Today’s News - Wednesday, March 28, 2018
● Plitt offers an interesting take on the risks and rewards of "architecture's #MeToo moment and the marketing of 'starchitecture'" in New York's (could be anywhere's) real estate world that uses "the buzz and reputation of big-name architects to market apartments - one controversial starchitect doesn't take down the genre."
● Lange considers why the Obama Presidential Center has "proven so contentious": "The architectural direction" has an "identity problem - trapped between two different kinds of buildings"; the protests "stem from this conceptual fuzziness."
● Kamin, meanwhile, reports that archaeologists have found artifacts (and animal bones) from the 1893 World's Fair have beneath the Obama center site, but "officials say the artifacts don't merit listing on the National Register of Historic Places," which means construction will likely move forward.
● Yarina takes a deep (very deep!) dive into how the trend for importing "climate-proofing" models has affected Bangkok, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, and Jakarta: "Too often, the rhetoric of climate adaptation is doublespeak for the displacement of poor, informal communities - resilience is not fundamentally a technical question, it is social and political" ('Your sea wall won't save you").
● Baker, co-author of report "Building Resilience in Businesses and Supply Chains in Asia," looks at how "Asian companies are working to protect against climate change, but will it be enough?"
● Fenston & Turner take their own deep (very deep!) dive into the fascinating history of and what's next for the Anacostia, Washington, DC's "forgotten" river, which is evolving from being a liability to an amenity - "gentrification doesn't have to be a bad word" if the city invests not only in the river and new waterfront developments, "but also in the people who live beside it" (a model for development elsewhere).
● Green parses a (very cool!) "parkipelago" in Copenhagen's harbor, a "hand-made wooden island" that is "a new form of public space - buoyed by a bed of recycled plastic bottles, it could be the first in series of islands" (and a great idea for other cities' harbors).
● Walker walks us through why "Uber's fatal Arizona crash is a call to action for cities. The fact that the state is so deadly for walkers is the very same reason" Uber is testing its autonomous vehicles there - "the state prioritizes cars over the lives of pedestrians" (interesting comments section, too).
● The Vatican at the Venice Biennale news x 2: MAP Studio's chapel, one of 10, is inspired by Gunnar Asplund's 1920 Woodland Chapel in Stockholm.
● Foster + Partners just released renderings of its Vatican chapel, an "outdoor structure" that "manages to appear organic, as part of the landscape" of San Giorgio Maggiore.
● More details about (and images of) Voorsanger Mathes' WWII Museum Canopy of Peace, "destined to become striking new feature of New Orleans skyline - a sprawling, three-pointed expanse of steel and fiberglass that will serve as the defining architectural feature" of the museum.
● Kwun queries Hawthorne, L.A.'s new Chief Design Officer, re: "major design challenges facing Los Angeles - and other cities - in the 21st century, how to approach civic works in the era of architecture's #MeToo, and why L.A. may have more in common with cities in Latin America and Asia than any in the U.S."
● A profile of Hun Chansan, a "rising star of Cambodia's skyline" who "is winning praises for his efforts to raise the profile of Cambodian architects and designers - his goal is to elevate the respect people have for architects to the same level given to doctors and lawyers."
Winners all:
● The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority names the winner of the Inaugural Hong Kong Young Architects and Designers Competition: New Office Works' temporary waterfront pavilion "Growing Up" will be ready for its close-up this fall.
● Winners of the Sydney Affordable Housing competition, from the U.S., Poland, and Australia, "offered much more than just affordable housing, and included larger-scale urban plans."
● Eyefuls of the 20 short-listed projects vying for the 2018 Ontario Association of Architects/OAA Design Excellence Awards, "each demonstrating unique best-in-class design" (great presentation!).
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Amy Plitt: Architecture’s #MeToo moment and the marketing of ‘starchitecture’: How will New York’s real estate world respond...: ...developers, collaborators, city agencies, and brokerages are due for a reckoning if and when architects become the subject of sexual harassment allegations...it’s now commonplace to employ the buzz and reputation of big-name architects to market apartments...The rewards...may now also come with risks, as developers - and their marketing teams - are now discovering...one controversial starchitect doesn’t take down the genre. -- Richard Meier; Stanford White/McKim, Mead & White; Alexandra Lange- Curbed New York |
Alexandra Lange: What does a presidential building look like? Barack Obama wants to create a new kind of presidential library. Why has that proven so contentious?: ...Obama can never again be just a community organizer...from the South Side. He is a president...The architectural direction reflects this identity problem...a project trapped between what have traditionally been two different kinds of buildings: one, that of the Acropolis-like presidential library, and two, that of the street-facing urban institution. Protests over the use of the park and community benefits are about larger, somewhat intangible issues, and yet they stem from this conceptual fuzziness. -- Frederick Law Olmsted; Calvert Vaux; The Cultural Landscape Foundation/TCLF; Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects; Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates- Curbed |
Blair Kamin: Artifacts from 1893 World’s Fair found beneath Obama center site, but report signals construction won’t be blocked: Archaeologists turned up remnants of the World’s Columbian Exposition...the fabled White City that drew millions of visitors to Chicago’s Jackson Park, as they scoured the site of the Obama Presidential Center...red fragments that could be from...the multicolored Transportation Building by Louis Sullivan...officials say the artifacts...don’t merit listing on the National Register of Historic Places.- Chicago Tribune |
Lizzie Yarina: Your Sea Wall Won't Save You: Negotiating rhetorics and imaginaries of climate resilience: ...Jakarta, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bangkok. Each is home to at least 8 million people...As officials seek to make their cities more resilient, they bring in outside planning experts who push "climate-proofing" models developed in Japan and Europe...Too often, the rhetoric of climate adaptation is doublespeak for the displacement of poor, informal communities, and an alibi for unsustainable growth...there is no shared understanding of what resilience is...It is not possible to "proof" a city against climate change.- Places Journal |
Jill Baker: Asian Companies Are Working To Protect Against Climate Change, But Will It Be Enough? Asian companies and their extended supply chains are particularly susceptible to climate risk and resource constraints...Without an increased focus on building resilience, [it] could be sowing the seeds of its own destruction...362 companies...are setting their carbon emissions goals in line with climate science. To date, 119 of the world’s most influential companies have joined the RE100 buyers’ consortium and are committed to using 100% renewable energy.- Forbes |
Jacob Fenston & Tyrone Turner: Anacostia Rising: What's Next For Washington, DC's 'Forgotten' River: What does a revitalized river mean for Washington, and who will benefit? ...[It] has gone from being seen as a liability...to an amenity...the other side of the tracks is looking more and more like the next big thing...gentrification doesn't have to be a bad word...It depends on whether the city invests not just in the river and the buildings going up around it, but also in the people who live beside it. -- OMA + OLIN/11th Street Bridge Park [images]- WAMU.org - American University Radio |
Jared Green: In Copenhagen’s Harbor, a New Form of Public Space: the “Parkipelago”: Its sole Linden tree acting like a green beacon, CPH-Ø1, a 215-square-foot, hand-made wooden island...Buoyed by a bed of recycled plastic bottles, it could be the first in series of islands...designed to be mobile...would work well in other cities with harbors as well. -- Marshall Blecher; Magnus Maarbjerg/Fokstrot [images]- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Alissa Walker: This is the moment when we decide that human lives matter more than cars: Uber’s fatal Arizona crash is a call to action for cities: Arizona has the highest rate of pedestrian deaths in the nation...The fact that the state is so deadly for walkers is not a coincidence...is the very same reason Uber is testing there - the state prioritizes cars over the lives of pedestrians...Bad road design is lethal...most major cities across the country now have Vision Zero strategies...human driver or robot driver, the only acceptable number of deaths on our streets is no deaths.- Curbed |
The Vatican Releases Details of First Ever Venice Biennale Entry: Situated on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, the Holy See Pavilion will lead visitors on a journey through 10 chapels designed by 10 architects. The beginning of the journey will be marked by the Asplund Chapel, designed by MAP Studio and built by ALPI, drawing inspiration from the “Woodland Chapel” built in 1920 by Gunnar Asplund... [images]- ArchDaily |
Previewing Norman Foster's Vatican Chapel, one of 10 planned at the Venice Biennale: ...renderings of this wooden chapel by Foster + Partners were released...outdoor structure...manages to appear organic, as part of the landscape... [images]- designboom |
WWII Museum's Canopy of Peace destined to become striking new feature of New Orleans skyline: ...a sprawling, three-pointed expanse of steel and fiberglass that will serve as the defining architectural feature of the National World War II Museum...Larger than a football field, the bright white canopy will be about a dozen stories high...has gone through about eight different designs over the years...has been tested in a wind tunnel...to withstand the most extreme tropical storm winds. -- Voorsanger Mathes (Voorsanger Architects/Mathes Brierre Architects); Thornton Tomasetti; Solomon Group [images]- The Advocate (New Orleans, LA) |
Aileen Kwun: L.A.’s New Chief Design Officer: “Cities Are Squeezed ... By Tech Companies”: The former L.A. Times critic Christopher Hawthorne talks about the major design challenges facing Los Angeles - and other cities - in the 21st century: ..., how to approach civic works in the era of architecture’s #MeToo, and why L.A. may have more in common with cities in Latin America and Asia than any other in the U.S..."It’s very important...to really reassert the importance of the public - meaning the truly public - as a way to begin to think about a bulwark against climate change and the pressures that technological change might bring."- Fast Company / Co.Design |
The rising star of Cambodia’s skyline: A young architect is winning praises for his innovative designs and efforts to raise the profile of Cambodian architects and designers: Hun Chansan is the face of a new generation of young Cambodian architects...At 38, the young architect has already built a towering reputation...his goal is to elevate the respect people have for architects to the same level given to doctors and lawyers. -- Re-Edge Architecture + Design- Phnom Penh Post (Cambodia) |
WKCDA/West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Announces Winners of the Inaugural Hong Kong Young Architects and Designers Competition: ... a "temporary pavilion that promotes sustainability and addresses economic and natural resources"..."Growing Up" by New Office Works...sits on the waterfront in Nursery Park...Paul Tse Yi-pong and Evelyn Ting Huei-chung from New Office Works will serve as Design Advisors with the project set to open in fall 2018. [images]- ArchDaily |
Sydney Affordable Housing competition results: The most interesting submissions offered much more than just affordable housing, and included larger-scale urban plans. -- Tae Jung/Pauline Sipin/Hazel Ventura/Diana Lopez (U.S.); Shanghai Institute of Visual Art; Podhale State College of Applied Sciences; Kevin Pham and Alex Hoang (Poland); Kevin Pham/Alex Hoang (Australia) [images]- Bee Breeders (formerly HMMD/Homemade Dessert) / Sydney Build Expo 2018 |
Top Projects Honoured as OAA Design Excellence Awards Finalists for the Ontario Association of Architects: 20 short-listed projects range from local Ontario homes to Ivy League university buildings in the U.S. to temples in Chile, each demonstrating unique best-in-class design...Winners will be announced April 3. [images]- Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) |
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