Today’s News - Monday, September 16, 2013
• ArcSpace serves up a London travel guide "with a wink at some of the city's classics" + The "uncrowned queen of contemporary iconic architecture" whose buildings "practically scream, 'I'm a Hadid'" + Eyefuls of Eisenman's Cidade da Cultura de Galicia.
• In honor of "critic, writer, teacher, public voice of New York" Berman, lost much too soon, a reprise of Pedersen's 2006 Q&A re: Times Square: "It's the sublime that you can reach on the subway."
• Hawthorne visits Zumthor on his home Alpine turf: "The trip hasn't changed my mind about the potential of his LACMA scheme - easily the most exciting piece of architecture proposed for a major site in Los Angeles," though its "very strength" could be "its Achilles heel."
• Newel's plea to architecture critics and journalists: "Stop worshipping Zumthor!" (or at least use a thesaurus).
• Klaus Jacob makes the case for not rebuilding the post-Sandy coastline: "We should be retreating from the shore, not developing structures that will only flood again."
• Upton reports on New Orleans' "radical new plan for managing floods: Let it happen. (At least in some spots.)"
• Kennicott offers some serious caveats about the risk of ending Washington, DC's height limits: "the question isn't just about urban design...For now, it is best not to tamper with a law that has for a century saved us from ourselves."
• Giovannini waxes ever so poetically about the "felt space" of Saarinen's TWA Terminal.
• Weible has high hopes for efforts bring back the "adorable" WPA-era concrete animal statues that once graced Chicago's public housing playgrounds (adorable, indeed!).
• Kamin cheers Pelli's DePaul University theater building that offers "a compelling performance of its own"; it is "a boldly sculpted landmark - striking, commodious, and neighborhood-friendly."
• Rosenbaum riffs on Piano's pavilion for the Kimbell Art Museum: how will it "measure up to the celebrated Kahn building and its highly admired quality of light?" (videos included).
• An eyeful of KPMB's remodel of the Minnesota Orchestra's home where "black is the new orange" ("but little music will be played there" for the time being).
• Heathcote hails two homes that "put Oklahoma on architecture map" that represent the "most under-appreciated moments in modernism" (FLW not included).
• Hawthorne and Hall Kaplan present post-mortems on the Getty's Pacific Standard Time Presents: it was "ambitious but flawed - what the shows suggest most of all is that architecture remains something of a curatorial stepchild" + "Anything that tries to raise the public's design and planning consciousness should be applauded," but it "could have used less hyped 'overdrive' and more erudite oversight."
• The sad tale of Berlin's rotting amusement park where "attempts to reopen it have been thwarted by administrative chaos and incompetence" (slide show is so sad).
• Menking reports from the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, "the fist architecture exhibition that does not need, nor even want outside visitors."
• A good reason to be in Chicago this week: for Level 2013, architects, designers, and artists will transform six spaces along the Chicago River into destination places.
• Call for entries (registration deadline looms!): Inaugural 2013 Landscape Architecture Awards for Healthcare Environments.
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-- Travel guide: London: ...some of the most significant projects in contemporary London architecture, with a wink at some of the city's classics and an exquisite selection of hotel and restaurant tips.
-- Zaha Hadid Architects: ...the uncrowned queen of contemporary iconic architecture. Her buildings practically scream, "I'm a Hadid."
-- Eisenman Architects: Cidade da Cultura de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain |
Remembering Marshall Berman: The critic, writer, teacher, public voice of New York, dead at 72: ...he was brilliant, as he was at numerous tough discussions...we decided to revive the interview, in full, that Martin C. Pedersen did with him for our May 2006 issue on the corporate remaking of Times Square...“It’s the sublime that you can reach on the subway.”- Metropolis Magazine |
Alpine Retreat: Peter Zumthor is bringing his sizable talents...to L.A...Hawthorne visits the architect on his home turf: The trip hasn’t changed my mind about the potential of his LACMA scheme...easily the most exciting piece of architecture proposed for a major site in Los Angeles...hasn’t reached the level of sublime inevitability that marks the best of his completed work...the very strength of the scheme might be its Achilles heel. By Christopher Hawthorne -- William Pereira (1965); Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer (1986)- Architect Magazine |
Op-Ed: Dear Architecture Journalists: Stop Worshipping Peter Zumthor! I have had enough of your fanaticism...a sampling of recent quotes from notable critics...typically begin with the word “pilgrimage"...and finally the term “seminal”...The repetition seems almost orchestrated or choreographed...You could have at least used a thesaurus. By Conrad Newel [images]- Architizer |
The Case Against Rebuilding the Coastline After Superstorm Sandy: We should be retreating from the shore, not developing structures that will only flood again...If we needed Sandy to advance us into a better future, we should celebrate its first anniversary with optimism, and then get to work. By Klaus Jacob- The Atlantic Cities |
New Orleans has a radical new plan for managing floods: The Big Easy has a multibillion-dollar new philosophy for dealing with flooding: Let it happen. (At least in some spots.) ...floodwaters would be corralled into areas that serve as parks during drier times...would help turn the region’s heavy rainfall from a hazard into an asset. By John Upton- Grist Magazine |
D.C.’s height limits: The risk of ending them: This could lead to radical changes in the urban fabric driven by politicians and developers seeking profits, tax revenue and personal gain. So the question isn’t just about urban design, it’s about politics and collective maturity: Have we grown up enough to grow up? For now, it is best not to tamper with a law that has for a century saved us from ourselves. By Philip Kennicott- Washington Post |
All Lift, No Weight: Sometimes a detail in a building says it all. And in the information kiosk at the entry, you can find the complete DNA of the mothballed TWA Terminal..."felt space," forms that engage the mind and body empathically...form as a catalyst of experience. By Joseph Giovannini -- Eero Saarinen (1962); Beyer Blinder Belle- Wall Street Journal |
Rescuing the Adorable Icons of Chicago's Public Housing Projects: These concrete animal statues were removed in the early 2000s, but a new project is hoping to bring them back...Designed by Edgar Miller and erected in the 1930s as part of a Works Progress Administration project...served as a play place for local children... By David Robert Weible/Preservation magazine [images]- The Atlantic Cities |
DePaul University's new theater building breaks from routine: ...a compelling performance of its own...turned what might have been a massive, city-deadening box into a boldly sculpted landmark...a striking, commodious, neighborhood-friendly building...That's what can happen when universities break free from aesthetic lockstep. By Blair Kamin -- Pelli Clarke Pelli; Cannon Design [slide show]- Chicago Tribune |
Another Elaborate Roof: Video Previews of Renzo Piano’s Pavilion for Kimbell Art Museum: How will new addition measure up to museum's original, celebrated Louis Kahn building and its highly admired quality of light? ... “walks a very fine line between being deferential to the Louis Kahn building and being a strong building in and of itself.” By Lee Rosenbaum- ArtsJournal |
A first look at Minnesota Orchestra's $50 million remodeling project: ...work is complete, but little music will be played there: In the newly remodeled Orchestra Hall, black is the new orange. -- KPMB Architects [slide show]- Minneapolis Star Tribune |
How two unusual prairie homes put Oklahoma on architecture map: It might be difficult to imagine Oklahoma as the centre of an architectural avant-garde...the centre of some of the strangest, most unfashionable and, I think, most under-appreciated moments in modernism...Bavinger House and Prairie House... By Edwin Heathcote -- Bruce Goff (1950); Herb Greene (1961) [images]- Financial Times (UK) |
Pacific Standard Time Presents was an ambitious but flawed look at post-war Los Angeles: The Getty-led series was intriguing in parts, but it lacked a clear central vision: Taken together, what the shows suggest most of all is that architecture remains something of a curatorial stepchild... By Christopher Hawthorne- Los Angeles Times |
Sam Hall Kaplan Reviews "Pacific Standard Time": ...the Getty’s overly ambitious attempt...perversely reflects the arbitrary practices and personalities of the history and hype of the Los Angeles architectural scene...The result is a muddle of successes and embarrassments.
frankly anything that tries to raise the public’s design and planning consciousness should be applauded. Albeit for the august Getty, I do so with one hand.
the Getty initiative could have used less hyped “overdrive” and more erudite oversight.- The Planning Report |
Roller Coaster Ride: The Story of Berlin's Rotting Amusement Park: With its rusting rides and a Ferris wheel turning idly in the wind, a defunct East German amusement park fascinates locals and tourists...attempts to reopen "Spreepark" have been thwarted by administrative chaos and incompetence. [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
A look at The Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Close, Closer: ...the fist architecture exhibition that does not need, nor even want outside visitors...will have a tremendous online presence...British curator Beatrice Galilee...downplayed expensive formal installations in favor of workshop, networking, and research projects...all over Lisbon...meant for the residents of the Portuguese capital—not architecture tourists from the around the world. By William Menking.- The Architect's Newspaper |
Level 2013: architects, designers and artists will transform six unique spaces along the Chicago River into destination places for visitors and locals alike...held during EXPO CHICAGO contemporary art fair as a complementary design and new media experience, September 18-22- LERATA (Laboratory for Experimentation and Research in Art, Technology and Architecture) |
Call for entries: Inaugural 2013 Landscape Architecture Awards for Healthcare Environments: will recognize exceptional designs in three specific project categories: acute care, senior living, and behavioral health; registration deadline: September 20 (submission deadline: October 18)- Center for Health Design / Society for the Advancement of Gerontological Environments (SAGE) |
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