Today’s News - Tuesday, May 12, 2015
EDITOR'S NOTE: We head to Atlanta (a.k.a. "Hotlanta") early tomorrow for the AIA convention and (very) early-morning keynotes and programs by some (very) notable folks, so we won't be posting again until Monday, May 18.
• We are pleased to present the second in Salingaros's series Architecture's New Scientific Foundations: Architects often assume that complexity, in general, must be designed. That's a misconception, and rarely conducive to human wellbeing.
• Cagle takes an in-depth - and totally fascinating - look at the tech world's new company towns, and why Mountain View said No to Google and Yes to LinkedIn (it has "Google fatigue").
• Jones has issues with "lefties" being "philistines about the past" with their "disdain for heritage. Is it because the architecture of the past is comforting that the left is so suspicious of it?"
• A Harvard GSD panel looks at how architects and planners are attempting "to address connections between race, design and social inequity in poor neighborhoods," for a younger generation of architects who want "to combine excellence in design with social responsibility."
• Meanwhile, though urban university campuses have sometimes "enhanced a sense of fear and bigotry," many are making "positive strides within their historically segregated neighborhoods" - by design.
• How Washington, DC's 11th Street Bridge Park (a.k.a. the "High Line on the Anacostia") "intends to beat gentrification where others have failed" by creating "a model of inclusive development."
• Lewis sees lots of TODs in our future, "driven in part by real estate market forces and changing demographics."
• King cheers the happy ending to the long saga of Saitowitz's 8 Octavia that "looks even better in real life than on paper. The moral of the story - we don't need to settle for boilerplate buildings, especially when the forward-looking architecture understands the old-fashioned virtue of being a good neighbor as well."
• Hall Kaplan cheers the happy ending to Killefer Flammang's 10-year saga of transforming a Long Beach church into affordable housing: "in the housing rank and file there are murmurs of hope that present the promise of rare paradigms."
• Wainwright x 2: how Assemble landed on the art world's Turner Prize shortlist: "They don't claim to be artists, and none of them has even qualified as an architect, but that hasn't stopped this charming collective from building - and accidentally making the shortlist" (the group also designed the Lina Bo Bardi show at the Graham Foundation in Chicago).
• He minces now words about the "bloated global extravaganza" that is the Milan Expo 2015, themed "Feeding the Planet" - a "bizarre architectural freak-show" where "visitors roam like herds of lobotomized oxen in search of nourishment."
• Rawn, on a brighter note, offers "a closer look at World Expos' impact on architectural development" with a great historical round-up.
• Eyefuls of Chipperfield's plans for the Royal Academy of Arts plans: "It's a small amount of architecture for a profound result."
• Moore marvels at the newest member of de Botton's Living Architecture domiciles that is "a stonking shrine to a fictional woman" that shows "generosity of thought, wit and un-pomposity, sumptuousness" - and a fitting "requiem to FAT."
• Lange and Miranda share musings on MoMA's "Latin America in Construction," and the "objects that caught our attention, the things we think may have been overlooked, and the ways in which we think this show is so important."
• Storefront and the New Museum pick a winner in the 2015 Street Architecture Prize Competition, "selected due to its radical and innovative proposition that reframes architecture beyond form and financial structures beyond consumerism."
• 2015 A+Awards include 5 Special Achievement Awards "in acknowledgment of their contributions to the field of architecture and design" (gala this Thursday!).
• A friendly reminder: "Get your digital paddles ready" for Van Alen Institute's "annual auction of out-of-the-box architectural experiences" - and Spring Gala tomorrow night!
• Call for entries: 16th Annual AR Emerging Architecture Awards for excellence in completed work (international).
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Architecture's New Scientific Foundations, Part 2: Architects often assume that complexity, in general, must be designed. That's a misconception, and rarely conducive to human wellbeing. By Nikos A. Salingaros- ArchNewsNow.com |
Why One Silicon Valley City Said “No” to Google: Big money and even bigger egos are colliding in the tech world’s new company towns...This tiny city has Google fatigue, and no amount of parks, bike lanes, free buses or other community benefits can make up for the fact that Mountain View is apparently uncomfortable with being a company town...The vast majority of the North Bayshore area was instead granted to LinkedIn, which offered far fewer community benefits, but had one major factor in its favor: It’s not Google. By Susie Cagle- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
Why are lefties such philistines about the past? Disdain for heritage...cuts us off from our landscape and identity. To understand these ‘relics’ is to understand England...It is nonsense to identify social progress with one kind of style – to think of modernism...as inherently more radical than Palladio or gothic. Is it because the architecture of the past is comforting that the left is so suspicious of it? By Jonathan Jones- Guardian (UK) |
Public unrest sends urban designers back to drawing board: Architects, planners seek to address connections between race, design and social inequity in poor neighborhoods: ...the calls for social justice...have reached the halls of academia....The younger generation of architects wants to combine excellence in design with social responsibility. -- Dana McKinney; Mohsen Mostafavi/Harvard Graduate School of Design- Al Jazeera America |
The Architecture of Academia: How Universities Affect the Urban Fabric of U.S. Cities: ...the architecture of Baltimore and many other cities...enhance a sense of fear and bigotry...many universities have made positive strides...within their historically segregated neighborhoods...illustrate the power architects and designers have to "make all of us ... a welcome and vital part of civic life." By Matt Shulman -- Ziger/Snead Architects; WASA/Studio A; Tod Williams Bille Tsien Architects [images]- Architizer |
D.C. Park Intends to Beat Gentrification Where Others Have Failed: Can the “High Line on the Anacostia” be a model of inclusive development? ...11th Street Bridge Park...spans two areas with very different economic realities...created an equitable development task force to guide programs and policies that might give residents to the southeast the economic stability to stay in their neighborhood in the face of real estate pressures. -- OMA/Olin- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
Expect to see more transit-oriented housing in the future: TOD has become the dominant public- and private-sector planning strategy for real estate development and redevelopment throughout the metropolitan area and isn’t limited to downtown Washington...driven in part by real estate market forces and changing demographics. By Roger K. Lewis- Washington Post |
8 Octavia: Modern architecture with old-fashioned neighborliness: San Francisco’s most highly anticipated residential building so far this decade looks even better in real life than on paper. The long saga...makes the result all the more striking...The moral of the story...we don’t need to settle for boilerplate buildings in this or that style...especially when the forward-looking architecture understands the old-fashioned virtue of being a good neighbor as well. By John King -- Stanley Saitowitz/Natoma Architects [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
The Transfiguration: Immanuel Church in Long Beach turned into affordable housing: ...in the housing rank and file there are murmurs of hope that present the promise of rare paradigms. ..project lends a new residential life to a nondescript church originally built in 1923...The rehabilitation has taken 10 years...with a projected cost of only $12 million. By Sam Hall Kaplan -- Killefer Flammang Architects- The Architect's Newspaper |
Assemble: how a young architectural collective became a Turner Prize wildcard: They don’t claim to be artists, and none of them has even qualified as an architect, but that hasn’t stopped this charming collective from building pop-up cinemas, community housing projects – and accidentally making the Turner shortlist....will no doubt raise some eyebrows in the rarefied realms of the gallery world – but... By Oliver Wainwright [images]- Guardian (UK) |
Expo 2015: what does Milan gain by hosting this bloated global extravaganza? ...140 participating countries and brand sponsors are screaming their presence at full volume...it’s hard not to see the whole endeavour as a monumentally misplaced allocation of resources. The exhibition content is...as vapid as the architecture is extravagant...Visitors roam like herds of lobotomised oxen in search of nourishment...the only point of visiting an Expo is to marvel, drop-jawed with morbid fascination, at the bizarre architectural freak-show... By Oliver Wainwright [images]- Guardian (UK) |
The Architectural Lab: A History Of World Expos: ...what is it about Expos that seem to create such lasting architectural landmarks, and is this still the case today? ...a closer look at their impact on architectural development. By Evan Rawn -- Joseph Paxton; Gustave Eiffel; Ferdinand Dutert/Victor Contamin; Mies van der Rohe; Phillip Johnson; Arthur Erickson; Frei Otto/Rolf Gutbrod; Buckminster Fuller; Moshe Safdie; BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group; Thomas Heatherwick [images]- ArchDaily |
David Chipperfield reveals £49.8m Royal Academy of Arts plans: ...main Burlington House building and Burlington Gardens...linked by a concrete bridge..."If most museums are Zurich, this is the Naples of the museum world...It’s a small amount of architecture for a profound result." -- Hugh May (1867); James Pennethorne (1870); Julian Harrap [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Grayson Perry’s A House for Essex: a stonking shrine to a fictional woman: ...created for Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture...It has fertility and abundance in its ideas, the skill it took to make them real, generosity of thought, wit and un-pomposity, sumptuousness...and the sheer outrageous nerve to go out and do it....a requiem not only to Julie but to FAT...It’s a matter of shame for the world of British architecture that, while many dumber practices flourish, it makes so little room for the likes of FAT. By Rowan Moore -- Charles Holland/FAT [images, links]- Observer (UK) |
MoMA does Latin American architecture: the High-Low chat with Alexandra Lange: ...objects that caught our attention, the things we think may have been overlooked and the ways in which we think this show is so important..."Architecture history can be very boxed up...This exhibit is just calling out for more unboxing." "Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955-80" By Carolina A. Miranda- Los Angeles Times |
2015 Street Architecture Prize Competition Winner: Foamspace by SecondMedia: ...selected due to its radical and innovative proposition that reframes architecture beyond form and financial structures beyond consumerism...addressing the IDEAS CITY Festival’s theme: The Invisible City.- Storefront for Art and Architecture / New Museum |
Announcing the 5 Special Honoree Awards of the 2015 A+Awards: Special Achievement Awards in acknowledgment of their contributions to the field of architecture and design. A+Awards Gala on Thursday, May 14. -- “Dare Greatly” presented by Cadillac: SsD; Firm of the Year: Reiulf Ramstad Architects; Impact: 14+ Foundation; Product: August Smart Lock; Advocate: The Lego Group [images]- Architizer |
Hot Tub Design Machine: Van Alen Institute launches its annual auction of out-of-the-box architectural experiences...with top critics, famed architects, and professionals in the arts and design fields...Bidding closes on Wednesday, May 20. Get your digital paddles ready. -- Charles Renfro; Bjarke Ingels; Norman Foster; Jeanne Gang [links]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Call for entries: 16th Annual AR Emerging Architecture Awards for excellence in completed work (international); cash prizes; deadline: August 28- Architectural Review (UK) |
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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] |
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