Today’s News - Thursday, July 19, 2018
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days. We'll be back Tuesday, July 24.
It's a Stirling Prize shortlist kind of day!
● Wainwright: "a shortlist that lacks showstoppers. Together, the buildings make a bit of a dull group, celebrating the mute and austere over the bold and expressive."
● Ijeh, on a more positive note, "hails a vintage year - a real mix of scales and building types" in a shortlist that "offers genuine variety, quality and interest and provides some of the star quality recent years have lacked."
● Astbury cheers "some great projects, but where's the housing?" ("Bloomberg prompts an eye-roll - a great collection of products and gimmicks but architecturally vapid" - ouch!).
● Waite notes "surprise omissions," but does include William Hill's odds of winning, the jury citations, and links to detailed building studies.
In other news:
● Haggart & Spicer take a deep dive into Toronto's Quayside project: It "was supposed to be a brag-worthy global showcase for what a smart city, 'built from the internet up,' would look like," but concerns about data gathering, control, and use "are not trivial issues"; they offer "three key principles to consider for future smart city infrastructure projects."
● Carucci talks to Doherty of development/technology/autonomous transportation/architectural firm The Digit Group re: "how this entrepreneur is changing the world one smart city at a time" (including 8 new smart cities across central Australia!): "Remain human-centric."
● A not-so-smart idea: the "U.S. Army Corps proposes concrete and steel barrier wall" across New York Harbor "to combat NYC floods" (fingers crossed Riverkeeper and others will keep the proposal at bay!).
● Sander parses a new Harvard Business School study that "should be the final nail" in the coffin "for open-plan offices - poor design can have unintended consequences."
● Meanwhile, on a brighter note, Saint-Gobain, in partnership with the University of Oregon's High Performance Environments Lab, releases its own HQ occupant comfort study that "reveals the collective benefits of a systems-based design approach."
● Miranda delves into whether the L.A. Times complex should be protected: "Purely from a design perspective, preserving the complex is a difficult proposition." Hess and Schave lead the charge with a 378-page recommendation report to save it; Hawthorne and Ouroussoff weigh in.
● Watch The Architecture Foundation's "Architecture for All," which "follows south-London design teacher Neil Pinder," and "presents an alternative manifesto for British creative education and the future of diversity in the creative economy."
Weekend diversions:
● AS+GG's Adrian Smith weighs in on what went into his role as advisor in developing the design for the fictional mega-tall tower The Pearl in "Skryscraper": the director wanted "a tower based on real possibilities" (so, who better to get than someone behind some of the world's tallest!).
● "Skyscraper" production designer Jim Bissell re: creating a 240-story tower in Hong Kong: "We were doomed for failure in the eyes of the architectural community. I had no delusions that it was going to incite the ire of many of my architectural peers" ("but he wanted the building to be a 'hero' nonetheless").
● The authors of the upcoming book "Soviet Modernism, Brutalism, Post-Modernism: Buildings and Projects in Ukraine from 1960-1990" offer "a dramatic short film that makes a case for preservation" by "bringing viewers right to the structures that have fallen into the background and into disrepair."
● Glancey offers a most thoughtful take on "the concrete remains of Yugoslavia's brutalist past," on view in MoMA's "Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-80": "Will the splintered republics that still house this architectural tour de force come to appreciate its qualities? Only time, and a new-found fascination with these concrete buildings, will tell."
● Eyefuls from the Bruges Triennial "Liquid City" and the "striking installations" by innovative architects and artists that explore the Belgian city's "connection to water in a whole new way" (we'd like to get our feet wet!).
● Using Microsoft smartglasses or an augmented reality (AR) smartphone app, Mel Chin's "Unmoored" will show you Times Square under water, with sinking ships creating gridlock (we can't wait to see this!).
● Eyefuls of "Playsages II - Go Outside and Play!" and the playful installations on view in Quebec's 2018 International Garden Festival within the historic Reford Gardens in Grand-Métis.
Page-turners:
● Bernstein talks to "deft writer " and "skilled photographer" Wainwright re: "Inside North Korea": "Seeing the leaders and their buildings lets us imagine North Korea as North Koreans see it. Wainwright's book is a revelation."
● Campbell-Dollaghan finds a "bleak portrait of Trump's failed Atlantic City kingdom" in Rose's "Atlantic City" (with intro by Goldberger): it's "a visual meditation on both the demise of Atlantic City and the rise of the president. You're looking at the urban impact of a distinctly Trumpian form of business management - and a profiteering ethos."
● Eyefuls from Brian Rose's "Atlantic City": his "critical, observational eye reveals the dystopian landscape of fantasy architecture and socioeconomic decay that characterize the city today."
● Lange on "what makes a school flourish - a shiny new building isn't always the answer" (a great excerpt from "The Design of Childhood: How the Material World Shapes Independent Kids").
● Welton cheers "Dream of Venice in Black and White," Locktov's third book, and an "elegant little tome on her favorite Italian landscape" (fab photos!!!).
| |
|
|
|
To subscribe to the free daily newsletter
click here
|
Oliver Wainwright: Billion-pound Foster vies with mud-walled burial ground for Stirling prize: Norman Foster’s £1bn Bloomberg HQ takes on a rammed-earth cemetery and the magical Tate St Ives extension, in a shortlist that lacks showstoppers: Together, the buildings make a bit of a dull group, celebrating the mute and austere over the bold and expressive... -- Foster + Partners; Jamie Fobert Architects/Evans & Shalev; Niall McLaughlin Architects; MUMA; Henley Halebrown; Waugh Thistleton [images]- Guardian (UK) |
Ike Ijeh: The verdict: 2018 Stirling shortlist: BD’s architecture critic hails a vintage year, with six contenders that do justice to the landscape around them: ...a real mix of scales and building types with the six nominations by and large spanning six different sectors, half of which - a cemetery, community centre and student housing - have never featured before...offers genuine variety, quality and interest and provides some of the star quality recent years have lacked. -- -- Foster + Partners; Jamie Fobert Architects/Evans & Shalev; Niall McLaughlin Architects; MUMA; Henley Halebrown; Waugh Thistleton- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Jon Astbury: Stirling shortlist verdict: some great projects, but where’s the housing? ...a critical look at the six buildings in contention for UK architecture’s top prize: Bloomberg prompts an eye-roll - a great collection of products and gimmicks but architecturally vapid. -- Foster + Partners; Jamie Fobert Architects/Evans & Shalev; Niall McLaughlin Architects; MUMA; Henley Halebrown; Waugh Thistleton [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Richard Waite: RIBA Stirling Prize 2018 shortlist announced: A trio of university-backed projects are among the six buildings shortlisted: Surprise omissions from the list include Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners’ Cheesegrater skyscraper, Reiach and Hall’s Nucleus building and AL_A’s Victoria and Albert Museum Exhibition Road Quarter. There is no place either for Maggie’s Oldham by dRMM Architects + Judges’ citations + Building studies -- -- Foster + Partners; Jamie Fobert Architects/Evans & Shalev; Niall McLaughlin Architects; MUMA; Henley Halebrown; Waugh Thistleton [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Blayne Haggart & Zachary Spicer: What Toronto’s Quayside project has taught us about smart cities and data: ...was supposed to be a brag-worthy global showcase for what a smart city, “built from the internet up,” would look like...Those involved...have been surprised by the concerns raised about the project and the resistance to it...still privately negotiating the most fundamental components of their partnership, namely what data would be collected, who would control and own this data, where it would be stored and how it would be used...These are not trivial issues...We suggest three key principles to consider for future smart city infrastructure projects: -- Waterfront Toronto; Sidewalk Labs- CityMetric (UK) |
Ron Carucci: How This Entrepreneur Is Changing The World One Smart City At A Time: Paul Doherty, CEO of The Digit Group...Part real-estate development, part technology, part autonomous transportation, part architectural firm, and part virtual-reality theme park designer (yup)...he offered three insights he feels are universal to any dream of global impact...The CLARA plan, in which TDG is playing a foundational role, now envisions up to eight new Smart Cities across central Australia...Remain human-centric.- Forbes |
U.S. Army Corps proposes concrete and steel barrier wall to combat NYC floods: The barrier would stretch across the New York Harbor and could cost as much as $20 billion: ...proposed barriers are already drawing criticism...Riverkeeper saying that several of the plans, especially the ones that call for in-water barriers, would “threaten the very existence of the Hudson as a living river.”- Curbed New York |
Libby Sander: A new study should be the final nail for open-plan offices: [They] have taken off because of a desire to increase interaction and collaboration among workers. But an innovative new study has found that employees in open-plan offices spend 73% less time in face-to-face interactions. Email and messaging use shot up by over 67%...poor design can have unintended consequences...greater emphasis needs to be placed on both visual and auditory privacy...- The Conversation |
Saint-Gobain Releases North American HQ Occupant Comfort Study: The first of its kind based on size and scale, the longitudinal study reveals the collective benefits of a systems-based design approach: ...newly released study...in partnership with the University of Oregon’s High Performance Environments Lab...analyzed the occupants’ experience pre-, during and post-renovation during the company’s move from its Valley Forge, PA location to its current Malvern, PA headquarters.- Facility Executive |
Carolina A. Miranda: Should the old Times Mirror complex become a historic monument? The 378-page recommendation report filed by a group of preservationists...calls on the city to protect the three most iconic structures of the Los Angeles Times complex...Purely from a design perspective, preserving [the] complex - once known as Times Mirror Square - is a difficult proposition. -- Gordon B. Kaufmann (1935); Rowland Crawford (1948); William Pereira/Charles Kratka (1973); Richard Schave; Alan Hess; Christopher Hawthorne; Nicolai Ouroussoff [images]- Los Angeles Times |
Watch: ‘Architecture for All’ film on diversity in education: The Architecture Foundation has produced a film focusing on the future of creative learning in the UK: ...follows south-London design teacher Neil Pinder and includes interviews with specialists and politicians...the film presents an alternative manifesto for British creative education and the future of diversity in the creative economy. [video]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
"Skyscraper" movie director wanted "a tower based on real possibilities" says Adrian Smith: ...blockbuster movie centres around a fictional megatall tower [The Pearl]...director Rawson Marshall Thurber wanted to make the building believable, so enlisted Smith - whose firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture is behind some of the world's tallest structures - to advise on the project..."I was consulting on issues that tall buildings face in real life"...- Dezeen |
"We were doomed for failure in the eyes of the architectural community" says "Skyscraper" movie designer: The megatall tower...was never expected to be a hit with architects, admits production designer Jim Bissell, but he wanted the building to be a "hero" nonetheless..."I had no delusions about the fact that it was going to incite the ire of many of my architectural peers...The Pearl - a 240-storey tower in Hong Kong...the world's tallest building if it were real... [images]- Dezeen |
Seeing the Beauty in Ukraine’s Soviet Architecture: The authors of an upcoming book on the nation’s most threatened buildings have a dramatic short film that makes a case for preservation: [Architect] Oleksiy Bykov is co-writing the book, "Soviet Modernism, Brutalism, Post-Modernism: Buildings and Projects in Ukraine from 1960–1990" with Ievgeniia Gubkina...They also worked with...Roman Blazhan to create a video about the subject, bringing viewers right to the structures that have fallen into the background and into disrepair...They hope that trend won’t continue.- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Jonathan Glancey: Inside the concrete remains of Yugoslavia's brutalist past: "Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-80," at New York's Museum of Modern Art...New Yugoslav architecture...was a bold way of expressing the country's difference - and the difference between the cultures of its constituent republics - with energy, imagination and panache. Will the splintered republics that still house this architectural tour de force come to appreciate its qualities? Only time, and a new-found fascination with these concrete buildings, will tell. -- Boris Magaš; Ranko Radovic; Vjenceslav Richter [images]- CNN Style |
The Bruges Triennial Showcases Modern Design Within a Historic City: Innovative architects and artists have created striking installations on display in the city center through September 16: The medieval city is known for its canals, but now the Belgian city’s connection to water is being explored in a whole new way...showcasing works inspired by the theme “Liquid City"...Several installations address the threat of rising sea levels, offering innovative solutions for future living. [images]- Architectural Digest |
Experience A Submerged Times Square Using Mixed Reality: Mel Chin's "Unmoored" imagines a future where New York's Midtown Manhattan is submerged in water: ...he hopes to provoke a conversation about the relationship between human actions and global warming...depicts animated boats floating 26 feet above the ground...Over time, the number of boats increase, resulting in a gridlock...the boats begin to rust and sea creatures start to appear...nearby..."Wake"...sculpture appears to be a hybrid of a shipwreck and a whale skeleton, combined with a carved, wooden figurehead. "Mel Chin: All Over the Place" thru September 5 [images]- Architect Magazine |
Take a peek at the playful 2018 International Garden Festival installations: Nestled within the historic Reford Gardens in Grand-Métis, Quebec, this year's festival continues its exploration of play with “Playsages II - Go Outside and Play!”...displayed with the six “playsages” from the 2017 festival. Collectively, they create an inviting playground... thru October 7 [images]- Archinect |
Fred A. Bernstein: The Side of North Korea That’s Not Been Making Headlines: The architecture and color palette of the Hermit Kingdom aren't what you might expect: "Inside North Korea" will make you realize how little you know about the Hermit Kingdom - or, at least, how little you know about how the Hermit Kingdom looks. A deft writer, Oliver Wainwright here reveals himself to be a skilled photographer as well...seeing the leaders and their buildings, in uncropped photos...lets us imagine North Korea as North Koreans see it. Wainwright’s book is a revelation. [images]- Introspective magazine |
Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan: A bleak portrait of Trump’s failed Atlantic City kingdom: "Atlantic City" by Brian Rose...with an introduction by critic Paul Goldberger...a visual meditation on both the demise of Atlantic City and the rise of the president...The fading giants that feature in Rose’s photographs are testaments...to the development paradigm of the era...You’re looking at the urban impact of a distinctly Trumpian form of business management - and a profiteering ethos... [images]- Fast Company / Co.Design |
Photo Essay: Documenting Atlantic City’s Faded Luster from Photographer Brian Rose: "Atlantic City" is a departure from his normal urban subjects, but still utilizes his critical, observational eye to reveal...the dystopian landscape of fantasy architecture and socioeconomic decay that characterize the city today...with an introduction by architectural critic Paul Goldberger. [images]- Untapped Cities |
Alexandra Lange: The Future of School Design: A shiny new building isn't always the answer. Lange on what makes a school flourish: ...latest trend in school design is all about options...an approach which is less focused on learning facts and more concerned about what you do with them...It is hard for me to believe, however, that those who seek to disrupt education won’t end up rediscovering old lessons...the physical and the intellectual must be in sync, building on the foundation of the simple needs identified for the early 20th-century classroom: light and air. [adapted from "The Design of Childhood: How the Material World Shapes Independent Kids"] -- Rosan Bosch Studio ; Studio Gang; Fielding Nair International; Rogers Partners; A+I; Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects [images]- Architect Magazine |
J. Michael Welton: "Dream of Venice in Black and White": With her third book on her favorite Italian landscape, JoAnn Locktov focuses on a number of missions...First, she’s out to save Venice from the tourism and cruise ships that threaten the city and its culture...“There are mass tourism and sea monsters taking over the lagoon"...She had other goals, too, in mind when she developed this elegant little tome. There are also the talented visionaries who contributed its rich imagery. [images]- Architects + Artisans |
ANN feature: Nuts + Bolts #19: Steinglass: The Challenges Firms Face when Talented Staff Decide to Leave: Talented staff resignations have become more commonplace, and the challenges of "firm building" are now more about staff retention than recruitment.- 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.
© 2018 ArchNewsNow.com