Today’s News - Thursday, May 30, 2013
• ArcSpace brings us eyefuls of Saucier + Perrotte, Calatrava, and Ito.
• Bernstein brings us eyefuls of the four proposals in the MAS Design Challenge to rethink Penn Station and Madison Square Garden (more than just eye candy, but a long way from becoming a reality).
• King is left baffled by Apple's plans for a new store on San Francisco's Union Square: "that a company renowned for design innovation has hired one of the world's most acclaimed architecture firms, only to unload a box that would look at home in Anymall, U.S.A."
• Lamster laments a lack of "communal cooperation until there are dead bodies on the ground - planning, to some, is a dirty word."
• Watson-Smyth on London's Brutalist architecture and why it needs to be seen in context: "The architects behind the movement believed they were creating a new utopia. 'It's a very optimistic style.'"
• Brussat bemoans: "not even modernist architecture critics bother to claim that modernism has produced any lovable cities...the primary purpose of architecture is to design a civic realm that soothes the savage breast. Modernism fails every time."
• Freeman ponders "digital deception," wondering "how much digital 'correction' is permissible before the image becomes fraudulent. The architectural profession may be Photoshopping itself into an artful corner."
• On the other hand, can "fantasy architecture" encourage critical thinking and be "a tool for inspiring change and optimism."
• Wainwright is left a bit bereft after sitting on several crit panels: "architectural education in Britain is in need of repair. It has never been more urgent to call out the emperor's new clothes."
• NBBJ's proposed biodomes for Amazon's Seattle HQ "have stirred a spectrum of reactions," from excitement to criticism (public not welcome except to shop).
• Webber puts a (great) spotlight on lighting designers who are applying their skills "to further the goals of urban design, creating safer, more stimulating, and better functioning cities" (shine on, say we!).
• On a visit to Melbourne, Pasquarelli explains SHoP Architects' "mission to reclaim role of 'master builder'" (failure is not always a bad thing).
• Urbach's Q&A with Meier re: "some of his iconic buildings, his influences, and the enduring power of white."
• Chaban reports on AIANY's "rare dive into politics" with its "first-ever mayoral platform."
• Eyefuls of the 2013 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards winners.
• An impressive shortlist for the Emirates Glass LEAF Awards 2013.
• Call for entries: Proposals for 2014 AIA National Convention: "Change: Culture | Community | Commitment."
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-- Saucier + Perrotte Architectes: UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences / CDRD, Vancouver, Canada
-- "All the Buildings* in New York (*That I’ve Drawn So Far)" by James Gulliver Hancock
-- Santiago Calatrava: Oriente Station, Lisbon, Portugal
-- Toyo Ito & Associates: Tama Art University Library, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan |
Moving Madison Square Garden: ...four firms presented plans for moving New York’s Madison Square Garden away from its current location above Pennsylvania Station...also included new schemes for the cramped and claustrophobic transportation hub. By Fred A. Bernstein -- Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); SHoP Architects; H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture; Michael Kimmelman [slide show]- Architectural Record |
Boxy Apple store could shrink popular plaza: What's baffling is that a company renowned for design innovation has hired one of the world's most acclaimed architecture firms, only to unload a box that would look at home in Anymall, U.S.A. Worse, it's a box that would displace one of downtown's friendliest works of public art, a bronze fountain by Ruth Asawa... By John King -- Foster +Partners [image]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Urban Planning: the false balm of helplessness: When disaster hits, our generosity of spirit becomes immediately evident...That communal spirit is often absent at times when we might reasonably think about how our communities should be designed to promote their resilience. Planning, to some, is a dirty word... By Mark Lamster- Dallas Morning News |
Brutalist architecture: a concept made concrete: The building style continues to divide opinion but it needs to be seen in context...The architects behind the movement believed they were creating a new utopia..."after the war, a lot of housing was needed in a hurry, but it was designed with the best of intentions. It’s a very optimistic style"...brutalism is a vital part of the London skyline. By Kate Watson-Smyth -- Jonathan Foyle/World Monuments Fund Britain; Le Corbusier; Alison and Peter Smithson; Ernö Goldfinger; Hopper and Space [slide show]- Financial Times (UK) |
How modern architecture got square: ...not even modernist architecture critics bother to claim that modernism has produced any lovable cities. And yet the primary purpose of architecture is to design a civic realm that soothes the savage breast. Modernism fails every time...Now more than ever, modernism's brand reflects a new inhumanity of spirit... By David Brussat -- Nikos Salingaros; Michael Mehaffy; Adolf Loos- Providence Journal (Rhode Island) |
Digital Deception: ...how much digital “correction” is permissible before the image becomes fraudulent...The architectural profession may be Photoshopping itself into an artful corner...exhibition at MoMA and the gorgeous new Ezra Stoller volume (and, more somberly, the recent deaths of Lebbeus Woods and Balthazar Korab) make me nostalgic for the time when drawing, architecture and photography were interrelated...yet...retained distinct integrity. By Belmont Freeman [images]- Places Journal |
Paper Primacy: fantasy architecture with purpose: What role can producing fantasy architecture have in encouraging critical thinking? A recent event, inspired by an informal collective from Russia known as the Paper Architects, looked to challenge a new generation of designers to work and act critically...a tool for inspiring change and optimism. -- Ross Anderson; Anna Gibb; Alan Dunlop; Austin Williams [images]- The Architectural Review/AR (UK) |
Towering folly: why architectural education in Britain is in need of repair: With astronomical fees and paltry job prospects, it's time our professional architecture courses came back to the real world...It has never been more urgent to call out the emperor's new clothes, to question those courses that are only there to further the theoretical position of their tutors. By Oliver Wainwright -- Will Hunter/Architectural Review; Sam Jacob/FAT Architecture- Guardian (UK) |
Proposed Biodomes for Amazon Bring Nature in for Brainstorming: ...new plans for an additional structure on the proposed three-block, three-tower complex in downtown Seattle: three five-story conjoined biodomes...have stirred a spectrum of reactions...excitement, as well as criticism. With the exception of lower-level retail space, the biodomes would be open to Amazon workers only. -- NBBJ [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
City Lights: Lighting designers are applying the skills of their profession to further the goals of urban design, creating safer, more stimulating, and better functioning cities. By Gwen Webber -- Tillett Lighting Design; Gwen Grossman Lighting Design; Leni Schwendinger Light Project; Fisher Marantz Stone; HLB Lighting Design; Schuler Shook Lighting Design; L’Observatoire International; Sophie Valla Architects; Leo Villareal [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
SHoP Architects on a mission to reclaim role of ‘master builder’: ...it is a matter of reclaiming a role that design professionals played long ago, but have abdicated...In Gregg Pasquarelli’s world...architects have to be on top of a range of disciplines to play a larger role in harnessing and directing national conversations about how urban spaces have to develop.- BRW (Australia) |
Q+A: Architect Richard Meier: Fifty years after opening his firm, the celebrated American architect discusses some of his iconic buildings, his influences, and the enduring power of white. By Henry Urbach- Architectural Digest |
Architects take rare dive into politics: The American Institute of Architect's New York chapter has jumped in with both feet by releasing its first-ever mayoral platform, which largely seeks to codify the gains of the pro-development Bloomberg administration. By Matt Chaban- Crain's New York Business |
2013 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards honor six separate projects -- American Library Association; Richärd+Bauer; The Freelon Group; NAAA + AWI + JRA; Cannon Design; Snøhetta/Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee; Rice+Lipka Architects [link to images, info]- American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
Emirates Glass LEAF Awards 2013 Shortlist Revealed -- Steven Holl Architects; Atkins Global; Shinichiro Iwata; Oppenheim Architecture + Design; studiomk27; WSP Architects; logon; peterlorenzateliers; Andrea Dragoni Architetto; 3XN; Henning Larsen Architects/Batteriid Architects; Wilkinson Eyre Architects; archi5; Tabanlioglu Architects; Make Architects; MZ Architects; Sanjay Puri Architects; etc.- LEAF Awards |
Call for entries/Call for Educational Proposals for 2014 AIA National Convention: "Change :: Culture | Community | Commitment"; Chicago, June 26-28, 2014; deadline: July 1- American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
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