Today’s News - Monday, July 8, 2013
• ArcSpace brings us senior housing in Portugal, and Zumthor's Kolumba Museum in Cologne.
• It seems it's no longer a battle between two starchitects for a new Miami Beach Convention Center district - they're both losing to bureaucrats who now propose "a radical downsizing - a textbook example of how not to create a great urban space" (with OMA and BIG on "a deadline to decide if they want to continue").
• Wainwright says Southbank Centre's "clever revamp" could "breathe new life into a dysfunctional national treasure," but "risks being overwhelmed" by "strap-on cash cows."
• Booth, meanwhile, reports that Southbank Centre has pushed back its planning application after skateboarders' campaign to stop their space from being turned into retail units (and a vociferous National Theatre director saying the "scheme threatened to do 'irreparable harm'" to its setting).
• King finds the three shortlisted proposals for the Presidio's Crissy Field "are underwhelming" - the site deserves better (George Lucas may win out "by sheer force of will").
• Kimmelman heads west to check on a billionaire's plans to transform Las Vegas's downtown a la San Fran's Mission district or B'klyn's Williamsburg section: "Hard as it may be not to feel skeptical, the small-scale civic principles are solid. And sometimes a single determined mogul is just what a struggling city needs."
• Toronto's booming condo market seems to be "a roaring success," though some fear "a U.S.-style crash."
• Moore comes up with 10 projects that could solve Britain's housing crisis with "intelligence and invention" instead of just "gobbed-on boxes" (if link to great slide show doesn't work - a commenter offers an alternative route).
• Birnbaum digs into the dilemmas and debate "about whether public parks and open space should be given away or sold to for-profit enterprises."
• Litt x 2: he has high hopes that plans for the Red Line greenway "could become Cleveland's version of the New York High Line" - and "could play a fantastic role in fueling the next wave of urban resettlement in the core city."
• He thinks it's high time for Cleveland to host a new bike summit: there are "terrific proposals to repurpose and re-use traffic lanes and other pieces of baggy, loose-fitting infrastructure...The problem - and it's a good one to have - is that a plethora of great proposals requires making choices."
• An eyewitness report from the "extraordinary, ephemeral" Gezi Park before it was bulldozed: "people built an urban form that showed the potential there is for power through community" (great images, too) + Turkish court blocks plans to turn Gezi Park into a shopping haven.
• Three winners offer inspired visions for an iconic site in the Redesigning Detroit competition.
• Zeiger finds the "pastiche of optical effects" used for Columbia University's Campbell Sports Center "is straight out of the Holl playbook" - and thoroughly "seductive."
• Heathcote headed to the St. Louis Art Museum to see if Chipperfield's addition matches up to "Gilbert's demand for beauty as a civic virtue": "I'm glad to report that it absolutely does."
• Now that the Statue of Liberty has re-opened following months of post-Sandy repairs, Peter Lehrer reminds us - in great detail (and with fab photos!) - of the "complex feat of historic preservation" in getting the great lady ready for her centennial in 1986.
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-- Aires Mateus e Associados: Houses for elderly people in Alcácer do Sal, Alcácer do Sal, Portugal
-- Atelier Peter Zumthor: Kolumba Museum, Cologne, Germany |
Good Urban Design Losing in Miami Beach Convention Center: Both architects--as well as good design--are losing to the bureaucrats...the city might ditch the entire process...proposed a radical downsizing...removing the opportunity for creativity and vision...a textbook example of how not to create a great urban space...developers and design teams were given a deadline to decide if they want to continue. -- Rem Koolhaas/OMA; Bjarke Ingel Group/BIG [images]- World Property Channel |
Southbank Centre's clever revamp plans continue to divide critics: Designs by Feilden Clegg Bradley breathe new life into dysfunctional national treasure – strap-on cash cows included... the experience risks being overwhelmed by yet more of the clone-town strip mall that fronts the Royal Festival Hall next door. By Oliver Wainwright- Guardian (UK) |
Skateboarders' campaign forces Southbank Centre planning delay: Centre pushes back planning application after campaign to stop skateboarders' ...area being turned into retail units...hoping to reach a negotiated settlement...perhaps conceding some spaces...director of the nearby National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner, had told planners the scheme threatened to do "irreparable harm" to the setting of the theatre. By Robert Booth- Guardian (UK) |
Crissy Field site deserves a stunning project: ...Presidio Trust wants to establish an international-caliber cultural institution...The three still in the hunt will submit full proposals in September. And so far, the choices are underwhelming...George Lucas seems determined to best all rivals by sheer force of will. By John King -- Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy; Chora/WRNS Studio [link to images, info]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Latest Vision for Las Vegas: A Downtown Vibe: Tony Hsieh, the billionaire who runs Zappos, is leading an effort to transform downtown Las Vegas...The idea this time is to build a version of the Mission district in San Francisco or the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn...Hard as it may be not to feel skeptical, the small-scale civic principles are solid. And sometimes a single determined mogul is just what a struggling city needs. By Michael Kimmelman- New York Times |
Toronto’s soaring condo market ignites fears of a U.S.-style crash: Toronto’s effort to create a livable city through densely populated neighborhoods is a roaring success...Canada will come in for a soft landing, not a crash. But Toronto’s condo industry still feels uncertain.- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
Ten ways to beat the housing crisis: The British dream of property ownership has become a nightmare, with many struggling to find any home at all: Here are 10 alternatives to the relentless pursuit of the owner-occupied gobbed-on box...They show intelligence and invention. By Rowan Moore -- Pierre d’Avoine Architects; Alejandro Aravena/Elemental; Urban-Think Tank; Frédéric Druot; Lacaton & Vassal; Ikea/BoKlok; de Rijke Marsh Morgan; dRRM [slide show]- Observer (UK) |
Designed for Democracy: When Public Goes Private a Park Loses Its Heart: ...there is considerable debate about whether public parks and open space should be given away or sold to for-profit enterprises...We've learned to understand and value architecture and its practitioners and factor those elements into planning decisions, so shouldn't comparable standards apply for landscape architecture? By Charles A. Birnbaum/The Cultural Landscape Foundation -- Frederick Law Olmsted; Gilmore D. Clarke/Michael Rapuano/Clarke & Rapuano; George Kessler; Sidney J. Hare/S. Herbert Hare; Olin; SWA Group [images, links]- Huffington Post |
The Rotary Club's proposed Red Line greenway could become Cleveland's version of the New York High Line: If connectivity is the big game of 21st century urban planning in Cleveland, the Red Line rail trail could play a fantastic role in fueling the next wave of urban resettlement in the core city. By Steven Litt -- Jason Rohal/Vocon; LAND Studio; Michael Baker Corp.; Dimit Architects- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
Cleveland needs a new bike summit to rank and fund a flood of ideas to remake city streets: ...urban bike revolution is poised to shift into higher gear...terrific proposals to repurpose and re-use traffic lanes and other pieces of baggy, loose-fitting infrastructure...The problem – and it’s a good one to have – is that a plethora of great proposals requires making choices. By Steven Litt- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
The City of Resistance: Istanbul’s Gezi Park and its brief life as a fully-functioning commune: ...next to Taksim Square people built...an urban form that showed the potential there is for power through community...Bedir witnessed this extraordinary, ephemeral “City of Resistance” before it was bulldozed. By Merve Bedir/Land and Civilization Compositions [images]- Uncube magazine (Germany) |
Turkish court blocks disputed park project: Authorities were expected to appeal against the decision to cancel a project to redevelop Istanbul's central Taksim Square...would have involved cutting down trees and erasing nearby Gezi Park...court made its ruling in early June, at the height of the unrest...It was not clear why it was not released until now.- Reuters |
Redesigning Detroit: A New Vision for an Iconic Site competition: The three winning design ideas came from Rome, Italy; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Southfield, Michigan. -- Davide Marchetti/Erin Pellegrino; Efrain Velez/Juan Nunez/Marko Kanceljak; Team Rossetti/Metrogramma [images]- Opportunity Detroit |
Sports & the City: Steven Holl’s linebacker of a Campbell Sports Center: Rich with sports metaphors...the architecture pays homage to urban infrastructure with a pastiche of optical effects. The culmination of these effects is seductive...The tactic of dissolving the façade...is straight out of the Holl playbook... By Mimi Zeiger [images]- Uncube magazine (Germany) |
St Louis Art Museum extension: an age of enlightenment: The museum’s new building is a gem of clarity and deceptive simplicity: ...does Chipperfield’s new building match up to Gilbert’s demand for beauty as a civic virtue? I’m glad to report from St Louis that it absolutely does. By Edwin Heathcote -- Cass Gilbert (1904); David Chipperfield- Financial Times (UK) |
Restoring Lady Liberty: In honor of the re-opening of the Statue of Liberty after eight months of repairs following Superstorm Sandy, Peter Lehrer, who managed the ambitious reconstruction of the iconic monument between 1984 and 1986, describes in detail this complex feat of historic preservation. -- Ammann and Whitney; Swanke Hayden Connell; Thierry Despont; Lehrer McGovern- Urban Omnibus |
Leon Krier Answers Norman Weinstein's Questions (and then some!): Dear Mr. Weinstein: Thank you for mentioning my Speer reprint. I will respond gladly to your questions if you respond to my "pointed" questions.- ArchNewsNow |
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