Today’s News - Wednesday, January 9, 2013
• Wainwright confirms the rumors: Koolhaas will curate 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale: instead of common ground, it "promises to be a radical investigation into uncharted ground."
• Russell gives (mostly) thumbs-up to Ennead's Yale Gallery expansion (he "hardly minded getting lost").
• Stephens finds Mayne's Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas "surprisingly restrained" - it is "one of Morphosis's most remarkable works to date" (great slide show).
• Volner ventures to the Strelka Institute: yes, it has a "glam bar," but its "serious underlying mission to help reshape Moscow's urban landscape has already yielded bona fide results."
• Roche hopes to rally memorial commissioners from Ike's home state "to help chart a new course" in moving forward with Eisenhower Memorial plans: "Returning to the proven, democratic design process that is customary for our national memorials would make a good start."
• Hodes has some choice words re: demolishing Goldberg's Prentice hospital: "How deeply sad and ironic that this dynamic space...lies empty. And how much sadder if Northwestern destroys the building, which evokes his modernistic optimism for the possibility of a new and better world."
• Fischer explains how, in the coming era of resource scarcity, jugaad urbanism (doing more with less) "has the potential - maybe our best shot yet - to articulate and frame a global philosophy for sustainable innovation."
• 10 envelope-pushing projects to keep an eye on in 2013 (some familiar names; some surprises).
• 11 environmental pundits predict what's in store for green design in 2013 (some great links, too).
• One we couldn't resist: "12 horrible plans for New York that (thankfully) never happened."
• Huxtable oh Huxtable: we reviewed dozens of obituaries and tributes, and selected the most eloquent and heartfelt by some favorite critics of our own (last item is a bit of a shock for this New Yorker!):
• Goldberger: "She never sought utopia...but she never gave up believing...that good design could make the world better."
• Kimmelman: she "had that rare journalistic opportunity...to fill a yawning gap in the public discourse, to carve a path with moral dimensions."
• Lange: "She didn't need to shout, but she had the power to shame."
• Davidson: "she articulated the belief that if you're going to erect a building, you have a moral responsibility to make it good."
• Calys: politicians and planners "should recall anew their charge to serve the public and the public good; future Huxtables will be there to confront them."
• Hawthorne: she "addressed not just the aesthetics but the politics of architecture," and was "better known than many of the architects she was covering and certainly more feared."
• Chaban: she played "a bigger role than any scribe before or after - and bigger than most politicians, planners and town elders, too - in the shaping of New York. She taught us how to read the city the same way she did."
• Chan: she "influenced the development of American cities" with "fiery though accessible insights... blunt commentary and unreserved biases."
• WSJ: "combined the forensic skill of a Clarence Darrow with the righteous passion of an Old Testament prophet" (with links to some of her very best WSJ columns).
• A surprise (and shock?) to many New Yorkers (and others): the Huxtable archives go to the Getty (along with her NYC apartment and Marblehead, MA, home).
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Rem Koolhaas to curate 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale: ...will no doubt be a heterogeneous cocktail, reflecting the voracious and promiscuous appetite of OMA...next year's show...promises to be a radical investigation into uncharted ground. By Oliver Wainwright- Guardian (UK) |
Yale Gallery’s $135 Million Expansion Reveals Riches: ...unite three buildings, each with its own demanding architectural personality...[architects] pushed and pulled the largely gutted interiors to get the existing structures to play nicely together - a task at which they didn’t wholly succeed. That’s not tragic. By James S. Russell -- Louis I. Kahn (1953); Duncan Hazard/Richard Olcott/Ennead Architects [images]- Bloomberg News |
Sheared and Shirred/Surfaces and Solids: Thom Mayne and his firm, Morphosis, turn a corner for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas: ...seems surprisingly restrained for a building by the Los Angeles firm...With its Cartesian cube and its free-flowing, lavalike plinth, [it] is one of Morphosis's most remarkable works to date. By Suzanne Stephens [slide show]- Architectural Record |
Double Agent: The Strelka Institute has been celebrated for its glam bar and cosmopolitan allure. But this architecture school has a serious underlying mission: to help reshape Moscow’s urban landscape...has already yielded bona fide results...inherent contradictions might make it an unlikely force for progress. They might also make it just the thing for the job. By Ian Volner -- Dmitry Likin/Wowhaus; Rem Koolhaas/OMA; Justin McGuirk [slide show]- Architect Magazine |
Rethink the Eisenhower memorial: One day...the only U.S. president from Kansas, will be honored in Washington, D.C...the controversial design...is on indefinite hold...commissioners from Eisenhower’s home state have the opportunity to help chart a new course. Returning to the proven, democratic design process that is customary for our national memorials would make a good start. By Sam Roche -- Frank Gehry- Kansas City Star |
Bertrand Goldberg Versus the Wrecking Ball: Prentice Women’s Hospital is one of Chicago’s greatest buildings. Time is running out...How deeply sad and ironic that this dynamic space for sheltering new lives — created by an iconoclastic architect fueled by humanistic ideals — lies empty. And how much sadder if Northwestern destroys the building, which...evokes his modernistic optimism for the possibility of a new and better world. By Laura Hodes- The Forward (NY) |
What Falls to Hand: Jugaad, the Indian practice of "doing more with less," has swept the business world. Adelheid Fischer explores its potential for design at all scales, from the gadget to the city, and argues that in the coming era of resource scarcity, "jugaad has the potential — maybe our best shot yet — to articulate and frame a global philosophy for sustainable innovation." [images, links]- Places Journal |
10 Projects We’re Following in 2013: ...envelope-pushers that are on our radar. -- Stefano Boeri; a-lab; Dark Arkitekter; Solheim + Jacobsen Arkitekter; Snøhetta; Todd Saunders; Zaha Hadid; Allied Works Architecture; HOK; Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Fumihiko Maki; Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture; Moriyama & Teshima Architects; Bjarke Ingels Group/BIG; We Architect Anonymous [images]- Azure magazine (Canada) |
Green Design Predictions for 2013: ...some of the world's leading environmental experts and design luminaries to offer us their predictions...11 pundits envision for the coming year. -- Bill McKibben/350.org; David Assael/David Basulto/ArchDaily.com; Peter Weijmarshausen/Shapeways; Robert Ferry/Elizabeth Monoian/Land Art Generator Initiative/Studied Impact Design; Todd J. Sanford;Union of Concerned Scientists; Lloyd Alter/Treehugger; Jacob Slevin/ Jean Lin/Designer Pages; Katie Fehrenbacher/Earth2Tech.com; Eric Corey Freed/organicARCHITECT; J Mays/Ford Motors [links]- Inhabitat |
12 Horrible Plans for New York That (Thankfully) Never Happened: Whether it was responding to the threat of nuclear destruction or traffic congestion, visionary urban planners and architects gave us some terrifically bad solutions that we now get to gasp and ogle over. -- Buckminster Fuller; Ron Herron; Raymond Loewy; Superstudio; Oscar Newman; I.M. Pei [images]- Flavorwire |
Like Edith Wharton in Chanel, but Tough: Remembering Ada Louise Huxtable (1921–2013): She made architecture a part of the cultural discourse...and understood that architecture’s great aesthetic power was inextricably enmeshed with political and social realities...She never sought utopia...but she never gave up believing that there was integrity, nobleness even, to the pursuit of architecture, and that good design could make the world better. By Paul Goldberger- Vanity Fair |
A Critic of the Curb and Corner: The writings of the architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable show that she cared about public standards, social equity and the whole city...she also had that rare journalistic opportunity to pioneer something of her own, to fill a yawning gap in the public discourse, to carve a path with moral dimensions... By Michael Kimmelman- New York Times |
Kicked A Building Lately? Well, have you? That question...embodies Ada Louise Huxtable’s approach to criticism. It is active, it is irreverent, it is personal, it is physical...She didn’t need to shout, but she had the power to shame. By Alexandra Lange- Design Observer |
Justin Davidson on Ada Louise Huxtable: ...she articulated the belief that if you’re going to erect a building, you have a moral responsibility to make it good. The New York she left behind...was shaped in part by that conviction.- New York Magazine |
Ada Louise Huxtable: Her gift...was communicating easily on a topic that is largely foreign to most readers. Her ability to simplify and illuminate previously arcane concepts was her genius...Elected officials and commissioners and planners should recall anew their charge to serve the public and the public good; future Huxtables will be there to confront them...I can think of no more fitting memorial to one who provided such inspiration. By George Calys- San Francisco Examiner |
Ada Louise Huxtable's fiery criticism helped shape New York City in the 1960s and '70s. The Pulitzer Prize winner addressed not just the aesthetics but the politics of architecture: ...better known than many of the architects she was covering and certainly more feared... By Christopher Hawthorne- Los Angeles Times |
Architecture Immemorial: Ada Louise Huxtable: ...played perhaps a bigger role than any scribe before or after—and bigger than most politicians, planners and town elders, too—in the shaping of New York over the past half-century. She taught us how to read the city the same way she did. By Matt Chaban- New York Observer |
Remembering Ada Louise Huxtable, 1921-2013: ...a legendary career that reinvented architectural criticism and influenced the development of American cities...dishing out fiery though accessible insights...With her blunt commentary and unreserved biases, she gave architecture a new, broader audience, opening the eyes of many to the effects of architectural and infrastructural changes. By Kelly Chan- Artinfo |
Her Critical Judgments Were Built to Last: As a critic, Ada Louise Huxtable combined the forensic skill of a Clarence Darrow with the righteous passion of an Old Testament prophet. Her prose was clarion-clear and uncompromising, yet leavened by wit and verve.- Wall Street Journal |
Huxtable gives her estate as well as archives to the Getty Research Institute: Along with her papers, the Getty will receive those of...L. Garth Huxtable...also donated her entire estate...including her New York City apartment and a house in Marblehead, Mass.- Los Angeles Times |
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-- Morphosis: Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas
-- Zaha Hadid Architects: Galaxy SOHO, Beijing, China |
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