ArchNewsNow

Today’s News - Tuesday, October 31, 2017

● ArcSpace's Martin has a great Q&A with Holl (prior to lectures in Copenhagen and Zurich Nov. 7 & 8) re: receiving The Daylight Award in Architecture, his relationship with daylight, and emerging trends in the application of daylight: "I see a trend of ignorance when it comes to the correct use of daylight in architecture! But it's about real estate now - it's not surprising."

● This year's Stirling Prize winner will be announced after we've posted ANN, but Hartman has some helpful words re: awards' "responsibility to set the agenda for best practice. Tackling tough issues keeps awards relevant."

● Sisson x 2: he has an inspiring conversation with Tiffany Brown of the Knight Arts Challenge grant winner 400 Forward, who "wants to train the next generation of black women architects - from kindergarten to the day they obtain their license."

● He parses the ULI's 2018 Emerging Trends in Real Estate report that "predicts a 'smooth landing,' a booming Seattle, and technological change" (best quote: "It isn't what you don't know that you should be worried about; it's what you think you know").

● Berg visits Japan's prefab "dream" factories and brings home lessons for the "burgeoning U.S. prefab market. In the end, it's all about making it easier to get stuff built."

● Talk about a dream factory: Saudi Arabia has plans to build NEOM, a $500 billion mega-city spanning 3 countries: "It is nothing if not ambitious" (no set timeline yet).

● Snøhetta's plans to revamp Philip Johnson's Chippendale-topped "Postmodern icon" 550 Madison Avenue have critics Lamster, Kimmelman, and Lange "fretting": "Inserting an Apple Store-wannabe facade is trinkety and trendy."

● Kamin has a few issues with plans for a proposed two-tower development in Chicago that would be "a plus for the skyline," but are "not fully cooked" - the "most glaring weakness" is at street level and "subpar public space - as if the intent were to discourage homeless people from camping out."

● King considers Lowney Architecture's plans for a "zigzagging tower" on Oakland's skyline - "one that seems to split in two - the drama is the architectural equivalent of a visual sleight of hand" (but preservationists are "already sounding alarms").

● Chipperfield is tapped to master plan an overhaul of the Minneapolis Institute of Art that includes the redesign of the interior layout of the original McKim, Mead and White building and extensions by Kenzo Tange and Michael Graves.

● Lynch brings us eyefuls of Foster + Partners' first public garden design that is part of F+P's expansion of the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach, Florida.

● Hanley takes a deep dive into Norman Foster's past 50 years of work that "has transformed the 21st-century city," and the Norman Foster Foundation in Madrid that he "envisions" as a "model of a major private philanthropy, rather than an archive of architectural achievement, more Bloomberg than Le Corbusier" (a great read!).

● Gehry talks to Anderton at the ULI Fall Meeting in Los Angeles, where he "repeatedly emphasized that dramatic architecture should solve problems and does not have to be expensive" (chances of trout returning the LA River: "I can tell you it will never happen").

Five years after Superstorm Sandy:

● A look at "how New York City is preparing for the next" big hit; the city "keeps track with a handy map" (with links to 10 other excellent 5-years-after-Sandy reports).

● AN takes a look at "the impact of Hurricane Sandy on New York City's built environment: "Even with the latest interventions, is NYC really prepared for another superstorm?"

Happy Halloween - "in honor of spooktacular holiday spirit" (H/T Curbed SF)!

● Check out some iconic San Francisco buildings "dressed up in boo-itful holiday style."

● Shapiro talks to Bowling re: "why Victorian architecture came to be associated with everything spooky and scary."

● Zillow's economists analyze the 20 best cities for trick-or-treating, and the top five neighborhoods in each - "the data doesn't offer any guidance on the quality of goodies distributed in each neighborhood."

● Schwab cheers Shelley, an artificial intelligence program that writes horror stories by "working actively with people to imagine new things that go bump in the night" (some are "truly terrifying").

To subscribe to the free daily newsletter click here

Robert Martin: Steven Holl interview: ...awarded The Daylight Award in Architecture by the VELUX Foundation...[he talks] about his relationship with daylight: Apart from new materials, do you see any other emerging trends in the application of daylight? "I see a trend of ignorance when it comes to the correct use of daylight in architecture! But it’s about real estate now...it’s not surprising."

Hattie Hartman: Awards have a responsibility to set the agenda for best practice: The appointment of a carbon profiling expert to advise the Stirling Prize jury is a welcome move, but RIBA could go further: ...schemes should be scrutinised to unpick how sustainability has been approached so that best practice can be shared; and then again a few years later to ascertain whether these high aspirations have been met. Tackling tough issues keeps awards relevant...Last but not least...we need to get the Stirling Prize in front of a mass audience once more.- The Architects' Journal (UK)

Patrick Sisson: 400 Forward wants to train the next generation of black women architects: Only 0.3% of licensed architects are black women. A Knight Arts Challenge grant winner led by Tiffany Brown wants to change that: ...African-American woman who grew up in Detroit...aims to...encourage and support future designers all the way from kindergarten to the day they obtain their license, to help expose students to and kickstart their interest in the subject, and provide financial assistance for those planning to pursue degrees.- Curbed

Patrick Sisson: The 10 top emerging trends that will shape real estate in 2018: The Urban Land Institute’s annual look at the year ahead predicts a “smooth landing,” a booming Seattle, and technological change: 2018 Emerging Trends in Real Estate report...the consensus...views a “sudden drop in altitude” as highly unlikely..."It isn't what you don't know that you should be worried about; it's what you think you know."- Curbed

Nate Berg: Preparing for our prefab future: A burgeoning U.S. prefab market has much to learn from Japan: “They’re leap years ahead of where we’re at today"...prefab’s time may have finally come in the U.S...To understand what that future may look like, you have to go to Japan...“Welcome to the dream factory"...In the end, it’s all about making it easier to get stuff built. -- Roger Krulak/Full Stack Modular; Kengo Kuma; Koji Kawachi; Muji; Shigeru Ban; Turkel Design; Resolution: 4 Architecture; Prescient; Sidewalk Labs [images]- Curbed

Saudi Arabia wants to build a $500 billion mega-city spanning 3 countries: The development, called NEOM...the latest in a series of mega projects designed to reshape the kingdom's economy. It is nothing if not ambitious...will be built across 26,500 square kilometers (10,231 square miles) near the Red Sea...its land mass "will extend across the Egyptian and Jordanian borders"...no set timeline for the development.- CNN

Postmodern icon 550 Madison Avenue will get a contemporary Snøhetta revamp: The proposal has architecture critics fretting over the significance of [Philip Johnson’s] iconic postmodern building: ...former Sony and AT&T headquarters...is not a landmark, allowing the renovation to move forward..."Inserting an Apple Store-wannabe facade is trinkety and trendy and 10 years from now, the next owners will want to change it again." -- Mark Lamster; Michael Kimmelman; Alexandra Lange [images]- Curbed New York

Blair Kamin: New tower proposal: A plus for the skyline, less attractive at street level: ...plans for One Chicago Square, a proposed two-tower development...are both promising and not fully cooked...The most glaring weakness is the project’s subpar public space...open space can easily devolve into empty space if it’s not furnished...With the exception of the planter box ledges, they’re scarcely evident in the plans, as if the intent were to discourage homeless people from camping out...Then there is the city’s affordable housing ordinance... -- Goettsch Partners; Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture; Site Design Group [images]- Chicago Tribune

John King: Zigzagging tower would top Oakland skyline: ...could get a new tallest tower - one that seems to split in two...36 floors of residential and commercial space on the edge of Oakland’s Chinatown...1261 Harrison St....would be a first...But one preservationist group is already sounding alarms...the drama is the architectural equivalent of a visual sleight of hand. -- Mark Donahue/Lowney Architecture [images]- San Francisco Chronicle

David Chipperfield to masterplan overhaul of Minneapolis Institute of Art: ...will redesign the interior layout of the original Beaux-Arts architectural style building - completed by McKim, Mead and White in 1915 - and a pair of extensions by the late Kenzo Tange [1974] and Michael Graves [2006]. [images]- Dezeen

Patrick Lynch: Foster + Partners’ First Public Garden Design to Feature in Norton Museum Expansion [in West Palm Beach, Florida]: ...will feature a series of Art Deco-inspired pavilions circling a central courtyard to create shaded corridors linking “garden rooms”...At the center of the plan, the “great lawn” will serve as an open-air venue for the Museum’s “Art After Dark” program and other events... [images, videos]- ArchDaily

William Hanley: Seeing the Future: Norman Foster has transformed the 21st-century city with his massive-scale buildings. Will his new philanthropic organization cement his legacy?: Foster + Partners...has dozens of projects in the works all over the world, and through the foundation, the architect hopes to find technology-driven solutions to the problems of humanity that transcend political conditions...envisions the organization in the model of a major private philanthropy, rather than an archive of architectural achievement, more Bloomberg than Le Corbusier.- Surface magazine

Frank Gehry: Architects Should Become Partners with Developers: Architects need to “get into the fray"...Too often architects are overprotected and do not accept blame or credit for the cost and efficiency of their buildings...[he] repeatedly emphasized that dramatic architecture should solve problems and does not have to be expensive...“The profession should be aligning itself with cutting costs, cutting waste.”- Urban Land Magazine (Urban Land Institute/ULI))

Here's how New York City is preparing for the next Hurricane Sandy: Catching up on the city’s biggest resiliency efforts for a post-Sandy New York: Many of those measures are now in various states of completion...Perhaps the most high-profile of these resiliency efforts...2013 competition Rebuild By Design...The city keeps track...with a handy map...[we] highlight a few of the biggest ones, and how far they’ve come in the last five years. BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group; SCAPE Landscape Architects; PennDesign/OLIN; etc.- Curbed New York

Five years later, AN looks at the impact of Hurricane Sandy on New York City’s built environment: [it] has undergone substantial changes...reflects on those first few months post-Sandy, and looks at some initiatives that are reshaping the city to withstand future storms...Even with the latest interventions, is [NYC] really prepared for another superstorm? -- Architecture for Humanity; AIA New York; Garrison Architects; Rebuild By Design; Situ Studio; Roderick Wolgamott-Romero/Romero Studios; Build It Back; Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF); WXY architecture + urban design [images], links]- The Architect's Newspaper

Iconic San Francisco buildings get their boo on for Halloween: Why should the living, breathing residents of SF have all the fun? ...we've dressed up a few of the city's most recognizable buildings in boo-itful holiday style. [images]- Curbed San Francisco

The Architecture Behind The Quintessential Haunted House: Ari Shapiro speaks with Mary Jo Bowling from Curbed on why Victorian architecture came to be associated with everything spooky and scary: Picture the quintessential haunted house. Maybe you're imagining the Addams family home, or perhaps the Bates Motel from Hitchcock's "Psycho." They have one thing in common - I mean, besides being spooky.- NPR / National Public Radio

The 20 best cities for trick-or-treating: Zillow has released its annual list of the best cities for little ones to safely and easily gather loads of Halloween candy: ...also names the top five trick-or-treating neighborhoods in each of the top 20 cities...the data doesn't offer any guidance on the quality of goodies distributed in each neighborhood.- Smart Cities Dive

Katharine Schwab: This AI Writes Horror Stories, And They’re Surprisingly Scary: It was trained on the spookiest stories on the web, but human collaborators make its stories truly terrifying: The stories themselves are certainly unsettling...But what makes Shelley so compelling is that it’s not just an algorithm throwing together some words - it’s working actively with people to imagine new things that go bump in the night.- Fast Company / Co.Design

ANN feature: Charles F. Bloszies: Left Coast Reflections #3: The Wall: The wall may never be built, but the real damage the Trump Administration is likely to inflict on the built environment will have lasting consequences.- ArchNewsNow.com

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.

Yesterday's News