Today’s News - Tuesday, May 22, 2012
• Russell rambles through Via Verde housing complex in the "once-blighted Bronx" and taken by planted Christmas trees, cherry trees, vegetables beds, and solar panels that prove "the power of thoughtful design" can "transform low-income housing."
• Hume x 2: he cheers the Canary District, which will house 2015 Pan Am Games' athletes, and end up as a mixed-use residential neighborhood - it's "a conscious attempt to halt the suburbanizing of Toronto."
• He is less cheered by NIMBY Torontonians "having a mid-rise crisis" in another part of town grousing about a project that is "one of the finest to come along in a while. It could serve as a model for the sort of development the city badly needs."
• In the battle for the future of urbanism, it's architects vs. economists: one "threatens to wholly dismiss architecture" and the other "places immeasurable faith in its faculties."
• King looks back at the battles that raged over building the Golden Gate Bridge: "how familiar they still sound...Look no further than the ongoing campaign against California's high-speed rail system."
• Heathcote x 2: Williams and Tsien's Hong Kong outpost for the Asia Society: "an understated architectural gem...In a cultural landscape still devoid of real quality and depth, it is seductively lovely."
• He gives (mostly) thumbs-up to O'Donnell + Tuomey's transformation of London's Photographers' Gallery into "a striking, sculptural structure."
• An eyeful of Gehry's set for "Don Giovanni" at Disney Hall (giant crumpled forms and large white cubes abound).
• Colorful eyefuls of Chihuly's Seattle Center Garden And Glass Museum that hopes to be "a huge shot in the arm" just in time for the 50th anniversary of Seattle's World's Fair (it hasn't been a smooth ride).
• A Sydney architect wins the competition "to transform a complex of London's inner city laneways into the city's newest park" as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2012.
• Gellner had us laughing out loud with his take on "the reason that popular nicknames for famous buildings stick so easily" (there are some doozies!).
• Abut has a plan to "tsunami-proof" Japan (if someone would only listen).
• Eggener continues his series to make good on his claim that Louis Curtiss's legacy deserves new attention.
• NAAB's year-long study of Accredited Architectural Education finds "sustainability issues as the most significant development that will affect the profession over the next several years."
• Call for entries: European Architectural Competition "Re-think-Athens" to create a new city center + George Matsumoto Prize Recognizing Excellence in North Carolina Modernist Residential Design (international).
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Blighted Bronx Revives With Roof Gardens, Solar Panels: My tour of the new Via Verde apartment complex began on a roof that sprouts just-planted Christmas trees...I walked through a grove of cherry trees and vegetables beds...This is affordable housing? ...shows the power of thoughtful design to transform low-income housing. By James S. Russell -- Dattner Architects; Grimshaw [images]- Bloomberg News |
Modern city taking flight through Canary: ...mixed-use residential neighbourhood now under construction in the West Don Lands...Canary District is being hyped as Toronto’s first 21st-century community; that means it will be sustainable, urban, connected, transit-oriented and diverse...the temporary home of the 10,000 athletes...in 2015 for the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. By Christopher Hume -- Bruce Kuwabara/Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB); Peter Clewes/ArchitectsAlliance; MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects; Daoust Lestage; Michael van Valkenburgh- Toronto Star |
Is Toronto having a mid-rise crisis? Beach opposition to a mid-rise condo shows Torontonians at their worst...In truth, the scheme these east-end NIMBYs hate so much is one of the finest to come along in a while. It could serve as a model for the sort of development the city badly needs. By Christopher Hume -- Roland Rom Colthoff/RAW Design- Toronto Star |
Architects Versus Economists: The Battle for the Future of Urbanism, From Honduras to Upstate New York: ...as entire metropolises are being built from scratch, the role of the architect remains curiously uncertain. Two theories have emerged...one that threatens to wholly dismiss architecture and another that places immeasurable faith in its faculties. -- Paul Romer; Meta Brunzema [images, links]- Artinfo |
Golden Gate Bridge construction - and indignation: ...on the eve of the 75th anniversary...a look back at the fight shows how little has changed in terms of the attacks that are aimed at major alterations to the landscape...how familiar they still sound...Look no further than the ongoing campaign against California's high-speed rail system. By John King [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Welcome break from glassiness: The Asia Society’s new Hong Kong outpost is an understated architectural gem that eschews anything too showy...a complex and delightful plan...In a cultural landscape still devoid of real quality and depth, it is seductively lovely. By Edwin Heathcote -- Tod Williams Billie Tsien- Financial Times (UK) |
Photographers’ Gallery, London: Despite an unglamorous locale, the rebuilt exhibition space has real urban presence...a striking, sculptural structure that looks much taller and more imposing than its actual six storeys. By Edwin Heathcote -- O’Donnell + Tuomey- Financial Times (UK) |
A look at Frank Gehry's set for 'Don Giovanni' at L.A. Philharmonic: ...features giant crumpled forms dominating the stage of Walt Disney Concert Hall. The set also features large white cubes and a staircase. [slide show]- Los Angeles Times |
Dale Chihuly's Seattle Center Garden And Glass Museum Sneak Peek: ...intended to be "a huge shot in the arm" for the Space Needle Corp. as it celebrates the 50 year anniversary of Seattle's World's Fair, wasn't without its critics. [slide show]- Huffington Post |
Sydney architect Andrew Burns wins London design competition: ...to transform a complex of London’s inner city laneways into Gibbon’s Rent, the city’s newest park in collaboration with British landscape designer, Sarah Eberle...will be opened in June as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2012. [images]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
One man’s Guggenheim, another man’s toilet: It’s natural for people to associate an unusual shape with something more familiar, and this is one reason that popular nicknames for famous buildings stick so easily...What these descriptions say about the architect’s mind probably is beyond our reach, but what they say about us is no less interesting. By Arrol Gellner -- Charles Jencks; Frank Lloyd Wright; Philip Johnson; Pietro Belluschi; Luigi Nervi; Jorn Utzon; Frank Gehry- San Antonio Express-News (Texas) |
Grateful architect has grand designs in store for disaster-prone Japan: Albert Abut says tsunami-proof rebuilding of Tohoku is 'not impossible or too expensive'...his plan is simple. "All towns and villages must be above 30 meters on the entire Pacific coast. There is no other solution."- Japan Times |
The Uses of Daylight: Louis Curtiss, the Boley Building, and the Invention of the Glass Curtain Wall: Earlier this year Keith Eggener assessed the career of the now forgotten early 20th-century Kansas City architect...Here — with an analysis of the Boley Building (1909), which featured one of the first glass curtain walls in America — he makes good on his claim that Curtiss's legacy deserves new attention. [images]- Places Journal |
NAAB Releases Study of Accredited Architectural Education: The centerpiece of the year-long study...was the collection of critical information on the educational needs and professional expectations of architecture students...No single issue garnered more attention than sustainability issues as the most significant development that will affect the profession over the next several years.- National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) |
Call for entries: European Architectural Competition “Re-think-Athens” - create a new city centre; cash prizes; 1st-stage deadline: September 7- Onassis Foundation |
Call for Entries: George Matsumoto Prize Recognizing Excellence in North Carolina Modernist Residential Design (international); cash prizes; deadline: July 1- Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) |
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-- soma: “One Ocean“ Thematic Pavilion EXPO 2012, Yeosu, South Korea
-- Mecanoo architecten: Kaap Skil Maritime and Beachcombers Museum, Texel, The Netherlands |
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