Today’s News - Wednesday, March 14, 2012
• Hanscom hails a new report that "describes cities that have traded in highways for parks, mixed-use developments, and all manner of urbanist bliss" - but have city leaders really seen the light?
• Boyd cheers the University of Wisconsin's COWS program and its Mayors Innovation Project - a simple concept: mayors meet, face-to-face, to exchange ideas about policies and practices, and are "encouraged to take new policy ideas home for immediate implementation - an idea that should stand with us well until the COWS come home."
• The MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative is "giving students invaluable experience while also helping devastated communities."
• As Helsinki says hell no to building a Guggenheim, "it would be a good idea to stop and think why we are turning our backs with such unanimity to cooperation offered by a great international art museum" (some interesting/disturbing speculation here).
• Meanwhile, Modena, Italy, is getting ready for its own Bilbao moment with the opening of the Enzo Ferrari Museum (Kaplicky would be pleased - it looks like a hot sports car itself).
• The Barbican's Kenyon muses on what arts centers will look like in the future: "At a time of real challenge to our social and economic framework, the arts should be at the centre of urban life, not at the periphery."
• Long takes a long look and likes what he sees at McAslan's King's Cross Station, a 15-year odyssey that was "one of the thorniest logistical and architectural problems in London" (fyi: Harry Potter's Platform 9 3/4 is included!).
• Schumacher is totally taken by some "do-it-yourself urbanism" in Milwaukee: a "not-too-sexy" building may not be "gorgeous architecture," but it is "handsome," "understated," and "a green machine" with "texture and nobility" (great pix).
• Melbourne's Pixel Building scores 105 out of 110 LEED points: "while it may be only a small building, its impact will be felt on the design of other office buildings not only in Australia but around the world."
• Berger ponders what can be done to save Seattle's historic, "gem-sized" (i.e. tiny) Volunteer Park Conservatory: "Can it afford to stay small? ...can a small entity bulk up its clout without having to build a non-profit behemoth?"
• Rosenbaum continues to roil re: Rudolph's Orange County Government Center: there's a public meeting coming up, so "fire up your GPS, architecture activists!" (also tweeting the cause are Goldberger and Lange).
• With Las Vegas' "penchant for spectacular implosions," it's looking like the fate of unfinished Harmon Hotel might be sealed.
• An impressive shortlist (46+ firms!) in the running to design Cambridge urban extension: "among the stars lined up..."
• The British Council's list of "Venice Explorers" to gather material for the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale is none too shabby itself.
• We couldn't resist: a 1925 take on what cities might look like in 1950: a Popular Science infographic that "probably says more about 1925 than it does about 1950."
• Call for entries: International Architectural Ideas Competition for the new National Museum of Afghanistan (big cash prizes!) + Solutia World of Color Awards International Design Competition.
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Goodbye-ways: The downfall of urban freeways: We can say this for our Great Urban Freeway Experiment: It seemed like a good idea at the time...“The Death and Life of Urban Highways” by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and EMBARQ...describes cities that have traded in highways for parks, mixed-use developments, and all manner of urbanist bliss. At last! City leaders have seen the light! Well, not really. By Greg Hanscom- Grist Magazine |
How Can COWS Help to Make Better Cities? One “Center On Wisconsin Strategy" program that is getting increasing attention and having a growing impact is the Mayors Innovation Project (MIP)...each mayor is encouraged to take...new policy ideas home for immediate implementation...helping to refocus our democratic institutions on outcomes that benefit all citizens is an idea that should stand with us well until the COWS come home. By David Boyd, FAICP/Urban Associates Group -- Center for Neighborhood Technology; Project for Public Spaces- Citiwire |
MIT Program Comes to Aid of Post-Tsunami Japan: Established after the 2011 disaster, the MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative is giving students invaluable experience while also helping devastated communities. -- James Wescoat; Shun Kanda; Yoshihiro Hiraoka; Hiroto Kobayashi [slide show]- Architectural Record |
Guggenheim: We want to be proud and alone: ...75% of Helsinki residents are opposed to building a Guggenheim art museum...A year ago nearly half of the people were in favour...it would be a good idea to stop and think why we are turning our backs with such unanimity to cooperation offered by a great international art museum...Could the reason be... By Antti Blåfield- Helsingin Sanomat (Finland) |
At home with Enzo in Italy's Motor Valley: Ferrari put Modena on the road map — and this modest city has a dramatic new venue celebrating a man at heart of motoring...Enzo Ferrari Museum/Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari..."meant to provoke. We wanted to park a huge flashy car in front of an ordinary house in a super-traditional town." -- Jan Kaplicky/Future Systems; Andrea Morgante [images]- Independent (UK) |
What will the arts centre of the future look like? As austerity bites, the temples of culture will have to change...There is a major sea change in arts venues which indicates how they will need to be re-imagined and designed...At a time of real challenge to our social and economic framework, the arts should be at the centre of urban life, not at the periphery... By Nicholas Kenyon/Barbican- Independent (UK) |
All change at King's Cross Station: John McAslan’s new concourse will improve the passage of the 100,000 peak-time travellers - and the stunning roof will brighten their day: ...15-year, £400 million project...a fundamental reconstruction of one of the thorniest logistical and architectural problems in London...“heroic piece of engineering and architecture”...[his] good taste and judgment in the historic building are as praiseworthy as the iconic and showily modern new concourse. By Kieran Long -- Arup [slide show]- Evening Standard (UK) |
The do-it-yourself urbanism of the Clock Shadow Building: One not-too-sexy...building...offers a visionary example that is as much about reconciling our relationship with the planet as with one another...not gorgeous architecture. It’s handsome. It's understated. And it’s a green machine...beautiful old materials are resurrected in a way that gives the project texture and nobility. By Mary Louise Schumacher -- Continuum Architects [images]- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
Pixel Building in Carlton, Melbourne, receives the highest environmental rating in the world: ...scoring 105 [LEED] points out of a possible 110..."while it may be only a small building, its impact will be felt on the design of other office buildings not only in Australia but around the world." -- Umow Lai; studio505 [image]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
Saving Seattle's glass house from stones: One challenge to saving the historic Volunteer Park Conservatory is that it's tiny. Is its gem-size an asset...Can it afford to stay small? ...can a small entity bulk up its clout without having to build a non-profit behemoth? By Knute Berger [image]- Crosscut (Seattle) |
Goshen Commotion: Save-the-Rudolph Campaign’s Petition, Public Hearing March 25...Mark your calendars and fire up your GPS, architecture activists! And don't forget to write the local politicos.: Other architecture writers...have taken up the cause on their Twitter feeds, including Paul Goldberger and Alexandra Lange... By Lee Rosenbaum -- Paul Rudolph; Orange County Government Center [links]- ArtsJournal |
Hearing to decide fate of unfinished Harmon Hotel gets under way: ...with a legal nod toward Las Vegas' penchant for spectacular implosions...a CityCenter study concluded that demolition made more sense than repair...demolition bill would run about $30 million. Nearly $280 million was spent on the Harmon's never-finished construction.- Las Vegas Review-Journal |
Big names shortlisted to design Cambridge urban extension: An impressive collection of leading UK and European practices...Among the stars lined up for six plots within the...AECOM-designed masterplan... -- David Chipperfield ; Wilkinson Eyre; Maccreanor Lavington; Bjarke Ingels Group/BIG; Mecanoo Architecten; Sauerbruch Hutton/Fletcher Priest; West 8; Latz + Partner; Vogt Landscape; Grimshaw; Rick Mather; Architype; Heneghan Peng; Ian Ritchie; Marks Barfield; MUMA; Eric Parry; etc. (46 total)- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Venice Explorers announced for the British Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale: ...will undertake explorations around the world to gather material for the British Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale..."Venice Takeaway: Ideas to Change British Architecture" -- Aberrant Architecture; Laura Allen/Geoff Manaugh/Mark Smout; Ross Anderson/Anna Gibb; Darryl Chen; dRMM; Forum for Alternative Belfast; Public Works/Urban Projects Bureau/Owen Pritchard; Elias Redstone; Liam Ross; Toh Shimazaki/Toh Shimazaki Architecture- British Council |
How the world of 1950 looked in 1925: Airships above you, cars below ground; clean pedestrianised streets, beautiful elegant high-rise living&hellip how exotic the far-off year of 1950 must have seemed to readers of Popular Science Monthly in 1925...infographic probably says more about 1925 than it does about 1950. -- Retronaut [image]- Guardian (UK) |
Call for entries: International Architectural Ideas Competition for the new National Museum of Afghanistan (IAIC_NMA); sponsored by the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture, and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul; large cash prizes; registration deadline: April 16; submission deadline: June 6- S.E.E. | office for architecture and design |
Call for entries - deadline extended: Solutia World of Color Awards ™ International Design Competition to recognize use of colored glass in architecture and interior design; deadline: April 15- Solutia |
You Survived: Part 3: Operations, Management, Business Development, Practice: Turn off the auto-pilot and engage: Ideas and tips to foster a thriving practice in 2012. By Michael S. Bernard, AIA, and Nancy Kleppel, Assoc. AIA- ArchNewsNow |
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-- OMA: Milstein Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
-- Book: "Project Japan: Metabolism Talks" by Rem Koolhaas & Hans Ulrich Obrist |
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