Today’s News - Monday, April 27, 2015
• ArcSpace brings us Martin's take on (and eyefuls of) Henning Larsen's Moesgaard Museum on the outskirts of Aarhus, Denmark, that "offers a new perspective on the role of the museum as a public space."
• Hu cheers the new Whitney as "a cultural attraction appended to one of Manhattan's premier green spaces" [the High Line] - "the pride of place being symbiotic," and the exhibition space is "a Machine for Exhibiting."
• Reyneri is more than fed up with the "transparency in architecture competitions," beginning with the posting of 1,700+ proposals for the Guggenheim Helsinki: this "sudden bout of Finnish transparency gave birth to a brand new 'Helsinki effect': too much, too bad. Please, competition organizers of the world: if you still have discarded boards, burn them."
• St. Petersburg, Florida, picks a winner in its pier competition: the 1973 inverted pyramid (a "chicken roost" to some, iconic to others) will be replaced by "an iconic experience that doesn't focus on a building, but on a collection of spaces."
• The Center for Architecture Sarasota is "an ambitious undertaking, but it couldn't have a more fitting home - a building plucked from its history, made new again."
• Menking, meanwhile, bemoans that the success of AIANY's Center for Architecture storefront "is apparently being lost on many of the architecture and design non-profits willing to give up their public spaces and move into traditional back offices."
• Crosbie croons over Helpern Architects' "stunning renovation" of Yale's Sterling Memorial Library: the design team "achieved a remarkable result with a deft touch, without leaving fingerprints."
• A "struggling, half-dead mall" in Philadelphia could "be reborn as a gleaming glass-and-steel emporium after decades of failed plans and promise," but "not everyone will benefit from the mall's makeover. Parts of the plan seem sure to prove contentious."
• Hinshaw x 2: Seattle "occasionally" gets "a flash of design brilliance," but much of it all looks the same, which "reveals a hidden flaw in the City's design review process: No amount of process can 'make' a designer talented or a developer committed to creating superb buildings."
• He sees one solution to Seattle's (and other cities') housing shortage and a way to attract Millennials and Boomers: "Bring back the townhouse"; but it "will require a major rethinking of policies, codes, design standards and review procedures. Neighborhoods will likely squawk. But we will need to move ahead anyway."
• McGee and Benn investigate how co-housing could be "a solution to urban sprawl and housing affordability problems" - but if it "is such a good idea, why isn't it widespread already? Problems. Fixes."
• Birch bristles at the prospect of U.K.'s heritage becoming an inadvertent "victim of our economic recovery" with the reintroduction of enterprise zones: the "approach to planning policy has undoubtedly increased construction activity - but have we not learnt the lessons of post-war redevelopment?"
• Woods Bagot's HQ Music House for Warner Music in London is "as cool as you think it is" (with pix to prove it).
• Eyefuls of Qatar's 5th stadium for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, "designed to reduce to a capacity of 21,000 in legacy mode when the upper tier of seats will be removed and sent to developing nations in need of sports infrastructure."
• High hopes and "ambitious plans" for a satellite Palestinian Museum Hub in the war-torn Gaza Strip (perhaps better to focus on European satellites also on the museum's radar - for the time being, anyway).
• Wainwright reports from the Counter Terror Expo - "an enormous supermarket of paranoia" and "a playground for extreme urban neuroses," complete with "grenade-proof BMWs and terrorist-resistant flowerbeds" (a.k.a. "hostile vehicle mitigation" technology).
• Six cities to split $1 million Heart of the Community grants to "redesign underloved or underutilized public spaces."
• Eyefuls of the Bangkok Fashion Hub competition winners and honorable mentions (no "Helsinki effect," we promise).
• One we couldn't resist: "What cities would look like without their famous tourist attractions."
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Henning Larsen Architects: Moesgaard Museum: Surrounded by woods on the outskirts of Aarhus, Denmark, the new MOMU offers a new perspective on the role of the museum as a public space. By Robert Martin [images] |
Renzo Piano Building Works: It's Not Hard to See the Appeal of the New Downtown Whitney: ...an open, accessible, unpretentious building at street level...50,000 square feet of exhibition space...is raw but not rough...a Machine for Exhibiting...the new Whitney is to the High Line as the Metropolitan Museum of Art is to Central Park, a cultural attraction appended to one of Manhattan's premier greenspaces — the pride of place being symbiotic, of course. By Raymond Hu [images]- Architizer |
Opinion: Transparency In Architecture Competitions Is A Bad Thing: ...we were overwhelmed by thousands of proposals for the Guggenheim Helsinki Museum...a sudden bout of Finnish transparency gave birth to a brand new “Helsinki effect”: too much, too bad, too soon...Bamiyan Cultural Centre International Competition published all their entries...all the entries of the Nine Elms to Pimlico Battersea Bridge Competition...Please, competition organizers of the world: if you still have discarded boards, burn them. By Federico Reyneri/LPzR associates architects- ArchDaily |
St. Petersburg committee chooses Pier Park: The inverted pyramid, once disparaged as a chicken roost, but in recent years lauded...as a treasured icon, appears to be on its last days...replace the 1973 structure with a new attraction...that integrates into the city's downtown waterfront park system...an iconic experience that doesn't focus on a building, but on a collection of spaces. -- ASD; Rogers Partners Architects; Ken Smith Landscape Architect- Tampa Bay Times (Florida) |
Florida's Mecca for Midcentury Modernism: The Center for Architecture Sarasota is an original, both in the design of its spectacular building - an authentic product of the city's midcentury-modern heyday in the 50's and 60's - and in its mission...It's an ambitious undertaking, but it couldn't have a more fitting home. The future of civic design in Sarasota appears to be housed in a building plucked from its history, made new again. -- Joe Farrell and William Rupp (1960); Guy Peterson | Office for Architecture [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
Editorial> Design Orgs Need to Meet the Street: William Menking urges design organizations to keep their street side presence to better engage the public: AIA New York’s Center for Architecture storefront on LaGuardia Place has helped transform the chapter into perhaps the most dynamic in the country...the success...is apparently being lost on many of the architecture and design non-profits...willing to give up their public spaces and move into traditional back offices.- The Architect's Newspaper |
Stunning Renovation Brings New Radiance To Yale Library: Some 80 years after its "consecration" as a sanctuary of knowledge, Sterling Memorial Library was looking a little worse for wear...needed serious upgrading...Helpern and his colleagues achieved a remarkable result with a deft touch, without leaving fingerprints. By Michael J. Crosbie -- James Gamble Rogers (1920s); Helpern Architects- Hartford Courant (Connecticut) |
PREIT reveals the Gallery's new look: ...decrepit Gallery at Market East may be about to change...one of Center City's most notorious dead spots would be reborn as a gleaming glass-and-steel emporium...Fashion Outlets of Philadelphia....After decades of failed plans and promises...not everyone will benefit from the mall's makeover...Parts of the plan seem sure to prove contentious. -- JPRA Architects [images]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
The new Seattle, where everything looks the same: Occasionally, we get a flash of design brilliance...But developers must be willing to hire those skilled designers. Many are simply not interested...reveals a hidden flaw in the City’s design review process: No amount of process can “make” a designer talented or a developer committed to creating superb buildings. Hence, the wildly uneven - and often uninspiring - architecture in Seattle today. By Mark Hinshaw- Crosscut (Seattle) |
Bring back the townhouse: Can Millennials and Boomers change the region’s housing mix? Opening up more areas for townhouses and row houses will require a major rethinking of policies, codes, design standards and review procedures. Neighborhoods will likely squawk. But we will need to move ahead anyway... By Mark Hinshaw- Crosscut (Seattle) |
How co-housing could make homes cheaper and greener: Could co-housing be a solution to urban sprawl and housing affordability problems...underused housing model could lead to financial, social and environmental benefits for its residents...So if co-housing is such a good idea, why isn’t it widespread already? Problems. Fixes. By Caitlin McGee and Suzanne Benn -- Benn and Penna Architects- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
Don’t let heritage become a victim of our economic recovery: Reintroducing enterprise zones has inadvertently put heritage buildings within them at risk of demolition: The government’s approach to planning policy has undoubtedly increased construction activity...but have we not learnt the lessons of post-war redevelopment? By Justin Birch/CBRE- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Far from conventional: Warner Music UK HQ by Woods Bagot as cool as you think it is: ...recently consolidated its London operations from across six buildings...HQ Music House...express the brand and identity of each label, whilst still making a clear statement that the Wrights Lane building is the company’s London headquarters... [images]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
Designs for fifth Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup 40,000-seat Al Rayyan stadium revealed: ...materials reclaimed from the previous stadium’s demolition will be used in the construction...designed to reduce to a capacity of 21,000 in legacy mode when the upper tier of seats will be removed and sent to developing nations in need of sports infrastructure. -- Pattern Design; Aecom; Ramboll [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Ambitious plans outlined for a Palestinian cultural museum in the war-torn Gaza Strip, honouring Palestinian culture and history: ...an offshoot of the £40m Palestinian Museum Hub – currently under construction...in Birzeit, the West Bank. -- Heneghan Peng Architects- CLAD (Community of Leisure Architects & Designers) |
Enter the Counter Terror Expo - an enormous supermarket of paranoia: With its grenade-proof BMWs, chemical armageddon combat suits and terrorist-resistant flowerbeds, this trade show is a playground for extreme urban neuroses...when you admired a flower display in a public square, you were actually eyeing up several tonnes of “hostile vehicle mitigation” technology...cloaked in granite and foliage. By Oliver Wainwright- Guardian (UK) |
6 Cities to Split $1M for Placemaking Projects: Heart of the Community grants to redesign underloved or underutilized public spaces, thanks to funding from Southwest Airlines, which teamed up with the Project for Public Spaces (PPS)- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
Bangkok: I am Fashion Hub competition winners: top 3 entries come from Russia, Malaysia and France...incredibly different in their use of space, their concept and their desired impact. -- Ilya Pugachenko/Andrey Sayko/Alla Aniskova; Jun Hao Ong/Raphael Cheng; Quyet Tien Ngo/Mingbo Wang/Junwei Xie/Arnaud Rossocelo [images]- HMMD / Homemade Dessert |
What cities would look like without their famous tourist attractions: a playful contest to re-imagine some of the world’s most visited travel spots. [images]- DesignCrowd (Australia) |
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