Today’s News - Monday, January 23, 2012
• ArcSpace brings us Coop Himmelb(l)au's small (and stunning) church in Austria.
• Five design teams vie to build a pavilion for Nelson-Atkins' World's Fairs exhibition coming in April.
• St. Petersburg, Florida, opts for Maltzan (over BIG and West 8) for his "flexible" design for new iconic pier (also the public's fave).
• Iovine tries to divine the real future of some of NYC's mega-project plans: "we can only hope that the next round of mayors and governors and the ones after that will still love today's 'grands projets' when they are more mud than magnificent."
• Pogrebin takes on one of them: "plans to demolish the Javits Center are deflating to the architect in the midst of renovating" the not-much-loved convention center.
• Heathcote minces no words about London's Olympic architecture: but for two projects (not difficult to guess which), "if there is to be a worthwhile legacy...the sporting architecture will not be it."
• Glancey x 2: he celebrates London's most popular tourist attraction, the British Museum + (not to be missed!): links to Will Self on why Trafalgar Square is "one of the most crap urban public spaces in the world" + Simon Jenkins on why the Tower of London "has been let down by a towering failure of City planners."
• His week in review includes Stuttgart 21, Gehry's Eisenhower memorial, and "outlandish designs" for a "commercial phallus rising proudly from a new public square in Kampala, Uganda."
• Wise gives (mostly) thumbs-up to Piano's Gardner Museum addition: "why should a contemporary architect pretend he's confecting another palazzo along the Grand Canal?" (even if "there's little...to prompt a gasp").
• Campbell tackles Eck's take on Gehry's AIA 25 Year Award-winning house ("shabby, vapid and entirely without any true meaning of home," says Eck): "Would I want this house for myself? No way. But there's room in the world for many kinds of architecture, including some that's a little crazy."
• Dunlap takes a stroll with Roche (and Huxtable) through the Ford Foundation Building that "first put him in the spotlight 45 years ago" (great slide show).
• King on UC Berkeley's two newest buildings: "Literally and figuratively," they "couldn't be farther apart," but each "is successful on its own terms."
• Henriquez wants to transform a former Vancouver jail into affordable rental housing: it would be "a healthy message for any society."
• Q&A with executive director of Park City, Utah's Kimball Art Center about the benefits of a design competition and the importance of good architecture (with link to lots of images of shortlisted designs).
• Doig digs deep into the growing trend in urban agriculture: "wouldn't it still make more sense to grow on cheaper land just outside city limits? Depends which city you're talking about" (a great read - and lots of interesting links).
• Design selected for Sri Lanka's new cultural center "to provide a cultural and social space for the people of Jaffna" (looks interesting).
• Call for entries deadline reminder: ASLA 2012 Professional Awards + Core77 2012 Design Awards (now including Design and Writing & Commentary).
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Coop Himmelb(l)au: Martin Luther Church, Hainburg, Austria |
Five design teams vie to build a pavilion for Nelson-Atkins: ...winning pavilion would be built to coincide with the opening of the Nelson’s major exhibit, “Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851-1939,” which is scheduled to open April 14. By Steve Paul -- Steven Holl; Hufft Projects; Generator Studio; AECOM/A. Zahner Co.; Echomaterico; El Dorado [images]- Kansas City Star |
Panel votes for 'The Lens' to replace St. Petersburg's iconic pier: ...the appeal includes the chance to change it as public input comes in over time...also was the most popular of the three designs in public comments submitted through the process. -- Michael Maltzan Architecture; BIG/Bjarke Ingels Group; West 8 [image]- Tampa Tribune (Florida) |
Editorial> What's Next or What's Now? Will today's mega-projects retain their glamour long enough to be built? The Roosevelt Island tech campus is a pet project of the mayor’s; the convention center in Queens is the governor’s baby. No question, these are transformative ideas for the city. Or are they...manifestations of Pretty New Girl at the Dance Syndrome? By Julie V. Iovine- The Architect's Newspaper |
Let’s Raze Javits Center (but First Finish Renovations): New plans to demolish the Javits Center are deflating to the architect in the midst of renovating that Manhattan convention center. By Robin Pogrebin -- Pei Cobb Freed (1986); FXFOWLE; Epstein- New York Times |
Legacy or lunacy? If there is to be a worthwhile legacy of London’s Olympics, the sporting architecture will not be it...at a moment when buildings and facilities of real community engagement...are being closed, the question needs to be asked whether this huge expenditure can be justified for a few brief moments of national pride. By Edwin Heathcote -- Zaha Hadid; Populous; Hopkins Architects; Wilkinson Eyre; John McAslan- Financial Times (UK) |
Jonathan Glancey celebrates London's most popular tourist attraction, the British Museum – at once a map of the world, a time machine and a treasure chest + Will Self: why I hate London's Trafalgar Square...one of the most crap urban public spaces in the world + Simon Jenkins: The Tower of London...The iconic 11th-century citadel...has been let down by a towering failure of City planners- Guardian (UK) |
Constructive criticism: the week in architecture: Stuttgart launches a controversial redevelopment of its central station, Burgundy gets a new museum and Frank Gehry's Eisenhower memorial sparks a battle...outlandish designs for...222m-high commercial phallus rising proudly from a new public square in Kampala, Uganda. By Jonathan Glancey -- Paul Bonatz/Friedrich Scholer (1928); Ingenhoven Architects/Stuttgart 21; Bernard Tschumi; Capita Symonds [images]- Guardian (UK) |
Gardner Museum addition is a contemporary counterpoint: ...why should a contemporary architect pretend he’s confecting another palazzo along the Grand Canal? ...has kept the integrity of Gardner’s personal vision intact...there’s little in the extension to prompt a gasp, even if Piano has delivered an estimable, highly functional complement to...“the palace.’’ By Michael Z. Wise -- Renzo Piano [images]- Boston Globe |
Site Lines: Frank Gehry’s house, designed for living: ...Gehry house, Jeremiah Eck e-mails, is “shabby, vapid and entirely without any true meaning of home"...He would like to see the American house be more like an iPad: small, well designed, and easy to use...I also love the Gehry house...Would I want this house for myself? No way. But there’s room in the world for many kinds of architecture, including some that’s a little crazy. By Robert Campbell- Boston Globe |
An Architect Returns to His First Triumph: ...Kevin Roche has rarely had time to visit the building that first put him in the spotlight 45 years ago, the Ford Foundation Building...It was an instant hit..."The underlying purpose of all construction is to serve some form of human activity. Once you can say that about any building, it’s a well-built building." By David W. Dunlap -- Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo (1967); Dan Kiley; Ada Louise Huxtable [slide show]- New York Times |
2 new buildings at Cal show design challenge: Literally and figuratively, UC Berkeley's two most recent building projects couldn't be farther apart...Each project is successful on its own terms. Neither fits smoothly...What they show is that smooth fits may no longer be possible...what binds [them] is that each improves its setting, adding shots of vitality to corners of the campus that have always felt adrift. By John King -- Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (ZGF); Guzzardo Partnership; Ratcliff; Hargreaves Associates [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
A plan to turn a former jail into rental housing: Gregory Henriquez believes that transforming a former city jail into affordable rental housing is poetry..."a healthy message for any society"...He has become known as the Vancouver architect with the vision towards equitable housing. He is the designer behind the Woodward’s Building... -- Henriquez Architects [image]- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
Q&A: Robin Marrouche, Executive Director, Kimball Art Center [Park City, Utah] about the benefits of a design competition, the importance of good architecture, and what the future holds..."We are a community art center, not a museum. Therefore it is vital to understand what the community wants...The public has a voice in this process, but not a vote." -- BIG/Bjarke Ingels Group; Brooks + Scarpa Architects; Sparano + Mooney Architecture; Will Bruder + Partners; Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects [link to images, videos]- SmartPlanet |
Urban gardens: The future of food? ...as more and more farming moves downtown, eating local is taking on a new flavor...wouldn’t it still make more sense to grow on cheaper land just outside city limits...Depends which city you’re talking about...If 2011 was the year that bike lanes became the poster child for the New Urbanism, urban farms could claim that mantle in 2012. By Will Doig [links]- Salon |
India to construct a cultural center in Sri Lanka's Tamil heartland of Jaffna: ...part of its development partnership with Sri Lanka...primary purpose of the Jaffna Cultural Centre would be to provide a cultural and social space for the people of Jaffna...for training, instructions and education in a variety of cultural disciplines...jury selected...three designs... -- Madura Premathileka; Cynthia & Athula Ranasinghe Chartered Architects; Design Consortium [image]- LankaSriNews.com (Sri Lanka) |
Call for entries deadline reminder: ASLA 2012 Professional Awards; registration deadline: February 3- American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Call for entries: Core77 2012 Design Awards - international (professional & student); new categories include Design and Writing & Commentary; earlybird deadline (save money!): March 13- Core77 |
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