Today’s News - Thursday, February 6, 2020
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days. We'll be back Tuesday, February 11.
● Pogrebin & Rogers on the "Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" draft executive order, "spearheaded" by the National Civic Art Society, which "favors classical design for buildings": architects say it's ""absurd" and "would give Trump broad power to make aesthetic appraisals, something critics say he knows nothing about."
● Smith talks to SVA's Heller re: the draft executive order: "There is reason for alarm in the rhetoric that the king of tasteless glitz is attempting to impose his personal brand on the physical manifestation of this nation" ("'dictator chic' could be the nation's new official look").
● The AIA weighs in on the draft order: it "strongly opposes uniform style mandates for federal architecture," while "classicism-loving groups" accuse "the organization of being opposed to 'beauty and tradition.'"
● In brighter news: The recently launched Living Future Collaborative South Africa supports the Living Building Challenge, and "aims to organize events centered around what it means to go Net Zero Water/Energy, introducing the concepts at schools, and advocating to bring transformation in policy."
● London's Architectural Association launches the AA Wood Lab, "a research center to transform the future of timber - an exciting step in shedding light on a long-underestimated material" (now accepting applications for research fellows and team members).
● Gamolina's great Q&A with Kirsten Sibilia, managing principal of Dattner Architects, on "catalyzing change": "I learned then what a small industry we're in, and how, by putting your best foot forward, having integrity, and being open to things, opportunities would come."
● Stromberg on "the bizarre story behind the newspaper ads criticizing LACMA's expansion plan" with the slogan "saveLACMA FROM TANKING": The ads were not from the non-profit Save LACMA, but placed by Goldin and Giovaninni's Citizens Brigade to Save LACMA ("They've been told repeatedly to cease and desist").
● Paletta delves into how Bucharest became the "Paris of the East" (it doubles as Paris in movies): "The city has an air of dilapidation that's charming - but somewhat alarming" (now on the World Monuments Fund Watch).
● Hall has a high time visiting Niemeyer's Brasília at 60 "to reassess" the "sort of" Brazilian Corbu's "incredibly welcoming and open city."
● Landscape architect Darryl Jones says "be still your hearts" - Larson's "The Devil in the White City" is "finally coming to the silver screen" (with DiCaprio producing and playing "the mysterious murderer-protagonist H.H. Holmes"), and imagines who would play Burnham, Sullivan, and Ferris
Weekend diversions:
● A good reason to find yourself in Palm Springs next week: it's Modernism Week!
● If only for a day, don't miss USModernist's annual benefit for the nonprofit at Modernism Week on Feb. 19 - at Wexler's 1954 Kirk and Anne Douglas House (RIP, Kirk).
● "Critical Care" at Berlin's DAZ offers "architecture for a broken planet" and "proves that architecture and urbanism can bring the planet back to life. The repair of the future has begun."
● RIBA's "Forest of Fabrication" show "asks if timber is the new concrete," with dRMM projects that demonstrate "novel forms and ways of building achieved with timber which may not be immediately obvious or apparent."
● Ross-Southall cheers "Charlotte Perriand: Inventing a New World" in Paris - a "magnificent and comprehensive" show that illustrates how "design, architecture, and art were always synchronized in her mind and work."
● Gormley's "New York Clearing" in NYC's Brooklyn Bridge Park is an 11-mile continuous "line" of square aluminum tubing that loops and coils nearly 50 feet at its tallest point - "part of a global art initiative launched by the Korean boyband BTS."
● Langjahr cheers Fiona Tan's "Archive / Ruins" at NYC's Peter Freeman gallery: Her "cinematic musings on the material future of architectures lays bare the delicacy of both structure and image in the face of our eternal, ever-evolving, unavoidably-mediated future."
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Katie Rogers & Robin Pogrebin: Draft Executive Order Would Give Trump a New Target: Modern Design: ...“Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” favors classical design for buildings...has drawn opposition from architects: ...spearheaded by the National Civic Art Society...architects say it would...give President Trump broad power to make aesthetic appraisals, something critics say he knows nothing about...approval of one school of architectural thought over another would create a dangerous and even cynical precedent for architects... -- Marion Smith; Roger K. Lewis; Benjamin Forgey; John Russell Pope; I.M. Pei; Amale Andraos; Sarah Dodge/AIA; Justin Shubow; Thom Mayne- New York Times |
Lilly Smith: Trump’s executive order would impose classical style on federal buildings. Should we be worried? “There is reason for alarm in the rhetoric that the king of tasteless glitz is attempting to impose his personal brand on the physical manifestation of this nation" [Steven Heller, SVA]: “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” indicates that the Trump administration may be finding an architectural common ground with autocratic regimes of yesteryear too...Paul Goldberger tweeted, "It's what dictatorships do, not democracies"...Politico once called Trump's design taste "dictator chic"...[it] could be the nation's new official look. -- David Insinga; School of Visual Arts- Fast Company |
AIA rejects Trump’s draft order for uniform federal architecture style: The American Institute of Architects issued a response to the potential executive order that could force all future federal buildings to be designed in the neoclassical style...[new rule] would change the core value of the General Service Administration’s Design Excellence Program...Numerous classicism-loving groups...called out the AIA for showing its “true colors,” accusing the organization of being opposed to “beauty and tradition.”- The Architect's Newspaper |
Living Future Collaborative in South Africa: The South African built environment faces numerous challenges and risks...The Collaborative believes in the Living Building Challenge philosophy and comprehensive approach...[It] aims to organise quarterly events centred around...what it means to go Net Zero Water/Energy, introducing the concepts of sustainability at schools, and advocating to bring transformation in policy. -- International Living Future Institute (ILFI)- ArchitectAfrica.com |
Architectural Association School of Architecture launches experimental AA Wood Lab: ...a research center in which scientists and practitioners will come together to transform the future of timber...will function as part of Hooke Park, the AA’s woodland campus in Dorset, U.K...recently opened applications for research fellows and team members... an exciting step in shedding light on a long-underestimated material... -- Zachary Mollica; John Makepeace/Parnham College; Frei Otto; Richard Burton; Ted Happold- The Architect's Newspaper |
Julia Gamolina: Setting the Tone: Kirsten Sibilia on Her Own Way and Catalyzing Change: Q&A re: growing up in the industry and thinking strategically about firm evolution, advising young architects to appreciate where they work and to get involved: “I learned then what a small industry we’re in, and how, by putting your best foot forward, having integrity, and being open to things, opportunities would come.”- Madame Architect |
Matt Stromberg: The Bizarre Story Behind the Newspaper Ads Criticizing LACMA’s Expansion Plan: ...full-page ads appeared in both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times with the slogan “saveLACMA FROM TANKING": ...“The ad...was not created by Save LACMA"...The ads were actually placed by “The Citizens Brigade to Save LACMA" founded by Greg Goldin and Joseph Giovaninni...“They’ve been told repeatedly to cease and desist"...Rob Hollman contacted both the [NYT and LAT] to issue retractions. -- Peter Zumthor; Michael Govan- Hyperallergic |
Anthony Paletta: How Did Bucharest Become ‘Paris of the East?’ It’s not the only city to lay claim to that title, but the long overlooked Romanian capital is actually a treasure trove of French influences: ...a stock of French Renaissance Revival, neoclassical, and Beaux-Arts buildings to put almost any city outside of the French capital to shame...[It] doubles as Paris not infrequently in media... a huge number of Romanian architects studied at the Ècole des Beaux-Arts...Romanian architecture schools...were heavily influenced by the Beaux-Arts model... the city has an air of dilapidation that’s charming...but somewhat alarming...[It] was included on the 2016 World Monuments Fund Watch. -- Albert Ballu; Ion Mincu; Alexandru Savulescu; Paul Gottereau; Felix Xenopo; Arghir Culina; Alexandru Orascu; Nicolae Gregorescu; Albert Galleron; Charles Garnier; Bernard and Galleron; Louis Blanc; Jean Berthet; Walter Froy; Louis Weeks; I.D. Berindey- The Daily Beast |
Chris Hall: A vision in concrete: Oscar Niemeyer’s Brazil: As Brasília turns 60, it’s time to reassess the legendary modernist architect on a visit to the Brazilian capital and Rio de Janeiro: Niemeyer was a sort of Brazilian Le Corbusier...and the more pictures I saw of his exotic modernism and the more I read about his socialist utopian vision, the more I wanted to see them...I worried before I visited...that it could be a little sterile, lacking in atmosphere, yet it’s an incredibly welcoming and open city...For an atheist, Niemeyer has made what must be one of the most beautiful churches in the world...Concrete jungle? Give me the concrete savannah any day. -- Paulo Niemeyer; Lúcio Costa- Observer (UK) |
[Landscape architect ]Darryl Jones: If We Are Lucky, New Film Could Boost Landscape Architecture: ...be still your hearts, because Frederick Law Olmsted is finally coming to the silver screen. Erik Larson’s page-turner "The Devil in the White City," the compelling true story of the building of the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893 and the vicious murders carried out in the shadows of its construction, is going to be made into a major motion picture. Leonardo DiCaprio...whose production company Appian Way purchased the screen rights...announced that [he] will produce the film and play the mysterious murderer-protagonist H.H. Holmes. -- Daniel Burnham; Louis Sullivan; George Ferris- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Architecture Extends to Landscape Design: Modernism Week offers a series of presentations, book signings and its always-popular Modern Garden Tour, focused on midcentury and contemporary landscape architecture and design.- Palm Springs Life |
A Magical Evening at the Kirk and Anne Douglas Estate [Donald Wexler, 1954], February 19: Nonprofit USModernist annual benefit for the nonprofit at Modernism Week in Palm Springs, California.- USModernist.org |
"Critical Care" Exhibition on Architecture for a Broken Planet: ...presents 21 current projects from around the world...[the show] proves that architecture and urbanism can bring the planet back to life. The repair of the future has begun. DAZ / Deutsches Architektur Zentrum, Berlin, thru March 22- DAZ / Deutsches Architektur Zentrum (Berlin) |
A new RIBA show asks if timber is the new concrete: ...perhaps it’s an old friend which will be the most help to architects amid the climate catastrophe: wood..."Forest of Fabrication" showcases 24 projects from dRMM, each represented primarily as wood models...demonstrates novel forms and ways of building achieved with timber which may not be immediately obvious or apparent. thru April 11 -- Alex de Rijke/dRMM (de Rijke Marsh Morgan); cross-laminated timber (CLT)- The Architect's Newspaper |
Mika Ross-Southall: Charlotte Perriand’s Prescient Designs for Modern Living: While working with Le Corbusier and his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, for 10 years, Perriand advanced her vision of modern living: ...magnificent and comprehensive exhibition "Charlotte Perriand: Inventing a New World" at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris...visitors can walk into mock-ups of the spaces she created, sit on the furniture, and feel the materials...design, architecture, and art were always synchronized in her mind and work. thru February 24- Hyperallergic |
"New York Clearing" highlights the East River, with help from K-pop band BTS: Antony Gormley’s large-scale installation at Brooklyn Bridge Park...consists of an 11-mile continuous “line” of square aluminum tubing that loops and coils without a beginning or endpoint. Standing nearly 50 feet at its tallest point...part of CONNECT, BTS, a global art initiative launched by the Korean boyband...a collaboration with curators across five cities on four continents... thru March 27 -- Daehyung Lee- The Architect's Newspaper |
Kathleen Langjahr: The shadow of history looms large at Peter Freeman gallery: Fiona Tan’s animated video installation "Archive"...Rendered in silent 3D...just one piece of a concise selection of works in "Archive / Ruins"...Tan’s cinematic musings on the material future of architectures lays bare, with her usual deftness, the delicacy of both structure and image in the face of our eternal, ever-evolving, unavoidably-mediated future. New York City, thru February 15.- The Architect's Newspaper |
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