Today’s News - Tuesday, June 16, 2015
• Tributes abound for Gowan, a "great teacher and fine architect" - "no one escaped his ruthless Glaswegian humor."
• Perhaps not dead, but the New South Wales Government Architect's Office "faces decimation" with the staff going from 120 to 12 (that doesn't bode well, does it?).
• Stead Sellers delves deep into Baltimore's "best shot at redemption" - an "irrepressible experiment in urban revitalization that is the city's arts district," which hopes it "can help turn Bulletmore, Murderland, back into Charm City" (a fascinating read).
• Gunts (he's back!) cheers Miller's Court winning the Bruner Gold Medal, "a reminder, after the April riot and civil unrest, that Baltimore is a place where good things can happen, when there is the will to make it so. And there's more to come" (another great read).
• A great presentation of all the Bruner Award for Urban Excellence winners.
• Brake says "Piano has not made a building to love," but the new Whitney is "a big building that never succumbs to gigantism - a viewer-centric space" that is "enriching rather than exhausting."
• Russell ponders historic preservation in NYC, and whether the "single-issue obsessives who saved the library, the Frick, and the Four Seasons" are missing the bigger picture - the many small scale, "doomed" gems that "lend civility to a part of the city being overwhelmed by overscaled, lowest-common-denominator monstrosities."
• O'Hagan hails Victorian-era "gasworks wonders" that are disappearing, and cheers the many "champions of their stark formalist beauty - and some ingenious repurposing. Can the gasometer find a new function in our globally corporate age?"
• Heller has some interesting insights into Google's "architectural per-Plexity" and its "monastic vision for the future of work": "it turns out that future-proofed life looks a lot like the vacuum-packed present" ("giant lizard tank" included).
• Meanwhile, word is that the Heatherwick/BIG team might be tapped to take over from AHMM on Google's London HQ (now word whether giant lizard tanks would be included).
• Lamster laments missed opportunities in two new Dallas hospitals that "represent both the best intentions of contemporary health care design and also some of its continuing weaknesses" - even with $2+ billion, they "lack human touch."
• How an architect is the "public face" of the planning team racing against the "deadline to deliver a new venue plan for Boston's bid for the 2024 Summer Games" (no one we know in Boston really wants to win).
• Tarr explains why "architects who don't learn to use game theory are missing out on a valuable tool," and "how John Nash's beautiful mind could live on in a new generation of buildings."
• A Corbu tapestry commissioned by Utzon finally makes its way home to the Sydney Opera House (such a saga!).
• The British Design Council's "much needed" Design for Service Innovation & Development report examines the growth of service design - internationally.
• The Ford Foundation shifts its grant-making focus to a "social-justice infrastructure" that will look at "not just at wealth, race, ethnicity, and gender, but also access to technology and the arts."
• In India, the newly-formed MN Sharma Architectural Society plans to "promote and liaison between Indian and foreign architectural, design and city planning organizations, and develop a body of research on Chandigarh and modern architecture."
• Call for entries: Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowships for community designers (NYCHA added, and extended deadline) + London Public Library international competition for students and young architects.
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Obituary: James Gowan: 1923-2015: Tributes flow in for ‘great teacher and fine architect’...who has died aged 92...will be forever associated with James Stirling, although they were only partners for seven years....“no one escaped his ruthless Glaswegian humour." -- Ellis Woodman; Gillian Darley; Tony Fretton- BD/Building Design (UK) |
NSW Government Architect’s Office faces decimation: ...will be a major casualty in a proposed restructure of the Public Works department. Up to 90% of the Office’s staff will be lost...going from 120 staff to just 12...will transition from its design and construct role to one of strategic design advice to help the government on infrastructure projects.- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
After the riots, Baltimore’s best shot at redemption may be its arts community: ...combating what many people here refer to as Baltimore’s “perception problem” - and whether...a bohemian revitalization project can help turn Bulletmore, Murderland, back into Charm City...the irrepressible experiment in urban revitalization that is Baltimore’s arts district today. By Frances Stead Sellers- Washington Post |
Urban landscape: Ex-tin can factory receives 2015 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Gold Medal: In a city beset by urban problems, Miller’s Court offers some solutions...a reminder, six weeks after the April riot and civil unrest, that Baltimore is a place where good things can happen, when there is the will to make it so...And there’s more to come. By Edward Gunts -- Marks, Thomas Architects [images]- Baltimore Brew |
Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence 2015 Medalists: $50,000 Gold Medal: Miller's Court, Baltimore, MD: Silver Medals ($10,000 each): Falls Park on the Reedy, Greenville, SC; Grand Rapids Downtown Market; Quixote Village, Olympia, WA; Uptown District, Cleveland, OH -- Marks, Thomas Architects; Andrea Mains (1987)/Rosales+Partners; Hugh A. Boyd Architects; Garner Miller/MSGS Architects; Stanley Saitowitz/Natoma Architects; Farshid Moussavi; James Corner Field Operations; Chan Krieger Associates (now NBBJ)- Bruner Foundation |
Crit> Whitney Museum of American Art: Renzo Piano has not made a building to love, but one in which the art viewing experience is given priority...a viewer-centric space. It’s a big building that never succumbs to gigantism...perhaps the most satisfying museum environment among the city’s large art museums. It’s enriching rather than exhausting. By Alan G. Brake -- Cooper Robertson & Partners [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Historic Preservation: Fighting the Wrong Battles? Unfortunately the challenges...don’t lend themselves to the single-issue obsessives who saved the library, the Frick, and the Four Seasons...Mainly small scale, the doomed lend civility to a part of the city being overwhelmed by overscaled, lowest-common-denominator monstrosities...Preservation is one tool among several...If we demand responsive and innovative ways of approaching scale, context, and quality in new construction, we’ll see less junk developed to last only through its financing cycle. By James S. Russell -- Carrere & Hastings; Davis Brody Bond; Russell Page; Mies van der Rohe; Philip Johnson- jamessrussell.net |
Gasworks wonders: The urban landscape is changing for ever as hundreds of iconic Victorian gas holders disappear across the UK and Europe. But champions of their stark formalist beauty are many – and some ingenious repurposing is already afoot, from King’s Cross to Vienna...Can the gasometer find a new function in our globally corporate age? By Sean O'Hagan -- Bell Phillips architects; Morwenna Wilson [images]- Guardian (UK) |
Google’s Monastic Vision for the Future of Work: ...[its] architectural per-Plexity offers certain windows onto Silicon Valley’s changing ideas about work culture and corporate community...it turns out that future-proofed life looks a lot like the vacuum-packed present...Can one work in a giant lizard tank while doing acute, innovative work that serves the world outside the glass? ...imaginative life is more often at home in walkups, in the messy parts of town. By Nathan Heller -- Thomas Heatherwick; BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group [images]- New Yorker |
Heatherwick and BIG to take over from AHMM on Google job: ...could be set to takeover from Allford Hall Monaghan Morris on delayed King’s Cross HQ...reworked scheme could see a variant of the duo’s US proposal of ‘lightweight block-like structures’ brought to the UK.- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Growing pains at new Dallas hospitals: Modern new Parkland, UTSW buildings lack human touch: ...represent both the best intentions of contemporary health care design and also some of its continuing weaknesses...suggests just how sadly ingrained Dallas’ corporate culture has become in the city’s design consciousness...As sculpture Parkland Memorial Hospital is bold, but as architecture it is alienating...Clements comes closest to achieving something close to the luxury resort paradigm. By Mark Lamster -- HDR/Corgan; RTKL [images]- Dallas Morning News |
Architect becomes key figure in Boston’s Olympic bid: David Manfredi is an essential member - and a public face - of a planning team racing against a June 30 deadline to deliver a new venue plan for Boston’s bid for the 2024 Summer Games. -- Elkus Manfredi; CBT; WilsonOwensOwens Architects; Populous- Boston Globe |
How John Nash’s Beautiful Mind could live on in a new generation of buildings: Adam Tarr of Mzo Tarr Architects argues that architects who don’t learn to use game theory are missing out on a valuable tool: ...cannot predict the future but...an invaluable way of understanding the principles of decision-making and outcomes.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Corb’s lost tapestry comes ‘home’ to Sydney Opera House: Le Corbusier’s little known tapestry commissioned by Jørn Utzon...will finally be installed in its intended place. The Sydney Opera House acquired the tapestry with the help of philanthropists at an auction in Copenhagen... [images]- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
DeSID report examines the growth of service design: A much needed recent report Design for Service Innovation & Development (DeSID) takes a rigorous look at service design through six case studies and a survey of 49 design agencies internationally.- Design Council (UK) |
Ford Foundation Shifts Grant Making to Focus Entirely on Inequality: ...a "social-justice infrastructure"...hopes that providing support without strings attached will help make organizations more "durable" and allow them more leeway in designing their own programs...looking not just at wealth, race, ethnicity, and gender but also access to technology and the arts.- The Chronicle of Philanthropy |
UT's [Union Territory] first Indian chief architect launches society on Chandigarh: M N Sharma Architectural Society will set up, promote and liaison between Indian and foreign architectural, design and city planning organisations, fund scholarships...and develop a body of research on Chandigarh and modern architecture.- Times of India |
Call for entries: Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship: five organizations across the US seeking community designers for three-year fellowship; New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA); Denver Housing Authority; Capitol Hill Housing, Seattle; Hudson River Housing, Poughkeepsie, NY; Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, Porcupine, SD; application deadline (extended): July 26- Enterprise Community Partners |
Call for entries: London Public Library international architectural competition for students and young architects; cash prizes; earlybird registration deadline (save money!): July 19 (submissions due September 27)- ArchMedium |
ANN feature: Keeping Supertalls Grounded, Connected: Q&A with SWA's John Wong, FASLA, FAAR: Tall buildings "are beautiful, sleek structures, truly awe-inspiring, but a lot of a building's long-term economic success is dependent on the integration and beauty at the ground level." [images]- ArchNewsNow.com |
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