Today’s News - Thursday, August 17, 2017
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days; we'll be back Tuesday, August 22. (We'll be spending the weekend engineering a pinhole projector for Monday's solar eclipse!)
● Green delves into the Trump administration bulldozing what it considers "onerous environmental review processes" - and other (depressing) federal environmental and climate news.
● Hosey, a former Charlottesville resident, tackles last weekend's mob scene in and around Emancipation Park: it was "the real slipping into the surreal. When demonstrators out-gun the police while waving symbols of hatred, space no longer truly belongs to the public - it belongs to the mob."
● Capps x 2: his take on Charlottesville: "a rally about a statue in a park is how organizers frame their demonstrations, as conservative and preservationist in nature. But the alt-right's fight is also with public space."
● On a brighter note, he has a great idea for what Baltimore can do with its four now-empty Confederate statue plinths: take a cue from Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth program (city's artists aren't waiting for an invitation).
● A refreshing palate cleanser: a round-up of public parks and plazas that illustrates how architects, cities, and communities are taking "the lead in developing essential social infrastructure."
● Bozikovic cheers changing outdated planning rules to bring street life and economic opportunity to mid-20th century residential neighborhoods that were "master-planned for cars - spaces between the towers will no longer be vacant and arid."
● Campbell hails Maryann Thompson Architects' Walden Pond Visitor Center as a small but "fascinating new work of architecture that remembers and reflects Thoreau's ideals" (great Iwan Baan pix!).
● Ditmars pens a letter from Palm Springs describing "the latest projects from the mid-century modern mecca."
● A look at a cottage industry that has "sprung up to meet demand for secondhand wood, steel, brick, and any other building material that can be repurposed in new structures - but challenges are plenty."
● Wainwright reviews some of the Design Museum's shortlist in the running for the 2017 Beazley awards (on view beginning in October): "The architecture category, as ever, feels a little out of place, but this year it includes a project of a very different kind to the international museums, schools and galleries."
● Eyefuls of all 62 nominations on the shortlist for the 2017 Beazley Designs of the Year that "paint a clear picture of the current state of the world."
Weekend diversions:
● A good reason to head to New Orleans next week: the Architecture & Design Film Festival is "headed to the Big Easy."
● Tulane sets the stage for ADFF with the exhibition "The Organic Modernism of Albert C. Ledner" - opening tonight.
● "This Future Has a Past" at NYC's Center for Architecture puts the spotlight on Ain's "vanished" MoMA house. "But more broadly, the show raises questions around what history forgets and why."
● Winners of the RPA's "4C: Four Corridors: Foreseeing the Region of the Future" competition, on view in Queens, NY, "offers a look at a future in which that region has successfully adapted to sea level rise."
● Fritchey cheers "Tom Burr/New Haven" in Breuer's empty Pirelli Tire Building in New Haven (now owned by Ikea): "The most compelling part of the show is the way he has brilliantly staged each work in a hazardous section of the building that doesn't meet the city's code-compliant standards."
● Goldberger gives two thumbs-ups to Newhouse's "Chaos and Culture" about Piano's Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens": "It is rare that the entire process of conceiving, designing, and constructing a single building is documented as thoroughly and coherently. It is rarer still that this process is worth a book-length telling. But it is absolutely so here."
● Artsy cheers Szerli's new book on Norman Bel Geddes that "traces the journey of a penniless man who made his way from the Midwest to New York, armed with the gift of drawing and plenty of grit."
● Zeiger says Cardasis "is well-placed to untangle the competing forces" of James Rose's career in a long-overdue biography of the too-long-overlooked landscape architect.
● Libby explains what architects should know about Deutsch's "Convergence: The Redesign of Design": it "imagines a future in which the boundaries between the design and construction industries have not only blurred but vanished."
● Winter's colorful new children's book "The World Is Not a Rectangle" offers kids "a playful glimpse into Zaha's world, inviting young readers to approach things with Zaha's perspective" (what about us grups?).
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Jared Green: President Trump Continues to Bulldoze Environmental Regulations: ...the Obama administration required federally-financed projects to factor in climate change projections. Now...the Trump administration has not only put communities at greater risk, but reduced the likely lifespan of infrastructure in flood-prone areas...In other federal environmental and climate news...- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Lance Hosey: Mob space: The events in Charlottesville test the limits of public space: I saw this living, breathing place reduced to headlines and hashtags...the real slipping into the surreal...the real contest is one of symbols and public space...When demonstrators out-gun the police while waving symbols of hatred, space no longer truly belongs to the public - it belongs to the mob.- Huffington Post |
Kriston Capps: White Supremacists Are Waging a War Against Public Space: Fascism and open carry are incompatible with the public square, in Charlottesville and beyond: The idea of the public square is under attack...a rally about a statue in a park. That’s how the rally’s organizers frame their demonstrations, as conservative and preservationist in nature. But the alt-right’s fight is also with public space.- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Kriston Capps: What To Do With Baltimore's Empty Confederate Statue Plinths? Put them to work, Trafalgar Square style: While other cities fret over what to do with Lost Cause memorials...Baltimore appears to have put the issue to rest. With the statues gone, only opportunity remains...empty plinths, each one of which could serve as an empty stage for the city’s artists. Not that they’re waiting for an invitation...- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Design of the Public Realm: Parks & Plazas: This special section explores how architects shape the spaces of our daily lives, as cities and communities take the lead in developing essential social infrastructure...innovative new projects, their funding, and the blurring of lines between public and private. Lake|Flato/Matsys/Rialto Studio; Julia Jamrozik/Coryn Kempster; OMA/OLIN; RAAD Studio; Rogers Partners/Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects [images]- Architectural Record |
Alex Bozikovic: Towering ambitions: The apartment neighbourhoods of the mid-20th century house millions of Canadians - but their outdated planning stands in the way of street life and economic opportunity. Advocates and planners are trying to change that: ...how do you take tower neighbourhoods into the 21st century? In part, by getting rid of some rules...spaces between the towers...will no longer be vacant and arid. -- Graeme Stewart/ERA Architects; Michael Piper- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
Robert Campbell: Walden Pond Visitor Center by Maryann Thompson Architects: Henry David Thoreau hoped to teach by example. So does the new visitor center: ...a fascinating new work of architecture...For a cranky, independent- minded guy, might it feel a little hokey? My guess is, he’d love it...He’s honored here by a piece of architecture that remembers and reflects his ideals. -- Chris Matthews/Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates- Architectural Record |
Hadani Ditmars: Letter from Palm Springs: the latest projects from the mid-century modern mecca: It’s the kind of town where design-savvy residents are also activists who spring to the defence of endangered buildings... -- William Cody; Donald Wexler; Richard Harrison; Phillip Koenig; Rios Clementi Hale Studios; Chris Pardo Design: Elemental Architecture; ACRM; Paul R Williams; A Quincy Jones; Studio AR&D Architects; Marmol Radziner; E. Stewart Williams; Albert Frey; Cioffi Architects; Luckman & Pereira; o2 architecture; Al Beadle; Ned Sawyer [images]- Wallpaper* |
How reclaimed can a building be? Design teams are looking beyond fixtures and finishes to incorporate reclaimed materials into the core and shell of their structure. But challenges are plenty: ...a cottage industry has sprung up to meet demand for secondhand wood, steel, brick and any other building material that can be repurposed in new structures.- Construction Dive |
Oliver Wainwright: Beazley Designs of the Year feature Brexit, refugees and political activism: Nominations for 2017 highlight designers’ contributions to protest movements, gender campaigns and humanitarian issues: The architecture category, as ever, feels a little out of place, but this year it includes a project of a very different kind to the international museums, schools and galleries. Design Museum, London, October 18 - January 28 -- Eyal Weizman/Forensic Architecture- Guardian (UK) |
The Design Museum reveals the shortlist for the 2017 Beazley Designs of the Year: ...62 nominations span a wide spectrum of disciplines...offering a broad view of contemporary design today...projects paint a clear picture of the current state of the world, with several entries concerned with refugees and with the political turmoil of the past year. [images]- Wallpaper* |
National Architecture & Design Film Festival headquartered in Mid-City theater: The second ADFF is headed to the Big Easy August 24-27...About 20 movies will be screened...New this year, a special look at one of New Orleans’ famous modernists architects, Albert C. Ledner.- Mid-City Messenger (New Orleans) |
‘Ashtray House’ architect featured in Tulane exhibit: ...a popular topic in discussions of quirky New Orleans architecture...known as the “Ashtray House” or the “Sunkel Residence” is recognizable by the 1,200 amber-colored glass ashtrays embedded into the exterior fascia...“The Organic Modernism of Albert C. Ledner"...also features his...buildings...in New Orleans, New York and other cities. thru June 8, 2018 -- Southeastern Architectural Archive; Louisiana Architectural Foundation- Tulane University |
The “Most Dangerous Architect in America” Built a House - Then It Vanished: Architecture can make the lives of people, all people, better. This belief guided the vision of...Gregory Ain, though it may also have contributed to his decline...“This Future Has a Past"...a timely deep-dive into the life of a man who worked towards equality, at a time when that...was considered a political stance. But more broadly, the show raises questions around what history forgets and why. Center for Architecture, NYC, thru September 12 -- Katherine Lambert; Christiane Robbins; Anyspace [images]- Artsy magazine |
These Urban Designers See a New York That Adapts to Watery Future: A new exhibit from the Regional Plan Association offers a look at a future in which that region has successfully adapted to sea level rise...winners of the RPA’s design competition “4C: Four Corridors: Foreseeing the Region of the Future." Fort Tilden, Rockaway, NY, thru September 17 -- Rafi Segal Architecture and Urbanism; Susannah Drake/DLANDstudio; Only If + One Architecture; WORKac; PORT + Range- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
Sarah Fritchey: Placing Pieces of Local History in an Empty Marcel Breuer Building: Tom Burr’s installations bring together past and present in a famous Brutalist building in New Haven: "Tom Burr/New Haven," or "Body/Building"...The most compelling part of the show is the way Burr has brilliantly staged each work in a hazardous section of the building that doesn’t meet the city’s code-compliant standards... -- Bortolami Gallery [images]- Hyperallergic |
Paul Goldberger: "Chaos and Culture: Renzo Piano Building Workshop and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens" by Victoria Newhouse: It is rare that the entire process of conceiving, designing, and constructing a single building is documented as thoroughly and coherently...It is rarer still that this process is worth a book-length telling. But it is absolutely so here...- Architectural Record |
DnA/Avishay Artsy: Norman Bel Geddes and the invention of 20th century America Design: Do you think driverless cars are a new idea? Then you should hear about...an industrial designer decades ahead of his time: "The Man Who Designed the Future: Norman Bel Geddes and the Invention of Twentieth-Century America" by B. Alexandra Szerli traces the journey of a penniless man who made his way from the Midwest to New York, armed with the gift of drawing and plenty of grit.- KCRW (Los Angeles) |
Mimi Zeiger: Traces of Self-Exile: A new biography of James Rose explores his difficult brilliance: ...the latest volume of the Masters of Modern Landscape Design series...It’s the first biography dedicated to the landscape architect, who...has yet to receive the kind of canonical recognition bestowed on his Harvard classmates Garrett Eckbo and Dan Kiley...Dean Cardasis is well-placed to untangle the competing forces of Rose’s career. [images]- Landscape Architecture Magazine |
Brian Libby: What Architects Should Know About "Convergence: The Redesign of Design": Randy Deutsch's book explores how the rapidly blurring boundaries between design and construction are changing the building industry.- Architect Magazine |
A New Children's Book Encapsulates Zaha Hadid's Inspiring World: With colorful illustrations, Jeanette Winter tells the story of the late, trailblazing architect's life and how she became a groundbreaking architect: "The World Is Not a Rectangle" tells the story of...how she became a radical architect...offers a playful glimpse into Zaha's world, inviting the young readers to approach things with Zaha's perspective...able to see beyond everyday objects. [images]- Architect Magazine |
Nuts + Bolts #15: From Adversary to Partner: Managing Relationships in Construction Projects: Three core practices to help keep the peace while keeping a project moving forward. By Lisa Anders, LEED AP- ArchNewsNow.com |
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