Today’s News - Wednesday, August 23, 2017
● ANN feature: Malmquist explains how cross-laminated timber can be a more efficient, cost-effective design partner for sustainable buildings than the old standards like steel and concrete.
● Dittmar delves deep into "what Charlottesville says about the ideological and physical contest for our public space" (great, if depressing, read!).
● Chang parses how tactical urbanism, sustainable landscapes, and the tiny house movement "can transform struggling industrial towns," and presents a few "innovative redevelopment models that may offer lessons for post-industrial cities."
● Kirk dissects a new report by the Center for Urban Design and Mental Health that "assesses how Tokyo's infrastructure affects residents' emotional well-being, offering lessons for other cities."
● Fisher explains "why architects should care about public health" beyond "meeting building codes and standards. On the flip side, we know what poor design can do."
● Apple "says it has worked hard to be a good neighbor and respond to concerns" (car wash coupons included), but some neighbors of its 175-acre "spaceship" campus say "life has been hell."
● Pacheco gives (mostly) thumbs-up to Harley Ellis Devereaux's "Oxford- and Hogwarts-inspired gothic" USC Village, "cloaking a strikingly contemporary complex behind filigree and lace - a tour de force in contemporary construction practices" (though some "efforts are a bit ham-handed").
● Zeiger ponders FLW urging "architects to follow nature's lead," and whether architects should resist it: "Perhaps we need to reconsider our concept of resilience as something other than a high-end catchphrase to be rolled out at global conferences."
● Swaback considers his two decades of a sustainable way of life at FLW's Taliesin West, and "explores how the site's past and future are intertwined - our emerging way of life will not only be unlike the present, but if we don't get it right, it could be extremely threatening."
● Kennicott makes the case for why Kahn's floating music barge belongs in DC: "The boat belongs in Washington, a city both blessed and socially determined by its rivers."
● Meanwhile, Kingston, NY, wants Kahn's vessel floating on its Hudson River shore, but "competition for it is stiff."
● Ijeh x 2: he cheers Feilden Clegg Bradley's "quiet restoration and intelligent extension" of London's "gargantuan" Postal Museum "in which architectural intervention has humbly taken a step back to frame rather than form the visitor experience."
● He rounds up some of Britain's best beach huts "reconfigured for the 21st century," and "deliberately designed and presented as genuine works of architecture."
● Q&A with a Beijing-based rock musician-turned-architect, who sees "architecture as a form of social work": "The cold faceless city should be scaled down to the individual/human."
● Birnbaum considers that not recognizing Dan Kiley when his landscapes are often pivotal 'supporting actors'" in the film "Columbus" to be a "big pre-Oscar snub" - and why it matters (with 30 landscapes in the city, he had more projects than any of its mid-century masters).
● Eyefuls of Carve's "funky climbing 'blob'" in Amsterdam's oldest park "that just begs for children to climb aboard its weirdness and explore its many fun features" (we wanna climb the weirdness, too!).
● A "mixture of established practices and emerging talent" make up the four shortlisted teams in the Cambridge to Oxford Connection Ideas Competition.
● One we couldn't resist (but wish we could): The Pentagon wants to spend almost $500 million on Guantánamo that includes a $50 million-per-bed hospital, troop housing, and infrastructure, though a $100 million "pop-up encampment" for 13,000 migrants "is a bit mysterious" (you don't say).
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ANN feature: Casey Malmquist: CLT: A More Efficient, Cost-effective Design Partner for Sustainable Buildings: Using cross-laminated timber in place of the old standards like steel and concrete is one way to reduce the environmental impact of a structure without compromising on the advances we've made in modern structural integrity.- ArchNewsNow.com |
Hank Dittmar: What Charlottesville says about the ideological and physical contest for our public space: Our public spaces are under seige from extremists. What can be done? ...the exercise of freedom of speech by platoons of armed men poses difficult questions about where speech and assembly ends and invasion, intimidation and harassment begins...It is time to question the unimpeded access of cars into the pedestrian heart of cities.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Robin Chang: How 'Temporary Urbanism' Can Transform Struggling Industrial Towns: ...several innovative redevelopment models that may offer lessons for post-industrial cities...focus on ephemeral, flexible solutions...broadly applicable to any city seeking to reinvent faded manufacturing zones: tactical urbanism, sustainable landscapes and the tiny homes movement...Something is working. But from a scholarly perspective, we still know little about the mix of enablers and drivers that inspire such transformative moments. -- Die Urbanisten [images]- The Conversation |
Mimi Kirk: Designing a Megacity for Mental Health: A new report assesses how Tokyo’s infrastructure affects residents’ emotional well-being, offering lessons for other cities: ...planners tend to approach urban design with a view toward improving physical health...they are nevertheless creating public spaces...that also shore up residents’ emotional well-being. -- Layla McCay/Center for Urban Design and Mental Health- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Thomas Fisher: Why Architects Should Care About Public Health: While architects have long recognized the importance of human health...as part of their mission, implementation sometimes reflects a spirit of compliance more than of aspiration. Design that is limited to preventing harm by meeting building codes and standards forfeits the full range of design possibilities that could enhance the health and quality of life...On the flip side, we know what poor design can do...Education is a great place to start.- Huffington Post |
Apple ‘spaceship’ neighbors: Some say life has been hell: Company says it has worked hard to be a good neighbor and respond to concerns: As Apple puts the finishing touches on its $5 billion campus...Sunnyvale’s Birdland neighborhood has become a microcosm of the tensions that can erupt as tech expands and residents deal with clogged streets, fewer parking spaces and higher housing costs.- Mercury News (California) |
Antonio Pacheco: New USC complex cloaks modern construction in Oxford- and Hogwarts-inspired gothic styling: ...cloaking a strikingly contemporary complex behind filigree and lace...to instill a sense of “history”...elaborately invented as it may be...a tour de force in contemporary construction practices...sometimes these efforts are a bit ham-handed...detail of “old” architecture physically draped over modern constructionis repeated throughout...to sometimes great effect. -- Harley Ellis Devereaux; RELM (formerly Melendrez) [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Mimi Zeiger: Should Architects Work With Nature or Resist It? Frank Lloyd Wright famously urged architects to follow nature's lead. But as the planet warms, and with sustainability an inadequate response, they may need to pursue a more defensive, “resilient” position: ...getting away from...a commercialized market for crisis architecture and giving designers the ability to make better decisions. -- Stephen Phillips; Jason McLennan/Living Building Challenge; Hadley Arnold/Peter Arnold/Arid Lands Institute- Metropolis Magazine |
Vernon D. Swaback: A Sustainable Way of Life: Taliesin West Continues Wright’s Legacy: Apprentice, resident, and practitioner for two decades at Taliesin West, Swaback explores how the site's past and future are intertwined: ...we should acknowledge that our emerging way of life will not only be unlike the present, but if we don’t get it right, it could be extremely threatening. [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
Philip Kennicott: Washington, D.C., should have the Louis Kahn performing barge: For decades the Point Counterpoint II...brought music to audiences across America, and in Europe...it is in danger of being sent to the scrap yard...Robert Boudreau, is now in his 90s, and would like to sell it. He is asking $4 million...The boat belongs in Washington, a city both blessed and socially determined by its rivers.- Washington Post |
Owner of floating concert hall visits Kingston, said to want vessel in the area: ...Robert Bordeau was extremely impressed with Kingston and wanted his vessel, Point Counterpoint II, docked in the Hudson River... competition for it, though, is stiff. There has been interest expressed in Buffalo, France and Italy, among other places... -- Louis Kahn- Daily Freeman (Kingston, NY) |
Ike Ijeh: The Postal Museum by Feilden Clegg Bradley: ...quiet restoration and intelligent extension of a former post office at London’s gargantuan Mount Pleasant sorting office betrays little of the astonishing visitor attraction below: ...a fascinating slice of London history retained as if on its last day of operation and in which architectural intervention has humbly taken a step back to frame rather than form the visitor experience. [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Ike Ijeh: The best of British beach huts: The humble British beach hut is being reconfigured for the 21st century...some examples of cutting-edge coastal design: ...not being viewed as functional and largely forgettable leisure amenities but are being deliberately designed and presented as genuine works of architecture. -- ECE Architecture; Stephen Foley Architects; Jak Studio; George King Architects; ABIR Architects/AEREA Design; Jonathan Hendry Architects; Rodic Davidson Architects [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Beijing-Based Rocker-Turned-Architect Cao Pu Sees Architects as Social Workers: ...began his architectural career doing stage design for his musical group...his studio remains small with a focus on conversion and community revival projects...Q&A about involving clients in his process, designing "in the gap," and architecture as a form of social work.: "The cold faceless city should be scaled down to the individual/human needs in order to become vivid." [images]- Archinect |
Charles A. Birnbaum: The Big pre-Oscar Snub: It’s pioneering Modernist landscape architect Dan Kiley in..."Columbus"...though his landscapes are frequently the movie’s pivotal “supporting actors”...Why does this matter? Kiley is one of the nation’s most important post-War landscape architects and his influence is monumental...Also snubbed in the film is...Michael Van Valkenburgh... -- The Cultural Landscape Foundation/TCLF [images]- Huffington Post |
Historic Amsterdam park gets new life with a funky climbing “blob”: The eye-catching structure is a gigantic white and lilac abstract shape that just begs for children to climb aboard its weirdness and explore its many fun features. -- Carve [images]- Inhabitat |
National Infrastructure Commission announces shortlist for The Cambridge to Oxford Connection: Ideas Competition: Four shortlisted teams...a mixture of established practices and emerging talent. -- Barton Willmore; Fletcher Priest Architects with Bradley Murphy Design and Ron Henry (Peter Brett Associates; Mae/One Works/AKT II/Planit-IE; Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design/Annalie Riches (Mikhail Riches)/Petra Marko (Marko&Placemakers)/Sarah Featherstone (Featherstone Young)/Kay Hughes- Malcolm Reading Consultants / National Infrastructure Commission |
Trump’s Pentagon wants to spend almost $500 million on Guantánamo construction: ...plans are a new base hospital...at a cost of $50 million per bed, troop housing and infrastructure for a pop-up encampment that could house 13,000 migrants and 5,000 U.S. forces...The proposed up-to $100 million migrant camp project is a bit mysterious...the Pentagon’s appetite to spend at this outpost of about 5,500 residents and 41 wartime prisoners continues unsated.- Miami Herald |
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