Today’s News - Thursday, September 19, 2019
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days. We'll be back Tuesday, September 24.
● Kimmelman kvells over Holl's Queens library, "a diva parading along the East River," and "one of the finest public buildings New York has produced this century" with "enormous, eccentric windows" - but it's also "a poster child for the perils of public architecture" in NYC.
● Wainwright applauds Mica Architects' revamp of the "really dark, grim" 1962 Fairfield Halls concert hall and theater complex in Croydon, London: The makeover of "this handsome mid-century ocean liner of culture has been mercifully light-touch" and "feels truer to the intentions of the original architects."
● Dana Cuff "discusses the founding cityLAB UCLA, doubling the density of Los Angeles, changing planning policies, and social missions in architecture."
● Roosegaarde and McDonough bring a touch of optimism about the future to Fortune magazine's Global Sustainability Forum.
● Watch Extinction Rebellion, Haworth Tompkins, and other activists, academics, and practitioners at The Architecture Foundation's Architecture of Emergency summit at the Barbican, livestreaming at 7:00pm, U.K. time, tonight.
● Smart talks to Turkel re: the benefits of prefab construction in building new Modernist houses, an "entertaining" Poon re: "architects in popular culture - TV and movies," and Caussin "on how Modernism got started and made itself popular in the U.S."
● The long-neglected landscape and skating rink and pool surrounding the Harlem Meer at the north end of Central Park are getting a $150 million revamp - "the final piece of the puzzle that is the Central Park Conservancy's 40-year renewal plan."
● One we couldn't resist (Pogo & Wookie insisted): 11 architectural cat shelters by Los Angeles architects and designers created for the Architects for Animals' annual Giving Shelter fundraiser - available via an online auction.
Chicago in the spotlight:
● Moore re: the Chicago Architecture Biennial that combines "sometimes grim histories with inspiring reactions to them - as pure an expression of liberal values, applied to the realm of city-building, as you could hope to find."
● Messner says the Chicago Biennial 2019 is "pushing the limits on the definition of practice" with "participants from fields beyond those typically represented in architectural expositions - all grapple with urban and civic issues, through research and advocacy rather than traditional design."
● Pacheco parses ArchiteXX's Biennial boycott show (because of BP sponsorship) "Now What?! Advocacy, Activism & Alliances in American Architecture since 1968," that highlights "the impact of social movements on architecture and design."
● IIT's "Shapeshift: Bauhaus in Chicago" celebrates the school's - and "Chicago's legendary, yet largely unknown, Bauhaus heritage."
● "Tigerman Rides Again" presents "some of the final creative works produced by the iconoclastic architect - black and white drawings that produce optical illusions" with "a subtly changing array of distorted grids that ebb and flow across the page to create vertigo-like hallucinations."
Elsewhere:
● Highlights from the New Zealand Institute of Architects' 2019 Festival of Architecture, taking place from Auckland to Waikato and Nelson to Otago.
● Cusick profiles Billy Fleming, "an American landscape architect, environmentalist and political activist," and director of UPenn's Ian McHarg Center, who will "address the role of designers and built environment professionals in public policy" at talks in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, as part of NZIA's festival.
● Goldsborough brings us eyefuls of Exhibit Columbus 2019 that "features 18 site-responsive installations that use Columbus, Indiana's heritage as inspiration and context while highlighting the role that community plays in growing a vibrant city."
● Hong Kong Institute of Architects brings "Island__Peninsula" to Los Angeles that "aims to compare the contrasting urban landscapes of both cities."
● A good reason to head to Honolulu next week: Docomomo US National Symposium (including "all things Ossipoff").
● A good reason to head to Italy: Bologna Design Week, teaming once again with Cersaie, will "explore the wonders of Bologna's creative and architectural heritage."
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Michael Kimmelman: Why Can’t New York City Build More Gems Like This Queens Library? The Hunters Point Community Library is one of the finest public buildings New York has produced this century. But it cost more than $40 million, took a decade and almost died: ...a diva parading along the East River...among the finest and most uplifting public buildings New York has produced...enormous, eccentric windows...carve whimsical jigsaw puzzle pieces out of a cool, silvered-concrete facade...Over the years, it became a poster child for the perils of public architecture in NYC. -- Steven Holl Architects; Michael Van Valkenburgh- New York Times |
Oliver Wainwright: From Basil Brush to Broadway: how Fairfield Halls came back from panto hell: It hosted everyone from the Beatles to Kraftwerk. Then its lustre faded. Now, after a £42m revamp, the arts powerhouse is back: When the concert hall and theatre complex opened in 1962, it was a beacon of the London suburb’s progressive vision...by the time it closed...in 2016. “Really dark, grim...[now] billed as the “Southbank Centre of Croydon”...visitors to this handsome mid-century ocean liner of culture will be pleased to discover that, in the main, the refurbishment has been mercifully light-touch...feels truer to the intentions of the original architects, Robert Atkinson & Partners... -- Mica Architects- Guardian (UK) |
Dana Cuff on CityLAB UCLA, Smart Cities and Urban Thinking: discusses the founding cityLAB, doubling the density of Los Angeles, changing planning policies, and social missions in architecture...- ArchDaily / The Midnight Charette Podcast |
Why Two Environmentally-Minded Designers Are Optimistic About the Future: The challenge of creating a greener more sustainable world isn’t being hindered by a lack of wealth or technology. What we lack is imagination. That's the view of cutting-edge Dutch artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde. “If we can’t imagine it, we can’t get there"...If they say it can’t be done, Roosegaarde says he's determined to do it...Bill McDonough, who pioneered the concept of the Circular Economy, shares that attitude, and has hope for the future. -- Fortune Global Sustainability Forum- Fortune magazine |
Watch our livestream of The Architecture of Emergency summit at the Barbican: Watch Extinction Rebellion, Haworth Tompkins, Maria Smith, Adrian Lahoud deliver presentations on climate change...will bring together activist, academics and practitioners from a range of disciplines connected to the built environment...7:00pm UK time on Thursday 19 September. -- The Architecture Foundation- Dezeen |
George Smart: Modernism Week Design: Joel Turkel + Anthony Poon + Jacques Caussin: Turkel created NextHouse, a series of prefab modern homes [and] the Axiom Series...Poon created new ways to build and promote Modernist home developments...His entertaining talk [is] about architects in popular culture - TV and movies...Caussin...on how Modernism got started and made itself popular in the US.- USModernist Radio |
Long-neglected North End of Central Park will get a $150 million revamp: ...restoration of the long-damaged landscape surrounding the Harlem Meer...aims to repair the land, restore the local ecology, and revamp access to a new recreational facility that will replace the 53-year-old Lasker Rink and Pool...the final piece of the puzzle that is the conservancy’s 40-year renewal plan...-- Christopher J. Nolan; Susan T. Rodriguez Architecture | Design; Mitchell Giurgola- The Architect's Newspaper |
11 architectural cat shelters: A stack of milk cartons and metal pallets, a hollow concrete ball and a leggy wooden shelter are among the houses that Los Angeles architects and designers have created for cats....created for the Architects for Animals' annual Giving Shelter fundraiser...will be available for purchase via an online auction to raise funds for local nonprofit FixNation... -- Abramson Architects; D3architecture; HKS; HOK; Morphosis/Xtech; Perkins+Will; Rdc; Standard Architecture; Stantec; Tracy A Stone Architect; WORD Design and Architecture- Dezeen |
Rowan Moore: Chicago Architecture Biennial reveals the city’s true foundations: Inspired by its black mayor and a curator from the UK, Chicago is reviving the social narratives that shaped the city: “&hellip And other such stories”...aims to bring out the social and political forces behind...great works...a place made by brute power, with inequality and exploitation built into the fabric, can - in what is a paradox of cities generally - become a haven for freedom, opportunity and tolerance...biennial...will combine sometimes grim histories with inspiring reactions to them...aims to have an influence beyond its four-month run...set to be...as pure an expression of liberal values, applied to the realm of city-building, as you could hope to find. -- Yesomi Umolu; Mass Design Group- Observer (UK) |
Matthew Messner: Chicago Biennial 2019: “&hellipand Other Such Stories"...Pushing the limits on the definition of practice, curators Yesomi Umolu, Sepake Angiama, and Paulo Tavares commissioned participants from fields beyond those typically represented in architectural expositions. While few of the 80 contributors are practicing architects...all grapple with urban and civic issues, through research and advocacy rather than traditional design. thru January 5, 2020- Architectural Record |
Antonio Pacheco: While boycotting Chicago Architecture Biennial, ArchiteXX debuts Windy City run of "Now What?! Advocacy, Activism & Alliances in American Architecture since 1968": ...highlighting the impact of social movements on architecture and design...presented without any official affiliation with the festival "due to the financial support [CAB] receives from BP"... Co-Prosperity Sphere gallery, Chicago. thru October 2 -- National Organization for Minority Architects (NOMA)- Archinect |
"Shapeshift: Bauhaus in Chicago": The inaugural design festival celebrates Illinois Institute of Technology’s - and Chicago’s legendary, yet largely unknown, Bauhaus heritage: IIT Institute of Design and IIT College of Architecture...will demonstrate and discuss design’s role as a catalyst for meaningful change in Chicago yesterday, today, and tomorrow. thru September 28- Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) |
Antonio Pacheco: Stanley "Tigerman Rides Again": Architect's final sketches go on display at Chicago's Volume Gallery: ...presents some of the final creative works produced by the iconoclastic architect who passed away in June of 2019...black and white drawings...produce optical illusions and align with his paintings from the 60’s...a subtly changing array of distorted grids that ebb and flow across the page to create vertigo-like hallucinations... thru November 2- Archinect |
2019 Festival of Architecture: Highlights: This year’s event is packed full of talks, tours. competitions, exhibitions and more. Here is our pick of the lot: Events are taking place from Auckland to Waikato and Nelson to Otago; September 20-29 -- New Zealand Institute of Architects- ArchitectureNow (New Zealand) |
Ashley Cusick: Billy Fleming is not an architect: Meet the speaker of this year’s NZIA Ian Athfield Memorial Lectures: an American landscape architect, environmentalist and political activist: ...[he] hopes to address...the role of designers and built environment professionals in public policy...As New Zealand grapples with its own questions about how to face the increasing climate crises and the role of architects and designers in the public sector, where will built environment professionals fit in? 23 September in Auckland, 25 September in Wellington, 26 September in Christchurch -- New Zealand Institute of Architects- ArchitectureNow (New Zealand) |
Jamie Evelyn Goldsborough: Exhibit Columbus 2019 celebrates the value of good design and community: ...features 18 site-responsive installations that use Columbus, Indiana’s heritage as inspiration and context while highlighting the role that community plays in growing a vibrant city...becomes an architectural showcase aimed at doing good for the people...impact goes beyond any one installation as the program leaves a lasting impact on the downtown, and more importantly, how people live and play downtown. -- Bryony Roberts Studio; Hans Tursak/Viola Ago; MASS Design Group; Carlos Zedillo Velasco; Rodrigo Zedillo Velasco; Tatiana Bilbao Estudio; Rozana Montiel Arquitectos; Oyler Wu Collaborative; Formafantasma- The Architect's Newspaper |
The HKIA brings Hong Kong architecture to L.A. in "Island__Peninsula": ...brings together two vastly different cities on opposite sides of the same ocean. Organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects...aims to compare the contrasting urban landscapes of both Los Angeles and its Chinese counterpart while illustrating what they believe to be a unique “Hong Kong style." Westfield Oasis Space, , Los Angeles, thru October 2- The Architect's Newspaper |
Docomomo US National Symposium, Honolulu, Hawaii, September 25-28: From the iconic East-West Center, to the white sand beaches, to all things Ossipoff, come celebrate Hawai‘i’s unique blend of East-meets-West tropical modernism.- Docomomo US / Docomomo US/Hawaii |
Bologna Design Week is teaming up once again with Cersaie: ...locations throughout the city centre...will explore the wonders of Bologna's creative and architectural heritage.- Bologna Design Week / Cersaie |
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