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Today’s News - Tuesday, March 10, 2020

● Lamster parses how Henry Cobb helped shape Dallas with a series of skyscrapers: "All were projects completed in partnership with I.M. Pei, but the character of their projects was dramatically different - Cobb's work was characterized by sheer planes of ethereal weightlessness."

● Miranda x 2: She muses on how Cobb's 1989 Library Tower (now U.S. Bank Tower) "added some desperately needed pizzazz" to L.A.'s skyline. "Other buildings have come up around her, but she holds her own. And whenever I see her, it means that I'm home."

● She cheers "the male-centric" Pritzker Prize honoring Grafton's Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, "a decidedly low-key duo in a field known for its gassy bombast. They may talk softly, but they carry some big design sticks. Namely, their buildings."

● The NAACP Equity Committee's Patterson & Lee on the org's recently launched Centering Equity in the Sustainable Building Sector Initiative: "Green building is a huge growth industry, but communities of color are not yet positioned to fully benefit from it" - the CESBS is "pushing forward civil rights in this critical new sphere - sustainability without equity will merely sustain inequity."

● In San Francisco, a ballot measure passed that "could limit new office space if more housing isn't built - a jarring wakeup call to the tech industry that its future inside the city limits - where it's not always welcome, anyway - may be more limited than it realizes."

● King, meanwhile, cheers Designing Justice + Designing Spaces' "invigorating" transformation of a "weary" 1930s building into a new home for Restore Oakland and other non-profits that is "more than an act of creative rejuvenation" - it may not stop gentrification, but "what they offer instead are outposts of constructive resistance."

● Hickman reports on how "wildly affluent" San Jose is dealing with its homelessness epidemic by opening a "tiny house pilot community" offering "temporary shelter to Californians transitioning out of homelessness" (the first of two) - but "there's been an early struggle in finding qualified people in need to populate the community."

● Moore cheers plans to transform the brutalist 1960s Thamesmead from a "sink estate into a greener, more congenial space" by "combining ambition of exceptional scale with unimpeachable intentions" - he hopes it doesn't slide "towards the not-bad but not-special solutions of competent property developers."

● Sperber offers a "provocative proposal" for NYC's 52-story 200 Amsterdam: "It feels diabolical and wasteful" to lop off the top 20 floors, as ordered by a judge - "let the developer keep the top floors" and "reclaim the bottom 20 floors" for affordable housing. "It would be a shame to add potential housing inventory to the landfill."

● Saffron reflects on the "take-no-prisoners exterior" of Front Flats, a solar panel-clad apartment building in Philly that looks like a cross between "a D-volt battery and the Death Star" (which she means as a compliment): "If we really want to save the planet, its design suggests, then we have to be willing to question conventional ideas of beauty and comfort."

● New ASLA guides "highlight successful cross-disciplinary collaborations for healthy, equitable communities," offering10 case studies that "examine the keys to their success as well as challenges they face."

● Hickman highlights Heritage on the Edge, a new UNESCO/Google "online platform drawing attention to the devastating effect that climate change has had - and will continue to have - on five diverse and vulnerable World Heritage Sites."

● Ravenscroft reports on the School of Architecture at Taliesin reversing its decision to close after "its financial situation and long-term viability improved following the decision to close" but that "does not necessarily secure the school's future - the FLW Foundation has to approve the decision" (it's "being resistant").

● The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation responds: "Because of the lack of any direct communication from the school itself, the Foundation will have no further response until the necessary evaluations are completed. We do not intend to debate or negotiate this matter in the press or in social media."

● Gamolina's (great!) Q&A with MVRDV's Nathalie de Vries re: "running a business, reinventing practice, and leading by example": "Keep fun in your work. Being in architecture is a tough job...it's good to have a balance of both challenges and joy."

● Madsen looks at how firms are attempting "to maintain forward momentum as COVID-19 [coronavirus] continues to spread" ("several firms with work in China declined to comment") - and what happens to construction "as increasing numbers of essential workers become homebound."

● Kengo Kuma and K2LD Architects win the international competition to design Singapore's Founders' Memorial with a design "that is set to reshape the Marina Bay skyline," and will be "a welcome counterpoint to the domes of Gardens by the Bay."

● AR & AJ announce winners of the 2020 W Awards (formerly the Women in Architecture Awards).

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Mark Lamster: Architect of Fountain Place who shaped Dallas, 93: Henry N. Cobb, longtime partner of I.M. Pei, built a series of Dallas skyscrapers: All were projects completed in partnership with I.M. Pei, but...the character of their projects was dramatically different: While Pei developed an architecture of solid volumes accented by light and shadow, Cobb’s work, and especially his skyscrapers, was characterized by sheer planes of ethereal weightlessness...“The architecture of a tall tower is 99% logic and 1% art - but don’t you dare take away that 1%,” Cobb once quipped...shaped minds as well as buildings; in 1980...took over as chair of...Harvard Graduate School of Design [GSD].- Dallas Morning News

Carolina A. Miranda: How Henry Cobb gave L.A.’s skyline its distinctive crown: ...the Library Tower, now known as the U.S. Bank Tower, completed in 1989...was, for a time, the tallest building west of the Mississippi. It also added some desperately needed pizzazz...If not exactly beloved, [it] has become a de facto symbol of Los Angeles...He was never a flashy designer...But [tower's] circular form, its intersecting shapes...and its elegant crown...certainly leaned into the Postmodern...Other buildings have come up around her, but she holds her own. And whenever I see her, it means that I’m home. -- Pei Cobb Freed & Partners; Bertram Goodhue; Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer- Los Angeles Times

Carolina A. Miranda: The male-centric Pritzkers honor a female architectural team for 2020: Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara [of] Grafton Architects...the Pritzker marks a historic, trans-Atlantic sweep...the pair were awarded the Royal Gold Medal...by the Royal Institute of British Architects...Both prizes mark an important moment for women in architecture, but also a professional acme for the architects, a decidedly low-key duo in a field known for its gassy bombast...They may talk softly, but [they] carry some big design sticks. Namely, their buildings...- Los Angeles Times

Jacqui Patterson & Mandy Lee, NAACP Equity Committee: Green building sector seeks equity rights issue: ...the sustainable building sector is an insider’s club with a serious diversity problem...the most impacted communities are underrepresented...Green building is a huge growth industry, but communities of color are not yet positioned to fully benefit from it...NAACP...launched the Centering Equity in the Sustainable Building Sector (CESBS) Initiative, pushing forward civil rights in this critical...new sphere...using its Baltimore headquarters as a living laboratory...Sustainability would be seen as a basic necessity - not a luxury...sustainability without equity will merely sustain inequity. -- National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)- The Miami Times

'San Francisco is full': Tech backlash reaches new heights with skyscraper battle: A ballot measure approved...could limit new office space if more housing isn't built: The result could be a jarring wakeup call to the tech industry that its future inside the city limits - where it’s not always welcome, anyway - may be more limited than it realizes...the question is whether a ban on future towers is just another battle...or a watershed moment for tech in a city that relishes taking big corporations down a notch...YIMBY movement...argues the real problem is that affordable housing is already banned in much of the city and its suburbs...- NBC News

John King: Can architecture slow gentrification? Restore Oakland wants to show that it can: ...[its] ambitious home makeover...is a work in progress...What counts is the boldness of all that has been completed...an effort to provide a bulwark against displacement pressures...Inside...the transformation is invigorating...more than an act of creative rejuvenation. [It] sends a message: Social advocacy can remain as a defining presence in Fruitvale...won’t stop gentrification. What they offer instead are outposts of constructive resistance... -- Deanna Van Buren/Designing Justice + Designing Spaces- San Francisco Chronicle

Matt Hickman: San Jose debuts tiny house community for the homeless: ...a pilot community composed of 40 ultra-tiny houses that will provide temporary shelter to Californians transitioning out of homelessness...Mabury Bridge Housing Project...one of two tiny house clusters planned for California’s third most populous city...the de facto capital of Silicon Valley is in the midst of a homelessness epidemic...Built by...Habitat for Humanity...at a cost of $6,500 each, the micro-homes...“emergency sleeping cabins"...measure a mere 80 square feet...there’s been an early struggle in finding qualified people in need to populate the community. -- HomeFirst- The Architect's Newspaper

Rowan Moore: The Reach, Thamesmead - from sink estate to Thames des res: Peabody’s plans to transform the brutalist '60s site into a greener, more congenial space are full of hope. But the required levels of creativity may be hard to sustain: ...housing association...is planning to double the number of homes there...The first...a 66-home block...A sturdy, confident, red-brick affair...neither brutalist slab nor brick noddy box...a civilised way of housing people at higher densities...combining ambition of exceptional scale with unimpeachable intentions...The danger is that, overcome by the scale and complexity of the endeavour, the project slides towards the not-bad but not-special solutions of competent property developers. I hope not... -- Pitman Tozer Architects- Observer (UK)

Esther Sperber/Studio ST Architects: Put 200 Amsterdam to good use: Don’t waste an already-built tower: ...a state judge ruled to revoke the approval for the top 20 floors of a [52-story] market-rate, luxury, residential building...I fear the implications for the architectural and building professions...But I am even more horrified by the idea of dismantling an already constructed structure...With affordable housing so scarce, it feels diabolical and wasteful...Instead of removing the upper floors...convert part of the building into affordable housing. Let the developer keep the top floors... let the city or a nonprofit reclaim the bottom 20 floors for low- and middle-income families...It would be a shame to add potential housing inventory to the landfill.- New York Daily News

Inga Saffron: The apartment building of the future is here, and it looks like a giant battery: If you crossed a D-volt battery and the Death Star, you might get something that looks like Front Flats...That’s meant as a compliment...the dark, brooding screen can be a jarring sight...Are [its] wraparound solar panels...a meaningful advance in sustainable design? ...does that make it good architecture? If we really want to save the planet, its design suggests, then we have to be willing to question conventional ideas of beauty and comfort...It’s easier to get used to solar panels on the facade of a building, than flooding and brush fires sweeping the earth. -- Tim McDonald/Onion Flats- Philadelphia Inquirer

ASLA Publishes Guides to Highlight Successful Cross-Disciplinary Collaborations for Healthy, Equitable Communities: Guides published as part of the Joint Call to Action for Healthy Communities Coalition: ...10 case studies from across the country...examine the keys to their success as well as challenges they face.- American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)

Matt Hickman: UNESCO and Google spotlight climate change’s impact on World Heritage Sites: ...new online platform drawing attention to the devastating effect that climate change has had - and will continue to have - on five diverse and vulnerable [sites]...Heritage on the Edge...the multimedia platform...illustrates how people in these five unique locales have come together to protect their most cherished cultural sites against rising seas, extreme weather, coastal erosion, and drought. -- CyArk; Climate Change and Heritage Working Group (CCHWG); International Council for Museums and Sites (ICOMOS)- The Architect's Newspaper

Tom Ravenscroft: School of Architecture at Taliesin board reverses decision to close Frank Lloyd Wright's school: ...a public outcry allowed it to secure additional funding...its financial situation and long-term viability improved following its decision to close...does not necessarily secure the school's future as the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation...has to approve the decision..."but the foundation is being resistant and still retains the power to force the school to close unless a deal is reached"...Aaron Betsky [said] that the school had secured other funding, although he did not say from where or how much.- Dezeen

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation responds to School of Architecture at Taliesin’s decision to keep the school open: ...[school's] plans to remain open based on its assessment that it has secured funding and a new path to increase enrollment...the Foundation has little information about these...Questions also remain about the School’s leadership, in light of the departure of [Aaron Betsky]...and how that impacts the direction of a revised program...Because of the uncertainties...and the lack of any direct communication from the school itself, the Foundation will have no further response until the necessary evaluations...are completed...We do not intend to debate or negotiate this matter in the press or in social media...- The Architect's Newspaper

Julia Gamolina: A Broader Vision: MVRDV's Nathalie de Vries on Running a Business, Reinventing Practice, and Leading by Example: Q&A re: the political and cultural landscape in the Netherlands that catalyzed [the firm's] start...and the tools that make great architecture, advising those just starting their careers to find an office that allows you to explore your favorite parts of architecture..."Never forget that an architecture firm is first and foremost a business...Keep fun in your work. Being in architecture is a tough job...it’s good to have a balance of both challenges and joy." -- Winy Maas; Jacob van Rijs- Madame Architect

Deane Madsen: Trade shows and design practices attempt to maintain forward momentum as COVID-19 continues to spread: James von Klemperer, president and design principal with KPF, remains relatively optimistic, even with some 40% of the firm’s current work located in Asia, including four projects in Wuhan...Several other international firms with work in China declined to comment...How non-medical construction will continue as increasing numbers of essential workers become homebound remains to be seen. -- Kohn Pedersen Fox; Salone de Mobile; Design Shanghai; Art Basel Hong- Architectural Record

Lush greenery part of winning Founders' Memorial design: Entry by Japan-Singapore team tops 5 shortlisted designs in international competition: Multiple green paths that converge on an amphitheatre will be a distinctive feature of the upcoming Memorial to honour Singapore's pioneer leaders that is set to reshape the Marina Bay skyline...Its organic form is also a welcome counterpoint to the domes of Gardens by the Bay. -- Kengo Kuma & Associates; K2LD Architects- The Straits Times (Singapore)

The winners of the 2020 W Awards [formerly Women in Architecture Awards]: Moira Gemill Prize for Emerging Architecture: Francesca Torzo/Francesca Torzo Architetto; Highly Commended: Mariam Kamara/Atelier Masomiz; MJ Long Prize for Excellence in Practice: Tracy Meller/Rogers Stirk Harbor + Partners; Jane Drew Prize for Architecture: Yasmeen Lari; Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for Contribution to Architecture: Beatriz Colomina- The Architectural Review (AR) / The Architects’ Journal (UK)

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