Today’s News - Tuesday, March 3, 2015
• O'Sullivan explains why "London doesn't need another Manhattan-esque High Line Rip-off. It needs a Parisian New Deal."
• Florida parses the updated Global City Economic Power Index: "Sorry, London: New York is the world's most economically powerful city."
• Thalis minces no words about what he thinks of Sydney's plan to sell the Powerhouse Museum site to developers: "Some in government seem to think that beautiful buildings on prime public land to be somehow wasted on us citizens," and Sydney "risks becoming a dumb, disposable city for the rich."
• Hume makes the same case about Toronto: "Selling off assets is a bad bargain for city - an under-enrolled school becomes a building that can fetch a price, not a part of the public realm to be redeployed."
• In St. Petersburg, Florida, a man has a plan to buy a neighborhood for entrepreneurs and artists that could be a "model for hybrid social impact investing to regenerate an area, and perhaps a way of smoothing out the extremes of gentrification."
• Stephens has issues with measuring density in Laidley's "Sprawl Index" project: it is "doomed to be disappointing, if not outright misleading," by "using the same modernist objective approach as did the 1950s planners who got us into this mess in the first place."
• South Australia sets its sight on a "comprehensive overhaul of the planning system to limit sprawl and renew social housing."
• An urban scientist explains why urban planners "should care what goes on in their cities' bars and clubs," and offers "formula-based recommendations."
• Bliss blisses out about de Botton's "provocative" new video, "How to Make an Attractive City": "It's been a long time since looks carried much weight in city planning, and his manifesto is a clever (and good-looking) push to relight that interest."
• Stokols delves into a project in China that hopes to use "small-scale design interventions and renovations" to revive dying villages that might otherwise face extinction.
• Pearman parses the new convention center in Mons, Belgium: "nobody hires Libeskind to produce a dumb box. The detailing may not be exquisite and the external form distinctly willful, but this is honest, not cynical architecture."
• Wilkinson, the Googleplex's original architect, weighs in on BIG/Heatherwick's new HQ: "I think it's brilliant" (but it won't be easy to build).
• Eyefuls of the HWKN/KSS-designed Pennovation Center, the University of Pennsylvania's latest hub for entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovators.
• Eyefuls of finalists in the "Boston Living With Water" competition (a fish farm included).
• Welton's Q&A with Somerson, RISD's new president, re: her philosophy: it's "about distilling theory, social issues and mental effort down into an idea - at its heart, it's about problem-solving."
• Great presentations of AJ's Woman Architect of the Year 2015, and Emerging Woman Architect of the Year 2015 (there are three!).
• One we couldn't resist: Schumacher does it again: the "serial social media provocateur" lashes out (in long form) at public funding for arts education; "erstwhile academic colleague" Lootsma calls him out for his hypocrisy: "I am afraid he really lost it."
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Why London Should Stop Trying to Be New York and Start Trying to Be Paris: The U.K. capital doesn't need a transatlantic role model...Britain's public conversation is often dominated by trivial, puerile French-bashing...This is a huge missed opportunity...London doesn't need another Manhattan-esque High Line Rip-off. It needs a Parisian New Deal. By Feargus O'Sullivan- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Sorry, London: New York Is the World's Most Economically Powerful City: Our new ranking puts the Big Apple firmly on top...updated version of the Global City Economic Power Index... By Richard Florida- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Sydney risks becoming a dumb, disposable city for the rich: Plans to flog the Powerhouse Museum site to developers privileges special interests at the expense of the public: ...would perpetuate recent blatant mistakes such as Darling Harbour and Barangaroo...wantonly trading prized public places and forgoing the role civic elements play in intelligent city making...Some in government seem to think that beautiful buildings on prime public land to be somehow wasted on us citizens, we who are the actual owners. By Philip Thalis- The Conversation |
Selling off assets a bad bargain for city: Toronto's control over its own future gets compromised every time it sells off an asset into private hands...we could well come to thank Build Toronto one day for its incompetence...The city's value lies in the stuff that can be hived off and sold as is. Thus an under-enrolled school becomes a building that can fetch a price, not a part of the public realm to be redeployed. By Christopher Hume- Toronto Star |
This Man Is Buying Up A Florida Neighborhood To Bring In Entrepreneurs And Artists: In St. Petersburg, the Venture House project is thinking big about revitalizing a neighborhood and heading off gentrification...a potential model for hybrid social impact investing to regenerate an area, and perhaps a way of smoothing out the extremes of gentrification. By Ben Schiller -- Frank Wells- Fast Company |
Sprawl Depends on More Than Just Density: Density is a mathematical trick, and a crude one at that. The real reason why Thomas Laidley's "Sprawl Index" project is doomed to be disappointing, if not outright misleading, is that sprawl is by definition a subjective notion...He is using the same modernist objective approach as did the 1950s planners who got us into this mess in the first place. By Josh Stephens- California Planning & Development Report |
South Australia to limit sprawl and renew social housing: ...part of a comprehensive overhaul of the planning system that aims to prioritise urban infill projects close to existing infrastructure...also committed to renewing all social housing stock constructed before 1968...- The Fifth Estate (Australia) |
Why urban planners should pay attention to nightlife: The stereotypical urban planner has a reputation for pushing pencils rather than downing shots. But urban scientist Jakob F. Schmid explains why they should care what goes on in their cities' bars and clubs..."nightlife often defines the character of entire streets or districts...research project "City After Eight"...to offer formula-based recommendations for urban planning and city marketing."- Deutsche Welle (Germany) |
What Makes a City Beautiful? A provocative new video featuring Alain de Botton says beauty in urban settings must be objective - and to argue otherwise is a danger to our quality of life...It's been a long time since looks carried much weight in city planning, and de Botton's manifesto is a clever (and good-looking) push to relight that interest. By Laura Bliss ["How to Make an Attractive City" video]- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Village Acupuncture: Can Architects Restore Vitality to China’s Countryside? ...trying to implement small-scale design interventions and renovations aimed at reviving dying villages and turning them into destinations for tourists and artists...China’s villagers are being encouraged or even forced to move to urban areas...threatens thousands of villages with extinction. By Andrew Stokols -- Xu Tiantian/DnA _Design and Architecture; Luo Deyin/Tsinghua University [images]- ChinaFile |
New Spin for an Old Town: A city in Belgium aspires to make it onto Europe's cultural map with an energetic building that ramps up the architectural volume: Mons International Congress Xperience (MICX)...a relatively low-budget, generic building type...But nobody hires Libeskind to produce a dumb box...The detailing may not be exquisite and the external form distinctly willful, but this is honest, not cynical architecture. By Hugh Pearman -- Studio Libeskind; H2a Architecte & Associés [images]- Architectural Record |
What The Googleplex's Original Architect Thinks Of Google's New Headquarters: Spoiler: He loves it. But, he says, building it won't be easy: Clive Wilkinson sees the new Google campus as a milestone in reusable, flexible architecture..."I think it’s brilliant. I’m pleased in the selection of these two architects"... -- Thomas Heatherwick; BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group [images]- Fast Company / Co. Design |
HWKN Unveils Design for “Pennovation Center”: ...to become the University of Pennsylvania’s latest hub for entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovators...the first major development within the Pennovation Works... -- HWKN (Hollwich Kushner); KSS Architects; Land Collective; Bruce Mau Design; Ballinger; Focus; Atelier Ten [images]- ArchDaily |
9 Ambitious Design Ideas for a More Resilient Boston: Plans from the "Boston Living With Water" Finalists -- Stephanie Goldberg/Mark Reed; ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge; Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD);University of Washington; NBBJ; Architerra; Paul Lukez Architecture; Howard & Cavaluzzi Architects Intl.;Thetis S.p.A. [images]- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
At RISD, an Artisan Who's Now President: Rosanne Somerson's philosophy...is about distilling theory, social issues and mental effort down into an idea...It's about understanding traditional processes and new technologies. But at its heart, it's about problem-solving. By J. Michael Welton- Huffington Post |
Teresa Borsuk crowned Woman Architect of the Year 2015: Pollard Thomas Edward partner was recognised for her ‘remarkable’ contribution to improving equality within her practice + Video: Why we gave the Woman Architect of the Year Award to Teresa Borsuk + Q&A- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
vPPR trio named Emerging Woman Architect of the Year 2015: ...co-founders of blossoming London-based practice Tatiana von Preussen, Catherine Pease and Jessica Reynolds as ‘fresh, collaborative, professional and very together’ + Video: Why we gave the Emerging Woman Architect of the Year Award to vPPR + Q&A- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Patrik Schumacher Decries Public Funding for Arts Education: Zaha Hadid Architects director has denounced art school, and public funding for art, as an “indefensible anachronism”...drawn the ire of an erstwhile academic colleague, the architectural theorist, historian, and critic Bart Lootsma...chastised him for his hypocrisy, noting that “until recently he earned a salary good as a professor” in publicly funded universities..."I am afraid he really lost it."- Artinfo |
INSIGHT: Speaking with a Quiet Voice: Some notes on designing the Huntington Education and Visitor Center, San Marino, California. By Stephen J. Farneth, FAIA, LEED AP [images]- ArchNewsNow |
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COBE + Transform: Porsgrunn Maritime Museum, Porsgrunn, Norway: The new saw-toothed museum manages to fit into its surroundings, by mirroring the shapes of the town's characteristic gabled roofs, while at the same time appearing contemporary with its abstract shape and aluminum facades. By Ulf Meyer [images] |
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