Today’s News - Monday, January 13, 2014
• Such a sad way to start the week: we lose Findlay, Gobé, and Gins all too soon.
• Giovannini on MoMA/AFAM plans: "The dilemma for New York is a Sophie's choice: whether to resist the demolition of an acknowledged masterwork, or to accept a proposal that aspires to be a masterwork itself."
• Rosenbaum's "contrarian musings" on why AFAM should not be saved: "it hasn't well served the purpose for which it was intended...it's not enough to be an object of aesthetic appeal and scholarship. It has to work."
• Sorkin pens a missive to NYC's new Mayor de Blasio re: urban planning and social equity: it's time to move beyond "a mind-set that filters urban construction through the ideals of the real-estate industry. It's time to reintroduce communities into the planning process."
• Bentley reports on Pittsburgh's new mayor vowing to "focus on underserved neighborhoods": while the Steel City "has largely scrubbed its image as an ailing post-industrial town," the mayor proclaims: "Tonight, we end the era of renaissance" (that's an odd, not very hopeful way of putting things).
• Glancey bemoans that "the bustling metropolis bustles no more, as emptied docks become waterside developments... and industry elopes, draining the lifeblood of the city."
• High hopes for the "triumph of the entrepreneurial city" as an innovation hub: "The obsession with density has become an alternative to urban planning."
• Researches studying Angkor, Cambodia, "are hoping to show how modern cities can become constrained by their infrastructural legacies."
• St. Louis County's Complete Streets plan hits a pothole: an expected "unfriendly uproar."
• Wainwright cheers London's oldest housing association selecting a shortlist of 20 young firms "that could build the next generation of affordable homes" (some look really promising!).
• Ransford cheers an "innovative prototype" that could take Vancouver's laneway housing "to a whole other level."
• McGuigan gives a shout-out to "quiet design": despite critics' complaints that Piano and H&deM's latest museums are too kowtowing and tame, "here is first-rate architecture that doesn't shout for attention. What a radical idea."
• Peter Cook, on the other hand, is smitten by Hadid's "outrageously total, arrogantly complete" Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku: "the way this voluptuous building breathes is in a category of its own" (great pix!).
• O'Sullivan reports that things are only getting worse at Calatrava's City of Arts: one of Spain's "biggest architectural boondoggles" is "the proverbial gift that keeps on taking" (workers "will soon be taking pickaxes" to the tiles on the opera house).
• A report on AJ's annual Women in Architecture survey: sexism and inequality still abound (perhaps that glass ceiling is made of Lexan?).
• Lamster pays tribute to Obata's D/FW Airport on its 40th anniversary: "It was a bold idea, but it never quite worked out as planned. Yet for all its flaws, it is no failure."
• Eyefuls of the 2014 AIA Institute Honor Award winners (great presentation!).
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Obituary: Kathryn Findlay (1953-2014): the ‘truly brilliant’ architect who co-founded Ushida Findlay Architects...news came as the jury for the 2014 Jane Drew Prize, unaware that she had died, announced she had been given the award ‘for her outstanding contribution to the status of women in architecture’. [images]- The Architects' Journal |
Obituary: Marc Gobé, 68: Thoughtful designer and brand consultant: He and Joel Desgrippes founded the design consultancy, Desgrippes Gobe in 1971- VMSD / Visual Merchandising and Store Design |
Obituary: Madeline Arakawa Gins, Visionary Architect, 72: ...who publicly forswore mortality — and whose buildings, by her own account, were designed to pre-empt death for those living in them...underpinned by a philosophy called Reversible Destiny. [images]- New York Times |
Expanding the Museum of Modern Art Footprint, But at a Price: ...plans for MoMA call for the former American Folk Art Museum to be razed...The dilemma for New York is a Sophie’s choice: whether to resist the demolition of an acknowledged masterwork, or to accept a proposal that aspires to be a masterwork itself - at least in terms of scope. By Joseph Giovannini -- Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects; Jean Nouvel; Yoshio Taniguchi [images]- Architect Magazine |
Contrarian Musings: Why Folk Art Museum’s Building Should Not Be Saved: In truth, this was a building far more beloved of architecture critics than art aficionados...it hasn’t well served the purpose for which it was intended. For a building, unlike a work of art, it’s not enough to be an object of aesthetic appeal and scholarship. It has to work. By Lee Rosenbaum -- Tod Williams Billie Tsien- ArtsJournal |
Bridge Over Troubled Waters: It's time for New York and other cities to connect urban planning to social equity: ...a mind-set that filters urban construction through the ideals of the real-estate industry has ruled...It's time to reintroduce communities into the planning process. By Michael Sorkin- Architectural Record |
Pittsburgh’s New Mayor to “Focus On Underserved Neighborhoods”: The Steel City has largely scrubbed its image as an ailing post-industrial town...Some urbanists have pinned their hopes...on Mayor Bill Peduto...“Tonight, we end the era of renaissance...It’s about building within, rebuilding the neighborhoods.” By Chris Bentley- The Architect's Newspaper |
The Animated City and its Decline: The bustling metropolis bustles no more, as emptied docks become waterside developments, markets move to the peripheries and industry elopes, draining the lifeblood of the city. By Jonathan Glancey- Architectural Review (UK) |
Triumph of the Entrepreneurial City: As long as talented people born in different places are coming together, even the Orkney Islands can be an innovation hub...The obsession with density has become an alternative to urban planning. By Jim Russell- Pacific Standard |
Can Too Much Infrastructure Doom a City? By studying places like Angkor, Cambodia-based researchers are hoping to show how modern cities can become constrained by their infrastructural legacies, thus limiting their ability to adapt to environmental and population pressures. By Daniel Otis [images]- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
Complete Streets bike-friendly plan hits bumpy road in St. Louis County: What seemed like a simple idea to make roads more bike and pedestrian friendly has turned into an unfriendly uproar about its potential cost and dangers. As a result, the program, once on a fast track to passage...has stalled.- St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
The future of social housing? Peabody unveils designs by 20 young architects: From clever terraces to rooftop allotments, London's oldest housing association reveals shortlist of 20 firms that could build the next generation of affordable homes. By Oliver Wainwright -- 5th Studio; Adam Khan Architects; Allsop Gollings; Amin Taha; Birds Porchmouth Russum; Coffey Architects; David Kohn; Daykin Marshall Studio; Denizen Works; Gort Scott; Hall McKnight; Jan Kattein; Lyndon Goode Architects; Paul Archer Design; Pitman Tozer; Sam Causer & Geraldine Dening; Stephen Taylor Architects; Studio Octopi; Studio 54; Urban Salon [slide show]- Guardian (UK) |
Taking laneway housing to a whole other level: Innovative prototype: Vancouver architect's 'Glass Brick House' offers an opportunity to break from design norms...The laneway house can be a housing form of its own that contributes to the architectural fabric of the neighbourhood. By Bob Ransford -- Gair Williamson Architects; Smallworks- Vancouver Sun |
Shouting the Praises of Quiet Design: ...quiet architecture disappoints some critics, a few of whom have chided Renzo Piano for bowing so deeply to Louis Kahn's masterpiece...In Miami, one observer commented...that Herzog & de Meuron's building was so uncharacteristically tame that it looked like a museum designed by . . . Renzo Piano...Here is first-rate architecture that doesn't shout for attention. What a radical idea. By Cathleen McGuigan- Architectural Record |
Heydar Aliyev Centre, Baku: Confounding context, scale and materiality...it is anything but reassuring, anything but cosy...a white vision, outrageously total, arrogantly complete...you have to throw out those English morals and weedy thoughts about world problems: here is architecture as ultimate statement of theatre...the way this voluptuous building breathes is in a category of its own. By Peter Cook -- Zaha Hadid Architects; Patrik Schumacher [images]- Architectural Review (UK) |
One of Spain's Biggest Architectural Boondoggles Just Keeps Getting Worse: ...Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences has proved to be the proverbial gift that keeps on taking...latest troubles underline the lesson every city that wants to lure visitors with a massive project has been learning recently: Just because you build it, it doesn’t mean they'll come. By Feargus O'Sullivan -- Santiago Calatrava [images, links]- The Atlantic Cities |
Sexism means women still can’t break the glass ceiling in architecture: Leading architects have called for more to be done to help women reach the top of profession...annual Women in Architecture survey, conducted by Architects’ Journal, found evidence of widespread discrimination and unequal pay...“People only know of Zaha and they associate her as being a one-off. We’re trying to encourage more women to picture themselves in senior positions.”- Independent (UK) |
D/FW Airport, a ‘no-nonsense’ monument, hits middle age: One urban theorist [John Kasarda] has argued that D/FW created the first “aerotropollis"...It was a bold idea, but it never quite worked out as planned..."The much more humanized system is gone"...Yet for all its flaws, D/FW is no failure. By Mark Lamster -- Gyo Obata/Helmuth Obata & Kassebaum/HOK [slide show]- Dallas Morning News |
2014 AIA Institute Honor Awards Recognize Excellence in Architecture, Interiors, and Urban Design -- WEISS/MANFREDI; KPMB Architects; Anmahian Winton Architects; Gensler; ZGF Architects; HGA; Belzberg Architects; Olson Kundig Architects; KieranTimberlake; Sottile & Sottile/Lord Aeck Sargent/Dawson Architects; Cannon Design; Aidlin Darling Design; Lehman Smith McLeish; Architecture Research Office/ARO; Belzberg Architects; Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects/HLW International; The Miller Hull Partnership; Gabellini Sheppard Associates; Paul Murdoch Architects; Kappe Architects Planners; Marlon Blackwell Architect; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill/SOM; WXY architecture + urban design; Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co.; Lake|Flato Architects [images]- American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
ANN Feature: Lost in Space: Calori & Vanden-Eynden on the Positive Payoffs of Integrated EGD: Ever been lost in a building, feeling your stress level rise by the minute? If so, the lack of effective environmental graphic design is very likely the culprit. By Claire Wilson [images]- ArchNewsNow |
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