Today’s News - Wednesday, January 7, 2015
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow is this week's "floating" no-newsletter day. We'll be back Friday, January 9.
• ArcSpace brings us Meyer's extensive architectural tour of Seoul (some real surprises!).
• Shubow jumps into the Bingler/Pedersen/Betsky "How to Rebuild Architecture" debate, explaining why the profession is "suffering a crisis of confidence," bemoaning that "architecture has become a gated community" - but "there is a way out" (with lots of modernism-bashing along the way).
• Rinaldi, on the other hand, is much more optimistic about the future of architecture: "the profession is changing," with a "holistic attitude" that "seems to be steering trends" offering "building and landscape architects an opportunity to remain vital - and brings them closer to the people they serve."
• Simpson's report on "an inspiring Design Council summit" that explored "how design and architecture can fight inactivity and ill health."
• Sorkin says most of the brouhaha behind MAD Architects' proposed George Lucas Museum in Chicago "is simply specious. Let Lucas build it!"
• Wainwright wanted to be wow'd by London's Walkie Talkie Sky Garden, but, alas: "It is not the public park that was promised, but another private party space, available by appointment" (and "feels like you're trapped in an airport" - ouch!).
• King is much kinder towards a new Snøhetta/SCB-designed tower planned for a "should-be-prominent corner" in San Francisco "that trades skyline drama for sidewalk comfort with visual flair."
• Saffron gives two thumbs-ups to plans for a traditional downtown shopping district in Philly that is "perfectly in sync with what the city needs in this place, at this moment."
• Moscow's has big plans to revive its 13,000-acre, Stalin-era exhibition center as a "city of museums."
• Kats, meanwhile, reports that things aren't as optimistic for Moscow's Melnikov House: opening to the public for a test run as the Melnikov Museum "confirmed what many preservation activists had suspected - no significant steps" have been taken "to ensure that the structure continues to stand."
• Macedonians protest the government's plan to cover a modernist landmark with a "baroque" façade as part of "the creeping Skopje 2014 project" to give the city's buildings a "makeover in the neoclassical or baroque style" (that should please Shubow et al.).
• Eyefuls of four designs presented by two (of four) candidates vying to host the Barack Obama Presidential Library (oddly, one doesn't identify the design team).
• OMA heads the team to design a 24-acre West Louisville Food Hub with a master plan that is, in part, a result of Harvard GSD students' research "about how urban design and food can work together in new ways in America."
• Van Alen Institute and the National Park Service name finalists in the National Parks Now competition.
• Eyefuls of the Workplace of the Future 2.0 Competition (not sure we'd want to actually work in some of them).
• Faith & Form Magazine/IFRAA name 32 winners in the 2014 International Awards Program for Religious Art & Architecture.
• The Association of Licensed Architects 2014 Design Awards go to 36 projects in 11 states.
• Call for entries: Chicago Architecture Biennial Lakefront Kiosk Competition (very cool!) + Street Architecture Competition: Temporary Outdoor Structures for IDEAS CITY 2015 confab in NYC in May (also very cool!).
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Travel Guide: Seoul: South Korean capital has...assertively managed to attract vast amounts of culture and commerce. By Ulf Meyer -- Rafael Viñoly/Samoo; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); MASS Studies; Daniel Libeskind; Nikken Sekkei (with Archiban Architects, Jung Lin Architects); Thom Mayne/Morphosis; Kim In Cheurl/Archium; SO-IL Architects; Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF); Platoon and Graft Architects + Baik Jiwon; MVRDV; Kim Joong-up; Kim Swoo-geun; Kim Seok-jai; Lee Hee-tae; Haeahn Architecture + H Architecture; Yoo Kerl/iArc Architects; GAP Architekten; Dominique Perrault; Rem Koolhaas/OMA; Iroje Architects/Seung Hyo-sang; Steven HollArchitects/E.rae Architects; etc. [images] |
Architecture Continues To Implode: More Insiders Admit The Profession Is Failing: ...suffering a crisis of confidence...Modernists have no room for harmony, rhythm, or soul; they are high-culture elitists, not multiculturalists who celebrate class and ethnic diversity...Architecture has become a gated community...There is a way out...A return to architecture based on the collective intelligence of mankind. By Justin Shubow/National Civic Art Society -- Steven Bingler; Martin C. Pedersen; Aaron Betsky- Forbes |
Architecture future: How buildings will begin to make our lives better: ...the profession is changing...holistic attitude...seems to be steering trends...Dreaming up compelling ways to shape them offers building and landscape architects an opportunity to remain vital - and brings them closer to the people they serve, grounding them in a world that rises increasingly into clouds. By Ray Mark Rinaldi -- Rezan Prananta/Shears Adkins Rockmore; David Rubin/Land Collective; Olin; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Roth Sheppard Architects- Denver Post |
How design and architecture can fight inactivity and ill health: Cities, streets and buildings designed to encourage interaction, engagement and enjoyment are the key to fighting increasing inactivity and ill health. Veronica Simpson reports from an inspiring Design Council summit. [images]- FX Magazine / DesignCurial |
The Phantom Menace: MAD Architects' Ma Yansong has roiled the waters of Chicago's design scene with his proposal for George Lucas's museum. But does it really pose such a threat to the city's lakefront? ...the argument that its form will detract from the morphological rhythm of the lakefront is simply specious. I say it will enhance it...Let Lucas build it! By Michael Sorkin -- Studio Gang; VOA Associates; Blair Kamin- Architectural Record |
London's Sky Garden: the more you pay, the worse the view: The Walkie-Talkie Sky Garden was meant to be a free public space with the most spectacular views...But it feels like you’re trapped in an airport, you can barely see the city because of a steel cage...It is not the public park that was promised, but another private party space, available by appointment. By Oliver Wainwright -- Rafael Viñoly [images]- Guardian (UK) |
Tower design at Market Street and Van Ness dramatic but down to earth: The newest design for a 37-story housing tower ...pairs a scalloped white shaft in the air with a flamboyant response on the ground to the harsh winds that toppled the last proposal for the site...an approach that trades skyline drama for sidewalk comfort with visual flair... By John King -- Richard Meier & Partners; Snøhetta/SCB [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
The anti-Gallery: East Market goes back to the future with a traditional downtown shopping district - done right: ...uses older buildings as a way to infuse the new development with a ready-made past...the plan is so perfectly in sync with what the city needs in this place, at this moment...will put the quirky back by resurrecting the block's original alley streets... By Inga Saffron -- Morris Adjmi; BLT Architects [images]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Moscow's Exhibition Center To Be Revived: After decades of neglect, the city...has begun the process of renovating the most iconic pavilions of its 13,000-acre, Stalin-era exhibition center (VDNKh)...While details are still under wraps, the idea is to turn these sprawling urban grounds - which also include apple orchards, woods, ornamental ponds, and a botanical garden - into a “city of museums." -- Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky; Sergey Chernyshev (1930s) [images]- Architectural Record |
Family Drama: The Melnikov House Goes Public: ...at the center of a family rift which now includes the Russian government, the Schusev State Architecture Museum, local preservationists...a test run of the Melnikov Museum...journalist Kirill Golovastikov confirmed what many preservation activists had suspected...the Schusev Museum had taken no significant steps to ensure that the structure continues to stand. By Anna Kats- Artinfo |
Macedonians ‘Hug’ Skopje Shopping Centre to Protect It From Baroque-isation: ...protest the government's plan to cover the modernist landmark City Shopping Center [GTC], built in 1973...with a “baroque” facade...attempted to stall this aspect of the creeping Skopje 2014 project, a controversial and costly plan to give the city's buildings makeover in the neoclassical or baroque style. [images]- Global Voices |
Four Presidential Libraries for Obama to Consider: Of the four locations that are under consideration to host the future Barack Obama presidential library, two have released visions...the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the University of Hawaii at Honolulu (UH). -- Snøhetta/WCIT Architecture; Allied Works Architecture; MOS and Workshop-HI [images]- ArchDaily |
Plans unveiled, first tenants secured for West Louisville food hub: ...a 24-acre campus where local farmers can package, distribute and sell goods...master plan is in part a result of research compiled by architecture students at Harvard Graduate School of Design "about how urban design and food can work together in new ways in America"... -- OMA; GBBN Architects [images, video]- WDRB News (Louisville, KY) |
Van Alen Institute and National Park Service select finalists to re-imagine visitor experience at national parks: National Parks Now competition...is about more than launching an app or two and boosting WiFi signals. -- Team Wayward/Projects; FORGE; Manuel Miranda/Yale School of Art; Aaron Forrest/Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)/Ultramoderne- The Architect's Newspaper |
Finalists of the Workplace of the Future 2.0 Competition: ...showcased solutions that aim to accommodate a diverse, multigenerational labor pool that is working longer hours. -- StudioPANG; Sophia Pisimisi/Parsons–The New School for Design;Edward Ogosta Architecture; Sean Cassidy/Joe Wilson; Tray 6; Wang Chong; Obi Vattanawong/University of British Columbia; Ennead Lab; Architects Rule; Justin Yoo/Laura Stargala/Liam Martin/Cornell University [images]- Metropolis Magazine / Business Interiors by Staples |
2014 International Awards Program for Religious Art & Architecture: ...32 award winners...jury celebrated as courageous, creative, and vital if traditional faith communities are to survive. By Michael J. Crosbie -- Dynerman Architects; HOK; Roseta Vaz Monteiro Arquitectos; Northeast Collaborative Architects; domusstudio architecture; CetraRuddy Architecture; Robert A.M. Stern Architects; Shim-Sutcliffe Architects; OMNIPLAN Architects; etc. [images]- Faith & Form Magazine / Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA) |
Association of Licensed Architects 2014 Design Awards: 36 projects in 11 states... -- Dyson Siegrist Janzen Architects; DLR Group; Sullivan, Goulette & Wilson; KEE Architecture; Muller & Muller; UrbanWorks; etc. [images]- Association of Licensed Architects (ALA) |
Call for entries: Chicago Architecture Biennial Lakefront Kiosk Competition; BP Prize: $10,000 honorarium + $75,000 to build; deadline: March 23- Chicago Architecture Biennial |
Call for entries: Street Architecture Competition: Temporary Outdoor Structures for IDEAS CITY 2015 (New York City, May 28 - 30); $20,000 construction budget + $7,500 design/managing fee; registration deadline: January 23 (submission deadline: February 23)- Storefront for Art and Architecture / New Museum / NYC Department of Transportation |
ANN Feature: Book Review: "Saint John's Abbey Church: Marcel Breuer and the Creation of a Modern Sacred Space," by Victoria M. Young: A history of the making of a contemporary sacred architectural masterpiece transcends its subject and becomes a broadly applicable study of peerless client-architect communication. By Norman Weinstein [images]- ArchNewsNow |
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