Today’s News - Wednesday, September 11, 2013
• We've learned (belatedly) that we've lost colleague and friend Karen Cooper much too soon.
• 9/11 is a good day to spend 2 minutes watching a stunning time-lapse video of 9 years of construction at Ground Zero.
• Kamin considers "new twists in the arcane game of measuring skyscraper height" that raises the possibility that 1WTC "won't be No. 1" (CTBUH is considering the tower's "vanity height").
• Merrick bemoans that the "original breed" of skyscrapers "has become an endangered species": they "used to be architectural hard-nuts who didn't need a nickname, or wear funny hats" (reference to anatomical parts included).
• Fans of two endangered Saarinen projects can take heart: Balazs is tapped to develop the TWA terminal into a luxury hotel and conference center called the Standard, Flight Center (a flight museum included).
• Gorlin is tapped to re-envision Saarinen's Bell Labs, the vacant research complex in New Jersey once marked for demolition.
• An eyeful of what's in store for Chicago's landmarked-but-long-abandoned Old Main Post Office (towers included, of course).
• Kristal is quite taken by Marseille's reinvention of itself: the European Capital of Culture designation proved pivotal.
• Lexington, KY's grand plans for the pivotal CentrePointe project takes another (post-Gang) hit as EOP Architects pulls out (lots of P.R.-speak, but reason not exactly clear).
• Webb cheers Meier's San Diego Federal Courthouse: it "triumphs as a graceful departure from the lumpish mediocrity of its neighbors, as a guardian of green space at the heart of the city, and by transforming public perceptions of the law in action."
• Wainwright x 2: he encounters some skaters who are none too pleased with the "contrived" design for a new South Bank skateboarding space: "Creating this fake, sanitized version of an urban environment is just another way of getting rid of us."
• He parses Tange's Syrian presidential palace: the architect "resigned before construction began...but it retains the hallmarks of his stripped, structuralist approach."
• Finch explains why he thinks "RIBA's chief executive should consider a vow of public silence."
• ASLA launches "Health Benefits of Nature," an extensive, vetted guide to hundreds of free research studies, news articles, and case studies that prove "nature is good for us."
• 2013 Architect 50, the 5th annual "qualitative look at how firms stack up across a broad range of categories, from business to sustainability to design."
• Call for entries: Living Cities Design Competition: Residential Towers for the 21st Century + ENYA 2014 Biennial Design Ideas Competition: QueensWay Connection: Elevating the Public Realm (one of our faves!).
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Obituary: Karen Cooper, 54: A look back at the remarkable career of the president of AD100 architecture firm Cooper, Robertson & Partners- Architectural Digest |
Official One World Trade Center Time-Lapse 2004-2013: hand-edited time-lapse of 9 years of construction, including 35 critical angles, taken from our camera systems in New York and New Jersey...- EarthCam |
Ground zero tower not yet nation's tallest: One World Trade Center's 1,776-foot measure could get trimmed on technicalities: ...new twists in the arcane game of measuring skyscraper height have raised the unlikely...possibility that 1WTC won't be No. 1 and that Willis Tower would retain the coveted titles... By Blair Kamin -- Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat/CTBUH; Daniel Libeskind; David Childs/Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)- Chicago Tribune |
Skyscrapers are the architectural equivalent of penis extensions: The original breed of classic towers has become an endangered species: Skyscrapers used to be architectural hard-nuts who didn’t need a nickname, or wear funny hats...And no cock-and-bull height extensions. By Jay Merrick- Independent (UK) |
Hotelier Andre Balazs tapped to develop JFK’s historic TWA terminal: The Eero Saarinen-designed terminal will be transformed into a hotel and conference center, along with...retail space, a spa and fitness center, meeting facilities and a flight museum...will be called the Standard, Flight Center.- New York Post |
Future Takes Shape for Bell Labs Site [in Holmdel, N.J.]: The vacant research complex, once marked for demolition, and the surrounding land is to be redeveloped into offices, retail space and luxury housing...Despite reservations...supporters of the building are, for the most part, relieved to see an architectural icon survive. -- Eero Saarinen (1962); Alexander Gorlin Architects- New York Times |
Neither Snow Nor Rain: Chicago approves plan to revive landmark post office: Since 1996, the 2.7 million-square-foot, federally landmarked Old Main Post Office has remained vacant...a hulking rebuke to development activity nearby...to transform...into a mixed-use complex that will include...two new high rises... By Chris Bentley -- Antunovich Associates; Wolff Landscape Architecture [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Mediterranean Connection: Marseille, France's oldest city - and one of its poorest - uses its year in the spotlight to reinvent itself: The European Capital of Culture designation proved pivotal, as it rescued a number of architecturally significant projects that had been back-burnered... By Marc Kristal -- Zaha Hadid; Le Corbusier; Ora-Ito; Stefano Boeri; Rudy Ricciotti; Fernand Pouillon; Guy Daher; Kengo Kuma [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
CentrePointe architects pull out of project: The move by the Lexington architecture company comes less than three weeks after architect Rick Ekhoff told Lexington's courthouse design review board that CentrePointe "brings aesthetic benefit to the city" and would be cost-effective and attractive. -- EOP Architects [image]- Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky) |
Crit> Day Court: Richard Meier's new federal courthouse gives downtown San Diego a new civic icon: ...triumphs...as a graceful departure from the lumpish mediocrity of its neighbors, as a guardian of green space at the heart of the city, and by transforming public perceptions of the law in action. By Michael Webb -- Michael Palladino/Richard Meier & Partners; Robert Irwin [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Architects sketch a new space for South Bank skaters: Area below Hungerford bridge earmarked for new skateboarding space, but users of undercroft oppose any 'contrived' design..."Creating this fake, sanitised version of an urban environment is just another way of getting rid of us." By Oliver Wainwright -- SNE Architects; Rich Architecture; 42 Architects [images]- Guardian (UK) |
Assad's palace: an empty, echoing monument to dictator decor: Designed by Kenzo Tange, what does the Syrian presidential palace say about the Assad regime? ...Tange resigned before construction began...but it retains the hallmarks of his stripped, structuralist approach...billion-dollar home that, reportedly, has never been loved or lived in by any of the Assad clan. By Oliver Wainwright [images]- Guardian (UK) |
RIBA's chief executive should consider a vow of public silence: The relationship between RIBA executive and elected should never be one of tail wagging dog: We wish Stephen Hodder well...and note the very effective way that Angela Brady played the institute’s cards... By Paul Finch- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
ASLA Launches New Guide: "Health Benefits of Nature": A growing body of research proves what we all know to be true—nature is good for us...includes hundreds of free research studies by leading scientists, news articles, and case studies of parks and other designed green spaces. Resources have been vetted by a team of expert advisers, are organized into 23 health issues... By Jared Green- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
The Winners of the 2013 Architect 50: Now in its fifth year...a qualitative look at how firms stack up across a broad range of categories, from business to sustainability to design.- Architect Magazine |
Call for entries: Living Cities Design Competition: Residential Towers for the 21st Century (international); proposals must use a steel structural system, be 30 to 40 stories, and be sited within the five boroughs of New York; prize: $10,000; no entry fee; deadline: January 3, 2014- Metropolis Magazine / Steel Institute of New York / Ornamental Metal Institute of New York |
Call for entries: ENYA 2014 Biennial Design Ideas Competition: QueensWay Connection: Elevating the Public Realm (international): envision this vertical connection as a community hub which extends the street activity up to the future park; cash prizes; deadline: January 6, 2014- Emerging New York Architects (AIANY ENYA) |
Monterey Design Conference: 1 Mile of Beach. 3 Days. 20 Speakers. 50 Hours. 100s of Conversations. 1,000s of Ideas: The Julia Morgan-designed Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, CA, will be abuzz at the biennial event September 27-29, 2013. By Julie D. Taylor, Hon. AIA/LA- ArchNewsNow |
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-- The Art of the Possible: The pressure was on Saint Petersburg's recently completed Mariinsky II...managed to work around the leftovers from another architect's half-finished project and still make a building with distinct qualities is in itself an admirable feat. By Jakob Harry Hybel -- Eric Owen Moss; Dominique Perrault; Diamond Schmitt Architects
-- UNStudio: ...led by research and material innovation to remarkable results... |
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