Today’s News - Tuesday, June 18, 2019
● Phineas Harper: "What does radical architecture look like in the era of climate change? Architecture's potential to lead the fight against global heating has been matched only by its failure to do so. Architects Declare ultimately falls short. To repair the biosphere, we may need to rethink the repair of architecture first" (bring back thatch?).
● Frearson talks to Jack Self, who says humans are "'unlikely to survive this century' without radical changes to housing - copying the work of others is essential to the progression of housing'" (that sounds pretty radical).
● Walker wonders whether Jerde's "PoMo wonderland" in San Diego will be saved: Horton Plaza's "bold, grin-eliciting elements will be replaced with the prevailing look of America's late-capitalism era" - a "Hudson-Yards-by-the-Sea" (fab photos).
● Combs considers what Horton Plaza, soon to be a "tech campus," could have been: "We could have envisioned a repurposed arts and culture destination. But I'm not here to lament the repugnant idea of having bro-friendly skate parks and break areas among its iconic, postmodernist design. Rather, I just want to say that I will miss it."
● O'Sullivan ponders a plan to "fill in some of the Barbican Estate's loftier spaces - is this a case of greed spoiling a masterpiece? Or of mild adaptation enabling the complex to move with the times?" (judging by the rendering, it looks like the former).
● Meanwhile, Chipperfield's Milan office is transforming Venice's Procuratie Vecchie on Piazza San Marco that will make it accessible to the public for the first time in 500 years - and will "host activities of The Human Safety Net, supporting vulnerable communities."
● Imam uses Chipperfield's Venice project as the jumping-off point to consider whether "architects can help save cities buckling under the strain of tourism. Chipperfield doesn't believe this building, or even architecture, can save Venice" ("Architects can contribute to finding solutions but not through architecture," sayeth DC).
● Kamin parses phase one of P+W's new biomedical research building for Northwestern that replaced Goldberg's Prentice Women's Hospital: "The design is ambitious, carefully detailed and mostly sensitive to its surroundings. But it is world-class? Not yet," but it might be "if the second phase is built" (and "who's on the side of the angels - those who want to save buildings or those who want to save lives? It's not an easy choice").
● Plitt reports that Zaha Hadid Architects is no longer designing 220 11th Avenue in NYC that was to be an 11-story mixed-use building and will now be a nine-story office building - with Studios Architecture listed as the architect of record (details are sketchy).
● Eyefuls of the High Line's final section, the Spur - the first site on the elevated park dedicated to a rotating series of art commissions (not mentioned: 10 Hudson Yards cantilevers over a section).
● Local Projects designs interactive pop-up storefronts in all 5 NYC boroughs for the New York Times "The Truth Is Local"' campaign that highlights "stories reflecting how NYT reporting impacted their respective boroughs" - through June 24.
● Winners announced in the Reimagining the DL&W Corridor International Design Ideas Competition to transform an abandoned elevated rail corridor connecting Buffalo's downtown with its waterfront.
● Nicholas Grimshaw is stepping down as chair of his architecture firm, but "will remain in an advisory role and will devote much of his time to the new Grimshaw Arts and Architecture Foundation"; Andrew Whalley is taking his place.
● Deborah Marton is tapped to be the executive director of the Van Alen Institute (great news for both!).
Deadlines:
● Request for Qualifications/RFQ: Houston Endowment Headquarters International Design Competition ($50,000 honorarium for finalist teams for concept designs at stage two).
● Call for entries (deadline looms!): World Architecture News/WAN Awards 2019 (34 categories!).
● Call for entries (international): Design a sustainable pavilion for Wonderfruit Festival 2019 in Chonburi, Thailand; prize: all-expense paid trip to Thailand for one month to build pavilion and stay for the festival!
● Call for entries: The 11th Annual ARCHITECT 50: How does your firm stack up in Business; Sustainability; Design? (entrants must have a U.S. office).
● Call for papers: Patterns and Spatial Organization: Culture, History and Future Perspectives for the Nexus Network Journal: Architecture and Mathematics.
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Phineas Harper: We're seeing an unprecedented mobilisation of architects in the fight against climate change: With architects changing their ways in response to global warming - what does radical architecture look like in the era of climate change? Architecture's potential to lead the fight against global heating, to date, has been matched only by its failure to do so...Pledges and sexy websites are one thing, but channelling the momentum...into meaningful change is another. The 11 pledges [Architects Declare]...ultimately fall short...To repair the biosphere, we may need to rethink the repair of architecture first. -- Oslo Triennale; Interrobang; the Architecture Foundation- Dezeen |
Amy Frearson: Humans "unlikely to survive this century" without radical changes to housing says Jack Self: ...co-curated ["Mean Home"] looking at the data behind today's average home [at] the British School at Rome..."Most human societies are unlikely to survive this century unless they radically rethink how and where they live"...He believes architects must ignore the stigma attached to copying...copying the work of others is essential to the progression of housing..."Architecture is a discipline, almost entirely founded on the idea of copying." -- REAL Foundation; Fosbury Architecture- Dezeen |
Alissa Walker: Will this PoMo wonderland in San Diego be saved? An urban mall designed to revive downtown...is set to be destroyed: Malls are dying everywhere. But Horton Plaza isn’t just any mall...cities across the country took note...City Council voted unanimously to allow...the Campus at Horton...It will still be a mall, just with four floors of offices above...plan does mean eradicating some of Jon Jerde’s most iconic postmodern creations...These bold, grin-eliciting elements will be replaced with the prevailing look of America’s late-capitalism era...Perhaps 30 more years down the road...The city will regret the glass transgressions of its Hudson-Yards-by-the-Sea and order Jerde’s original PoMo flourishes to be resurrected... -- Deborah Sussman/Paul Prejza/Sussman Prejza (1985)- Curbed |
Seth Combs: Horton Plaza: What could have been: We could have done something cool. Too bad San Diego wants to be a tech city: ...there were many options that could have been explored...Instead, the city council decided to let an L.A.-based real estate firm turn the mall into a “tech campus”...To think, we could have envisioned a repurposed arts and culture destination? But I’m not here to lament the repugnant idea of having bro-friendly skateparks and break areas among [its] iconic, postmodernist design. Rather, I just want to say that I will miss it.- San Diego CityBeat |
Feargus O'Sullivan: The Empty Spaces That Elevate London’s Brutalist Masterpiece: A new plan aims to fill in some of the Barbican Estate’s loftier spaces and alter the original footprint. Will the integrity of the historic complex be at risk? This month, [it] turns 50. Long admired (and reviled)...still stands as the best-known British reminder that Modernist architects can indeed create elegant, desirable places to live...So is this a case of greed spoiling a masterpiece? Or of mild adaptation enabling the complex to move with the times? Britain is already losing much of its best late 20th century architecture. -- Chamberlin, Powell and Bon (1969); Nicholas Hare Architects [images]- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
David Chipperfield Architects Milan Transforms Venice's Historic Procuratie Vecchie: For the first time in 500 years, a large portion of the Procuratie Vecchie on the Piazza San Marco will be made accessible to the public to host activities of The Human Safety Net, supporting vulnerable communities...integrated with the current progression of a 2009 project by Gretchen Harnischfeger Alexander, which includes the renovation of the main façade... [images]- ArchDaily |
James Imam: Locals in Venice are feeling increasingly left out of the conversation: As David Chipperfield begins...restoration of the Procuratie Vecchie on Piazza San Marco, Imam asks if architects can help save cities buckling under the strain of tourism: Faith in Venice's ability to bounce back is ebbing...Fondazione di Venzia opened M9, Italy's first digital museum, in mainland Mestre rather than the historical centre...Focus should return to the historical centre where more can be done to coordinate the city's unique weave of institutions...Chipperfield...doesn't believe this building, or even architecture, can save Venice..."Architecture is only as useful and viable as political decisions...architects can contribute to finding solutions but not through architecture"...If more socially-engaged architects can step up to the mark, cities like Venice can surely benefit. -- Santiago Calatrava; OMA; Sauerbruch-Hutton- Dezeen |
Blair Kamin: Is Northwestern’s new medical research building a world-class structure? The building, and the answer, are incomplete: ...the battle waged over the future of old Prentice Women’s Hospital was unusually bitter...difficult to judge the first phase...The design is ambitious, carefully detailed and mostly sensitive to its surroundings. But it is world-class? Not yet...stumpy...proportions will improve if the second phase is built...Who’s on the side of the angels? Those who want to save buildings or those who want to save lives? It’s not an easy choice...Just about every academic science building these days strives to promote serendipitous meetings and collaboration. But this one should deliver. -- Bertrand Goldberg; Ralph Johnson/Thomas Mozina/Perkins+Will- Chicago Tribune |
Amy Plitt: Zaha Hadid Architects no longer designing Moinian’s 220 11th Avenue building: ...first announced back in 2016, just months after Hadid’s untimely death:...was to be an 11-story mixed-use building...will now be a nine-story office building with bike storage and a rooftop terrace...plans also list Studios Architecture as the architect of record...- Curbed New York |
The High Line’s final section, the Spur, is open: ...extends east along West 30th Street and ends above 10th Avenue; it’s also home to the High Line Plinth, the first site on the High Line dedicated to a rotating series of contemporary art commissions. Simone Leigh’s “Brick House” is the first... -- James Corner Field Operations; Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Piet Oudolf [images]- 6sqft (New York City) |
New York Times ‘The Truth Is Worth It’ campaign expands to installations all over New York City: Storefronts in each borough remind readers that 'The Truth Is Local': ...interactive storefronts bringing to life real Times headlines...Each will highlight stories reflecting how NYT reporting impacted their respective boroughs...collaborated with an experiential design studio, whose name, coincidentally, is Local Projects. thru June 24- AdAge |
Winners of the Reimagining the DL&W Corridor International Design Ideas Competition to transform the abandoned, 1.5-mile elevated DL&W rail corridor connecting Buffalo’s downtown with its waterfront. -- MNLA (Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects); Marvel Architects/Buro Happold/Patrick Cullina/NOWHERE Office; 6 graduate students of Landscape Architecture from Beijing Forestry University; Kerry O'Connor/OSA- Western New York Land Conservancy |
India Block: High-tech pioneer Nicholas Grimshaw steps down as chair of his architecture firm: ...will remain in an advisory role and will devote much of his time to the new Grimshaw Arts and Architecture Foundation. Andrew Whalley, currently principal architect at Grimshaw, will take over...as chair of the company. Grimshaw...said he wanted to use his 50 years of experience to help young people enter the industry, and promote diversity and sustainability. -- Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners; Grimshaw Architects- Dezeen |
Deborah Marton named Executive Director of Van Alen Institute: ...currently Executive Director of the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) [founded by Bette Midler], will assume her new role at Van Alen in September. -- Design Trust for Public Space- Van Alen Institute |
Call for entries: Request for Qualifications/RFQ: Houston Endowment Headquarters International Design Competition: finalist teams to receive $50,000 honorarium for concept designs at stage two, requiring an architect registered in Texas as part of a team; deadline: July 15- Malcolm Reading Consultants / Houston Endowment |
Call for entries: World Architecture News/WAN Awards 2019: 34 categories will award designs that evolve or push the boundaries of the specific typology; deadline: June 25- World Architecture News (UK) |
Call for entries: International Design Competition: SUPER GREEN, SUPER CLEAN AND SUPER LEAN: Design a sustainable pavilion for Wonderfruit Festival 2019 in Chonburi, Thailand, December 12–16; all-expense paid trip to Thailand for one month to build pavilion and stay for festival; deadline: July 15- Wonderfruit |
Call for entries: The 11th Annual ARCHITECT 50: How does your firm stack up in 3 categories: Business; Sustainability; Design? Open to all firms with a U.S. office (sole proprietorships are not eligible); deadline: July 18- Architect Magazine |
Call for entries: Call for papers: Patterns and Spatial Organisation: Culture, History and Future Perspectives: link advanced technological endeavours with core discourse in architecture and urban design (urbanism) developed since early 20th-century modernism; deadline: December 1- Nexus Network Journal: Architecture and Mathematics / Kim Williams Books |
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