Today’s News - Wednesday, March 25, 2015
EDITOR'S NOTE: We're heading to Harvard and the Lincoln Institute tomorrow for the Journalists Forum on Land and the Built Environment (we're psyched!) - we'll be back Monday, March 30.
• A sad way to start the news day: we lose Ralph Mancini, founder of Mancini Duffy + SAH's Saliga pays tribute to Chicago preservationist and philanthropist Persky (with link to Kamin's colorful obit) + Brake's tribute to Frei Otto: "an unusual and in many ways inspired choice by the Pritzker Prize jury" (he "had a groovy side," too).
• Williams visits a Chinese factory to see for himself what all the brouhaha that an "increasingly gullible" press is eating up re: 3-D printed houses: alas, "it is more of a nightmare, comprising the shell of the building and a building site within" - leaks included (with pix to prove it).
• On a brighter (and hopefully no leaks), the Ikea Foundation is gearing up to ship its first 10,000 flat-pack shelters for UN refugees (solar panels included).
• Wainwright channels his inner Lewis Carroll on seeing SelgasCano's new design for this year's Serpentine Pavilion: "it looks as if an exotic caterpillar might have nibbled on a magic mushroom before spinning its chrysalis" - though "the devil will be in the detail...there's a danger it could look like a half-baked student project."
• Ottawa's West Block on Parliament Hill to undergo a massive $1.3 billion makeover: "For inspiration, the design team looked at the Oxford Museum of Natural History in England."
• Hardwick takes a hard look at lifestyle centers "parading themselves as Main Streets from a bygone era" - but are they "reinvented communities" or just "dressed-up" shopping malls?
• There's sure to be lots of buzz around RIBA's proposals to overhaul the U.K.'s architectural education system (including starting business courses earlier in the process - gasp!).
• A good reason to head to New Orleans in a few weeks: the always scintillating 2015 Applied Brilliance Conference: Lifelines: How Storytelling Can Save Humanity.
• Weekend diversions:
• Great Q&A with Bergdoll re: MoMA's about-to-open "Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955-1980": its "timely arrival, MoMA's own history with Latin America, and what's left of this rich legacy today." + Eyefuls from "one of the most fecund periods in the region's architectural history."
• Cross the East River to the Museum of the Moving Image and take in "Matthew Weiner's Mad Men": even if you're not a fan, it's "more than a TV-focused spectacle. It's a resurrected world of Americana as frozen in time a half-century ago."
• Q&A with CCA's Zardini re: "Rooms You May Have Missed": "architectural photography so often fails to capture the true essence of a place" by focusing on "more acrobatic moments" - this show "burrows into these contemplative spaces."
• In Pittsburgh, "Sketch to Structure" explores the architectural process "across eras and project types...that is more poetic than regimented."
• Vitra Design Museum's two exhibitions explore African design's present and past.
• "Scaling Washington: Photographs by Colin Winterbottom" at the National Building Museum is "a coincidental homage to Michael Graves": the "star of the show, installation-wise, is a reconstruction of a piece of Washington Monument scaffolding and scrim."
• Kushner "dances about architecture" in "The Future of Architecture in 100 Buildings," an "exhilarating, lavishly illustrated survey."
• Way wends his way through Preciado's "Pornotopia: An Essay on Playboy's Architecture and Biopolitics": the "breadth of subject matter, topics, and anecdotes keep the discourse from becoming dry," and "navigates a fine line between gender politics, architectural and social history."
• One we couldn't resist: Babina is back, uncaging his ARCHIZOO (some commentors should just lighten up...just sayin').
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Obituary: Ralph Mancini, Founder of Mancini Duffy: ...he went from humble beginnings to heading a firm that helped change the way some of the most important companies in the world do business...- Contract magazine |
Obituary: Seymour H. Persky (1922-2015): ...an attorney, preservationist, and philanthropist...purchasing and restoring historic structures...amassed one of the largest private collections of building fragments, decorative arts, and drawings...made a $1.65 million contribution to the Society of Architectural Historians to purchase the James Charnley House. By Pauline Saliga [link to Blair Kamin's colorful obit]- Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) |
Frei Otto's Lightness of Being: ...an unusual and in many ways inspired choice by the Pritzker Prize jury. He was a gifted and generous collaborator...He had a groovy side... By Alan G. Brake -- Gunter Behnisch; Ted Happold; Shigeru Ban; Guy Nordenson [images]- Landscape Architecture Magazine |
3-D Printed houses? Given that China has a tendency to over-claim and that Western newspapers have become increasingly gullible, I decided to check it out for myself...this clearly is an example of over-hyping a reasonably interesting product...Sadly, this is Wendy house architecture...“3-d printer” inventor’s dream house. Unfortunately, it is more of a nightmare, comprising the shell of the building and a building site within. By Austin Williams [images]- Future Cities Project (U.K.) |
IKEA produces 10,000 flat-pack shelters for UN refugees: ...Ikea Foundation ‘Better Shelter’ units...to replace the traditional canvas ridge and more modern hoop tents currently being used...twice as large as the current crop...all come flat packed in cardboard boxes...four hours to assemble...no extra tools are needed. [images]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
Magic mushroom maze: this summer's Serpentine pavilion will be a psychedelic trip: The playful plastic structure will bring a welcome dose of mischief, and a secret stained-glass corridor, to London...It exudes joy, mischief and a welcome dose of Spanish sunshine, although...the devil will be in the detail...there’s a danger it could look like a half-baked student project, hashed together on a shoestring. By Oliver Wainwright -- SelgasCano; Aecom [images]- Guardian (UK) |
'The project of a lifetime': The architects of the West Block's ambitious rethink draw on similar European projects: ...addition is part of a major rehabilitation of the West Block on Parliament Hill...expected to cost more than $1.3 billion...For inspiration, the design team looked at the Oxford Museum of Natural History in England...built around the same time... -- Arcop; Fournier Gersovitz Moss Architects [images]- Ottawa Citizen (Canada) |
Lifestyle centers: reinvented communities or dressed-up shopping malls? Parading themselves as Main Streets from a bygone era...hope to recreate what was lost in the rush to cover America with large malls...Yet at their core, Victor Gruen’s ideal mall and the New Urbanists' lifestyle center share the same aspiration: a thriving community center, yes – but one that ultimately turns a tidy profit. By Jeff Hardwick/George Mason University- The Conversation |
RIBA moves to scrap Part 3: The proposals included an integrated course, options for work-based learning and the possibility of immediate access onto the register of architects as soons as they graduate...recommendations suggested bringing...business and management into the earlier years of architectural education...- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
2015 Applied Brilliance Conference: Lifelines: How Storytelling Can Save Humanity: Unintended Consequences + Hidden in Plain Sight; April 20 - 21, New Orleans; registration deadline: April 12- Applied Brilliance |
The Future Was Latin America: MoMA curator Barry Bergdoll on the goals of "Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955–1980"...its timely arrival, MoMA’s own history with Latin America, and what’s left of this rich legacy today...."The aim is not to provide an example of how to do this or that...but as a springboard for interesting debate." By Samuel Medina [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
MoMA Unveils Major Latin American Architecture Survey: "Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955-1980" offers a sweeping panorama of one of the most fecund periods in the region’s architectural history - a quarter-century marked by rapid urbanization, shifting politics, and bold ideas...represents an “opening anthology” for future discussions. By Anna Fixsen [images]- Architectural Record |
A 'Mad Men' exhibit welcomes visitors to Don Draper's world: You don't need to be mad about "Mad Men" to savor "Matthew Weiner's Mad Men" at New York's Museum of the Moving Image...more than a TV-focused spectacle. It's a resurrected world of Americana as frozen in time a half-century ago. By Frazier Moore/AP [images]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Q&A: Canadian Centre for Architecture/CCA's Mirko Zardini on the Architecture of the Everyday: ...contemporary architectural photography so often fails to capture the true essence of a place. A building's more acrobatic moments...tend to overshadow its quieter ones..."Rooms You May Have Missed" burrows into these contemplative spaces. By Samuel Medina -- Umberto Riva; Bijoy Jain/Studio Mumbai Architects [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
An Architectural Exploration: Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art explores the architectural process in "Sketch to Structure"...across eras and project types...that is more poetic than regimented...issues such as construction process and client interaction seem to get short shrift. But this is a problem more of title than content. By Charles Rosenblum -- Lorcan O’Herlihy; Richard Neutra; Herzog & de Meuron; SOM; Jakob + MacFarlane; Tasso Katselas- The Architect's Newspaper |
Two Exhibitions Give New Perspective to African Design: "Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design" and "Architecture of Independence: African Modernism": One explores the present: how design is promoting political and economic change through every medium from graphic design to architecture....The other traces the past. Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany [images]- Architectural Record |
A Coincidental "Homage" to Michael Graves: "Scaling Washington: Photographs by Colin Winterbottom"...at the National Building Museum...not your typical photography gallery show...the star of the show, installation-wise, is a reconstruction of a piece of Washington Monument scaffolding and scrim...visitors can get up close to something only known from a distance. [images]- Architect Magazine |
Marc Kushner dances about architecture: “The Future of Architecture in 100 Buildings”...the intention to make architecture accessible, part of a public dialogue...structures he examines...highlight that objective...exhilarating, lavishly illustrated survey. By David L. Ulin -- HWKN; Architizer.com- Los Angeles Times |
Eroticizing Everyday Architecture: "Pornotopia: An Essay on Playboy's Architecture and Biopolitics" by Beatriz Preciado: Hefner...featured “more architecture plans, interior decoration pictures, and design objects than naked women"...the breadth of subject matter, topics, and anecdotes keep the discourse from becoming dry...navigates a fine line between gender politics, architectural and social history. By James Way [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Illustrated Architectural “Animals” from Federico Babina: An architectural “Paraidolia,” he has uncaged the ARCHIZOO...a creative series of zoo animals rendered in familiar architectural forms. [images]- ArchDaily |
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-- The Camera: Yiorgis Yerolymbos: ...a leading figure in architectural photography in Greece.
-- Bookshelf: "Double Dutch: Dutch Architecture since 1985" by Bernard Hulsman; "The Future of Architecture in 100 Buildings" by Marc Kushner; "Copy Paste: Bad Ass Copy Guide" by Winy Maas; "The Inevitable Specificity of Cities" by ETH Studio Basel; "Women, Modernity, and Landscape Architecture" by Sonja Dümpelmann, John Beardsley |
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