Today’s News - Wednesday, October 8, 2014
• Dittmar doesn't dither about what British home builders are getting wrong: demographics show people aren't "demanding a return to the 70s and 80s Noddy boxes with 'traditional' details."
• Hume x 2: Toronto's new Canary District and the West Don Lands are "a demonstration project, a tour de force, a brilliant reminder of what can be done when land is publicly owned and intelligently planned."
• He gives two rousing thumbs-up's to Snøhetta's Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in Kingston, Ontario, that speaks "an architectural language not often heard in these parts - a masterful mix of desire and demand, want and need, formal and informal."
• Kennicott is very impressed by the new American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial on the National Mall: it may be smaller than most, but its impact is larger than its size: its "open embrace of the busy spot on which it sits deflects attention from a world of concrete, cars, business suits and the dull grind of bureaucracy" that surrounds it.
• Vienne was skeptical of Paris's Place de la République getting a makeover - but she ends up being totally won over: "Have the architects betrayed the rebellious spirit of the place?" Pas du tout!
• Paletta cheers the High Line's third leg: "It's a grand coda and a satisfying finish to one of the most ambitious park designs in recent memory."
• Kabak minces no words about so many things gone wrong with Calatrava's $4 billion "behemoth at Ground Zero": it's "shaping up to be an example of design divorced from purpose. It wasn't supposed to be like this."
• Meanwhile, hopes are high for SOM's "massive" MiamiCentral train station that "represents an ambitious and unusual all-at-once marriage of heavy infrastructure with urban revitalization that would turn a drab stretch of downtown into a bustling fulcrum of transportation and human activity."
• Ditto re: high hopes for EMBT/Bordas+Peiro's winning design for a Paris metro station in Paris that "will provide a new public square for the renewed neighborhood of Clichy-sous-bois that will serve as a symbol of change following the violent riots of 2005."
• Wilkinson Eyre has towering plans for a TOD in Toronto.
• Eyefuls of six Australian train stations that give Emporis's list of 11 spectacular railway stations from around the world a run for its money.
• On a slightly smaller scale, eyefuls of Gehry and Foster's apartment designs for their Battersea Power Station blocks.
• Hawthorne catches up with Piano in Paris and gets a rather amusing/curious defense of the maestro's design for L.A.'s film museum: "I don't think it will be that bad. Actually, I'm struggling to do something good."
• An interesting conversation with the woman (an Australian) now heading the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation: Perren "aims to create a second Bauhaus movement and shake up 21st-century design."
• After four years in the U.S., a woman architect heads home to Hong Kong "to escape a sexist work culture" - she says HK "has better gender attitudes."
• Mars offers a marvelous profile of Hundertwasser, who considered straight lines "godless" (fab photos, too!).
• The Victorian Society names the Top 10 Most Endangered Victorian and Edwardian Buildings in England and Wales.
• Call for entries: applications for AIA Center for Communities by Design 2015 Sustainable Design Assessment Teams + International Making Cities Livable Design Awards Competition.
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Narrow views lead us down a cul-de-sac: The sort of housing people want has changed enormously and house builders need to take note...Underlying the idea that people are demanding a return to the 70s and 80s Noddy boxes with “traditional” details is an assumption about the demographics of the housing market...Meanwhile, architects and planners have rediscovered and reinvented the terrace, the mansion block and the street-based apartment building in successful schemes... By Hank Dittmar- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Canary District planning lets derelict area soar: ...will lead Toronto into a smart and sustainable mixed-use future, the city’s first real 21st century neighbourhood...This is planning done with the big picture in mind...the sum is greater than its parts. Indeed, the West Don Lands is a demonstration project, a tour de force, a brilliant reminder of what can be done when land is publicly owned and intelligently planned. By Christopher Hume- Toronto Star |
The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts adds drama to Kingston shoreline: Multi-purpose facility brings eastern Ontario city into modern age, speaking an architectural language not often heard in these parts...a masterful mix of desire and demand, want and need, formal and informal...one of those places that must be experienced not just stared at. By Christopher Hume -- Craig Dykers/Snohetta; N45- Toronto Star |
American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial has impact larger than its size: It’s hard to imagine a more complicated or uncongenial place to design a memorial...More impressive than the smart use of views, however, is the memorial’s open embrace of the busy spot on which it sits...open, fluid spaces...deflecting attention from a world of concrete, cars, business suits and the dull grind of bureaucracy. By Philip Kennicott -- Michael Vergason Landscape Architects [images]- Washington Post |
Place for Protest: Paris’s historic center for dissent, Place de la Republique, gets an expansion and an update: ...a new model for participative democracy: an all-inclusive rather than obstructive approach...Quietly, the architects have achieved a paradigm shift...in which the control is in the hands of residents, users, and taxpayers - a kaleidoscopic entity...a regulation-free zone. There are no barriers, no fences, no railings, no keep-out signs... By Veronique Vienne -- Pierre Alain Trevelo/Antoine Viger-Kohler/TVK agency [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
The High Line's Last Section Plays Up Its Rugged Past: It’s a grand coda and a satisfying finish to one of the most ambitious park designs in recent memory...this northern portion mercifully offers a chance to dart around any especially glacial perambulators. By Anthony Paletta -- James Corner Field Operations; Diller Scofidio + Renfro [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
Why Can't Transportation Mega-Projects Be Both Beautiful and Practical? In New York City's $4 billion PATH Hub, form overtakes function: ...behemoth at Ground Zero...was supposed to be a subway station...One platform is already completed, and its design flaws are obvious...Passenger flow and comfort...seem to be an afterthought...shaping up to be an example of design divorced from purpose...It wasn't supposed to be like this. By Benjamin Kabak -- Santiago Calatrava- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Massive MiamiCentral train station would be a new urban hub downtown: All Aboard Florida...is moving full steam ahead with plans...represents an ambitious and unusual all-at-once marriage of heavy infrastructure with urban revitalization that would turn a drab stretch of downtown into a bustling fulcrum of transportation and human activity... By Andres Viglucci -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Zyscovich Architects [images]- Miami Herald |
Miralles Tagliabue EMBT and Bordas+Peiro Win Competition to Design Clichy – Montfermeil Metro Station in Paris: ...proposal will provide a new public square for the renewed neighborhood of Clichy-sous-bois that will serve as a symbol of change following the violent riots of 2005. [images]- ArchDaily |
Wilkinson Eyre Designs Large-Scale, Transit-Oriented Development for Toronto: ...two-tower development will rise on both sides of the railway tracks and connect via an elevated public park. -- Adamson Associates [images]- ArchDaily |
Six Australian train stations that are also architectural landmarks: Taking cues from Emporis' list of 11 spectacular railway stations from around the world, we compiled our own list of Australian stations that would heat up the competition. -- Grimshaw Architects; Daryl Jackson; JCY Architects and Urban Designers; HASSELL; Cox Architecture; RBA Architects + Conservation Consultants; Herzog & de Meuron [images]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
Gehry and Foster's Battersea flats revealed: Foster’s block, Battersea Roof Gardens...Buyers will be able to choose from two 1930s-inspired finishes...“cloud” and “steam”...Gehry’s five buildings, called Prospect Place...can choose from two decor themes: “London” and “LA”... -- Frank Gehry; Foster + Partners; LDA Design [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Renzo Piano defends academy museum plans: I asked the architect about the progress of the film museum he is designing for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences..."I don't think it will be that bad," he said with typical self-deprecation. "Actually, I'm struggling to do something good." By Christopher Hawthorne- Los Angeles Times |
The Woman Launching a Second Bauhaus Design Revolution: Claudia Perren, the new director and CEO of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, wants to bring the artistic collective back to the forefront of design and architecture...aims to create a second Bauhaus movement and shake up 21st-century design.- Newsweek |
Architect celebrates opportunities for women in Hong Kong: After a four-year stint in the United States, Phiyona Au Yeung Ming-sze went back to the drawing board with her career options. That meant a return to Hong Kong to escape a sexist work culture...says Hong Kong has better gender attitudes and provides more work opportunities for architects. -- Dennis Lau & Ng Chun Man Architects & Engineers- South China Morning Post |
The Straight Line Is A Godless Line: Straight lines form the core of our built environment...Straight lines might be logical, predictable, and efficient, but they are also completely “godless” - at least according to Austrian Friedensreich Hundertwasser...As a proponent of radical human expression, he sought to create structures that were free from straight lines, which he saw as constricting and devoid of organic elements. By Roman Mars [images]- 99% Invisible |
Victorian Society annouces Top Ten Most Endangered Buildings 2014: ...includes unusual buildings such as a Grade II*-listed hammerhead crane in Cowes...the impressive Coal Exchange in Cardiff and a Grade II*-listed church in Hastings facing potential demolition. [images]- Victorian Society (UK) |
Call for entries: AIA Center for Communities by Design 2015 Sustainable Design Assessment Teams applications; SDAT teams of volunteer professionals work with community decision-makers and stakeholders to help them develop a vision and framework for a sustainable future; deadline: November 21- American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
Call for entries: International Making Cities Livable Design Awards Competition: Designing for Green, Healthy Cities; deadline: December 20- International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) |
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-- Anttinen Oiva Architects: Helsinki University Main Library: ...the largest academic library in Finland wedged in between dense city blocks...a truly urban campus...
-- 7 Visionary Zoo Designs -- Berthold Lubetkin (1934); Foster + Partners; LAM-architects; HUT Wood Studio/Ville Hara/SAFA; Schlaich Bergermann & Partner; Hassel; BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group; JDS Architects |
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