Today’s News - Tuesday, March 3, 2020
It's a Pritzker Prize kind of day!
● Wainwright cheers Grafton's Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara winning the 2020 Pritzker Prize: "Their work is an apt reflection of architecture's current mood. The choice is a welcome decision, but it looks rather like playing catch-up."
● Holland hails the "Irish duo's win" that "marks rare victory for women in the 'Nobel of architecture' - the jury recognized that architecture remains a 'male-dominated profession'" - Farrell and McNamara "were awarded the 2020 RIBA Gold Medal, another major architecture award that has faced criticism for its dearth of female winners."
In other news:
● Mattern mulls "questions about what it means to 'participate' in civic design" on a visit to Sidewalk Toronto's "experimental work space" - is it just "engagement theater"? "Beware folksy exercises in collaborative design that create a semblance of public process while ultimately endorsing a predetermined outcome."
● McGuigan follows up on the "fallout from a disastrous" proposed executive order that would make classical architecture "the preferred and default style - we have seen the politicization of architecture to an extent that few of us imagined possible - objections came from some surprising corners."
● Betsky x 2: "The LACMA debacle keeps getting worse. What was previously just a bad design has become, in my humble opinion, even uglier. Govan claims that it would be too expensive and impractical to renovate and expand - yet how could such an approach cost more than a billion dollars?"
● He offers a "defense of Bjarke Ingels" and his "PR problem - a large part of the problem is his personality - the hipster Howard Roark. He does not deserve to be the lightning rod for problems that are systemic."
● Giacobbe delves into "how conservationist designers are reacting to climate change. The unbuilt world is ground zero for the unfolding crisis" - one approach "entails thinking about rural areas even when designing urban ones."
● Maditla profiles Mariam Kamara and her sustainable design practice Atelier Masomi that "is masterminding a sustainable future for Niger," and how her 2018 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative program with mentor Adjaye "allowed her to realize her dream."
● Alter cheers a "prefab dream - KieranTimberlake and Lake|Flato team up with Bensonwood to offer OpenHomes" to make "green, modern prefab designed by talented (and usually expensive) architects available, accessible and affordable."
● Boston is about to get a net-zero, CLT apartment complex: Generate's plans for Model-C have been certified by PassivHaus, and will be "one of the least energy-intensive buildings in America."
● Morgan bemoans the design of a new hotel planned for Newport, Rhode Island, that "is neither iconic nor sophisticated - doesn't a national architectural treasure house like Newport deserve better than just competent value engineering?"
● Winners of the Rethinking The Future Awards 2020 for excellence in Architecture and Design dealing with the contemporary global challenges span more than 50 categories.
Coronavirus impact - or not:
● The Venice Architecture Biennale 2020 will proceed as scheduled, kicking off on May 23 with "114 participants from 46 countries - a notable increase from the 71 participants in 2018."
● A deep dive into how the impacts of the Coronavirus "could have a ripple effect on the U.S. construction industry - from labor shortages and tariffs to an upcoming presidential election - the worst part is not knowing how long the crisis will continue."
● Financial institutions want "to pour more money into multifamily," but "rising construction costs, and the potential pandemic going global" increasing those costs could hurt - along with "local regulations that aim to take on the affordable housing crisis but actually present impediments for developers."
● China "races to boost major project construction amid the epidemic," with "a string of regions" rolling out "lists of major projects to be constructed or that are currently under construction" (300 in Beijing; 152 in Shanghai; 980 in Henan Province).
An FLW kind of day
● A new petition aims to save the School of Architecture at Taliesin (over 7,800 signatories as of this posting).
● Plans to relocate Frank Lloyd Wright's 1913 Booth Cottage to a park in the Wright-designed Ravine Bluffs subdivision in in Glencoe, Illinois, "has drawn criticism from some of the park's neighbors" who have concerns about parking, flooding, and congestion.
● Nayeri, on a brighter note, reports that the FLW-designed Pittsburgh office for Fallingwater client Kaufmann is being restored and will go on view at the new V&A East London branch opening in 2023.
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Oliver Wainwright: Women win Pritzker prize, architecture's highest honour: Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, who run Grafton Architects, are just the fourth and fifth women to win the prize in its 41-year history: ...new building for the London School of Economics...promises to embody many of the characteristics for which the Dublin duo’s work has become renowned...celebrating the “free gifts” that architecture can provide to the public, beyond merely fulfilling a client’s brief...The choice is a welcome decision, but it looks rather like playing catchup...Their work is an apt reflection of architecture’s current mood. -- Zaha Hadid; Kazuyo Sejima; Carme Pigem; Denise Scott Brown- Guardian (UK) |
Oscar Holland: Pritzker Prize 2020: Irish duo's win marks rare victory for women in the 'Nobel of architecture': Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara...only the fourth and fifth women to claim architecture's equivalent to the Nobel Prize in its 41-year history....co-founders of Dublin-based firm Grafton Architects...marks a significant step for an award long criticized for its lack of female representation...jury...recognized that architecture remains a "male-dominated profession"... recently awarded the 2020 RIBA Gold Medal, another major architecture award that has faced criticism for its dearth of female winners. -- Zaha Hadid; Kazuyo Sejima/Ryue Nishizawa; Carme Pigem; Wang Shu/Lu Wenyu; Denise Scott Brown- CNN Style |
Shannon Mattern: Post-It Note City: A visit to the smart-city-in-progress at Sidewalk Toronto prompts questions about what it means to “participate” in civic design: For some...Quayside...conjures up a surveillant dystopia...but you wouldn’t know it from a visit to...this “experimental work space” to co-create and learn. The vibe is resolutely low tech, sort of underground-arts-venue-meets-elementary-school...It embodies a commitment to messy improvisation...Paper and ink, models and maps: these are the accessible tools of civic engagement - and corporate self-defense...The too-much-ness...adds up to a form of “engagement theater"...Beware folksy exercises in collaborative design that create a semblance of public process while ultimately endorsing a predetermined outcome. -- Waterfront Toronto; Luc Bouliane/Lebel & Bouliane; MASS LBP; Daily tous les jours; Daniel Doctoroff; Quilian Riano/DSGN AGNC- Places Journal |
Cathleen McGuigan: Fallout from a Disastrous Federal Proposal: In the past month, we have seen the politicization of architecture to an extent that few of us imagined possible: ...proposed executive order...would dictate that “the classical architectural style shall be the preferred and default style”...response from the media, architects, and professional organizations was immediate...objections came from some surprising corners...The narrow interpretation of “classical” as a style is just one serious problem...no matter what your predilections in architecture may be. -- Michael Lykoudis/University of Notre Dame School of Architecture; Justin Shubow/National Civic Art Society; Catesby Leigh- Architectural Record |
Aaron Betsky: The LACMA Debacle Keeps Getting Worse: the museum's misguided and wasteful new building: What was previously just a bad design...now promises to become even more of a white elephant...proposed new building has become, in my humble opinion, even uglier...The unanswered questions raised by the seemingly illogical design are endless...the most important question...why the new building, which necessitates the demolition of close to 140,000 square feet of existing space, is necessary in the first place. Michael Govan claims that it would be too expensive and impractical to renovate and expand...yet how could such an approach cost more than a billion dollars? -- Joseph Giovannini; Michael Govan; Peter Zumthor- Architect Magazine |
Aaron Betsky: In Defense of Bjarke Ingels: Why does everybody hate Bjarke Ingels? ...these days I would be hard-pressed to find anybody who has anything nice to say about him or his work. The latest dust-up...a photograph of [him] with the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro...Ingels was in Brazil not to work with him, but with local officials of a different party...on an eco-resort...photo has made him even more of pariah among the chattering class than he was before. Other architects can apparently get away with working for dictators and truly repressive regimes...a large part of the problem is his personality...the hipster Howard Roark...a PR problem...I still think he is one of the best architects producing large buildings today...He does not deserve to be the lightning rod for problems that are systemic...- Architect Magazine |
Alyssa Giacobbe: How Conservationist Designers Are Reacting to Climate Change: The unbuilt world is ground zero for the unfolding crisis - here’s what experts in wildlife, parks, waterways, and more are attempting to do through design: Rewilding is a movement - part science, part design - that involves applying large-scale conservation and ecological restoration efforts to wilderness, ocean, and rural areas. It requires...designing and protecting such areas, and widespread buy-in...Humans now have just 10 years to reduce their global carbon dioxide output...individual efforts are simply not enough...Connecting wilderness areas both to one another and to the people who surround them is key...entails thinking about rural areas even when designing urban ones... -- Ten Eyck Landscape Architects; Bishop Land Design; Stanford d.school- Architectural Digest |
Neo Maditla: How architect Mariam Kamara is masterminding a sustainable future for Niger: ...2018 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative...two-year program...saw her working under the guidance of British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye, and allowed her to realize her dream of designing an arts center in capital city [Niamey Cultural Center]. But it also exposed her to her most formidable and outspoken critics yet: a group of high school students...founded sustainable design practice Atelier Masomi in 2014...now splits her time between Niger and Providence, Rhode Island... -- Yasaman Esmaili; united4design- CNN Style |
Lloyd Alter: The prefab dream: Talented architects working with a great builder offering original designs: KieranTimberlake and Lake|Flato team up with Bensonwood to offer OpenHomes: ...making green, modern prefab designed by talented (and usually expensive) architects available, accessible and affordable. -- Resolution 4; Steve Glenn; Living Homes; Plant Prefab; Tedd Benson- TreeHugger.com |
A net-zero, cross-laminated timber [CLT] apartment complex will rise in Boston: Thanks to support from the U.S. Forest Service and the Softwood Lumber Board, developer Placetailor and Boston-based architecture firm Generate have collaborated to design a carbon-neutral apartment block...Model-C [will include] an affordable co-working space for the local community on the ground floor... building...will be prefabricated in sections off-site... plans have been certified by PassivHaus...one of the least energy-intensive buildings in America. -- MIT Mass Timber Lab- The Architect's Newspaper |
William Morgan: Newport’s New Hotel Would Be Fine Almost Anywhere Else, Omaha or Albany: The 57-room Brenton Hotel...has to anchor...an area already mauled by insensitive new structures...design is neither iconic nor sophisticated...doesn't a national architectural treasure house like Newport deserve better than just competent value engineering? ...the restoration of neighborhoods and the opening of the great mansions...gave the town a new lease of life. But it has been sort of a devil's bargain...Newport deserved...a knock-your-socks-off design worthy of its architectural heritage... -- Group One Partners- GoLocalProv.com (Providence, Rhode Island) |
RTF announces the results for Rethinking The Future Awards 2020 for excellence in Architecture and Design dealing with the contemporary global challenges,..more than 50 award categories.- Re-thinking The Future (RTF) |
Venice Architecture Biennale 2020 will proceed as scheduled, announces exhibitors: ...will kick off on May 23 and run through November 29...theme," How will we live together?" ...unveiled by curator Hashim Sarkis, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT]...114 participants from 46 countries...a notable increase from the 71 participants in 2018...first-time participants Grenada, Iraq, and Uzbekistan. The U.S. Pavillion is being co-curated by Paul Andersen and Paul Preissner of the University of Illinois at Chicago. -- Paolo Baratta [complete list of participants included]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Coronavirus impacts could have ripple effect on US construction industry: ...could add another layer of unpredictability to the many uncertainties facing commercial building in the U.S. From labor shortages and tariffs to an upcoming presidential election...fallout from the COVID-19 virus is one more factor poised to affect construction firms...For commercial builders that rely on Chinese-made goods or materials, this could mean higher material costs and potentially slower project completions...building product imports from China account for nearly 30% of all U.S. building product imports...the worst part is not knowing how long the crisis will continue- Construction Dive |
Institutions Look To Pour More Money Into Multifamily, But Coronavirus, Construction Costs Aren't Helping: "The current geopolitical climate is causing significant uncertainty, and it's unpredictable. Part of the effects of the last year have been rising construction costs, and the potential pandemic going global could increase construction costs"...cost of building apartments has been magnified by local regulations that aim to take on the affordable housing crisis but actually present impediments for developers...multifamily investors have said they see the spread of these regulations as the biggest risk to the industry.- Bisnow.com |
China races to boost major project construction amid epidemic: A string of regions have raced to roll out lists of major projects to be constructed or that are currently under construction this year...Beijing, for instance, issued a list involving 300 key projects...Shanghai...has released a list of major projects to be constructed in 2020...152 formal projects, including 24 new projects. Central China's Henan Province issued a key project list, involving 980 projects and 3.3 trillion yuan of investment.- Xinhua News (China) |
New Petition Aims to Save The School of Architecture at Taliesin: ..."the legacy that Frank Lloyd Wright established with his Fellowship, the evolution of which is the [School], represents an irreplaceable presence in the American cultural landscape." [over 7,500 signatories as of this morning, NYC time] -- Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation- ArchDaily |
As Glencoe Historical Society prepares to relocate Frank Lloyd Wright cottage, some neighbors question the move: ...relocation of [Booth Cottage, 1913] to a nearby park has drawn criticism from some of the park’s neighbors...park is located in the Wright-designed Ravine Bluffs subdivision and is a short distance away from the cottage’s current location...Historical society officials...want to use the cottage...as a research facility... How the cottage’s new home would affect the neighborhood in terms of parking, flooding and congestion was also a topic of concern.- Chicago Tribune |
Farah Nayeri: A Frank Lloyd Wright Design Will Have a New Life in London: With help from a TEFAF grant, an office created for Edgar J. Kaufmann, who owned Fallingwater, will be restored before moving to a new V&A East London branch scheduled to open in 2023...will be the only [FLW] interior on public view outside the U.S."...Pittsburgh office...Begun in 1934, it was 1938 by the time the last piece of furniture was installed. And there were many frosty exchanges over it. -- Christopher Wilk- New York Times |
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