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Today’s News - Tuesday, September 17, 2019

● A women's shelter opens in an abandoned Mid-century Modern library in Hollywood, "continuing the trend of converting distinctive structures to take homeless people off the sagging entertainment community's streets."

● In Austin, Texas, a "team spanning architecture, design, and technology" create a 3D-printed, 500-square-foot building in 27 hours, "and they're just getting started" in a quest to help put a dent in the city's homeless crisis with a "proposed village, dubbed Community First!"

● Florida parses a new study that "makes a strong and convincing case for the efficacy of place-based policies. Don't move people out of distressed places. Instead, revitalize them."

● Bliss parses a new report that "surveys strategies for 'greening without gentrification'" (the High Line effect) - "it's still too early to say whether most of these park projects are effective in helping lower-income residents stay in place," but at least "park developers are beginning to realize the need to evaluate all of the side-effects before they break ground."

● Russell explains why Essex Crossing "is a model mega-development. With a large share of affordable housing and restrained architecture, the six-acre project seeks to fit into - rather than shake up - New York's Lower East Side."

● King considers why "there's a lot to like about the Bay Area's efforts" to prepare for sea level rise. "But if the long-term threat is as grim as scientific projections indicate, local experts say the region needs to respond with increased urgency" (there is "one sign of progress").

● Kimmelman finds elements of an "architecture of occupation" in a plan for a cable-car network to Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem, "eroding, for political purposes, the protections on landscape and heritage."

● Hagberg has a totally different take than Morgan re: WORKac's "progressive new student center for RISD" that balances "playfulness and seriousness, art and work, old and new."

● Jacobs cheers projects debuting this fall that "suggest that hard barriers between the designed environment and the natural one are softening. Instead of jockeying for position or dominance, they are sharing each other's territory" (Sky parks! Tidal pools! 'Solar carving'! Oh my!).

● Wainwright picks "the 25 greatest builds of the 21st century" (so far) - with links to full reviews by Wainwright, Rowan Moore, Catherine Slessor, Jonathan Glancey, and Deyan Sudjic.

● Kamin ponders whether we can "trust journalists on a junket" in light of the Chicago Architecture Biennial covering expenses for some. "An architecture writer traveling to Chicago gets paid for writing an article. But what if the critic throws brickbats at the biennial instead of tossing bouquets?"

● Susan Chin will be stepping down as executive director of the Design Trust for Public Space at the end of 2019 "to pursue her own consultancy" - and the search is on for her replacement.

● Welton's eloquent remembrance of Steve Schuster and Phil Freelon: "I came to know them as more than just architects, but as leaders and thoughtful people. They left behind elegant models of how to live."

Winners all!

● Tod Williams and Billie Tsien win the 2019 Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award for their lifetime achievement in architecture.

● Lam cheers four new "major city-led design initiatives" - along with the winners of the Toronto Urban Design Awards.

● Kenneth Frampton receives the 2019 Soane Medal for his "major contribution to the field through practice, education, history or theory."

● Columbia GSAPP receives a donation exceeding $2 million "to advance the study of housing design," and names Hilary Sample as IDC Foundation Professor of Housing Design - along with financial aid for students.

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A Midcentury Modern homeless shelter rises in an abandoned Hollywood library: ...continuing the trend of converting distinctive structures to take homeless people off the sagging entertainment community’s streets...brings to seven the number of new L.A. homeless shelters...Mayor Eric Garcetti...called for at least 15 shelters throughout the city, and 1,500 beds, by this year...up to 26 shelter projects are pending in neighborhoods throughout the city...restoration work was performed by city crews and preserved the [1958] design...- Los Angeles Times

Could These 3D-Printed Homes Solve Homelessness? ICON 3D-printed a 500-square-foot building in 27 hours, and they're just getting started: As the city of Austin, Texas has grown as a creative and tech hub...something far less positive has grown, too: the city's homeless population...a team spanning architecture, design, and technology debuted a radical new proposal...plans to 3D print six total homes in the near future...Phase II of the neighborhood...proposed village, dubbed Community First! -- Claire Zinnecker Design; Andrew Logan/Logan Architecture- House Beautiful

Richard Florida: Don't Move People Out of Distressed Places. Instead, Revitalize Them: A new study shows that place-based policies are key to helping people in distressed cities, where investments should be tailored to local economic conditions: ...new research from economist Timothy Bartik of the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research makes a strong and convincing case for the efficacy of place-based policies; policies that essentially bring jobs to people...A good job in one’s home community can be more valuable to the economy than a good job somewhere else.- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities)

Laura Bliss: How to Build a New Park So Its Neighbors Benefit: A new report from UCLA and the University of Utah surveys strategies for “greening without gentrification": ...cities that have followed the High Line’s example are grappling with the effects of gentrification...it’s still too early to say whether most of these park projects are effective in helping lower-income residents stay in place...The good news is, park developers are beginning to realize the need to evaluate all of these side-effects before they break ground. And many are taking action to help neighborhoods stay intact...“parks-related anti-displacement strategies” (or PRADS)...- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities)

James S. Russell: Why Essex Crossing Is a Model Mega-Development: With a large share of affordable housing and restrained architecture, the six-acre project seeks to fit into - rather than shake up - New York’s Lower East Side: The city-owned Essex Market, which first opened in 1940...is the star in the surprisingly low-drama fruition of one of the longest-running and most controversial redevelopments in New York City history. (In a city known for epic battles over megaprojects, that’s saying something.)...$1.7 billion journey began in the misted past of the Robert Moses era - the 1950s...For all of the richness of the development, an architectural ambiguity deprives the streetscape of energy. -- SHoP Architects; Dattner Architects; West 8; Beyer Blinder Belle; Handel Architects- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities)

John King: Race against time: As the symptoms of climate change reveal themselves, the need to prepare for sea level rise grows more stark each year: There’s a lot to like about the Bay Area’s efforts...the collaborative efforts, the detailed studies...But if the long-term threat is as grim as scientific projections indicate, local experts say the region needs to respond with increased urgency...The catch is, the process of planning and financing such projects - and gathering permits - can take a decade or more...That’s a big reason the region is lagging behind goals set in 1999...One sign of progress, though it sounds arcane, is a collaborative effort among six regulatory agencies...- San Francisco Chronicle

Michael Kimmelman: Cable Cars Over Jerusalem? Some See ‘Disneyfication’ of Holy City: The architecture of occupation: A planned cable-car network to Jewish holy sites...Trumpeted...as a green solution to the challenges of increased tourism and traffic...has provoked howls of protest from horrified Israeli preservationists, environmentalists, planners, architects...“A total outrage against a fragile city"...Moshe Safdie says. “An aesthetic and architectural affront"...illustrating how Israel wields architecture and urban planning to extend its authority in the occupied territories...eroding, for political purposes, the protections on landscape and heritage...advocates dismiss the criticism. -- Mendy Rosenfeld/Rosenfeld Arens Architects; Gavriel Kertez- New York Times

Eva Hagberg: WORKac Crafts a Progressive New Student Center for RISD: Updating an existing structure and adding a bold new one, the firm has balanced playfulness and seriousness, art and work, old and new: The project is surprising, it’s light, it reminds us of the constancy of change, and it nods to the vibrant culture of the contemporary art school...Dan Wood and Amale Andraos consulted with the queer research practice QSPACE on the design of the center’s gender-neutral bathroom...But it’s that mail room again that is the high point...the center reminds us...that everything is changing right now. -- Rhode Island School of Design- Metropolis Magazine

Karrie Jacobs: The New Architecture: Sky Parks, Tidal Pools and ‘Solar Carving’: Projects debuting this fall suggest that hard barriers between the designed environment and the natural one are softening - maybe for good: Instead of the man-made and the organic jockeying for position or dominance, they are sharing each other’s territory...This, after all, is the age of the rooftop farm and the outdoor conference room. -- S9 Architecture; Moshe Safdie/Safdie Architects; Edward Durell Stone (1971); Steven Holl; Jeanne Gang/Studio Gang; Signe Nielsen/Mathews Nielsen; Addenda Architects; Morphosis; Glenn Murcutt; Claire Weisz/WXY Architects; Susannah Drake/DLANDstudio/Taggart Architects/Renfro Design Group; Snohetta- New York Times

Oliver Wainwright: The best architecture of the 21st century: A flying roof, a bamboo airport, a marooned galleon and a park in the sky ... the 25 greatest builds of the new age. -- Herzog & de Meuron; Lacaton & Vassal; David Chipperfield/Julian Harrap; OMA; James Corner Field Operations/Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Sanaa; Alberto Kalach; Grafton Architects; Elemental; Tezuka Architects; Flores y Prats; Amateur Architecture Studio; Will Alsop; Peter Zumthor; Richard Rogers/Estudio Lamela; Francis Kéré; Ryue Nishizawa; FAT; Marina Tabassum; Assemble; Aleph Zero/Marcelo Rosenbaum; Voellmy Schmidlin- Guardian (UK)

Blair Kamin: Can you trust journalists on a junket? Chicago’s architecture biennial pays travel expenses of some who cover it: While the practice is increasingly commonplace, it raises vexing questions for the producers and consumers of news...The biennial...represents the myriad gray areas associated with junkets...Do junkets force self-censorship? An architecture writer traveling to Chicago...gets paid for writing an article. But what if the critic throws brickbats at the biennial instead of tossing bouquets?- Chicago Tribune

Leadership Transition at the Design Trust for Public Space: ...looks ahead to its 25th Anniversary in 2020, we are sharing the bittersweet news that Susan Chin will step down as Executive Director at the end of 2019 to pursue her own consultancy...Search Committee [and] search firm Harris Rand Lusk to commence a search for Susan’s successor...- Design Trust for Public Space

J. Michael Welton: Remembering Steve Schuster and Phil Freelon, architects who transcended their designs: Both left their imprints on their cities, state and the country...Schuster was a giant among Raleigh architects - the right person in the right place at the right time to raise this city and state up...Freelon...carved out his own self-actualized niche on the local, state and national stages. And he did it with grace, dignity and enormous strength...I came to know them as more than just architects, but as leaders and thoughtful people. Here are some reflections...They left behind elegant models of how to live. -- Clearscapes; The Freelon Group; Max Bond; David Adjaye; Perkins + Will- News & Observer (North Carolina)

2019 Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award: American Architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien are Among Laureates: Carrying a prize of 15 million yen (c. $141,000) each, the awards recognize lifetime achievement in Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music, and Theater/Film.- Japan Art Association

Elsa Lam: Mayor John Tory Announces New Design-First Initiatives at Toronto Urban Design Awards: ...four major city-led design initiatives. “We’re going to up our game in design"... jury selected a total of nine projects for Awards of Excellence, 12 for Awards of Merit and one for a Special Jury Award. -- Dereck Revington Studio; PMA Landscape Architects; Perkins+Will/DTAH; NADAAA/PUBLIC WORK; LANDinc/Christopher Wallace Architect; PFS Studio/thinc design/Hariri Pontarini Architects; Claude Cormier et Associe; Zoal Razaq; Grimshaw Architects/Quinn Design Associates; etc.- Canadian Architect

Kenneth Frampton to Receive 2019 Soane Medal: British architect will deliver the Soane Medal Lecture on November 11: Sir John Soane’s Museum...[awards] architects and critics who have made a major contribution to their field through practice, education, history or theory...- Architect Magazine

Columbia GSAPP Receives Historic Donation to Advance the Study of Housing Design: Architect Hilary Sample is Named IDC Foundation Professor of Housing Design: ...a donation exceeding $2 million from the IDC Foundation to support faculty leadership and interdisciplinary research...gift will help to launch a new interdisciplinary research initiative, the Columbia GSAPP Housing Lab...Additional support...will be directed to financial aid and student travel, furthering the School’s commitment to shaping a more equitable, sustainable, and creative world by engaging students from diverse and global perspectives. -- Institute of Design and Construction- Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

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