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Today’s News - Tuesday, August 20, 2019

●  Leigh lays into the GSA's Design Excellence principles that will warm every classicist's heart: "GSA officials seldom talk about the architectural evocation of "dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability" [Moynihan] in modern U.S. courthouses ("mutant ship's hull"; "partially deconstructed Rubik's Cube"; "Borg Cube") - but "a resolutely countercultural community of classical architects has emerged - Uncle Sam needs to put these classicists to work."

●  Lam x 2: She reports on Lambert appeal to Simon Fraser University to not demolish its 1965 Erickson/Massey women's residence, and includes Lambert's letter: "Must Canada continue to disregard its great works?"

●  Lam's take on the "showdown" over a new addition to Ottawa's historic Château Laurier: "Something has clearly gone wrong. It's difficult, at this point, to fathom a happy ending to this saga."

●  Developer Ruddy, on the other hand, explains why "there are good reasons to support the proposed Château Laurier addition" - it "will actually integrate this iconic landmark into the fabric of downtown life. But the final version as approved by City Council remains the object of puzzling controversy."

●  Lubell parses Morphosis's Korean American National Museum, soon to rise on a former parking lot in Koreatown in L.A., with the "most prominent move" being "'grafting' a garden and terrace on top of the building. Whether melting pot or salad bowl proves the best metaphor for the museum, the presence of so many people of Korean descent on the Morphosis team was a plus for the museum's board."

●  Jerusalem approves Knesset expansion plans that "include unique provisions to preserve the original, 'architecturally unique' building, taking into account its 'national and historical importance.'"

●  A look at AI's effect on the profession: "Will this eventually lead to clients and organizations simply reverting to a computer for master plans and construction? Researchers at Oxford suggest that the essential value of architect as professionals who can understand and evaluate a problem and synthesize unique and insightful solutions will likely remain unchallenged" (whew!).

●  Apple teams with the New Museum using an AR tool to bring "[AR]T Walk" to city streets in six cities - "but some fear a tech takeover of public space," though it "could be a boon to city life, aiding navigation, traffic flow, tourism and emergency response...Either way, it is set to stay."

●  Bacchi parses a study that finds "park life boosts morale as much as Christmas - important implications for city planners and health officials."

●  Fixsen cheers Black Females in Architecture, "the social network the design profession needs - grassroots organizations such as BFA serve to reach a different audience than the internal diversity committees set up within large membership-based organizations such as the AIA or RIBA."

●  Calatrava claimed "that tourists dragging wheeled luggage was 'incorrect use'" of his "futuristic bridge" in Venice, but the court "found that he should have foreseen the problems" that arose - and he's fined $86,000 "for building a bridge that - oops - can't handle tourists."

●  FLW makes the airwaves of VOA with William Richards & Susan Piedmont-Palladino on his buildings making the UNESCO World Heritage Sites listing - "it is unusual for the work of a single architect to be placed on the list. 'I think Wright's work was unique because he was unique,'" sayeth Richards.

●  Two we couldn't resist: Pacheco on the "Hobbit Revival dormitory headed to Berkeley" that "has a few people scratching their heads" (John King tweets: "sprouting what I hereby dub #Hobbitetecture").

●  Doezema on Gins and Arakawa "whimsical take on cheating death" through architecture - their 2005 9-unit apartment building in a Tokyo suburb is "a multicolored jumble of stacked cubes, spheres and tubes - a defiant statement in an otherwise drab landscape" (and their "part fun house, part obstacle course, the four-acre park"!).


  


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