Today’s News - Tuesday, April 10, 2012
• Doig takes a "wildly unscientific" look at data showing many of our assumptions about cities are wrong: "Portland's not that cool, L.A. not that superficial" (it's "just for fun, so try not to take it too seriously and freak out. We're looking at you, New York").
• Goodyear takes a dig at Doig re: his "Cities are Meaner" piece: "some people are nice, and others aren't. Maybe people who live in cities just get more chances to show which side they're on."
• Berg reports on a UCLA class applying the Living Building Challenge (LEED-ND doesn't go far enough) to a Marina Del Rey, CA, neighborhood: "This idea of renovating existing development to reduce its impact has huge potential in a highly developed world."
• Minneapolis picks the winning team in RiverFirst competition for a "sweeping vision" for its Mississippi riverfront parks and public spaces.
• Balmori makes the case for "focusing on our shared landscapes, arguing that they are increasingly the 'terrain for discussing our issues,' much more so than buildings."
• Blanchfield reports on "Women Shaping Our World: Architecture, Gender and Space," where four powerful women in the field debated troubling statistics and remedies.
• Litt x 2: he cheers Saitowitz's University Circle Uptown development: "Clevelanders are going to be stunned and pleased by a development that shows how traditional urbanism can blend with cutting edge architecture to produce a new center of gravity for the city."
• He also gives two thumbs-up to Snohetta's Wolfe Center for the Arts at Bowling Green State University - "a visually stunning object on a dead-flat campus" (and bemoans that current times - with a swipe at the NYT (a.k.a. Kimmelman) - that have put "cutting-edge design is on the defensive," so it might not get the attention it merits).
• BIG heads to the beach with two torquing towers in Miami's Coral Gables.
• Pakistan's most prominent Modernist warns that half of Karachi's buildings could collapse in an earthquake: "Such remarks coming from the first Pakistani graduate of AA - one of the world's most prestigious schools of architecture - needs to be taken seriously."
• Saffron gets down with dirt (literally) as a Loeb Fellow: "thanks to the effort of several committed architects, dirt is making a comeback" - and she has the sore shoulders to prove it + More proof: an eyeful of her and fellow Fellows' MudWorks at GSD: "an argument in layered texture and color that rammed earth is a viable material and should be taken seriously by contemporary architects."
• Perhaps the least glamorous project types offer the most inspiration: lessons learned about light and views in designing a school for autistic children: "Maybe what is viewed matters more than how much is viewed" + Architecture students from Down Under design and build a day care center for children suffering the crippling effects of the Vietnam War.
• Mallory waxes poetic about "emotional buildings" that have bitten the dust after serving their purpose - or maybe not (great slide show).
• Rose gives (mostly) rave reviews re: last week in architecture; except for Titanic Belfast: it's "been compared to the Guggenheim and the Sydney Opera House, but it looks to me like a cross between an iceberg and Libeskind's Jewish Museum in Berlin - neither of which are ideal reference points" (ouch!).
• Call for entries (deadlines loom!): Norden Fund Travel/Study Grants + 6th Annual R+D Awards (deadline extended).
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Portland’s not that cool, L.A. not that superficial: We make assumptions about cities every day - that L.A. is superficial, Portland super-hip. Most of them are wrong...in wildly unscientific form, we decided to look at the data. This is just for fun, so try not to take it too seriously and freak out. We’re looking at you, New York. By Will Doig [links to stats]- Salon |
The Kindness of Cities: The stereotype that New Yorkers – or city-dwellers in general – aren’t very nice people is a persistent one...In every community of every size, some people are nice, and others aren’t. Maybe people who live in cities just get more chances to show which side they’re on. By Sarah Goodyear- The Atlantic Cities |
The Greenest Building May Actually Be a Neighborhood: A UCLA class is trying to apply a strict building standard [Living Building Challenge] to an entire community...This idea of renovating existing development to reduce its impact has huge potential in a highly developed world. And at the neighborhood scale, even more so. By Nate Berg -- Walker Wells/Green Urbanism/Global Green USA; LEED-ND- The Atlantic Cities |
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to redefine “City of Lakes” with RiverFirst: Sweeping vision for Mississippi riverfront parks and public space will create largest expansion of nationally recognized park system in 100 years. -- Tom Leader Studio/Kennedy & Violich Architecture [links to images, info]- Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative (MR|DI) |
Diana Balmori: “The Important Thing Is the Space”: ...made the case for focusing on our shared landscapes, arguing that they are increasingly the “terrain for discussing our issues,” much more so than buildings...Her goal, actually, is to “diminish the importance of objects (buildings) in our landscapes” and make “primary the expression of our spaces"...The results of her experiments can be breathtaking. -- Balmori Associates [images]- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Women Shaping Our World: Architecture, Gender and Space: The numbers write a troubling narrative. Only 13% of practicing architects are female, and only 3% are principals of their own firms...the divide between the academy and professional practice is nonetheless a matter of concern...what changes can be enacted to remedy this situation? By Caitlin Blanchfield -- Susan Rodriguez/Ennead Architects; Anne Fougeron/Fougeron Architecture; Karen Stein; Toni Griffin/CUNY Max J. Bond Center for Design and the Just City- Urban Omnibus |
Modern-style buildings by architect Stanley Saitowitz give University Circle's Uptown development a new sense of place: ...he has emphatically departed from the tradition of modernist isolationism...Clevelanders are going to be stunned and pleased by a development that shows how traditional urbanism can blend with cutting edge architecture to produce a new center of gravity for the city. By Steven Litt [images]- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
Snohetta's Wolfe Center for the Arts gives Bowling Green State University a new point of pride: ...one of those rare moments in which a public institution with high aspirations has acquired a dramatic, innovative building on a relatively tight budget...a visually stunning object on a dead-flat campus...adds a lean, elegant and very beautiful Nordic minimalism to BGSU and to the state’s collection of important contemporary buildings. By Steven Litt -- The Collaborative; Rossetti Architects; WD Architects; Design Group; Bostwick Design Partnership [images]- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
Bjarke Gets A Tan: Twin Torquing Towers Planned in Miami: Called the Grove at Grand Bay, the set of 20-story towers...on the three-acre site currently occupied by the once-hip-but-now-shuttered Grand Bay Hotel in Coconut Grove... -- Bjarke Ingel Group/BIG; Raymond Jungles; Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associate [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Quake will destroy half of Karachi buildings: Habib Fida Ali - Pakistan’s most prominent modernistic architect: Such remark coming from the first Pakistani graduate of AA - one of the world’s most prestigious schools of architecture - needs to be taken seriously. -- Habib Fida Architects- Pakistan Observer |
Dirt is making a comeback: As a building material, dirt has an image problem...Now, thanks to the effort of several committed architects, dirt is making a comeback, this time as the material of choice for modern buildings...In the right hands, a mud building can be as gorgeous as anything imagined by Frank Lloyd Wright or Le Corbusier, two big-name architects who experimented with earth construction. By Inga Saffron -- MudWorks; Anna Heringer; Martin Rauch; Lucchesi Galati [images]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Mud Hall: Loeb Fellow Anna Heringer's latest project at Harvard GSD in Cambridge is a material challenge: ...latest rammed-earth project...MudWorks is an argument in layered texture and color that rammed earth is a viable material and should be taken seriously by contemporary architects. [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Architecture For Autism: Exterior Views: ...is the conclusion about limiting views correct? Perhaps, but it might be something else. Maybe what is viewed matters more than how much is viewed...Perhaps the teachers wouldn’t have had to cover the windows if the view held more restorative and positive qualities. There is a difference between a distraction and a needed restorative break. By Christopher N. Henry -- Haverstock Associates [images, links]- ArchDaily |
Architect students turn plans into reality to aid children in Vietnam: RMIT University students have helped design Dien Ban Disability Day Care Centre that will treat children suffering the crippling effects of the Vietnam War...Students from other fields, including landscape architecture, industrial design, multimedia and construction management, also worked on the project. -- Architects Without Frontiers; Kianh Foundation [image]- The Age (Australia) |
Emotional Buildings Self Destruct: ...a lot has been written and said on Pruitt-Igoe and modernist buildings' supposed lack of understanding of life. And the White U-house, you might say, was pre-conceived as a mourners' house so it was only logical to run it down after it finished serving that purpose. By Tom Mallory -- Minoru Yamasaki; Toyo Ito; Edward D. Dart; Paul Thiry; John Lautner; Sidney Eisenshtat; Bertrand Goldberg; BDP Architects [images, videos]- Huffington Post |
Constructive criticism: the week in architecture: The Titanic launches a thousand museums from Belfast to Southampton, the Baltic gallery expands for its 10th birthday and a 15th-century national treasure reopens in Middlesex. By Steve Rose -- Eric Kuhne; Wilkinson Eyre; Jabornegg & Palffy; Lacaton & Vassal [images, links]- Guardian (UK) |
Call for entries: Deborah J. Norden Fund Travel/Study Grants: applicants must reside in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico; deadline: April 16- Architectural League of New York |
Call for entries (deadline extended): 6th Annual R+D Awards: to honor innovative materials and systems at every scale; categories: Prototype, Production, Application; new deadline: April 20- Architect Magazine |
Book Review: Advancing Windswept Design: Pointers from Art Nouveau, Zaha Hadid, and Charles Sowers: New books and installation art highlight breezy refinements in wind-inspired design. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
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