Today’s News - Tuesday, June 23, 2015
• It's a Guggenheim/Serpentine kind of day: Pogrebin and Carvajal report on the Guggenheim Helsinki competition winner, and the project that "has divided the city" for both economics and aesthetics: "What people hoped to see with the final designs was real 'wow' architecture. But that did not happen" (it's very black).
• Waite weighs in on Moreau Kusunoki Architects, the "Parisian newcomer" that beat five other finalists + The judges' comments on all the finalists (some ouches included).
• Wainwright weighs in on the Serpentine Pavilion, a "psychedelic pupa" that "architectural purists might sniff at - until they're sucked through the wormhole and swallowed inside SelgasCano's trippy womb" (that "will enjoy a sun-kissed retirement in Los Angeles").
• Heathcote finds the Serpentine "looks a bit of a bodge; taped together, perhaps a little leaky, ad hoc," but it's "also a terrifically enjoyable blast of candy-colored sweetness, a Pop Art kickback to a 1960s sensibility of disposability and playfulness."
• Bevan begs to differ: it's "among the Serpentine's least successful pavilions. It is all so disappointing," but "(almost) all is forgiven when the sun comes out - a transitory glimpse of what might have been."
• McGuirk (mostly) likes Koolhaas's Garage in Moscow: "Whether this is a good space for showing art is not yet proven" (not much to see yet, apart from Ping-Pong tables and "old ladies serving dumplings"). "Still, the building feels good."
• Saffron finds it is "at once outrageous and intriguing" that neighbors of a proposed apartment tower "decided to offer their money to the developer - if it would agree to hire a new architect": "Instead of lawyering up, we decided to architect up."
• Kennicott cheers the U.S. State Department finally replacing its "hostile, forbidding, unpleasant and unneighborly manifestation of the security regime run amok" with a new public front door.
• Hume hails West 8's new Queens Quay, "the best new street in Toronto - a thoroughfare for everyone - pedestrians, cyclists, skate boarders, roller bladers, babies in strollers, transit passengers, wheelchair users and, yes, drivers. It will take some getting used to."
• Developers are "conjuring up some pretty big ideas" for Chicago's Goose Island, which "could be a model for urban planning by 2025. The largely unchanged landscape, and its isolation, makes it one of the rarest urban planning opportunities in the country."
• Garlock pens an in-depth look at the history and the ongoing evolution of public interest architecture that "could help redefine the very definition of what an architect does," dissolving the boundary between "architect as artist" and "architect as social actor" (great read!).
• Bengaluru-based architect Demello recalls his many years learning from and working with Correa: "What struck me was his amazing intellectual perseverance, of him being continually dissatisfied and constantly wanting to break boundaries."
• Menking ponders the difference between computer drawings and hand rendering: "The real question is whether it is still necessary or even helpful for architects to know how to do a quick and simple hand sketch or rendering?" (schools of architecture: take note).
• Heathcote and Wainwright each cheer the Design Museum's Design of the Year - human organs on a microchip, though it begs "the question about how a nice chair or a coffee pot could ever win the prize again."
• Eyefuls of the WAF Building of the Year 2015 shortlist (338!) + Inside Awards 2015 World Interior of the Year shortlist (only 50).
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Design Is Unveiled for Guggenheim Helsinki: The relatively young husband-and-wife firm Moreau Kusunoki Architectes designed the project, which has divided the city largely because of concerns over its price of about $147 million...chosen from 1,715 anonymous submissions...“What people hoped to see with the final designs was real ‘wow’ architecture...But that did not happen." By Robin Pogrebin and Doreen Carvajal -- AGPS Architecture; Asif Khan; Fake Industries Architectural Agonism; Haas Cook Zemmrich Studio2050; SMAR Architects [images]- New York Times |
Young French practice wins Guggenheim Helsinki contest: Parisian newcomer Moreau Kusunoki Architects has seen off five other finalists + The judges’ comments. By Richard Waite -- AGPS Architecture; Fake Industries Architectural Agonism; Haas Cook Zemmrich STUDIO2050; SMAR Architecture Studio; Asif Khan [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Serpentine pavilion 2015: a rainbow wormhole ready to suck you into another dimension: A psychedelic pupa has landed in London, and its twisting tunnels were specially designed to be an Instagram paradise: ...the Guardian can exclusively reveal that [it] will enjoy a sun-kissed retirement in Los Angeles...Architectural purists might sniff at what looks like a kids’ funfair maze...until they’re sucked through the wormhole and swallowed inside Selgas Cano’s trippy womb. Oliver Wainwright -- SelgasCano [images]- Guardian (UK) |
Serpentine Pavilion 2015, Kensington Gardens: This year’s structure is an eloquent representation of the ambitions of its architects, SelgasCano: ...looks a bit of a bodge; taped together, perhaps a little leaky, ad hoc with an almost childlike sense of fun...also a terrifically enjoyable blast of candy-coloured sweetness, a Pop Art kickback to a 1960s sensibility of disposability and playfulness. By Edwin Heathcote [images]- Financial Times (UK) |
A clown's sleeve: You can imagine what the architects had in mind - a shifting kaleidoscope grotto or a brilliant chrysalis...Unfortunately, what’s been delivered is a clown’s sleeve. SelgasCano’s offering is among the Serpentine’s least successful pavilions...It is all so disappointing...However, (almost) all is forgiven when the sun comes out...a transitory glimpse of what might have been. By Robert Bevan [scroll down to Commentary]- Evening Standard (UK) |
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art by OMA: Pushing the Envelope: Rem Koolhaas revamps an industrial-size Soviet-era cafeteria...Whether this is a good space for showing art is not yet proven...Still, the building feels good...Perhaps not quite a contradiction, it is certainly curious to see a relic of Soviet public-spiritedness transformed into a symbol of oligarchic patronage. By Justin McGuirk- Architectural Record |
Taking on the cost of good design: ...apartment tower on the site of the Boyd Theater...developers seemed intent on erecting the equivalent of a college dorm...Appalled, neighbors...decided to offer their money to the developer...if it would agree to hire a new architect...The idea that a group of citizens would have to buy off a developer to produce an acceptable work of architecture is at once outrageous and intriguing...offers a way to keep the skyline from being blighted by mediocrity. By Inga Saffron -- Cecil Baker & Partners; Eimer Architecture- Philadelphia Inquirer |
A new front door opens up an insular enclave at U.S. State Department; ...for years the face it has put to Washington has been an architectural mess...a hostile, forbidding, unpleasant and unneighborly manifestation of the security regime run amok...new public front door - the U.S. Diplomacy Center will include a shimmering pavilion housing a museum and an underground cafe, bookstore and event space. By Philip Kennicott -- Beyer Blinder Belle [images]- Washington Post |
New Queens Quay a redesign for everyone: ...has been civilized...isn't just the best new street in Toronto, it's the most democratic...a thoroughfare for everyone. That means pedestrians, cyclists, skate boarders, roller bladers, babies in strollers, transit passengers, wheelchair users and, yes, drivers. It will take some getting used to..."The legal and political issues made it almost impossible. But this is the future.” By Christopher Hume -- Adriaan Geuze/West 8- Toronto Star |
This neighborhood could be a model for urban planning by 2025: On the industrial sliver of Goose Island, developers are conjuring up some pretty big ideas...The largely unchanged landscape, and its isolation, makes it one of the rarest urban planning opportunities in the country... -- R2; Port Urbanism [great interactive]- Crain's Chicago Business |
Good Design: A public interest movement redefines architecture: ...public interest architecture...architects have needed to convince potential clients in the social sector...that design offers something tangible...could help redefine the very definition of what an architect does...break down the traditional idea that the “architect as artist” is entirely separate from the “architect as social actor.” By Stephanie Garlock -- Michael Maltzan Architecture; Theresa Hwang; Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship; Loeb Fellowship; John Peterson/Public Architecture/The 1%; Auburn Rural Studio; Architecture for Humanity; Perkins+Will; Toshiko Mori Architect; John Cary; Shigeru Ban;Michael Murphy/Alan Ricks/MASS Design Group; Bryan Bell/Design Corps; SEED/Social Economic Environmental Design; Maurice Cox- Harvard Magazine |
Memories of a master architect: Bengaluru-based architect Edgar Demello who was closely associated with Charles Correa and the Charles Correa Foundation recalls a titan of his time: What struck me was his amazing intellectual perseverance, of him being continually dissatisfied and constantly wanting to break boundaries.- Bangalore Mirror (India) |
To draw by hand or by mouse? Do computer drawings have the intimacy and poetry of the best hand rendering? The real question is whether it is still necessary or even helpful for architects to know how to do a quick and simple hand sketch or rendering? ...schools of architecture should not take a one-size-fits-all approach... By William Menking -- Richard Meier; Michael Graves; J. Michael Welton/"Drawing From Practice"- The Architect's Newspaper |
Human organ on microchip wins Design Museum’s Design of the Year award: The purpose might seem benign, even revolutionary...It might also, however, ask the question about how a nice chair or a coffee pot could ever win the prize again. The dividing line between invention and design can be blurry and problematic yet it is also impossible not to agree with the judges that this is an astonishing design...that could have a real impact on human life. By Edwin Heathcote- Financial Times (UK) |
The end of animal testing? Human-organs-on-chips win Design of the Year: They may look like humble little blocks, but these miracle devices could end animal testing, revolutionise the development of new drugs – and lead us into a world of entirely personalised medicine...the first time the award has gone to a design from the field of medicine... By Oliver Wainwright- Guardian (UK) |
WAF Building of the Year 2015 shortlist announced: 338 projects shortlisted for awards at this year's World Architecture Festival- Dezeen |
Shortlist [of 50] announced for Inside Awards 2015 World Interior of the Year [images]- Dezeen |
A Conversation with HOK's Kenneth Drucker re: Architect-US Professional Career Training Program: The design principal of HOK's New York City office discusses the benefits of participating in the program for both U.S.-based firms and young international architects.- ArchNewsNow.com |
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"Snøhetta - World Architecture" at the Danish Architecture Centre in Copenhagen: ...gives a unique insight to the talented people, crazy projects and the alternative thinking that have gained this Norwegian architecture firm worldwide fame...inviting you to step into Snøhetta's office, workshops and universe. June 18 - September 27 [images] |
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