Today’s News - Thursday, May 12, 2016
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow will be a no-newsletter day - we'll be back Monday, May 16 (and just heads-up that it will be a short news week - we're heading to Philly for the AIA convention next Wednesday).
• Wainwright offers eloquent praise for Knight Architecture's "masterful makeover" of Louis Kahn's Yale Center for British Art: "Kahn's sharply crafted temple of art feels as fresh as the day it opened in 1977" (moths and butterflies included).
• Lubell lauds the YCBA's "sensitive restoration" that "deftly balances incongruous elements and lets the architecture speak louder than any of its collective insertions."
• McGlone and Kennicott give us a sneak peek at the Smithsonian's African American museum by Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup, with "soaring spaces and magical views" that promise to make it "an instant favorite" when it opens in September.
• Design leaders and "path-breaking" design institutions and practices parse whether impact design can be measured - and how to do it.
• Litman offers statistical ammunition for Smart Growth advocates to sell its benefits to residents, businesses, and local governments.
• Wainwright continues his U.S. tour with a visit to Soleri's utopian Arcosanti, and meets the "volunteers who haven't given up hope in his fusion of architecture and ecology" (several who have been there since the 1970s).
• Schindler tells the fascinating tale of The Architects Housing in Trenton, NJ, that opened in 1979 and "has largely faded into obscurity," but to those who live there, "it remains as clean and bright as the day it was finished - thanks in no small part to the folks who run it: architects."
• Moore meets up with the Williams, Self, and Bose to talk about their plans for the Biennale's British Pavilion, and "their radical solutions" that "could transform our ideas of what we expect from a house."
• Brussat cheers Dickinson's "brilliant essay" about architecture's Trump moment, but disagrees that "it has little to do with style. The entire essay is a deft dodging of the fact that it is indeed all about style."
• A look at why architects lose money through poor negotiating skills, and what strategies can keep them from becoming "entrapped in downward fee pressure."
• Graham Foundation Grants are awarded to 59 "innovative projects engaging original ideas in architecture" (very cool stuff!).
• Weekend diversions:
• A roundup of the NYCxDesign festival underway now through next Tuesday across New York's five boroughs (so much design, so little time!).
• A look at what's behind Melbourne's "What's the Beef with Brutalism" and the "Brutalist Block Party" that "celebrate a most contentious architectural movement."
• "Unbuilt Edinburgh" (in Edinburgh) lifts the lid on "250 years' worth of ditched designs, rejected visions and unsuccessful competition entries which could have shaped the 'Athens of the North' entirely differently."
• Eyefuls (by Baan) of a French artist's playful covering for "Gehry's Parisian garden folly" that Goldberger describes as "a case of art overtaking architecture."
• Welton is totally wow'd by Locktov's "Dream of Venice: Architecture" it's "a gem, a vision and a little slice of heaven" filled with eloquent essays (by some of our faves) and "ethereally scrumptious photography" by De Cal (we agree!).
• Bullivant and Ermacora's "Recoded City" delves into 43 "exemplars of grassroots placemaking" that show "how the power of today's global, ubiquitous information technology can serve the interests of the hyper-local."
• Marron's "City Squares" offers 18 perspectives that "expand upon the contrasting functions of public space."
• Frampton reviews Baird's "Writings on Architecture and the City" + Baird reviews Frampton's "A Genealogy of Modern Architecture."
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Yale Center for British Art: deft incisions give Louis Kahn a masterful makeover: After a $33m, eight-year-long refurbishment, [it] has been respectfully updated - but with so much deference can you tell the difference? Kahn’s sharply crafted temple of art feels as fresh as the day it opened in 1977. By Oliver Wainwright -- Knight Architecture; Peter Inskip; Stephen Gee; Pellecchia and Meyers- Guardian (UK) |
Louis Kahn's renovated Yale Center for British Art unveiled: ...an astonishing example of Kahn’s unparalleled gift for eliciting visceral emotion through pure volume, light, and materials...sensitive restoration...deftly balances incongruous elements like roughness and refinement, compression and expansion, and lets the architecture speak louder than any of its collective insertions. By Sam Lubell -- Knight Architecture [images]- Wallpaper* |
A first look inside the Smithsonian’s African American museum: Stunning views, grand scale: ...promises to become an instant favorite...its soaring spaces and magical views of the Mall a fitting setting for its tale of African American history and achievement...“It’s going to be dramatic"...It already is. By Peggy McGlone and Philip Kennicott -- Ralph Appelbaum; David Adjaye; Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup [images, video]- Washington Post |
Measuring Impact: Can impact from design be measured? Design leaders from IDEO.org, AIGA, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Design Impact Group at Dalberg and other pathbreaking design institutions and practices take on the challenge for Impact Design Hub's new Measuring Impact series.- Impact Design Hub (formerly PublicInterestDesign.org) |
Selling Smart Growth: ...can provide many direct benefits to residents, businesses and local governments. Our challenge is to better answer the question that many stakeholders ask, "What’s in it for me?" ...benefits are often overlooked or undervalued...advocates can increase support for Smart Growth by providing better information about these benefits. By Todd Litman- PLANetizen |
Arcosanti - the unfinished answer to suburban sprawl; Four decades on, Paolo Soleri’s revolutionary Arizona desert vision of super-dense living remains a work in progress...A product of the utopian counter-cultural energy of the 1970s...the manifestation of Soleri’s allergic reaction to what he saw as the toxic disease of American suburban sprawl. By Oliver Wainwright [images]- Guardian (UK) |
When Architects Run Your Building: The Architects Housing: ...this unusual senior home in [Trenton, NJ]...once thought to be a new paradigm in housing...In the years since its 1979 opening, [it] has largely faded into obscurity. To those who call it home, however, it remains as clean and bright as the day it was finished - thanks in no small part to the folks who run it: architects. By Susanne Schindler -- Geddes Brecher Qualls Cunningham [images]- Urban Omnibus |
Housing: rethinking inside the box: The young curators of the British pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale aren’t officially recognised as architects, but their radical solutions for ‘Generation Rent’ could transform our ideas of what we expect from a house: ..."Home Economics"...will be structured around the theme of time more than space... By Rowan Moore -- Finn Williams; Jack Self; Shumi Bose- Observer (UK) |
Architects’ Trump moment? Duo Dickinson has a brilliant essay - “Will Architecture Have Its Donald Trump Moment?” ...compares the Republican establishment in politics to the modernist establishment in architecture...[he] says it has little to do with style...The entire essay is a deft dodging of the fact that it is indeed all about style. By David Brussat- Architecture Here and There |
Are Architects Losing Money through Poor Negotiation? ...what strategies can be put in place in order to a deliver successful outcome...many architects are not aware of common negotiating strategies and tend to become entrapped in downward fee pressure.- Sourceable |
Graham Foundation Announces 2016 Grants to Individuals: Over $490,000 awarded to support 59 innovative projects engaging original ideas in architecture...94 individuals representing 42 countries.- Graham Foundation (Chicago) |
Seven unmissable exhibitions during New York design week: ...the annual NYCxDesign festival is underway...runs until May 17 across New York's five boroughs...International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), Wanted Design in both Brooklyn and Manhattan, designjunction + Dwell on Design, as well a host of smaller shows and presentations.- Dezeen |
Melbourne celebrates a most contentious architectural movement: ...divisive nature of Brutalism, an architectural style that seems to split people into either impassioned advocates or disparagers...while the fight rages in Sydney, the mood in Melbourne is quite different...What’s the Beef with Brutalism and the Brutalist Block Party...hopes to provide an appreciation through education and awareness raising... [through 29 May]- The Fifth Estate (Australia) |
"Unbuilt Edinburgh": Exhibition of architectural sketches show lost visions of Edinburgh: Now the lid has been lifted on 250 years’ worth of ditched designs, rejected visions and unsuccessful competition entries which could have shaped the “Athens of the North” entirely differently; at Architecture and Design Scotland, Edinburgh [images]- The Scotsman (UK) |
Daniel Buren Reimagines Frank Gehry's Fondation Louis Vuitton: The French artist playfully covers Gehry's Parisian garden folly in 13 colors: ...a vibrant, multicolored kaleidoscope..."L'Observatoire de la Lumière"...Paul Goldberger...describing Buren's work..."For all the accusations of architecture overwhelming the art, here's a case of art overtaking architecture." [images by Iwan Baan]- Architect Magazine |
Venice Architecture in Photos and Prose: JoAnn Locktov’s "Dream of Venice: Architecture" is a gem, a vision and a little slice of heaven: ...36 essays...accompanied by what can only be described as ethereally scrumptious photography by Riccardo De Cal...donating a portion of its proceeds to the Foundation Querini Stampalia...If ever there were a worthy cause, this book is it. The fact that it is a compelling read and a visual feast is simply a bonus. By J. Michael Welton [images]- Huffington Post |
Are we seeing a new epoch of urban design? The use of digital fabrication technology to foster people-centred, bottom-up development is championed in "Recoded City: Co-creating Urban Futures" by Thomas Ermacora and Lucy Bullivant: ...43 projects...exemplars of grassroots placemaking achieved through...participation by local residents and users collaborating with professionals...showing how the power of today’s global, ubiquitous information technology can serve the interests of the hyper-local... By Alan Gordon- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
What Public Squares Mean for Cities: A new essay collection offers 18 perspectives on how these open spaces function: "City Squares" edited by Catie Marron...expands upon...contrasting functions of public space...touches mainly on those places that have names, that might be recognized from maps or lessons.- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
'Writings on Architecture and the City": Kenneth Frampton reviews George Baird's new book: Baird’s closely argued criticism seems to be as pertinent now as it was in the late 1960s, although one is less certain that his equally pervasive optimism about the future of the city will prove to be justified.- Architectural Record |
"A Genealogy of Modern Architecture: Comparative Critical Analysis of Built Form": George Baird reviews Kenneth Frampton's new book: The process of analysis is illuminating in unexpected ways...It is an extraordinarily useful book and deserves a place beside the computer of every reflective practitioner, teacher, and student in our field.- Architectural Record |
ANN feature: SFMOMA and Us: How Botta and Snøhetta each captured something about who we are - as dueling outlooks on our relationship to the world. By Geoffrey Scott Gainer [images]- ArchNewsNow.com |
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Breathe Architecture: The Commons, Melbourne, Australia: ...a raw and captivating piece of architecture. It's also the prototype for a new development model, called Nightingale...It sits in stark contrast to current housing models, which remain unaffordable and conservative in their ambitions. [images] |
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