Today’s News - Tuesday, March 6, 2012
• A most welcome trend: "Once the first thing to be cut in a time of recession, the arts are proving their worth" in even smaller cities as a "go-to source of a hand up" instead of needing a handout.
• The spaceship-like Mind Museum in Taguig City, Philippines, is not "a substitute for schools, but rather a way to help breed scientific literacy" (in a very cool space).
• Far from being what critics called a "bridge to nowhere," Calatrava's new Dallas bridge "does, in fact, go somewhere," connecting a long overlooked neighborhood to downtown.
• Davies x 2: he offers some eye-opening numbers re: urban densities: "the entire population of Australia could be accommodated within 25 km radius of Melbourne's CBD, provided it were settled at the current density of Brooklyn."
• He calls for "a stop to treating sustainability as something extraordinary - it should be treated as 'a given,' just like we take it for granted buildings won't fall down."
• In the South Bronx, Via Verde is a model of sustainability and affordability - and luring middle-income residents to a "once-ravaged neighborhood."
• Despite criticism from English Heritage, Design Council Cabe, and UNESCO, the controversial £5.5 billion Liverpool Waters plan gets a thumbs-up: "we can have the strikingly modern, while retaining our world heritage status."
• On a brighter note, Rose tools around "the hidden architectural highlights of London 2012 Olympics" that "are more than just a field of also-rans" and "architecture Britain should be proud of" (great slide show proves his point).
• Nichols cheers Medellín's "library parks" built for its poorest residents that "are bringing sanity and community to one of the world's most violent cities."
• Kamin cheers (with caveats) Chicago's prototype library design: one "offers a solid mix of form and function while another falls short" (but they're both a step in the right direction).
• An impressive (and intriguing) mix of talent on the shortlist for a new U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.
• University at Buffalo's shortlist for a new school of medicine is no less impressive.
• In Israel, Dvir cheers plans for an oh-so-green campus in Ashdod + the Waldorf-Astoria Jerusalem draws on the "eco-building talents" from a tiny kibbutz in the Negev Desert (talent, indeed!).
• Van Valkenburgh has thoughtful plans for a 55-acre park in Tulsa.
• SHoP snags architect/urbanist Chakrabarti: "we're going to reinvent urbanism" (no doubt!).
• We couldn't resist: McRae offers a lexicon of archi-babble for the future: #10: "Needing a Taco: the state of being in which an architect is taking him or herself wayyyyy too seriously."
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Cities are banking on the arts; Once the first thing to be cut in a time of recession, the arts are proving their worth: It's not just recognized cultural hubs...Communities as diverse as Paducah, Ky.; Park City, Utah; and Buffalo, N.Y., consider the arts no longer in need of a handout but the go-to source of a hand up...For every $1 investment, $51 return... -- Richard Florida; Daniel Libeskind; Allied Works Architects; Frederick Law Olmsted; Frank Lloyd Wright- Christian Science Monitor |
See, hear, feel and taste science at The Mind Museum in Taguig City: ...the massive building looks like a spaceship...to help address the significant gap in its math and science education, the museum will not be a substitute for schools, but rather a way to help breed scientific literacy. -- Ed Calma/Lor Calma & Partners [images, video]- GMA News (Philippines] |
A Stitch in the Urban Fabric: Dallas Celebrates Its New Santiago Calatrava Bridge: Its critics called Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge a “bridge to nowhere”...it does, in fact, go somewhere...from downtown to a largely working class and Latino neighborhood...Long overlooked because of its grit and poverty, it’s new proximity to downtown [makes] it ripe for development—a prospect that some fear will drive out longtime residents. [images]- Architectural Record |
How many residents can our capital cities hold? ...the entire population of Australia could be accommodated within 25 km radius of Melbourne’s CBD, provided it were settled at the current density of Brooklyn...Sydney could house an additional 530,000 residents if it were as dense as Los Angeles...I’d contend most of Sydney’s infrastructure and environmental negatives...are a failure of politics, not an inevitable consequence of higher density. By Alan Davies/Pollard Davies [images]- Crikey (Australia) |
Is there more to architecture than sustainability? ...quite frankly...It should be treated as “a given”, just like we take it for granted buildings won’t fall down...Rather than give sustainability sole billing, I’d like to see Barangaroo Authority focus on how the architecture and urban design will contribute to making Sydney a better and more interesting place...It’s time to stop treating sustainability as something extra-ordinary and put the architecture back in architecture! By Alan Davies/Pollard Davies- Crikey (Australia) |
A Shift in the South Bronx: Via Verde, a terraced and landscaped complex that has risen above an abandoned rail yard...lauded at its inception as an architectural gem and a model of environmental building. More unclear was whether the project, though designed to be "affordable," could lure middle-income buyers to the once-ravaged neighborhood. -- Dattner Architects; Grimshaw Architects- Wall Street Journal |
Controversial Liverpool Waters plans approved: Chapman Taylors’ masterplan for £5.5 billion scheme pleases Liverpool City Council..."we can have the strikingly modern, while retaining our world heritage status. I have never regarded this as being ‘either, or’"...English Heritage said the plans would cause “serious harm”...has also been criticised by Design Council Cabe and Unesco. [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Athletic builds: You've seen the pool, the stadium and the velodrome – now here's the octopus-tentacle shooting range and the multicoloured rubber bridge...the hidden architectural highlights of London 2012 Olympics...it's clear that the other Olympic buildings are more than just a field of also-rans...architecture Britain should be proud of. By Steve Rose -- Zaha Hadid; Hopkins Architects; Magma Architecture/Wilkinson Eyre; Make; Heneghan Peng Architects; John Lyall Architects; John McAslan & Partners; AEW Architects/Philippe Avanzi; Nord; Stanton Williams [slide show]- Guardian (UK) |
Library Parks Foster Community in Colombia: Medellín, Colombia’s “library parks” — built for its poorest residents — are bringing sanity and community to one of the world’s most violent cities. By Greg Nichols -- Javier Vera- Miller-McCune |
Libraries of the future? ...one prototype library design offers a solid mix of form and function while another falls short: The debut of new library commissioner...gives Chicago a chance to think afresh about its libraries - and how good design can uplift the experience of the millions of people who use them. By Blair Kamin -- Dirk Lohan/Lohan Anderson [images]- Chicago Tribune |
Initial Design Team Shortlist Announced for New Embassy Project in Mexico City: ...the first solicited project under Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO)’s new Design Excellence program. -- AECOM/Snohetta; Allied Works Architecture; Antoine Predock Architect/Moody-Nolan; Diller Scofidio + Renfro/Buro Happold; Ennead Architects; Miller Hull Partnership; Morphosis Architects; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects- U.S. Department of State |
First Steps Made Toward New School of Medicine: Five shortlisted firms are competing to design a building for UB's new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences...a final selection will be made on March 29. -- Cannon Design; Diller Scofidio + Renfro/Gensler; Grimshaw Architects; Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum/HOK; Rafael Vinoly- The Spectrum (University at Buffalo) |
New Israeli college to derive half its power from alternative energy: Campus in Ashdod will be home to schools including a branch of the Shamoon College of Engineering, a nursing school and a school of environmental studies. By Noam Dvir -- Knafo Klimor Architects [image]- Ha`aretz (Israel) |
Mud-brick builders go from the desert to the Waldorf-Astoria: A luxury hotel going up in Jerusalem drew on the eco-building talents of the members of a tiny kibbutz in Israel's Negev Desert...it's the little things that make the biggest difference. -- Sinan Kafadar [images]- ISRAEL21c |
N.Y. Architect Seizes Chance to Design New Tulsa Park: At least 55 acres will be turned into an "amazing" public gathering place..."My hope is to create something so great that on a beautiful day you'd be nuts if you didn't come down." -- Michael Van Valkenburgh [images]- Tulsa World (Oklahoma) |
SHoPping Around: Arch-Urbanist Vishaan Chakrabarti Joins Hotshot Architecture Firm: ...looking to expand its practice beyond unconventional buildings into unconventional cities, SHoP has added a new partner to the firm, professor skyscraper himself..."we’re going to reinvent urbanism"... By Matt Chaban [slide show]- New York Observer |
Mind your language: A look ahead to the archispeak of the next generation: As a profession we are all guilty of using verbose language or architectural slang when presenting or describing our wonderful creations...new words or phrases that may permeate the profession...10. Needing a Taco: the state of being in which an architect is taking him or herself wayyyyy too seriously. By John McRae/ORMS- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Book Review: Tracing a Hidden Track from Adolf Loos as Modernist Architect to Jennifer Post as Modernist Interior Designer: "The Looshaus" by Christopher Long, and "Jennifer Post: Pure Space: Elegant Minimalism" by Anna Kasabian...with this unlikely couple, we can air out that beleaguered term "architectural minimalism" and trace a trajectory of what might be better identified as "essentialist architecture." By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
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Allied Works Architecture: Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, Colorado |
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