Today’s News - Monday, February 10, 2014
• Goldberger makes the case for the Four Season's "Picasso Alley" remaining: it "is, after all, a de facto part of the architecture."
• A judge grants a temporary stay-of-execution and bars the removal of the stage curtain citing a clear "danger of irreparable injury"; final decision: March 11 (NY Daily News quotes the judge: "I don't want to be the judge who has a Picasso destroyed").
• Hawthorne is heartened by the DS+R/Walter Hood design for the Broad Museum's landscaped plaza, but cautions: "because the details of how the plaza will operate - and who will own it - make up a multilayered and in the end rather opaque story."
• Barkham bemoans the loss of great swaths of the U.K.'s coastline to recent storms, and warns "simply patching up our defenses won't work. Our coast is changing, and we must change with it" - it boils down to adaptation, not "defense or nothing."
• Ideo's Steffen minces no words about the "criminal lack" of affordable housing being "a global scandal" and "taking a terrible urban toll - affordability is social justice" - and good design should play an important part.
• Head to Denver this week for the 2014 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference to learn how "equitable development can integrate environmental justice approaches into smart growth and community development programs."
• Brûlé is more than bothered by "the gruesome operation of deconstructing buildings" which, individually, may "not be terribly impressive but, strung together," they "form the backbone of our favorite neighborhoods" - now being replaced by "monotonous walls of sheet glass, and lobbies filled with dreadful art...leaving too many streets feeling barren and lacking any sense of soul."
• Davies delves into the idea of an Australian National Architecture Gallery: moves to protect "so-called brutalist 60s and 70s buildings suggests it's time"; 3-D computer renderings aren't the same as the real thing, but it would be "a way of addressing cases where the social cost of protection exceeds the social benefits" (we expect some harrumphing about this!).
• King cheers the Apple Store redesign for San Francisco's Union Square: "it might turn out to be branding of the most exquisite sort - three-dimensional proof that sometimes, public scrutiny and bureaucratic second-guessing make big-name architecture better, not worse."
• Saffron cheers KPF's towering plans for Philly's South Broad: "the beanpole of a tower is the most sophisticated design the developer has ever commissioned - it's more than a simplistic, straight-up pile of floors."
• Cooke gets tuckered out in the newly expanded Olympic Museum in Lausanne: "the exhaustive collections can be... well, exhausting"; it is "interactive to a quite wearying degree - it's surely a destination mostly for the Olympics obsessive."
• Chaban toasts and roasts the "great and the not-so-great" in NYC architecture in 2013 ("Prospect Park's new skating center didn't stick the landing").
• Wainwright is wowed by some on the Design Museum's Designs of the Year 2014 shortlist - and not just architecture + Eyefuls of the nominees.
• A profile of the "architectural watchdog for the construction of U.S. embassies in Africa and Southeast Asia": "The mission is incredible."
• One we couldn't resist: the "Walking City" video animates "the architecture of a city taking on a life of its own in a spellbinding way" (spellbinding, indeed!).
• Call for entries: Space for Life international competition for Montréal's largest museum and tourist complex + 120 HOURS 2014 international student competition to redefine sustainability in architecture - in 5 days (registration deadline looms!) + Make Rental Happen International Student Design Challenge.
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Why Picasso’s “Le Tricorne” Must Remain Hung at the Four Seasons: ...seeing the curtain isn’t just for restaurant-goers; it is part of the experience of anyone entering the building. It is so identified with the space that the corridor has always been known as “Picasso Alley"...[it] is, after all, a de facto part of the architecture... By Paul Goldberger -- Philip Johnson (1959); Belmont Freeman- Vanity Fair |
Judge Bars Picasso Painting’s Removal From Four Seasons: ...granted the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s request for an order temporarily preventing the owners of the Seagram Building from moving the painted stage curtain...saying there is “clearly a danger of irreparable injury” to the work.- Bloomberg News |
Broad Museum reveals plans for landscaped plaza, restaurant: Bunker Hill is short on public space that is well-designed and friendly to pedestrians...If the last few years have taught us anything about the role that public squares play in the contemporary city, it is that they are both more valuable to civic life and more fraught with legal and political complexity than ever. By Christopher Hawthorne -- Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Walter Hood [images]- Los Angeles Times |
Should coastal Britain surrender to the tides? Ferocious recent storms have destroyed natural landmarks and placed communities at risk. But simply patching up our defences won't work. Our coast is changing, and we must change with it..."at last we've got whole communities beginning to engage with this idea of adaptation rather than...defence or nothing"... By Patrick Barkham- Guardian (UK) |
Unaffordable cities: this criminal lack of housing is a global scandal: ...taking a terrible urban toll – affordability is social justice. Our only choice is to build, build, build...In order to build that kind of housing we need efforts that are new not only in scale, but in approach...new housing can check the rise in housing costs; but with good design, it can also help grow new people-centered streets, increase use of bikes and transit, and promote healthier and more active lives. By Alex Steffen/Ideo- Guardian (UK) |
Dynamic Redevelopment for Everyone: While reinvestment can create desirable places...it can also displace existing residents who can no longer afford to live there. The question is how to grow in ways that benefit both new and existing residents. The answer lies in equitable development...communities can integrate environmental justice approaches into smart growth and community development programs. 2014 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, February 13-15 in Denver. By Brett VanAkkeren- Environmental Justice in Action (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/EPA) |
Rethink the rebuilds: ...scaffolding hides the gruesome operation of deconstructing buildings...In isolation, they’re not terribly impressive but, strung together, they’re the cornerstone of many communities...have become prized targets for developers and are fast moving on to architecture’s endangered list...leaving too many streets feeling barren and lacking any sense of soul. By Tyler Brûlé/Monocle- Financial Times (UK) |
Is it time for a National Architecture Gallery? Moves by heritage organisations to increase protection for so-called brutalist 60s and 70s buildings suggests it’s time...A computer-generated representation isn’t, of course, the same as the real thing...It would however be a way of addressing cases where the social cost of protection exceeds the social benefits... By Alan Davies- Crikey (Australia) |
Apple Store redesign for Union Square is more polished: ...has more to do with product branding than place-specific design. But it might turn out to be branding of the most exquisite sort. And if so, it also will be three-dimensional proof that sometimes, public scrutiny and bureaucratic second-guessing make big-name architecture better, not worse...preserves the Ruth Asawa fountain. By John King -- Foster + Partners [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
With sophisticated tower, Dranoff continues to transform South Broad: ...it will be the tallest high-rise built just for residential use in the city...the beanpole of a tower is the most sophisticated design he has ever commissioned...it's more than a simplistic, straight-up pile of floors. By Inga Saffron -- Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates/KPF [images]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland: Interactive exhibits take pride of place in the newly extended and refurbished museum celebrating the Games. But the exhaustive collections can be... well, exhausting...interactive to a quite wearying degree...it's surely a destination mostly for the Olympics obsessive... By Rachel Cooke -- Pedro Ramírez Vázquez (1993); Mather & Co [images]- Guardian (UK) |
New York City architecture in 2013: The great and the not-so-great: A toast to 4 World Trade Center, Sunset Park's new recycling center and Walker Tower, plus a hard look at Prospect Park's new skating center...that didn't stick the landing. By Matt Chaban -- Fumihiko Maki; Annabelle Selldorf/Selldorf Architects; Ralph Thomas Walker; Tod Williams Billie Tsien [images]- NY Daily News |
Design Museum's Designs of the Year shortlist announced: Nominations include a syringe that changes colour when opened and a children's wheelchair that grows with the child...include the usual global stars...alongside smaller startups and student initiatives. By Oliver Wainwright -- Zaha Hadid and John Pawson, David Chipperfield; Lacaton & Vassal; 6a Architects- Guardian (UK) |
Designs of the Year 2014: nominations in pictures -- Lacaton & Vassal;; Jakob + MacFarlane; Hella Jongerius/Rem Koolhaas/Irma Boom/Gabriel Lester/Louise Schouwenberg; 6a Architects; NLÉ; Alison Brooks Architects; Tezuka Architects; Johan Celsing; etc. [slide show]- Telegraph (UK) |
Andrew Scott: Managing the design and building of U.S. embassies: ...an architectural watchdog for the construction of U.S. embassies in Africa and Southeast Asia, some in modern cities like Jakarta and others in locations where everything from labor to materials are in scarce supply. “The mission is incredible"...- Washington Post |
Insane Sci-Fi Architecture Personified: This amazing video humanizes the avant-garde architecture of Archigram: In “Walking City: Architecture + Evolution + Movement"...the architecture of a city takes on a life of its own in a spellbinding way. By Shaunacy Ferro -- Universal Everything- Fast Company |
Call for entries: Space for Life international architecture competition for Montréal's largest museum and tourist complex: the Insectarium Metamorphosis; the Biodôme Renewal; and a Glass Pavilion at the Botanical Garden; no fee; registration deadline: March 20 (Stage 1 proposals due March 26)- Ville de Montréal |
Call for entries: 120 HOURS 2014: Can You Prove That You Will Be The Next Great Architect In Just Five Days? "Redefining sustainability in architecture" international student competition...winning project will be built in Oslo this summer; no fee; cash prizes; registration deadline: February 17 (submissions due February 22)- 120 HOURS/ Oslo School of Architecture and Design / ArchDaily |
Call for entries: Make Rental Happen Student Design Challenge 2014 (international); cash prizes; deadline: April 18- Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada |
ANN Feature: Nuts + Bolts #8: Best Friends Don't Make the Best Partners: For the successful partnership, it's all a matter of balance. By Michael M. Samuelian, AIA, AICP- ArchNewsNow |
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