Today’s News - Thursday, October 11, 2012
• Long makes his pick for the Stirling Prize, and offers a very interesting riff on RIBA's Royal Gold Medal.
• Rochon sees the Mirvish/Gehry plan for Toronto's theater district as "an architectural challenge" that "will require Toronto's planners and politicians to match the team's faith in urban ambition."
• Brussat explains why he likes to "pick on Gehry" (a bit - no, very harsh).
• Wainwright is not totally won over by Piano's new Oslo art gallery: it is "a strangely soulless place" hoping "to play the role of glamorous civic savior," but is more "a well-tailored envelope covering a vapid haul of corporate cultural capital."
• Kennicott makes the case that a Georgetown heating plant, a "mothballed gem of federal architecture," could be D.C.'s own Tate Modern - it's a "once-in-a-generation opportunity shouldn't be squandered."
• Piiparinan and Trubek outline the "perils of Rust Belt memes" favored by the national press: "coverage of ruin and revival gloss over deeper truths about these cities," and "can be as problematic as the 'ruin porn' ones."
• Nelson explains the plight - and pluck - of some Detroit neighborhoods: "Ah, collaboration - hardly a novel idea around these parts" (nary a meme in sight).
• Gallagher cheers "new life for an old Detroit landmark" that fits into "wider plans to remake the Detroit riverfront."
• Speaking of national press and the Rust Belt, Arch Record highlights three cities in its New Life for the American City series, but penned by locals who know: Litt, O'Toole, and Lackmeyer.
• Moore considers the impending Kingdom Tower in Jeddah set to be the world's tallest skyscraper: "Should we celebrate egoism?" Height does not necessarily equal quality.
• Williams and Tsien's Logan Center at U. of C. "adds another landmark to the university's architecturally rich campus": the "mixing bowl for the arts" opens tomorrow with a three-day arts festival.
• Flint makes the case that FLW and Corbu "have earned a place in history."
• King cheers FLW's Marin Civic Center at 50: "the building is an old-fashioned joy to experience on foot" (even though "some aspects have not weathered well").
• Woodman is heartened that Kahn's Four Freedoms Park "accurately reflects its architect's design" (not the case with some other projects "designed by celebrated architects but realized posthumously").
• King says "CityTarget store makes Metreon a better box: An improvement, but also a reminder that you can only do so much with a box that shouldn't be there in the first place," but it "might become an integral part of downtown San Francisco after all."
• Winners all: WAF 2012 Awards + 28 projects honored in 2012 Auckland Architecture Awards: "just as fine wine comes from scrappy soil, so good architecture emerges from challenging circumstances."
• Call for entries: Architizer A+ Awards to be juried by "architects, thought leaders and the people who actually hire architects."
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It's a winner, so give our Olympic stadium the Stirling Prize: ...up against some worthy rivals...but it’s what it brought to the Games and so now means to us that makes it a winner...Either the jury makes a pointlessly obvious choice or rewards some nuance of architectural quality that only a certain cultural cadre will understand. By Kieran Long -- Populous; David Chipperfield Architects; Stanton Williams; O’Donnell & Tuomey; Rem Koolhaas/OMA; Peter Zumthor- Evening Standard (UK) |
Mirvish and Gehry trying to ‘raise the game’ with plan for theatre district: ...an architectural challenge for inspired intensification...will require Toronto’s planners and politicians to match the team’s faith in urban ambition...On the political side, the visionaries will encounter Toronto’s jaundiced view of the power of great architecture...antiquated public transit system...makes dreams of complex intensification a burden on an already sluggish system. By Lisa Rochon -- Frank Gehry- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
Why I like to pick on Frank Gehry: ...he has become a celebrated bore...his ugly work epitomizes the flaws of modern architecture. He is arrogant, hypocritical and uncreative, arguably the most arrogant, hypocritical and uncreative modern architect living today. By David Brussat- Providence Journal (Rhode Island) |
Renzo Piano's new Oslo art gallery is a strangely soulless place: ...his pristine, finely crafted Astrup Fearnley Museum conceals a corporate world of lobby art...here to play the role of glamorous civic saviour...But there's something not quite right. The whole complex is strangely corporate...a well-tailored envelope covering a vapid haul of corporate cultural capital. By Oliver Wainwright [images]- Guardian (UK) |
West Heating Plant would make ideal arts center for Georgetown: ...a mothballed gem of federal architecture...is suddenly up for sale...is remarkably similar in important ways to the Bankside Power Station in London, which became the Tate Modern...General Services Administration (GSA) is on track to sell the building through an Internet auction...a once-in-a-generation opportunity shouldn’t be squandered. By Philip Kennicott- Washington Post |
The Perils of Rust Belt Memes: National coverage of ruin and revival gloss over deeper truths about these cities...These pieces...can be as problematic as the "ruin porn" ones...the ruin and revival memes flatten out complexity...When we package the idea of a Rust Belt death and rebirth with superficial themes, people on the ground are left to clean up the mess. By Richey Piiparinan and Anne Trubek- The Atlantic Cities |
Pop-up culture and the new wave of walkable retail: Detroit's Village people...have long wished for their own retail district. Good things are starting to develop this fall, there and in other key neighborhoods...Ah, collaboration - hardly a novel idea around these parts. By Claire Nelson- Model D (Detroit) |
A new life for an old Detroit landmark set to begin soon: ...$12.8-million remake of the historic but derelict Globe Building...will be turned into a Department of Natural Resources adventure and education center...fits into the city and state's wider plans to remake the Detroit riverfront a year-round environment to live, work and play. By John Gallagher -- Hobbs & Black Architects- Detroit Free Press |
-- Cleveland, Ohio: The Metropolis of the Western Reserve Reclaims its Urbanity: ...several decades of patient stewardship...is paying off in selected parts of the city...adding a fresh layer of architecture and landscape to the handsome civic armature. By Steven Litt
-- Pittsburgh:The former steel city embraces green design and its rivers. By Christine H. O'Toole
-- Oklahoma City: Fueled by public initiatives and energy dollars, a plains city calls on design to improve quality of life. By Steve Lackmeyer- Architectural Record |
World’s Tallest Skyscraper Confirmed – but Should We Celebrate Egoism? Any building that fits into the category of the ‘world’s tallest’ will always be well-known for its height alone...being the biggest is often equated by some with being the best. Architects in the know realise that height does not equal quality... By Tim Moore -- Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture [images]- DesignBuild Source (Australia) |
Logan Center for the Arts bolsters arts and architecture at University of Chicago: ...adds another landmark to the university’s architecturally rich campus...a “mixing bowl for the arts” will spark new, sometimes unexpected, cross-genre collaborations...opens officially Oct. 12-14, with a three-day arts festival. -- Todd Williams Billie Tsien Architects [slide show]- Chicago Sun-Times |
How Should We Celebrate Our Architects? We may not think of architects as cultural heroes. But those who have made breakthroughs in how we live deserve recognition...No one is suggesting that all architects can be enduring cultural heroes or the focus of national pride...But Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier have earned a place in history... By Anthony Flint [images, links]- The Atlantic Cities |
At 50, Marin Civic Center comes of age: It is the last major work of Frank Lloyd Wright...It's also his most accessible...the building is an old-fashioned joy to experience on foot...Some aspects have not weathered well...what has endured for a half-century is that rarest of buildings: a popular favorite that also holds lessons for architectural scholars. By John King [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Kahn’s vision of freedom lives on: Nearly 40 years after his death, the newly completed Four Freedoms Park accurately reflects its architect’s design...joins a select band of projects designed by celebrated architects but realised posthumously...For once, one can say with conviction that the original architect would wholeheartedly approve. By Ellis Woodman -- Louis I. Kahn; Miralles Tagliabue; Gaudí; Charles Rennie Mackintosh; Le Corbusier- BD/Building Design (UK) |
S.F. CityTarget store makes Metreon a better box: An improvement, but also a reminder that you can only do so much with a box that shouldn't be there in the first place...Feels like anywhere...[but] who knows - Metreon might become an integral part of downtown San Francisco after all. By John King -- Westfield [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
World Architecture Festival winners 2012 -- Wilkinson Eyre Architects/Grant Associates/Atelier One/Atelier Ten; Atelier Dreiseitl;AECOM; Arcau; Li Xiadong Atelier; Billard Leece Partnership/Bates Smart; Stanton Williams; Wingårdh Arkitektkontor; Vo Trong Nghia Architects; Kerry Hill Architects; Menis Arquitectos; Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp; Nikken Sekkei; Vo Trong Nghia Architects; P.A.C; Klein Dytham Architects; Isay Weinfeld; Tabanlioglu Architects; John Wardle Architects; etc. [images, info]- World Architecture Festival (WAF) |
Top designs emerge in hard times: An office building of glass shards and a cave-like home are among 28 winners at 2012 Auckland Architecture Awards..."just as fine wine comes from scrappy soil, so good architecture emerges from challenging circumstances." -- Patterson Architects; Glamuzina Paterson Architects; Stevens Lawson Architects; Cheshire Architects; Williams Ross Architects; Jasmax; Architectus; Hill Manning Mitchell Architects; etc. [slide show]- New Zealand Herald |
Call for entries: Architizer A+ Awards: ...break architecture out of the echo chamber to celebrate the world's best structures, spaces and the minds behind them....a jury of 200 architects, thought leaders and the people who actually hire architects; deadline: November 9- Architizer |
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-- Benthem Crouwel Architekten: New Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
-- Richard Meier & Partners: OCT Clubhouse, Shenzhen, China |
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