Today’s News - Tuesday, January 28, 2020
EDITOR'S NOTE: Apologies for late posting - we're dealing with a flooded basement. But rescuers have arrived. Should we not post tomorrow, you'll know it's because we're still bailing out the water (oh joy).
● Obituary by Peter Lang pays detailed tribute to Superstudio co-founder Adolfo, whose passing "brings to a close an incredibly productive career. Given the major impact Natalini Architects had - something also should be said about his larger opus" (lots of great images).
● Ingels explains his meeting with Brazil's far-right president, calling "for critics to move beyond binary ways of seeing the world" - "the places that can really benefit from our involvement are the places that are further from the ideals that we already hold - we need active engagement, not superficial clickbait or ignorance."
● Wainwright x 2: He talks to Ingels and others re: the ""despot dilemma," and whether architects should "boycott or engage oppressive leaders - most believe their projects can make everyday life a bit better for the people who live there" ("The idea that a single building is going to be emancipatory for a whole totalitarian state is ridiculous," sayeth Till)."
● He takes issue with "proposed changes to regulations" that "will make buildings less energy efficient - leading architects and engineers describe government plan as 'a step backwards' - a building that would fail to meet the current regulations would pass under the new system."
● Schneider talks to experts re: "why is it so hard for the Bay Area to build megaprojects," where they've "gone wrong, and what they can do differently in the future" (don't try to reinvent the wheel).
● Porter, on a more hopeful note, reports on a "$100 million bet" that a research center in Portland, Maine, will make the small city "a magnet for innovation," and "could provide a template" for other cities "struggling to share in the nation's prosperity. The initiative is rowing against a powerful tide. And yet it makes sense."
● Hassell SF's Mullane & RCH Studios' Kochanowski discuss "what we can learn about resilience," and how "communities in Australia and California share connected experiences as they face climate-related threats, especially fire" ("The current situation in Australia is the future of California made present."
● Sitz reports on Blackwell's lawsuit claiming that his design for an Arkansas casino and resort was "stolen" and that his firm has not been paid for the work done.
● The next big idea to protect Venice's St. Mark's basilica from future flooding: build a four-foot glass wall - the plan has been approved by city officials (but more bureaucratic approvals are needed).
● Kamin talks to Chicago architects re: the toll the coronavirus outbreak is taking on their "big workloads in China. Many American businesses are affected by the impact - but architects are among the most visible and vulnerable to its disruption."
● Mafi, meanwhile, talks to Gensler's Crispino re: China building a 1,000-bed hospital in 10 days - specifically to deal with the coronavirus, and "what the design must get right."
● Fazzare x 2: She talks to Sharon Davis re: how her "do-good architecture firm" is redesigning a hospital "to bring off-the-grid care" to a remote district in Nepal, where "patients have had to travel up to seven days to reach a doctor" (rammed earth involved - "locals needed some convincing").
● She explains how "looking up through the light well of the double-helix staircase gives a clear clue to Ando's inspiration" for the He Art Museum in China's Foshan City, Guangdong Province (cosmology involved).
● The Powerhouse Company has designed the new HQ for the Global Center on Adaptation, a timber structure that will literally float in Rotterdam's port Rijnhaven (outdoor terrace and swimming pool included) - and can easily be demounted and re-used elsewhere.
● The L.A. Department Of Cultural Affairs launches the free, online Hollyhock House Archive, which includes hundreds of FLW's "original drawings, blueprints, and ephemera, from 1918 through the early 21st century."
● Stinson brings us luscious eyefuls of Sauvage's1902 Villa Majorelle in Nancy, France, that is reopening after a meticulous restoration of the "iconic Art Nouveau house - a gorgeous example of the ornate style" (gorgeous, indeed!).
● Five finalists now vie to design FIGMENT/ENYA/SEAoNY's 2020 City of Dreams pavilion on Roosevelt Island in NYC.
● ICYMI: 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.
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Obituary by Peter Lang: Adolfo Natalini's final vanishing act: ...brings to a close an incredibly productive career...co-founded Superstudio...Given the major impact Natalini Architects had...something also should be said about his larger opus...Superstudio continued to profane modernist architecture by putting out ever more stunning critiques, striking against the profession’s socially maladroit, poorly mass-produced, and increasingly environmentally destructive practices...would carry on through 1978..."I would like to vanish into my buildings"...I think Natalini has found his peace at last. -- Cristiano Toraldo di Francia- The Architect's Newspaper |
Bjarke Ingels issues statement explaining meeting with Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro: ...he called for critics to move beyond binary ways of seeing the world: "...the places that can really benefit from our involvement are the places that are further from the ideals that we already hold...If we want to positively impact the world, we need active engagement, not superficial clickbait or ignorance...We have to engage and embrace our differences if we want to dare to imagine a different future."- The Architect's Newspaper |
Oliver Wainwright: The despot dilemma: should architects work for repressive regimes? Bjarke Ingels is the go-to golden boy for Big Tech - and now Brazil’s Bolsonaro wants a bit of his magic. But should architects boycott oppressive leaders? Do their buildings glorify their ideology? Whenever the topic of ethics comes up, most architects who work in repressive climates believe their projects can transcend the abuses of the host regimes and make everyday life a bit better for the people who live there. The dilemma is whether to boycott or engage...“The idea that a single building is going to be emancipatory for a whole totalitarian state is ridiculous.” -- BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group; Zaha Hadid; .Jean Nouvel; Rem Koolhaas; Jacques Herzog; Jeremy Till- Guardian (UK) |
Oliver Wainwright: Proposed changes to regulations 'will make buildings less energy efficient': Damning assessment by group of leading architects and engineers describes government plan as ‘a step backwards’: London Energy Transformation Initiative (Leti)...calling for radical changes to how building energy consumption is assessed...new changes to the regulations would remove [a standard], meaning...a building that would fail to meet the current regulations would pass under the new system. -- Clara Bagenal George; Joe Giddings/Architects Climate Action Network (Acan)- Guardian (UK) |
Benjamin Schneider: Why is it so hard for the Bay Area to build megaprojects? Major infrastructure projects are necessary to address climate change and keep its growing population moving: ...recurring difficulties...are seized upon as ammunition by opponents...Curbed SF spoke to experts...to better understand where...megaprojects have gone wrong, and what they can do differently in the future...“Don’t, unless absolutely necessary, try to invent anything new. Look at what is being done in other places where costs are low and performance is high, and just copy it.” -- Karen Trapenberg Frick; Jonathan English- Curbed San Francisco |
Eduardo Porter: A $100 Million Bet That Vacationland Can Be a Tech Hub, Too: A benefactor’s big gift will create a research center in Portland, Maine, testing a small city’s ability to prosper as a magnet for innovation: Hoping to draw itself into the high-tech orbit, Portland is about to become a test case...could provide a template for the many American cities struggling to share in the nation’s prosperity...David Roux...a Silicon Valley investor...is giving $100 million to Northeastern University to establish a graduate school and research center...initiative is rowing against a powerful tide. And yet it makes sense...perhaps a few more benefactors like Roux, might help solve America’s regional disparities.- New York Times |
Richard Mullane/Hassell San Francisco & Greg Kochanowski/RCH Studios: What we can learn about community resilience: Communities in Australia and California share connected experiences as they face climate-related threats, especially fire. Different continents, connected climates, same challenges. Here are views from two people who had close contact with recent fires: "We share frustration living under federal governments that still dispute climate change"..."The current situation in Australia, as I see it, is the future of California made present." -- Rios Clementi Hale Studios- The Fifth Estate (Australia) |
Miriam Sitz: Arkansas Lawsuit Seeks Protection of Intellectual Property: In late December 2019, Marlon Blackwell Architects filed a lawsuit...alleging that...HBG Design and representatives of the Quapaw Nation...have stolen MBA’s architectural designs and failed to pay [the] firm for its work on the Saracen Casino Resort, currently under construction in Pine Bluff, Arkansas...HBG declined to discuss any specifics of the suit.- Architectural Record |
Venice Considers Building a Glass Wall to Protect Against Floodwaters: ...a four-foot glass wall to protect the historic St. Mark’s basilica from future flooding: The plan...has already been approved by city officials would hopefully protect the church from erosion, similar to what it experienced in November when floods...salt brought in with the waters eating away at the church’s marble, mosaics and floors...proposal still needs approval from the Venice heritage authority and public works committee...- MSN.com |
Blair Kamin: Virus outbreak disrupts Chicago architects with big workloads in China: In Wuhan, epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak...a mass of concrete and steel...soon will become the city’s tallest building...[by] Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture...Many American businesses are affected by the impact...but architects are among the most visible and vulnerable to its disruption...in 2008...China became an economic lifeline for many American architects...Even today...some American firms...get an estimated one third of their annual billings from China. -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); James Zhen/Paul De Santis/Goettsch Partners; Gensler; Stantec; VOA Architects ; bKL Architecture; Perkins+Will- Chicago Tribune |
Nick Mafi: China’s Building a Hospital in 10 Days - This Is What the Design Must Get Right: AD speaks to Gensler...on what Chinese officials must do to ensure that their rushed hospital design can keep the the deadly coronavirus in check: ...a 1,000-bed hospital...built with prefabricated materials...Though [it] is being called a hospital, it certainly won't be a traditional one. "[It] is intended to isolate people," says James Crispino..."Since that's its only purpose, it is not a hospital in the conventional sense"..."In the U.S., we do have the talent, tools, and technologies to do this if need be." -- Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital- Architectural Digest |
Elizabeth Fazzare: Sharon Davis Redesigns a Hospital for a Community in Need: ...teams with nonprofit Possible Health to bring off-the-grid care to Nepal’s Achham district: ...patients historically have had to travel up to seven days to reach a doctor. Thanks to a new project by the do-good architecture firm...high-quality health care just got closer to home...not sufficient grid reliability to support a traditional heating and cooling system...Davis turned to rammed earth, a low-cost heat-storing material...locals needed some convincing... “this project is a model of how vernacular materials can be utilized to create modern architecture.”- Architectural Digest |
Elizabeth Fazzare: Tadao Ando Reveals Design for the He Art Museum: The first art museum dedicated to celebrating southern China’s regional culture will open to the public in March: Looking up through the light well of the double-helix staircase...gives a clear clue to Ando’s inspiration...capped by an oculus: a physical representation of ancient Chinese cosmology...Though the architecture may be a cosmopolitan combination of Chinese design styles, the grounds are drawn directly from traditional Lingnan landscape.- Architectural Digest |
Floating sustainable office planned for Rotterdam: ...courtesy of Powerhouse Company...Floating Office Rotterdam...located in [the] Rijnhaven port and will serve as a new headquarters for the Global Center on Adaptation, which aims to prepare communities, cities and countries for the disruptive effects of climate change...led by former UN-Chairman Ban Ki-moon, Bill Gates, and [IMF's] Kristalina Georgieva...[it] will be prefabricated and made primarily from wood...will also host a restaurant with a large outdoor terrace and a swimming pool...it can easily be demounted and re-used...will remain in use for 5 to 10 years, after which time it may host another tenant or be moved to another location... -- Nanne de Ru- New Atlas (formerly Gizmag) |
City Of Los Angeles Department Of Cultural Affairs Launches Online Archive For Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House: ...[it] is free and open to the public, encompasses over 500 works that include original drawings, blueprints, and ephemera, which date from 1918 through the early 21st century...complements the recent UNESCO World Heritage Site Designation.- Broadway World |
Liz Stinson: Iconic Art Nouveau house Villa Majorelle will soon reopen for tours:...a gorgeous example of the ornate style [in Nancy, France]: Sauvage designed the rooms with classic Art Nouveau flair - decorative scenes are painted on the curved walls in the dining room...In the salon, a commanding fireplace is adorned with colorful glass from Morocco. -- Henri Sauvage (1902)- Curbed |
Finalists announced for 2020 City of Dreams pavilion on Roosevelt Island: The ultimate goal...is to design a pavilion with a net-zero impact on the environment that can become a prototype for an innovative and sustainable future in design and construction. Past winners have constructed their entries from metal grain bins and recycled cans. -- FIGMENT; Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA); American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY); Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY); Murr Architecken; Guilia Ma/Space Travellers/Michele Versaci/Ilaria Bellotti/Masoud Khodadadi; Ying Qi Chen/Ryan Somerville; Parsa Khalili; Ana Moricllo Pallares/Jonathan Rule/Olaia Chivite Amigo/Maria Arquero de Alarcón- 6sqft (New York City) |
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 |
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