Today’s News - Wednesday, May 4, 2016
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's a Jane Jacobs kind of day, which explains why we're posting a bit late - tons of coverage to sift through and select the most pithy, enlightening - and amusing. If you happen to be in NYC today, CNU New York's Jane Jacobs Centennial Pub Crawl starts at 7:00 under the Washington Square Arch, and will end at the White Horse Tavern (where else!).
• Stephens talks to some noted notables about why Jacobs is as "timeless as ever - she makes architects think about all the elements of cities that aren't buildings."
• Nevius, Micallef, Lange, and Sisson weigh in on Jacobs's activism and influence in New York and Toronto, her legacy as a pop culture character, and her impact on today's architects and urban planners.
• Moskowitz, on the other hand, explains why it's time to "bulldoze Jane Jacobs," and "stop glorifying her theories - we have to recognize the limits of her philosophies and the limits of the ways in which we've interpreted and remembered them."
• Pedersen x 2: fascinating Q&As with Florida, who talks about Jacobs and her lasting influence on his work, and Duany re: "why we need both Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses."
• McArdle tracks down why the chapter on Jacobs went missing in Caro's "The Power Broker."
• Fabry offers Time's take - with links to the magazine's Jacobs coverage from the 1960s to its (rather brief) 2006 obituary.
• Paletta ponders why the "struggles between Jacobs and Moses" still "loom large in the popular consciousness."
• Gunts offers a great round-up of events around the world celebrating Jane's birthday (not just today's).
• One we couldn't resist: Jane is today's Google Doodle (end of Jane Day stuff).
• George Lucas may start looking for a new city to park his museum if things don't turn around in Chicago: "If the museum is forced to leave, it will be because of the Friends of the Parks and that is no victory for anyone."
• Goldberger eloquently reflects on Hadid: "Now that she is gone, we can only guess what her imagination would have yielded. We can know only that it would have been different from anything that we had seen before."
• Brussat tried to walk in Hadid's shoes but "they did not fit," so "to avoid speaking ill of the dead, I spoke ill, very ill, of her industry."
• Lesser, whose Louis Kahn biography comes out next year, visits his Yale Center for British Art after its eight-year renovation: "the good news is that you can barely see the difference."
• Lange tours Breuer's Bronx Community College campus where, in five hidden gems, "you can see Breuer becoming Breuer" (fab photos!).
• In Melbourne, the Brutalist Block Party launches a month-long campaign "designed to bring the unpopular building style into the spotlight."
• Talk about hidden gems: a 1940s hidden gem of a ceiling by Noguchi is uncovered and restored - in a St. Louis U-Haul store (of all places!).
• Venice Biennale buzz: ArcSpace's Martin queries curator Boemio re: her ambitions for "Diminished Capacity," the theme for Nigeria's first-ever pavilion.
• Bernstein parses Davidson and Ponce de Leon's U.S. pavilion plans for "The Architectural Imagination," where "Motown meets Venice."
• Urquhart queries Bose, Self, and Williams re: the British Pavilion's "Home Economics," and "their motivation to bring domestic architecture, economic realities and socio-cultural concerns together for the Biennale."
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Jane Jacobs: 100 and Timeless as Ever: Even as the planning profession has roundly embraced Jacobs’s ideas, the resurrection of the American city remains a work in progress...the historical moment that gave rise to Jacobs is still happening...[She] makes architects think about all the elements of cities that aren’t buildings. By Josh Stephens -- Robert A.M. Stern; Lorcan O’Herlihy; Michael Sorkin; Richard Sennett; Stefanos Polyzoides/Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU); Thom Mayne/Morphosis; Saskia Sassen [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Celebrating Jane Jacobs: Today, in honor of what would have been Jacobs’s 100th birthday...we’ve asked a number of writers and illustrators to cover significant aspects of her life. By James Gulliver Hancock; James Nevius, Shawn Micallef, Alexandra Lange, Patrick Sisson- Curbed |
Bulldoze Jane Jacobs: It’s time to stop glorifying her theories: ...we have to recognize the limits of her philosophies and the limits of the ways in which we’ve interpreted and remembered them...Urban planning associations and schools seem unconcerned with the harder parts of [her] mission...If we want to celebrate Jacobs, it’s time to move beyond her. By Peter Moskowitz- Slate |
Q&A: Richard Florida on the Enduring Legacy of Jane Jacobs: In celebration of the Jacobs centennial, the noted urbanist and author talks about the legend, their close relationship in her later years, and her lasting influence on his work. By Martin C. Pedersen- Common Edge |
Q&A: Andres Duany on Why We Need Both Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses: Given the urgency of climate change, the planner insists that both bottom-up and top-down planning approaches need to be used. By Martin C. Pedersen- Common Edge |
Filling in the Blanks of Jane Jacobs’ Missing Chapter: I read Robert Caro’s 1974 "The Power Broker" because I wanted to learn more about Jane Jacobs...there is no Jane Jacobs inside...“There are two entire chapters that were cut out that I’m sorry about,” Robert Caro [said]. “One was on Jane Jacobs stopping the Lower Manhattan Expressway...Jane wanted to ask me what it was like to meet him. I wanted to ask her, what it was like to beat him.” By Molly McArdle- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
Defending Vibrant City Life: Jane Jacobs at 100: ...her work transformed how people understood city planning: “No matter. Despite her mistakes, Jane Jacobs, operating as curmudgeon and gadfly, had taken grandiose assumptions of city planning and stood them on their ears with invigorating effect.” The effect has only continued... By Merrill Fabry- Time Magazine |
Jane Jacobs v Robert Moses, battle of New York's urban titans: The struggles between Jacobs and Moses loom large in the popular consciousness. The subject of books by Roberta Brandes-Gratz and Anthony Flint, [and] in what is surely the world’s first opera about an urban planning dispute, "A Marvelous Order"...[she] has, perhaps more than any other, offered inspiration to those informed that plans drawn up in the corridors of power will require them to move elsewhere. Simply say “no”. By Anthony Paletta- Guardian (UK) |
Events across the world honor the centennial of Jane Jacobs’s birthday: Architects and urban planners on at least four continents are organizing a series of talks, walks, and other events to celebrate Jacobs’s life and impact...What would Jacobs think about all this? "To have her so celebrated, I would imagine she would be a little embarrassed by all the attention.” By Edward Gunts- The Architect's Newspaper |
Jane Jacobs’ 100th birthday honored in today's Google Doodle [images]- Google |
George Lucas looking outside Chicago as parks group opposes any lakefront museum sites: Despite agreeing to a pause in the federal court case against the original Lucas Museum site, Friends of the Parks...continues to oppose any project on the Chicago lakeshore, including the newly proposed McCormick Place location..."If the museum is forced to leave, it will be because of the Friends of the Parks and that is no victory for anyone."- Chicago Tribune |
Remembering Zaha Hadid: Reflecting on the impact of the architect’s visionary work and larger-than-life persona: Now that she is gone, the process of disconnecting her work from her charismatic presence will begin...It is impossible to know where her creative energy...would have led her...we can only guess what her imagination would have yielded...We can know only that it would have been different from anything that we had seen before. By Paul Goldberger- Architectural Record |
Walking in Modernist Shoes: Zaha Hadid: I tried to walk in her shoes. They did not fit...I could not bring myself to praise her work. So to avoid speaking ill of the dead, I spoke ill, very ill, of her industry, and wished that her death might inspire its practitioners to introspection. But walk in her shoes? I will try again...It is a daunting task. By David Brussat- Traditional Building Magazine / Period Homes |
Whispers of Louis Kahn’s Vision at the Yale Center for British Art: After a decade of planning, eight years of renovation and a 16-month closure, [it] reopens to the public on May 11. And for those who have loved this award-winning museum since it first opened in 1977...the good news is that you can barely see the difference. By Wendy Lesser -- George Knight/Knight Architecture; Peter Inskip; Stephen Gee- New York Times |
Touring Marcel Breuer's Bronx Community College Campus, a Hidden NYC Gem: The ability to think simultaneously of the brontosaurus-scale picture and the small, hard-as-rock detail is a hallmark of [his] work...at Colston Hall and the other four buildings that are now part of [the] College’s University Heights campus, you can see Breuer becoming Breuer...created some great concrete moments...but it is graceful touches...that stick with you. By Alexandra Lange [images]- Curbed |
Month-long campaign to focus on reviving brutalist architecture across Australia: Supporters of brutalist architecture are attempting to revive the much-maligned building style...Brutalist Block Party [in Melbourne] designed to bring the unpopular building style into the spotlight.- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
First Look: Space-Age Noguchi Ceiling Uncovered in St. Louis U-Haul Store: A six-month renovation process uncovered a '40s gem by the famed Modernist designer. By Patrick Sisson [images]- Curbed |
Venice Biennale Curator Series: "Diminished Capacity" is the debut appearance of Nigeria...intends to analyze a historical transition moment in Africa with the ambition to rewrite history...Q&A with Camilla Boemio, pavilion curator...[re:] her ambitions for this momentous occasion. By Robert Martin [images]- ArcSpace |
Motown Meets Venice: ...Alejandro Aravena asked curators to focus on projects that “improve the quality of the built environment and life and consequently people’s quality of life"...Cynthia Davidson and Monica Ponce de Leon, curators of the U.S. pavilion...were already working on a program that answered Aravena’s call....the pavilion...will contain speculative designs by 12 architecture firms for four sites in Detroit..."The Architectural Imagination"... By Fred A. Bernstein -- Stan Allen; Preston Scott Cohen; Marshall Brown Projects; Pita & Bloom; Greg Lynn FORM; Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects; A(n)Office; T+E+A+M [images]- Architectural Record |
Previewing the 2016 Venice Biennale: the British Pavilion's "Home Economics": ...the curatorial team aims to bring bring tackle the current housing crisis afresh by reevaluating domestic life as it is today....Q&A re: their motivation to bring domestic architecture, economic realities and socio-cultural concerns together for the Biennale. By Robert Urquhart -- Shumi Bose/Jack Self/Real Estate Architecture Laboratory (REAL); Finn Williams/Common Office; Åyr; Black Square; Dogma; Julia King; Hesselbrand- Archinect |
A Filtered View #5: Jet Fuel: The perfect client offers up enough fuel to run the design jets at the most optimum level. By Charles F. Bloszies, FAIA- ArchNewsNow.com |
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