Today’s News - Wednesday, January 24, 2018
● An investigation into a fire in Mumbai that killed 14 held the architect and interior designers responsible; now, a serious effort is afoot to require licensing for interior designers to "help weed out people who do not have adequate training or expertise."
● Green talks to Van Valkenburgh, who makes the case for placing the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park - criticism that the Center will destroy Olmsted & Vaux's landscape is incorrect.
● As lobby demolition gets underway, Municipal Art Society Chair MacLear makes the case for why Johnson's AT&T Building "is worthy of the greatest respect and most careful preservation. The current owners owed New York City more than a cheap dodge to achieve their ends."
● Politicians are getting behind a proposed bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland: while Boris Johnson's suggestion to build a bridge across the English Channel "was largely met with ridicule by industry figures, Alan Dunlop's proposal is gaining momentum."
● Heverin of Zaha Hadid Architects hits back at critics of the firm's "breakthrough" two-tower, mixed-use scheme in London, "dubbed a 'two-fingered salute' by opponents" for a number of reasons.
● On a brighter note, AS+GG's Uptown Dubai project taps Rockwell as the interior architect for one of the two super-talls.
● Gibson has a great Q&A with "hip hop architect" Michael Ford re: the importance of black musicians like Kanye West and Pharrell Williams' involvement in architecture and improving diversity in the profession, and his Urban Arts Collective initiatives that includes 400 Forward to increase the number of black women licensed architects in the U.S.
● Perkins+Will merges with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects ("technically an acquisition" - SHL will retain its name - for the time being).
● Brasilia closes Latin America's largest rubbish dump, with plans "to employ the pickers at new 'triage' centers," but locals are none too happy: "The closure will impact families living in an adjacent community started by scavengers that has an estimated 40,000 inhabitants."
● One we couldn't resist - having nothing to do with architecture, but the headline was irresistible: "Camels banned from Saudi Arabia beauty contest over Botox."
It's all about housing (of the affordable kind):
● Misra parses a study that looks at "where Amazon HQ2 could worsen affordability the most" among the finalist cities: they "are likely to see a greater strain on their housing market - the cities that are tripping over each other to sweeten their offerings" need to seriously consider the economic and social costs.
● Moore imagines a "blueprint for British housing in 2028": It is not "a utopian dream - the tools are here now. Alongside these ingenious, bottom-up approaches there is something government can do: wield a great British invention - council housing" (great read!).
● Murphy cheers Swenarton's "Cook's Camden," a "definitive account" of the council housing "designed 50 years ago for a progressive London borough that remains a potent symbol of the achievements of postwar social democracy."
● Abello tells the fascinating tale of how San Francisco's Mission District "took equitable development into its own hands" - it involves more than just affordable housing.
● St. Hill cheers Farrells' Gorleston Street project in London: the Hammersmith site proves that "affordable housing can be light, open, generous and nuanced."
● Boeri's Trudo Vertical Forest in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, is "the very first 'vertical forest' to be used in social housing."
● London-based Outpost wins the RIBA Gasholder Bases National Competition with an affordable housing scheme for decommissioned gasholders, with a nifty round-up of similar projects by H&deM, Bell Philips, and WilkinsonEyre (cool!).
● To help ease Hong Kong's housing crisis, James Law Cybertecture proposes using very large concrete water pipes as low-cost, stackable micro homes slotted into gaps between buildings ("potentially more flexible" than Framlab's hexagonal sleeping pods designed to attach to NYC's buildings to house the homeless).
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Kamala Mills fire: Soon, a licence from BMC body a must for interior designers: After role of designers emerges in Siddhi Sai collapse and Kamala Mills fire, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation wants to...make it a registered profession: ...held the architect and interior designers...responsible for the blaze that killed 14..."Just like...architects are registered with the Council of Architecture, we want interior designers to operate with registered licenses."..."help weed out people, who do not have adequate training or expertise"... -- Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID)- Mid-Day.com (India) |
Jared Green: The Case for the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park: Michael Van Valkenburgh...told us criticism that the Center destroys the landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. is incorrect. “There is a complete failure to recognize the history of the 19 acres in question, particularly with respect to Olmsted and Vaux." -- Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects; Interactive Design Architects (IDEA); Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA); Site Design Group; Living Habitats [images]- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Christy MacLear: "550 Madison is worthy of the greatest respect and most careful preservation": As demolition work begins on the lobby of Philip Johnson's AT&T Building...Municipal Art Society of New York chair MacLear emphasises the building's architectural significance and warns of the limitations of the city's current preservation process...The current owners owed New York City more than a cheap dodge to achieve their ends. -- Snøhetta- Dezeen |
Politicians back proposed bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland: ...proposed in response to Boris Johnson's suggestion to build a bridge between Britain and France...A bridge across the Irish Sea was proposed by Scottish architect Alan Dunlop...while Johnson's suggestion was largely met with ridicule by industry figures, Dunlop's proposal is gaining momentum.- Dezeen |
ZHA hits back at critics of ‘breakthrough’ UK tower project: Zaha Hadid Architects has defended proposals for a high-rise, mixed-use scheme in London...following criticism over its size and location...two towers of 53 and 42 storeys...at Vauxhall...the practice’s first major mixed-use residential and commercial development in the UK, has been dubbed a ‘two-fingered salute’ by opponents, who claim the proposals are too big for the site. -- Jim Heverin; Patrik Schumacher [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
NY architect Rockwell Group wins Uptown Dubai tower contract: ...as the interior architect for one of the two super-tall towers that will anchor the 10-million-sq-ft development...will comprise luxury hotel...high-end restaurants, health spas, extensive conference facilities, grade A offices, and 237 uniquely designed branded residences. -- Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill- TradeArabia Business News |
Eleanor Gibson: "Architecture has not been promoted to communities of colour" says Michael Ford: Known as the "hip hop architect," he helps kids from minority backgrounds discover architecture through music. [Q&A re:] the importance of black musicians like Kanye West and Pharrell Williams, who heavily promote their involvement in architecture, in improving diversity in the profession...Ford co-founded the Urban Arts Collective...with initiatives including 400 Forward...to increase the amount of black women licensed as architects in the US.- Dezeen |
Perkins+Will Announces Merger with Award-Winning Danish Firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects: As part of the deal, technically an acquisition...Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s founding and practice partners will continue to lead the Denmark studio, which will retain the Schmidt Hammer Lassen name.- Architect Magazine |
Brasilia closes Latin America's largest rubbish dump: One thing the designers of Brazil’s modernistic capital forgot to map out in their intricate plans was where to put the rubbish... plan is to employ the pickers at new “triage” centers...But scavengers...said they refused to swap their source of income for regimented government jobs that payed too little...The closure will impact families living in Ciudad Estructural, an adjacent community started by scavengers that has an estimated 40,000 inhabitants. Many will have a hard time finding alternative jobs... -- Oscar Niemeyer; Lucio Costa- Reuters |
Camels banned from Saudi Arabia beauty contest over Botox: 12 prized camels have been disqualified...after their owners tried to tweak their good looks with Botox...a vet had been caught giving camels plastic surgery...- BBC |
Tanvi Misra: Where Amazon HQ2 Could Worsen Affordability the Most: Some of the cities dubbed finalists in Amazon’s headquarters search are likely to see a greater strain on their housing market, a new analysis finds: ...some are in a better position to absorb the shock of the 8 million square feet in office space...and the 50,000 or so high-paid workers...Schuetz asks...the cities that are tripping over each other to sweeten their offerings..."whether the benefits of HQ2 will outweigh the economic and social costs." -- Jenny Schuetz/Brookings Institution- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Rowan Moore: A blueprint for British housing in 2028: Imagine this: in two years, riots force the government to transform planning, design and building - and make Britain a world leader in housing. A utopian dream? It’s not as unlikely as you think: ...the great, remarkable truth is that the ideas behind this imaginary future exist already - the tools are here now - and most are already being put successfully into practice...tends to be small-scale and piecemeal...Alongside these ingenious, bottom-up approaches there is something government can do: wield a great British invention...council housing. -- AHMM; FAT; Karakusevic Carson; David Chipperfield; HTA; Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners; Neave Brown- Observer (UK) |
Douglas Murphy: The Modern Urbanism of Cook’s Camden: The council housing designed 50 years ago for a progressive London borough remains a potent symbol of the achievements of postwar social democracy: ...housing production of mid-century local authorities is now being vigorously reevaluated...One especially strong contribution to this reevaluation is "Cook’s Camden," a definitive account, by historian Mark Swenarton...Sydney Cook himself was not a strong designer, but he was a gifted administrator...he sought the most promising recent graduates...Once seen as futuristic, then as anathema...council estates are now viewed with nostalgia. -- Sydney Cook; Neave Brown; Gordon Benson; Alan Forsyth; Peter Tábori [images]- Places Journal |
Oscar Perry Abello: How San Francisco's Mission District Took Equitable Development Into Its Own Hands: It's not just about affordable housing: ...since 2000, the Mission has seen thousands of Latino families forced out...[nonprofit] Mission Economic Development Agency...goal: to restore the neighborhood’s largely Latino low- and moderate-income population...the organization has never lost sight of the small businesses and other nonprofits...that made it possible for those families to make a life for themselves in the Mission.- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
Cate St Hill: Rethinking affordable housing: Gorleston Street by Farrells: For a housing development providing flats for rent for key workers in London, the search was on to find a suitable site for mass housing...the Hammersmith site that affordable housing can be light, open, generous and nuanced. -- Dolphin Living [images]- DesignCurial / Blueprint Magazine (UK) |
Stefano Boeri Architetti's Vertical Forest is the Very First to be Used in Social Housing: Trudo Vertical Forest [in Eindhoven, Netherlands] will contain 125 social housing units over 19 floors...Each apartment will include a balcony filled with an array of trees, plants and shrubs... [images]- ArchDaily |
Affordable housing and studio concept wins RIBA Gasholder Bases National Competition for decommissioned gasholders: Outpost saw off...CF Architects, 318 Studio, Max Architects, Wilson Owens Owens Architects, and Jan Verhagen and Priscille Rodriguez of Unit...contest...asked architects to develop proposals to regenerate over 100 gasholder sites in the UK...Herzog & de Meuron...to convert Stockholm's former gasworks into a residential neighbourhood and in London's King's Cross redevelopment, Bell Philips created a circular park within the frame of an old gasholder...WilkinsonEyre is putting the finishing touches on an apartment block built within a gasholder frame.- Dezeen |
Micro apartments in concrete pipes designed to ease Hong Kong's housing crisis: James Law Cybertecture has developed a prototype for low-cost, stackable micro homes in concrete pipes, which could slot into gaps between city buildings. Called OPod Tube Housing...2.5-metre-wide concrete water pipes transformed into 9.29-square-metre homes, with doors that can be unlocked using smartphones. [images]- Dezeen |
ANN feature: Charles F. Bloszies: Left Coast Reflections #4: Iceberg Architecture: A London cabbie asked if we had heard of the "iceberg houses." We should keep our pencils above grade most of the time. And we should support theories that preserve real icebergs before they trickle away completely. [images]- ArchNewsNow.com |
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