Today’s News - Thursday, January 23, 2020
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days. We'll be back Tuesday, January 28.
● ANN feature: INSIGHT: Gensler's Shah & client ELA Advertising's Filip talk about how architects and designers are creating spaces that promote company culture and go well beyond the physical design of a space.
● MIT Technology Review's James Temple minces no words: "The U.S. has become terrible at building big things," which "bodes terribly for our ability to grapple with the coming dangers of climate change - perhaps we could spark a modern, sustainable public works boom."
● Plan to spend some time with Architect Magazine's Carbon Issue, co-edited with Edward Mazria and Architecture 2030, "meant to help architects get CO2 out of their systems, for the health, safety, and welfare of us all."
● The World Green Building Council launches a new digital case study library "showcasing examples of cutting-edge sustainable buildings" - including "game changers" (with link to submission form for the library).
● Kamin hopes that "help is on the way" for Chicago's labyrinthine underground Pedway that now "feels like a rat maze" as the powers-that-be "finally are poised to start making it a vital piece of civic infrastructure" (could soon hire a design firm).
● Just when you thought you'd heard it all (ya gotta see it to believe it!): Pop star Akon is set to break ground on Akon City, a 2,000-acre sustainable tourism city in Senegal (and AKoins are the currency).
● ICYMI: ANN feature: Building Abundance #6 by Edward McGraw: Q&A with Binghamton University President Dr. Harvey Stenger: "We have the solutions to climate change and they can be implemented right now" - his hopeful prognosis for the climate crisis.
Winners all:
● Eyefuls of the 8 "stunning projects that have won the AIA 2020 Architecture Awards.
● Global Design Initiative for Refugee Children and Robert Silman Associates Structural Engineers win the AIA 2020 Collaborative Achievement Awards.
● The Society of Architectural Historians $55,000 H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship goes to Iraqi-born, L.A.-based architect Sundus Al-Bayati - she "will focus on cities that have experienced war or urban conflict and observe the ways in which they have reconstructed and recovered."
Weekend diversions:
● "Nivola in New York | Figure in Field" at The Cooper Union in NYC spotlights Italian sculptor Costantino Nivola (1911-1988), known for his large-scale projects created in collaboration with architects.
● Seesaws take over a block in NYC's Garment District in Canadian experimental design practice Lateral Office's "Impulse."
● "Single-Story Project" at NYC's Center for Architecture presents Adam Friedberg's photos that "highlight the disappearing single-story buildings of the East Village and Lower East Side."
Page-turners:
● Brownell cheers Ming Hu's "Net Zero Energy Building: Predicted and Unintended Consequences" in which she "convincingly demonstrates the extent to which our current understanding of net-zero energy is wholly inadequate and misleading - and offers a resolution for a more universal understanding."
● Budds digs into Julia Watson's "Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism" that "dives into the history, philosophy, and engineering behind climate-resilient infrastructure developed by indigenous people" and "explores what we can learn."
● Sebastián Pinto talks to KPF's Gene Kohn, "calling from what seemed like a natural environment for the man: the back of a cab on his way home from the airport," and parses "A World By Design: The Story of a Global Architecture Firm," a memoir that "reads variously as a corporate drama, a pitch-deck, and a well-aired rolodex" (and "his penchant for metaphors").
● Betsky parses Nicholas Adams' "Gordon Bunshaft and SOM: Building Corporate Modernism" that "portrays him as the epitome of the architecture CEO - an intensely private and cantankerous man" who "was the salesman, in-house critic, guiding light - who "made SOM into the very epitome of the modern corporate architecture firm."
● In "Paul Rudolph: Inspiration and Process in Architecture," by "legendary editor" John Morris Dixon, offers "a new take" on Rudolph's Brutalist architecture "through a man who knew him well."
● "Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon" by Kelly Starling Lyons is a new children's book that "chronicles his unexpected path toward architecture."
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ANN feature: INSIGHT: Incorporating Form, Function & Culture: Designing for Commercial Office Success: Commercial interior design looks beyond form and function. Architects and designers are creating spaces that promote company culture and go well beyond the physical design of a space. By Jaimelynn Shah, Assoc. AIA, CID, LEED AP, Gensler, and Andre Filip, CEO, ELA Advertising- ArchNewsNow.com |
James Temple: Climate change means the U.S. must start building big things again: Sorry if it blocks your views: Nearly every giant infrastructure project suffers from massive delays and cost overruns, when they aren’t shut down altogether. The US has become terrible at building big things, and negligent in even maintaining our existing infrastructure...bodes terribly for our ability to grapple with the coming dangers of climate change, because it is fundamentally an infrastructure problem...we can’t afford to take decades to build - much less not build - a single project...perhaps we could spark a modern, sustainable public works boom.- MIT Technology Review |
The Carbon Issue: Meeting the urgent need for climate action, with decarbonization strategies for materials, design, practice, and policy: This special issue of ARCHITECT, edited in partnership with the nonprofit Architecture 2030 and its founder and CEO, Edward Mazria, FAIA, is meant to help architects get CO2 out of their systems, for the health, safety, and welfare of us all.- Architect Magazine |
World Green Building Council Launches Digital Library of Sustainable Buildings: WorldGBC has released a new digital case study library showcasing examples of cutting-edge sustainable buildings...as a net zero carbon building or across different areas of health and wellbeing...also features industry “game changer” projects... [link to submission form for the case study library]- Canadian Architect |
Blair Kamin: Chicago’s Pedway is a confusing underground labyrinth. But help is on the way: ...feels like a rat maze...Now, after years of talk and study, city officials and the nonprofit Environmental Law & Policy Center finally are poised to start making the Pedway a vital piece of civic infrastructure rather than a humdrum way to get from Point A to Point B...could soon...hire a design firm that will develop new signs and navigational tools...Trouble is, there’s no Pedway czar to enforce common operating hours and maintenance standards.- Chicago Tribune |
Antonio Pacheco: Pop star Akon set to break ground on Senegal's first LEED-certified crypto-city: ...readying to break ground on a new ground-up 2,000-acre sustainable tourism city near the country's capital, Dakar...Akon City...to run entirely on renewable energy...will also make use of a proprietary cryptocurrency called AKoin as part of a pilot project...venture marks the latest effort by the artist to branch out into development and humanitarian-oriented endeavor... -- Hussein Bakri; BAD Consultant; Semer Group- Archinect |
AIA Annnounces Winners of Its 2020 Architecture Awards: 8 stunning projects [in the U.S., Canada, India, U.K., China, and Denmark] show the world the range of outstanding work architects create and highlight the many ways buildings and spaces can improve our lives. -- Snøhetta/DIALOG; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill 9SOM); John Ronan Architects; Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF); Thomas Phifer and Partners; Atelier FCJZ; HGA; Pei Cobb Freed & Partners- American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
AIA Names Winners of Its 2020 Collaborative Achievement Awards: The American Institute of Architects selected the Boston-based Global Design Initiative for Refugee Children and New York City-based Robert Silman Associates Structural Engineers- Architect Magazine |
Society of Architectural Historians Announces Winner of the 2019 H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship: Iraqi-born and Los Angeles-based architect Sundus Al-Bayati...$55,000 award that allows a recent graduate or emerging scholar to study by travel for one year...[she] will focus on cities that have experienced war or urban conflict in their recent history and observe the ways in which they have reconstructed and recovered- Society of Architectural Historians |
"Nivola in New York | Figure in Field": ...Italian sculptor Costantino Nivola (1911-1988), known for his large-scale bas-reliefs, murals, and free-standing sculptural installations created in collaboration with architects...exhibition is the first-ever to tell the story of Nivola’s built New York City projects...NYC is home to the largest gathering of Nivola’s public artworks. Cooper Union School of Architecture, New York City, thru March 15- Cooper Union (New York City) |
Playful Urban Design Intervention by Lateral Office Takes Over New York City's Garment District: ...Canadian experimental design practice...installed 12 seesaws..."Impulse"...between 37th and 38th Streets...closed completely for vehicular traffic...urban space is transformed into a playground with the introduction of one of the most famous games for kids...Through sound and light, the installation and the public realm are animated and “alive.” thru January 31 -- CS Design- ArchDaily |
Photo exhibit highlights the disappearing single-story buildings of the East Village and Lower East Side: In 2015, photographer Adam Friedberg...began a project to photograph all the single-story buildings throughout the changing...neighborhoods and the negative space they created...now on view at [NYC's] Center for Architecture in "Single-Story Project"...came about thanks in part to Alan G. Brake.[who] curated the exhibit...through February 29.- 6sqft (New York City) |
Blaine Brownell: The Challenge of Defining "Net-Zero": "Net Zero Energy Building: Predicted and Unintended Consequences" by Ming Hu...she details the various interpretations of net-zero construction and offers a resolution for a more universal understanding: ...more than 70 different definitions for reduced or net-zero energy are currently in use...Hu argues that we must establish a holistic framework for the consistent calibration of net-zero energy goals moving forward...convincingly demonstrates the extent to which our current understanding of net-zero energy is wholly inadequate and misleading.- Architect Magazine |
Diana Budds: The world’s oldest design techniques might be the most radical: A new book explores what we can learn from people who have mastered living with the land for millennia: "Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism" by Julia Watson dives into the history, philosophy, and engineering behind climate-resilient infrastructure developed by indigenous people...“traditional ecological knowledge” - the “TEK”...could unlock more sustainable solutions to solve crises of housing, resource management...and more...analyzes the building techniques and philosophical underpinnings of indigenous communities through the lens of architecture...- Curbed |
Juan Sebastián Pinto: Gene Kohn And The Rise Of A Global Architecture Practice: ...he steered KPF towards its future as rainmaker and strategic lead..."A World By Design: The Story of a Global Architecture Firm"...a memoir in the lightest sense of the word. It reads variously as a corporate drama, a pitch-deck, and a well-aired rolodex...a welcome change...from your run-of-the-mill architectural monograph...he is less like a name-dropper than a wide-eyed child admiring the places where his profession has taken him...[he] is plainspoken and direct. If anything in his personality ties him to the architect archetype, it's his penchant for metaphors. -- A. Eugene Kohn/William Pedersen/Sheldon Fox/Kohn Pedersen Fox; John Carl Warnecke and Associates- Forbes |
Aaron Betsky: The Perfect Corporate Architect: A biography of Gordon Bunshaft portrays him as the epitome of the architecture CEO: ...Nicholas Adams’ "Gordon Bunshaft and SOM: Building Corporate Modernism"...by all accounts an intensely private and cantankerous man, was the salesman, in-house critic, guiding light, and corporate executive who, more than anybody else, made Skidmore, Owings & Merrill into the very epitome of the modern corporate architecture firm...[He] was not a creative genius. He was not even an artist. He was more of a collector...he collected commissions and the people with which to fulfill those jobs. -- Florence Knoll; Nathalie DuBois- Architect Magazine |
A New Take on the Brutalist Architecture of Paul Rudolph: Legendary editor John Morris Dixon shares his own recollections and taps the Library of Congress: Get to know one of 20th-century architecture’s most idiosyncratic practitioners...through a man who knew him well..."Paul Rudolph: Inspiration and Process in Architecture"- Architect Magazine |
Antonio Pacheco: A new children's book tells Phil Freelon's story: "Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon" by Kelly Starling Lyons and illustrated by Laura Freeman...highlights [his] upbringing in an arts-saturated Philadelphia home...and chronicles Freelon's unexpected path toward architecture...he gravitated toward a focus on socially relevant work...That fateful decision brought Freelon a great deal of success... -- Freelon Group; David Adjaye; Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup- Archinect |
ANN feature: Building Abundance #6: An Interview with Dr. Harvey Stenger, President of Binghamton University: "We have the solutions to climate change and they can be implemented right now." So says Stenger. Read on to learn more about his hopeful prognosis for the climate crisis. By Edward McGraw, AIA, LEED AP BD+C- ArchNewsNow.com |
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