Today’s News - Thursday, September 15, 2011
• ArcSpace brings us an eyeful of the exhibition "Living" at the Louisiana Museum in Denmark.
• Rybczynski wonders "what future generations will make of our architectural legacy" of blast-proof buildings.
• Bevan finds the 9/11 Memorial is "no Coventry Cathedral, no Hiroshima A-bomb Dome" (NYC's Irish Hunger Memorial does a better job of memorializing).
• Steinbrueck says "high-towered, dense city living is only a small part of the solution, which is to develop 'ecological urbanisms.'"
• Birnbaum finds "some serious va-va-voom" happening in Philadelphia's parks and open spaces that other city stewards should watch.
• Paul calls Safdie's Kauffman Center in Kansas City "an architectural marvel...in a place whose edges are increasingly enlivened by sports palaces, it's comforting to feel that the heart of the city belongs to art."
• Cantrell offers a caveat re: the Kauffman Center and the "veritable explosion" in building and renewing cultural facilities: they may bring "bragging points for architectural firms," but they "aren't always an unqualified success."
• Glancey x 2: is the "gigantic" Westfield Stratford City "uplifting or a vision of hell?" (it is certainly a "hermetic citadel of commercial seduction").
• His week in architecture review includes best-laid plans waylaid for Levete's News Corp beauty in Wapping and Rogers's "WTC tower teeters."
• Hess is none too heartened by Apple's "impressive but enigmatic" Cupertino HQ: "If we're seeing the rest of the 21st century more clearly in this project, the view is not entirely encouraging."
• The Royal Alberta Museum picks a not-so-"wow" winner: "Perhaps we've opted for Birkenstocks over Manolo Blahniks. But sometimes, sensible shoes can carry you a lot farther than the fanciest high heels."
• Winnipeg gets a "rock star architect" (a.k.a. Gehry) to design warming hut for the Assiniboine Riverwalk.
• An eyeful of shortlisted designs that could be Britain's "new generation of electricity pylons."
• 2011 Middle East Architect Awards announced.
• Australia names directors for its 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale pavilion.
• The Solar Decathlon is a "Sputnik moment" for 20 college teams whose designs prove they are "not just sci-fi dilettantes."
• Q&A with Guiney re: all the cool goings-on's during IfUD's Urban Design Week (it launches today).
• New to the web: LandscapeUrbanism.com hopes to answer the question: What Is Landscape Urbanism? + Public Architecture launches The Public Dialogue.
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Exhibition: LIVING, Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk, Denmark |
The Blast-Proof City: Federal buildings and monuments across the United States are now bomb-proof fortresses. But what's being lost in our relentless pursuit of total safety? I wonder what future generations will make of our architectural legacy of crash-resistant walls and blast-proof glass. By Witold Rybczynski- Foreign Policy magazine |
Out of the ashes: the legacy of 9/11: Ten years after the devastating attacks on New York, does the reconstruction do justice to the site, and to the victims? The 9/11 memorial is no Coventry Cathedral, no Hiroshima A-bomb Dome. The promise has been broken. By Robert Bevan -- Snøhetta; Davis Brody Bond Aedas; Michael Arad; Peter Walker; Daniel Libeskind; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Brian Tolle; Gail Wittwer-Laird; 1100: Architect- The Art Newspaper (UK) |
Urbanism needs to move beyond city boundaries: Our fractured metropolitan regions are the big problem in creating sustainable solutions for climate challenges. High-towered, dense city living is only a small part of the solution, which is to develop "ecological urbanisms"...Urban forms...can be designed to mimic nature’s efficiencies and productivities. So can buildings...Whole cities can do the same. By Peter Steinbrueck -- Lewis Mumford; Bruce Katz; Jeb Brugmann; Edward Glaeser- Crosscut (Seattle) |
City Shaping III: The Philadelphia Story: ...if you want to see some serious va-va-voom, set your sites on Philadelphia's exceptional array of parks and open spaces...where to really see a city center in high gear...bodes well for the city, but it's also something for other city stewards to watch. By Charles A. Birnbaum -- James Corner Field Operations; Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates; Edmund Bacon; John Collins; Sue Weiler/OLIN; Jacques Gréber; Paul Cret [images]- Huffington Post |
Inside and out, Kauffman Center is an architectural marvel: Just what kind of an asset will [it] be? ...may yet prove to become one of the nation’s great spaces for entertainment and intellectual stimulation — another contemporary cathedral of culture. In a place whose edges are increasingly enlivened by sports palaces, it’s comforting to feel that the heart of the city belongs to art. By Steve Paul -- Moshe Safdie; BNIM; Theatre Projects; Nagata Acoustics- Kansas City Star |
New facilities aren’t always an unqualified success: ...Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is only the latest in a veritable explosion of new and updated facilities...these have become our new civic monuments...They’re also bragging points for architectural firms. They’ve been a mix of hits and misses... By Scott Cantrell -- Moshe Safdie; Frank Gehry; Foster + Partners; Rem Koolhaas; Joshua Prince-Ramus; I.M. Pei; Renzo Piano; Rafael Viñoly; Nagata; Artec Consultants- Kansas City Star |
Uplifting or a vision of hell? Westfield Stratford City is more than a gigantic shopping centre. It is also the gateway to the 2012 London Olympics...it swallows the site and belongs here as well as it might to Los Angeles, Lagos or Laputa. A hermetic citadel of commercial seduction... By Jonathan Glancey- Guardian (UK) |
Constructive criticism: the week in architecture: The best-laid plans ... Amanda Levete's Wapping great designs are thwarted by Murdoch, and Richard Rogers's WTC tower teeters. But the search for Britain's best new house rolls on. By Jonathan Glancey -- AL_A; Rogers Stirk Harbour; MVRDV/Mole Architects; Eldridge Smerin; Duggan Morris Architects; Adam Richards Architects; Featherstone Young; John Pardey Architects- Guardian (UK) |
Apple's infinite loop: Impressive but enigmatic: Impressive because it will be as elegantly simple as any structure the size of the Pentagon could be...What's puzzling about the design...is how conventional it is conceptually...If we're seeing the rest of the 21st century more clearly in this project, the view is not entirely encouraging. By Alan Hess -- Norman Foster/Foster + Partners; MBT Architects; SWA- Mercury News (California) |
Let there be light: New Royal Alberta Museum...winning proposal doesn’t have the “wow” many people were looking for...Am I disappointed that we’re not getting a museum with an exterior that makes people’s eyes pop? A bit...could be a RAM that our city can grow to love...Perhaps we’ve opted for Birkenstocks over Manolo Blahniks. But sometimes, sensible shoes can carry you a lot farther than the fanciest high heels. By Paula Simons -- Ledcor Group; Donna Clare/Dialog Designs; Lundholm Associates Architects [slide show]- Edmonton Journal (Canada) |
The Forks lands 'rock star' architect: Frank Gehry will design warming hut...has accepted an invitation to design a temporary structure that will appear alongside the Assiniboine Riverwalk.- Winnipeg Free Press (Canada) |
'Next generation pylons': shortlist revealed: ...a six-strong shortlist to design a new generation of electricity pylons... -- Amanda Levete Architects (AL_A)/Arup; Bystrup; Knight Architects/Roughan & O’Donovan/ESB International/MEGA; Gustafson Porter/Atelier One/Pfisterer; New Town Studio/Structure Workshop [link to images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Winners of 2011 Middle East Architect Awards announced -- Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM); George Efstathiou; FXFOWLE; Henning Larsen Architects; Andrea Scotti/Buro Happold; Benoy; Woods Bagot; NAGA Architects; Aedas; Obada Adra/Atkins- ConstructionWeekOnline (Dubai) |
Directors chosen for Australian Pavilion at 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale: The Australian Institute of Architects has announced that Anthony Burke/Offshore Studio and Gerard Reinmuth/TERROIR...will present ‘Formations: New Practices in Australian Architecture’...- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
The DOE's Solar Decathlon Prepares Graduates for Green Jobs: Embracing our "Sputnik moment" is what 20 college teams from around the world are doing...bringing to Washington D.C. some of the most innovative designs and technology to make super-efficient solar homes of the future. But they're not just sci-fi dilettantes... this stuff has real impact.- Huffington Post |
Urban Design Week: Anne Guiney, the executive director of the Institute for Urban Design, tells us what to expect from the weeklong festival (Sept. 15-20) celebrating New York’s public realm and showing how design can make it better. -- By The City / For The City- Urban Omnibus |
New Web Site Tries to Answer the Question: What Is Landscape Urbanism? ...overall goal is to promote the idea that “process matters in design, that collaboration between disciplines is critical, and that complexity should be embraced as part of urbanism and landscape architecture.- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Introducing The Public Dialogue: ...seeks to build our knowledge by advancing our understanding of: How can we best use design thinking as tool for social change? How can designers effectively work for underserved communities? What is the impact of the built environment on our lives? What is the role and value of pro bono service for the design profession? How do we measure design’s effectiveness?- Public Architecture |
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