Today’s News - Thursday, February 22, 2018
EDITOR'S NOTE: We tried doing the newsletter yesterday, but words on the screen looked like Klingon in our flu-infused mind; things were slightly less-cryptic today. Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days - we hope to be back, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, on Tuesday, February 27.
● "Archicritics" are tweeting up a storm over JPMorgan Chase's plans to demolish and replace its 52-story 270 Park Avenue (formerly Union Carbide), designed by SOM's Natalie de Blois, with a 70-story tower (architect as yet unnamed).
● Buffalo considers landmarking two Frank Lloyd Wright houses - "it would seem like a slam-dunk," but for the owners who disagree.
● Bozikovic parses MVVA's plans for Toronto's next great park on the waterfront "that will reshape the tail of the Don River: "Much is still up in the air, but you can trust that these parks will serve their purposes of flood control, repairing the wounded ecology of the area, and providing a beautiful variety of experiences."
● Meanwhile, MVVA's renovation of Saarinen and Kiley's St. Louis Arch and Cooper Robertson's museum expansion will be ready for their close-up in time for this year's 4th of July celebrations.
● Adjaye just-opened spy museum in NYC offers visitors the chance "to see just how good of a spy they would be" (for a "whopping" $39(!), one would hope a martini - shaken not stirred - would be included).
● Glancey offers a fascinating glimpse at "how the Olympic cauldron came to be": "The most successful have been simple and restrained. The momentum, though, remains in favor of circus-like spectacle. Visual restraint is not the order of the 21st Century Olympic day."
● Great Q&A with former State Department design excellence guru Casey Jones re: "his yearlong sabbatical, what led him to private practice (Perkins+Will), and the importance of civic architecture" (congrats, Casey!!!).
● Thom Mayne Young Architects Program for 6th-graders at a Bridgeport, Connecticut, school, led by Pratt architecture students, is extended for third semester.
A deadline, the RAIC Gold Medal, and a competition result changed because of charges of plagiarism.
● Call for entries: Expressions of Interest: Future Campus - University College Dublin International Design Competition.
● RAIC awards 2018 Gold Medal to Saucier + Perrotte Architectes.
● 3rd-place winners will now take 2nd place in the Skyhive Architecture Competition following "accusations that a participant plagiarized their entry."
Weekend diversions:
● A good reason to head Down Under next week: Sydney Design Festival 2018: "Call to Action" fab programs, people, and "Common Good" at the Powerhouse Museum.
● Patel parses architect Mina Chow's "Face of a Nation," premiering at the inaugural ADFF:DC, that "examines the implications of the U.S.'s waning role in international expositions," weakening the image of American ingenuity and ambition - the story of a nation undergoing an identity crisis."
● Hawthorne hails LACMA's "Found in Translation: Design in California and Mexico, 1915-1985": the curators "manage quite effectively to coax a wide-ranging cast of characters into a single curatorial frame - for a nearly endless supply of ironies."
● "Social Housing - New European Projects" at NYC's Center for Architecture presents 25 European case studies by 20 firms that "captures some of the best and most innovative examples of not-for-profit housing at a critical juncture for the sector."
Page-turners:
● Moore cheers Sennett's "sharp insights" in "Building and Dwelling: Ethics for the City" that is both "timely and engaging. His sympathies tend towards the vital, complex, diverse, bottom-up aspects of cities. 'Messy' is a favorite word. 'Open' is another."
● Kamin lauds Gyure's "Minoru Yamasaki: Humanist Architecture for a Modernist World," a "deeply-researched, lucidly-written, and handsomely-illustrated book" that "offers a fresh look at work of the scorned World Trade Center architect," and "paints a more nuanced and truer portrait."
● A round-up of "the best books on digital fabrication, robotics, redefining architectural scale, and guides on how to design for a science fiction future."
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City’s plan to demolish & replace SOM-designed 270 Park Avenue sparks criticism: Archicritics are up in arms over the city’s plans to demolish a midcentury icon: ...JPMorgan Chase to...replace the structure with a shiny new 70-story building...lost in the coverage was any mention of the building’s historic importance: ...one of few designed by a woman working in the male-dominated world of architecture. SOM’s Natalie de Blois was, by all accounts, the driving force...despite Gordon Bunshaft getting the credit as the design partner. -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill- Curbed New York |
Should Buffalo's 'Other' Frank Lloyd Wright Houses Be Landmarked? Owners Say No: Two...take center stage [today] when the Buffalo Preservation Board will propose designating each a local landmark. It would seem like a slam-dunk, given the historic importance of the William R. Heath House and the Walter V. Davidson House. Except for one thing: Neither of the owners wants the designation...[Owners] successfully opposed a previous landmarking attempt by the Preservation Board several years ago. [images]- Buffalo News |
Alex Bozikovic: On the waterfront, Toronto's next great park takes shape: At a public meeting on Thursday, Waterfront Toronto will present its current vision for a project that will reshape the tail of the Don River: ...part of the $1.185-billion Port Lands Flood Protection program...will allow 290 hectares of land to be developed...Much is still up in the air, but you can trust that these parks will serve their purposes of flood control, repairing the wounded ecology of the area, and providing a beautiful variety of experiences. -- Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA)- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
St. Louis Arch Renovations Aim to Revitalize an Eero Saarinen and Dan Kiley Landscape: ...redesign was 70 years in the making; now Saarinen and Kiley's project will make a fresh debut this July: ...$221-million renovation...will add significant site improvements as well as a 46,000-square-foot museum expansion... -- Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA); Cooper Robertson [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
David Adjaye-designed SPYSCAPE Opens in New York: ...drawing visitors into a dark universe of espionage. While the museum focuses more on real-life characters...the highly interactive exhibits invite guests to see just how good of a spy they would be... [images]- Architectural Record |
Jonathan Glancey: How the Olympic Cauldron Came to Be: One of sport’s most iconic objects developed over time, but several of the traditions surrounding it came from the Nazi games of 1936: ...perhaps the most successful Olympic cauldrons have been simple and restrained, reflecting the taut, lithe nature of athletics and the timeless appeal of these games...The momentum, though, remains in favour of circus-like spectacle. Visual restraint is not the order of the 21st Century Olympic day. [images]- BBC |
Former State Department Official Casey Jones to Lead Global Civic Buildings Strategy for Perkins+Will: Q&A re: his yearlong sabbatical, what led him to private practice, and the importance of civic architecture: ...former deputy director of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO...will lead [the firm's] civic buildings strategy.- Architect Magazine |
Thom Mayne Young Architects Program is extended for third semester: Morphosis has announced the educational initiative...has been extended through the remainder of the 2017-2018 academic year in partnership with Hall Elementary School in Bridgeport, Connecticut...enables 6th grade students who participated last semester to continue developing their design skills...The after-school classes are led by Pratt Institute architecture students, and task the students with creating a beautification proposal for their classroom. [images]- Archinect |
Call for entries: Expressions of Interest: Future Campus - University College Dublin International Design Competition: Two-stage competition for an integrated design team to create an urban design vision for an around 24 ha area and concept designs for a new 8,000 sqm, circa €48m Centre for Creative Design; Stage 1/EOI deadline: March 26 (Stage 2 honorarium of €40,000 for each of five shortlisted teams)- Malcolm Reading Consultants / University College Dublin |
RAIC awards 2018 Gold Medal to Saucier + Perrotte Architectes: ...Montreal firm that for 30 years has consistently produced refined, elegant and modern buildings - many for the public... -- Gilles Saucier; André Perrotte- Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) |
Skyhive architecture competition results update: We recently received accusations that a participant...plagiarized their entry...After an investigation into the application a decision was made to disqualify the second place winners...for using another person’s artwork without their expressed consent. Therefore, our current 3rd place winners will now take 2nd place while the current BB Student Award recipient will receive the 3rd prize. -- Suraksha Acharya (India); Jon Carag (U.S.); Elizabeth Compeán Michel/Gabriel Alejandro Madrigal Betancourt/Juan Jesús García Castro/Rodrigo Zertuche Rodríguez/Universidad Autonoma De San Luis Potosi (Mexico) [images]- Bee Breeders (formerly HMMD/Homemade Dessert) / Manipal Executive Education (Dubai) |
Sydney Design Festival 2018: "Call to Action": ...will examine the expansion of design disciplines across materials technology and sustainable production, design-led community engagement, digital communication and speculative practice...a new design exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum, "Common Good"...March 2-11- Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences / MAAS (Sydney, Australia) |
Neel Patel: "Face of a Nation": ...makes connections between world fair architecture and national identity, examines the implications of the United States’ waning role in international expositions...has weakened the image of American ingenuity and ambition...Through approaching the subject material as an architect investigating the death of the U.S. pavilion at world fairs, Mina Chow tells the story of a nation undergoing an identity crisis.- Architectural Record |
Christopher Hawthorne: What a big LACMA exhibition has to say about L.A.'s ongoing search for 'civic identity': "Found in Translation: Design in California and Mexico, 1915-1985" is among the most ambitious, and most accomplished, of the shows in the Getty's...Pacific Standard Time series...Wendy Kaplan and Staci Steinberger manage quite effectively to coax a wide-ranging cast of characters...into a single curatorial frame...What the show and catalog do best of all is mine the Spanish Colonial (and its slightly older sibling, the Mission Revival) for a nearly endless supply of ironies; thru April 1 -- Frank Lloyd Wright; Esther McCoy; Ruth Asawa; William Spratling; Deborah Sussman; Antonio Pineda; Judithe Hernández; A. Quincy Jones- Los Angeles Times |
"Social Housing - New European Projects": ...a new generation of architecture practices are transforming affordable housing...architects are once again addressing how homes can be delivered at scale while piloting new methods to achieve high standards of design...captures some of the best and most innovative examples of not-for-profit housing at a critical juncture for the sector...25 European case studies by 20 practices...at the Center for Architecture, New York City, thru May 19 [images]
European social housing show presents thinking outside the box: "Social Housing - New European Projects"...20 firms from across Europe have assembled 25 case studies of social housing projects...ranging from refurbishment to experimental building typologies. What links them together is that they present a vision for an alternative to market-driven housing construction...Curated by Karakusevic Carson Architects. Center for Architecture, New York City, thru Center for Architecture- Center for Architecture / AIANY (NYC) |
Rowan Moore: "Building and Dwelling: Ethics for the City" by Richard Sennett - sharp insights: With more than half the global population living in cities, the author’s observations on urban planning and street life are timely and engaging: His sympathies tend towards the vital, complex, diverse, bottom-up aspects of cities. “Messy” is a favourite word. “Open” is another.- Observer (UK) |
Blair Kamin: “Minoru Yamasaki: Humanist Architecture for a Modernist World" by Dale Allen Gyure offers fresh look at work of scorned World Trade Center architect: A fine new book paints a more nuanced and truer portrait: Yamasaki, it argues, should not be judged solely by the World Trade Center’s place-destroying gigantism, Pruitt-Igoe’s soul-crushing monotony...The architect, as this deeply-researched, lucidly-written and handsomely-illustrated book shows, was driven, brilliant and insecure. And he was exploring paths...we are still traveling down today.- Chicago Tribune |
Robotic Reads: AN rounds up our favorite tech books of 2018: ...best books on digital fabrication, robotics, redefining architectural scale, and guides on how to design for a science fiction future. -- "Towards a Robotic Architecture" by Mahesh Daas & Andrew John Wit; "3D Thinking in Design and Architecture: From Antiquity to the Future" by Roger Burrows; "Active Matter" by Skylar Tibbits; "Responsive Landscapes: Strategies for Responsive Technologies in Landscape Architecture" by Bradley Cantrell & Justine Holzman; "Hello, Robot.: Design Between Human and Machine" by Mateo Kries; "Faster, Smarter, Greener: The Future of the Car and Urban Mobility" by Venkat Sumantran, Charles Fine & David Gonsalvez; "Printing Architecture: Innovative Recipes for 3D Printing" by Ronald Rael & Virginia San Fratello; "Robot House: Instrumentation, Representation, Fabrication" by Peter Testa- The Architect's Newspaper |
ANN feature: Guy Geier: Nuts + Bolts #16: What's in a Name? Branding can be a bit of a foreign concept to established (and even to newer) architecture firms. Here are some central takeaways from a firm rebranding itself after 40 years in practice.- ArchNewsNow.com |
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