world in crisis, scrambling to adapt its buildings and cities to the swiftly onrushing disaster of war...a key moment in the modernization of architecture...Juxtapositions in the show are startling. By Robert Fulford -- Albert Kahn; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Fritz Ertl; Albert Speer; Dan Kiley- National Post (Canada) |
New Census And Exhibit Reveals The World's "Supertalls": The Skyscaper Museum last approached this subject in 2007...What's happened since then? As you might expect, they weren't all built...Now, though, it found 25 more supertalls - for a grand total of 48...Museum has published its census, and done a great service to people who love tall buildings. Or, at least, looking at them. By Judith H. Dobrzynski- ArtsJournal |
Architects go rogue: 10 Twin Cities architects collaborate on a funky table and a gallery show: "The "Department of Public Design Presents: An Interim Report on the Excavation of Zone 5" at Form + Content Gallery...a curious, offbeat and unexpectedly engaging show...describing the team as "boys in black that talk loud." -- Isenberg + Associates; Alchemy; CityDeskStudio; RoehrSchmitt Architecture; HLKB Architecture- Minneapolis Star Tribune |
Bing Thom: Social Architect: For anyone inspired by nature, his biophilic, environmentally-sustainable, and socially-conscious built sculptures are worth delving into...sees architecture as playing a critical role in society. "Bing Thom Works"- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Boston’s Parks Keep Frederick Law Olmsted’s Legacy: ...according to Justin Martin, author of “Genius of Place: The Life Of Frederick Law Olmsted,” [he] may “be the most important American historical figure that the average person knows least about" + Excerpt- WBUR Boston Public Radio |
A Solid Foundation: "My Two Polish Grandfathers - And Other Essays on the Imaginative Life" by Witold Rybczynski: Disarming, charming, sweet-natured, large-hearted - all these adjectives describe this little book, and I imagine they describe the architect-author as well.- Washington Post |
Frank Gehry, Leprechaun: ...crack architectural photographer David Sundberg of Esto...captured a most unusual sight: a rainbow arching across Manhattan from one pot of gold to another, namely from Gehry’s IAC Building to one of the best buildings of last year, 8 Spruce Street (he prefers you call it New York by Frank Gehry, golden boy that he is). By Matt Chaban [image]- New York Observer |
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Coelacanth K&H Architects: Kanazawa Umimirai Library, Kanazawa City, Japan |
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