Today’s News - Tuesday, July 5, 2016
• Kamin considers the "lessons for city-building" between the sad Lucas Museum saga and the Obamas' pick to design a presidential library: one chose "an architect who does look-at-me, iconic buildings"; the other chose "architecture that values subtle experience over the sugar high of eye candy - Chicago could be in for a treat."
• Capps sees the logic in choosing TWBT to design the Obama library: the firm "is as cool under pressure as Obama" - if anyone "can navigate the cultural politics of seizing cultural park space," it's Williams and Tsien.
• The "Brexit fallout begins" as architects see their "fears confirmed after a number of firms made job losses."
• Dittmar revisits Jane Jacobs' "Dark Age Ahead" and ponders whether smart urban design can "tackle the rise of nationalism" in the "disaffected communities who voted for Brexit."
• Iovine is quite taken with OMA's Pierre Lassonde Pavilion at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec - "a glinting stacked-glass ornament, both monumental and modest; glamorous in parts and unpretentious overall" ("requisite architectural eye candy" and an astounding underground tunnel included).
• Q&A with Scheeren re: "weird buildings," his critics, and "how Asia can lead the way in building cities that change the way we interact."
• A fascinating conversation with Safdie and Moriyama, the "now elegant lions in winter," re: Canada's big architectural gamble on two young architects 50 years ago; such a gamble "seems unimaginable today."
• Keskeys offers an interesting take on the eternal "Less Is More" vs. "Less Is a Bore" debate.
• Lamster at his long-form best re: "the saga of Paul Rudolph's forgotten attempt to reinvent the skyscraper, hidden in plain sight in Dallas" (per his e-mail to us).
• Kohlstedt delves into some creative reuse of abandoned big-box stores: "no one cares about what happens to unloved structures, making them perfect candidates for complete transformations."
• Eyefuls of the MRY-led team's winning design for the new College of Architecture and Design at Wenzhou-Kean University in China.
• In Sacramento, a long-shuttered Beaux Arts-style power plant will be converted into a STEM center, "seen as the lynchpin of a post-industrial, regional science and culture greenway."
• Two we couldn't resist: Hosey is hilarious re: the set design for the Republican Convention: "If the designers had been asked to create a setting that signals the chaos of this campaign, they could not have done it better" ("steps to a temple" included).
• Shapton and Maak tell the poignant tales of houses "that love built - the culmination of passionate affairs" for Vitti, Gray, and FLW, that became the places the affairs ended.
• Zaha Hadid Architects and Glenn Howells Architects are the finalists now vying to design a new stadium in Gloucestershire, UK, set to be the centerpiece of a £100 million, 100-acre sports and green technology business park.
• It's a very longgggg shortlist vying for LEAF Awards 2016, and LEAF International gives Calatrava the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Some fabulous finalists in the Rosa Barba International Landscape Prize.
• Call for entries: EOI: K2K International Urban Design Competition to identify the best plans for Kingsford and Kensington Town Centres, Sydney.
| |
|
|
|
To subscribe to the free daily newsletter
click here
|
Lucas, Obama and lessons for city-building: George Lucas picked an architect who does look-at-me, iconic buildings...the Obamas cast a vote in favor of architecture that values craft over computer-driven blobs, subtle experience over the sugar high of eye candy, and quiet clusters of buildings over singular structures that scream for attention...Chicago could be in for a treat. By Blair Kamin -- Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects- Chicago Tribune |
Obama's Taste in Architecture Is as Measured as His Administration: The firm chosen to design the newest presidential library is as cool under pressure as Obama: If any architecture firm can navigate the cultural politics of the Obama Foundation seizing cultural park space...it’s Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. By Kriston Capps- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Architects shed jobs as Brexit fallout begins: Gloomy buyers’ forecast completes downbeat few days for industry: Architects fretting about future workloads following last week’s Brexit vote are seeing fears confirmed after a number of firms made job losses this week and a key survey said the wider construction industry had turned in its weakest performance for seven years.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Can smart urban design tackle the rise of nationalism? Jane Jacobs’ ideas about the role of the city in creating community cohesion and promoting sustainable development could be usefully applied to those disaffected communities who voted for Brexit: ..."Dark Age Ahead" in 2004...identified a number of long-term trends that should have caused some disquiet at the time... By Hank Dittmar- BD/Building Design (UK) |
A Glass House for Québecois Art: A museum with a local focus hopes a new addition will make it an international destination: The Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec...Pierre Lassonde Pavilion...a glinting stacked-glass ornament...both monumental and modest; glamorous in parts and unpretentious overall...the most innovative thought went into the 426-foot underground tunnel...treated as a prized and exciting space... BVy Julie Iovine -- Shohei Shigematsu/OMA; Provencher_Roy- Wall Street Journal |
Weird buildings? It's about higher quality living: The architect behind provocative designs like The Interlace in Singapore and MahaNakhon in Bangkok answers critics - and talks about how Asia can lead the way in building cities that change the way we interact. -- Büro Ole Scheeren [images]- Channel NewsAsia (Singapore) |
Safdie, Moriyama and Canada's big architectural dreams: Fifty years ago, a nation celebrating its centennial took major gambles on Raymond Moriyama and Moshe Safdie. It seems unimaginable today: ...now elegant lions in winter, [they talk] about their centennial contributions and the impact they had on their careers. By Joseph Hall [images]- Toronto Star |
Architecture’s Eternal Debate: “Less Is More” vs. “Less Is a Bore”: Venturi’s instantly memorable quote - its fame perhaps only surpassed by Mies’ oxymoronic original - became the mantra for an entire architectural movement. Postmodernism ushered in an age of warmer architecture, buildings full of character...And yet, the Postmodernist movement is widely regarded...as a failure of the highest order. By Paul Keskeys -- Robert Venturi; Denise Scott Brown; Mies van der Rohe- Architizer |
Towering achievement: The saga of a visionary businessman, a controversial architect and the Dallas building that would reinvent the skyscraper: ...Pegasus Villas [formerly Brookhollow Plaza]...one of the city’s most idiosyncratic buildings, an experimental structure assembled like a child’s toy ...it still retains its essential nature, and demonstrates that even Paul Rudolph’s most challenging works can be adapted rather than destroyed. By Mark Lamster [images]- Dallas Morning News |
Ghost Boxes: Reusing Abandoned Big-Box Superstores Across America: Some communities and architects...have started to turn these voids into opportunities...no one cares about what happens to unloved structures, making them perfect candidates for complete transformations. By Kurt Kohlstedt -- MSR/Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle; Julia Christensen/Big Box Reuse; BTR Architects; RSP Architects; Esocoff & Associates; Roger K. Lewis; Christopher B. Leinberger/Rippeteau Architects- 99% Invisible |
Winning Design Revealed for New College of Architecture and Design in China: ...at Wenzhou-Kean University in Wenzhou...follows an original masterplan by Michael Graves. -- Moore Ruble Yudell; Tongji Architectural Design and Research Institute; SWA Group; Schmidt Hammer Lassen [images]- ArchDaily |
Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture to convert historic power station in Sacramento to STEM center: ...a long-vacant Beaux Arts style power plant designed by...Willis Polk [in 1912] into a $63 million regional science and educational center...formally closed in 1954...[it] came to be seen as the lynchpin of a post-industrial, regional science and culture greenway. -- West Office Exhibition Design [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Staging Trump: The Republican Convention Reveals Its Set Design: If the designers had been asked to create a setting that signals the chaos of this campaign, they could not have done it better...[He] began his campaign gliding down the escalator in Trump Tower’s gilded mall, and he’ll become the nominee by mounting the steps to a temple, where his ascension from political circus to political pantheon will be complete. By Lance Hosey [image]- Common Edge |
The House That Love Built - Before It Was Gone: For Monica Vitti, Eileen Gray and Frank Lloyd Wright, their homes were the culmination of passionate affairs. And the places they ended. By Leanne Shapton and Niklas Maak -- Dante Bini; Le Corbusier [images]- New York Times Style Magazine |
Two finalists named in competition to design Forest Green Rovers’ new stadium: ...stadium will be the centrepiece of the £100million Eco Park development – a 100 acre sports and green technology business park proposal... -- Glenn Howells Architects; Zaha Hadid Architects [images]- Stroud News and Journal (Gloucestershire, UK) |
LEAF Awards 2016 Shortlist announced + LEAF International Announces Santiago Calatrava as Recipient of 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award- Arena International |
Finalists in the Rosa Barba International Landscape Prize by Banc de Sabadell Foundation, part of the International Landscape Biennial of Barcelona. -- PWP Landscape Architecture/Johnson Pilton Walker; Atelier Descombes Rampini; turenscape; SWA Group; Landscape Architects of Bangkok; Hargreaves Associates/LDA Design; H+N+S Landscape Architects; Mosbach paysagistes; TOPOTEK 1/BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group; ASPECT Studios/CHROFI [images]- Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya |
Call for entries: Expression of Interest/EOI: K2K International Urban Design Competition: identify the best plans and ideas for Kingsford and Kensington Town Centres, Sydney; cash prizes; EOI registration deadline: July 13 (EOI submission deadline: July 15)- Randwick City Council (Australia) |
ANN feature: A Filtered View #6: The Sustainable Building Artistically Considered: In our culture of fashion-driven design, a sustainable building will have to succeed aesthetically to be truly sustainable. By Charles F. Bloszies, FAIA- ArchNewsNow.com |
|
Ezra Stoller | ESTO Photographics: ...a selection from the Ezra Stoller archive, a sample of the agency's current photographers, and a discussion about architectural photography with the Director of Esto Photographics, Erica Stoller. By Pygmalion Karatzas |
|
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window.
External news links are not endorsed by ArchNewsNow.com.
Free registration may be required on some sites.
Some pages may expire after a few days.
© 2016 ArchNewsNow.com