Today’s News - Wednesday, April 22, 2020

●  Walsh: "On Earth Day, we reflect on architecture's relationship with the Planet - it is difficult to think of a time where our relationship with the Earth has been so different from normal. What constitutes a 'normal'?"

●  Green's great Q&A with SCAPE's Kate Orff on Earth Day: "Today's society faces a climate emergency, social and income stratification, and a biological apocalypse - these forces are rapidly tearing at the fabric of our entangled social and natural worlds - we identify the capacity of design to repair that fabric" (she also touches on COVID-19).

●  Simons' great Q&A with Christine Hunschofsky, mayor of Parkland, Florida, who has dealt with flooding, a hurricane, and the horrific Stoneman Douglas High School shootings, re: "leadership during and after the crisis, and how arts, design, parks, and public space can be tools to unite and heal."

●  López Cardozo brings us Toronto's PARTISANS' lively "Serious Playfulness" conversation (via e-mail) with 6 emerging studios around the world - "all engage in play and experimentation, yet are able to build their ambitious works through pragmatism and seriousness."

●  Mun-Delsalle's Q&A with Hiroshi Nakamura on designing the zero-waste shop/brewery/pub Kamikatz Public House in a mountain village in Japan that "has already attained an 80% recycling rate - the locals who gather at this pub are beginning to truly realize that their actions are fun and creative."

●  The Whitney Museum's Adam Weinberg and the Association for Public Art's Penny Balkin Bach each pen a letter to Washington, D.C.'s Historic Preservation Review Board calling for "safeguarding" Zimmerman's threatened MARABAR installation at National Geographic's HQ (with links to letters).

●  Welton on Burning Man's Museum of No Spectators: "Sure, Burning Man's been cancelled this year. But when it returns in 2021, it'll offer a new, countercultural and participatory opportunity" including a gift shop "where visitors do the gifting, not the buying."

●  Baldwin reports on the Zoomed In virtual photography and architecture festival, running through Friday, that "brings together a diverse international selection of architectural photographers and cross-disciplinary creatives in a series of online talks and discussions, short film screenings, image galleries, and a charity print sale."

●  Call for entries: Interior Scholarship 2020/2021 - The AIT Scholarship by Sto Foundation (students must be enrolled at a European university).

COVID-19 news continues (last two stories lifted our spirits!):

●  Lazaro looks at "density in the age of danger - it is false to assume that population density in itself is the culprit" in the spread of COVID-19 - "building compact and connected communities fosters resilience in the face of such dangers."

●  The Ian McHarg Center's Fleming & Lillehei make the case that, "once the pandemic recedes, we should enact a massive green stimulus that builds out our public infrastructure in beautiful, imaginative, low-carbon ways," which will require "severing the link between private capital [from "capitalist imaginaries"] and the design professions."

●  Sisson makes the case that "stimulus isn't enough. Our cities need a post-pandemic New Deal" - why not "replicate one of the largest, most successful government works programs - the Works Progress Administration."

●  le Roux of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, offers "four design features from history that offer healthier design. In reacting to the pandemic, architecture can reclaim its impact by conceding its loss of connection with public health, looking beyond Western thinking for its references."

●  Baird-Remba talks to a number of architects who "are rethinking commercial and public spaces," like offices, restaurants and grocery stores, "to make regular people safer in the age of coronavirus."

●  Iszler talks to architects about how the coronavirus will change office design: "Think new seating, more cleaning, and hands-free tech. Remote working and virtual meetings will become even more prevalent - will people even want to come back?"

●  Fairs talks to a Boston doctor working with Eric Höweler and a Harvard GSD team to design a patient isolation hood: "We need designers at every turn, but they are so infrequently consulted" - the project "opened colleagues' eyes to the potential of design to improve healthcare."

●  Two we couldn't resist: Loos asked architects and artists how they were spending their time in lockdown - "they answered that, despite their fears, the pandemic is proving to be fertile ground - and they sent along some proof" with sketches by Holl, Gehry, and Maya Lin (and some great artists).

●  Venetian biologist Mangoni "captured mesmerizing video of a jellyfish gliding between reflections of Venetian palaces" through the now-clear waters of the canals of Venice (short - but magical!).

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To subscribe to the free daily newsletter click here Niall Patrick Walsh: On Earth Day, We Reflect on Architecture's Relationship with the Planet: ... it is difficult to think of a time where our relationship with the Earth has been so different from normal...in time, the COVID crisis will pass, and the world will return to “normal”. The nature of that normal is, in part, the responsibility of architects and designers. What constitutes a “normal” relationship between us and the Earth? How can the architectural community enhance and improve the relationship between us and the Earth? ...we present a selection of...articles...linked by a common understanding of how architecture relates to the planet...- ArchDaily Jared Green: Interview with Kate Orff on Earth Day 2020: The 50th Anniversary: ...founder and principal of SCAPE..awarded the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship [2017], and...the 2019 National Design Award...from the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum: What is regenerative living infrastructure and why do communities need it? "Today’s society faces...a climate emergency, increasing social and income stratification, and a biological apocalypse...these forces are rapidly tearing at the fabric of our entangled social and natural worlds...we identify the capacity of design to repair that fabric and regenerate connections...Robust, intact landscapes can’t do everything, but they can absorb a range of intersectional challenges and create immense protective value."- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Trinity Simons/Mayor's Institute on City Design: Q&A with a Mayor Far-Too-Familiar With Crisis Management: Christine Hunschofsky: Just seven months after being elected mayor of Parkland, Florida in 2016, she was dealing with historic flooding...followed...by Hurricane Irma...in 2018...one of the most notorious school shootings in American history...at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School...In light of COVID-19, [she talks] about leadership during and after the crisis, and how arts, design, parks, and public space can be tools to unite and heal: "It’s ironic that it took physical distancing to make people want to connect with the world and nature again...As a mayor, this moment drives home...the importance of...giving people those places where they can 'pause' long after this is over.- Common Edge Sebastián López Cardozo: Serious Playfulness: 6 Young Firms Balancing Experimentation and Pragmatism: Toronto’s Partisans talks with emerging studios around the globe - Young & Ayata, New York; Schaum/Shieh, Houston & NYC; Miracles Architecture, Michan Architecture, Mexico City; Miracles Architecture, Houston; and Paralx, Beirut, Lebanon & Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - about how they dream big while building both their projects and their ethos: ...culminated in an intimate, multi-person dialogue...all engage in play and experimentation, yet are able to build their ambitious works through pragmatism and seriousness. -- Artifizi- Azure magazine (Canada) Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle: 10 Minutes With Hiroshi Nakamura On Designing A Sustainable, Zero-Waste Wooden Building: We speak about designing Kamikatz Public House in the recycling mountain village town of Kamikatsu, Japan: "The town has already attained an 80% recycling rate...a private-sector business inspired by the principles of this town launched this project...integrating a shop...a brewery and a pub... the locals who gather at this pub are beginning to truly realize that their actions are fun and creative...The space is full of improvisation and discoveries with this creative combination of waste material." -- Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP- Forbes Whitney Museum Director Adam Weinberg and Association for Public Art Director Penny Balkin Bach Call for Safeguarding Threatened MARABAR Art Installation at National Geographic: “Masterpiece” by...artist Elyn Zimmerman is threatened with demolition: ...new letters follow one written by Marc Treib...all were sent to the Washington, D.C., Historic Preservation Review Board...- The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) J. Michael Welton: Burning Man’s Museum of No Spectators: Sure, Burning Man’s been cancelled this year. But when it returns in...2021, it’ll offer a new, countercultural and participatory opportunity...inspired by [Smithsonian exhibition] “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man"...illuminated the values of the...event through its guiding 10 principles..."Gifting" in particular resonated with...architect/artist John Marx, artist Absinthia Vermut and builder Jerry James...They’ve worked out a design for nine galleries - and a gift shop...where visitors do the gifting, not the buying.- Architects + Artisans Eric Baldwin: Zoomed In Virtual Photography and Architecture Festival Launches: Running through April 24, the festival brings together a diverse international selection of architectural photographers and cross-disciplinary creatives in a series of online talks and discussions, short film screenings, image galleries, and a charity print sale to raise funds for those most in need during the current pandemic crisis.- ArchDaily Call for entries (deadline extended!): Interior Scholarship 2020/2021 - The AIT Scholarship by Sto Foundation: up to four students of interior architecture, interior design, etc. enrolled at a European university will receive a monthly grant for one year, totalling 24,000 EUR; deadline: June 19- AIT-Dialog / Sto Foundation / Sto Stiftung (Germany) Chris Lazaro: Density in the Age of Danger: Don’t let the ‘D’-word scare you: ...while it’s true that [COVID-19] has spread more rapidly in urban areas than in sparsely populated ones, it is false to assume that population density in itself is the culprit...Crowding...is the more likely offender...Think: grocery stores, places of worship, sporting events...polling places...pandemics are but one danger...mass shootings persist...Climate threats...land desertification...building compact and connected communities fosters resilience in the face of such dangers...When designed and built well...what if neighborhoods are most resilient, not when they follow the conventional suburban pattern, but when they are built compactly? A compact, connected neighborhood also offers another benefit in terms of resilience: redundancy.- Medium Billy Fleming & Alexandra Lillehei/Ian L. McHarg Center: To Rebuild Our Towns and Cities, We Need to Design a Green Stimulus: The COVID-19 quarantine has exposed the importance of parks, sidewalks, and other public spaces...once the pandemic recedes, we should enact a massive green stimulus that builds out our public infrastructure in beautiful, imaginative, low-carbon ways: ...this will require a shift in the design professions...every square inch of our planet is designed...represent policy decisions capitalist imaginaries translated into concrete reality by designers...There’s simply no way to meet this moment without severing the link between private capital and the design professions...to envision a future design for people and nature and not by markets...- Jacobin magazine Patrick Sisson: Stimulus isn’t enough. Our cities need a post-pandemic New Deal: With 22 million-plus out of work, we need jobs and public-works vision for the future: ...coronavirus has caused the infrastructure of urban life to shut down. As our cities experience this uncanny, uncertain pause, there may also be a rare opportunity to reflect and rebuild...why shouldn’t the U.S. replicate one of the largest, most successful government works programs in its history, the Works Progress Administration? ...WPA’s accomplishments in the health care field were vast, exemplifying the type of wartime mobilization needed in the fight against [COVID-19]...would also provide opportunities for architects and designers to utilize their skills as a form of national service.- Curbed Hannah le Roux/University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: Architecture: four ideas from history that offer healthier design: I’ve compiled a short list of some of the design features of architecture through history that provide useful insights into what COVID-19 has taught us to be mindful of. 1. Waterpoints; 2. Learn from brass: We could learn from Alvar Aalto’s use of brass...given the far faster degradation of viral material; 3. Courtyards, porches and lobbies; 4. Medicinal gardens; In reacting to the pandemic, architecture can reclaim its impact by conceding its loss of connection with public health, looking beyond Western thinking for its references.- The Conversation US Rebecca Baird-Remba: Designing Offices, Restaurants and Grocery Stores in the Age of Coronavirus: Architects are rethinking commercial and public spaces in an effort to prevent viral spread: [As] communities across the U.S. grapple with the coronavirus outbreak, architects are thinking about how to make regular people safer...whether companies will need to increase or decrease their square footage in the wake of social distancing....both commercial and public spaces may need to become more compartmentalized...grocery stores...may have to completely shift the way they do business. -- Alex Dunham/HLW; Tom Vecchione/Vocon; Julia Lindh/MKDA; Darren Comber/Scott Brownrigg; Shane Aaron/Selser Schaefer Architects- Commercial Observer (NYC) Madison Iszler: How will coronavirus change offices? Think new seating, more cleaning and hands-free tech, architects and designers say: Another likelihood: more employees working out of the office...Companies may try to “de-densify” by having a smaller percentage of a company’s workforce in the office on a given day, and using breakout rooms and shared areas to spread out employees...Investing in better air filtration and mechanical systems can be expensive but could become a priority...Voice-activated technology and hands-free systems may become more common...Remote working and virtual meetings will become even more prevalent...will people even want to come back? -- Jim Shelton/Gensler; Jonathan Smith/Lake | Flato Architects; Andrew Bennett/Victoria Fennewald/BOKA Powell- San Antonio Express-News Marcus Fairs: Lack of design input in healthcare is putting both patients and doctors at risk, says physician: "We desperately need designers to help organize the environment and products to help keep the correct focus on a patient, and reduce distraction," said Dr Sam Smith...at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "We need designers at every turn, but they are so infrequently consulted"...Smith [collaborated] with Boston architect Eric Höweler and a team from Harvard's Graduate School of Design [GSD] on the design for a patient isolation hood...Working with Höweler opened colleagues' eyes to the potential of design to improve healthcare. -- Höweler + Yoon- Dezeen Ted Loos: Artists Are Hunkered Down, but Still Nurturing Their Inner Visions: Artists and architects may be sheltering at home, but their creativity still flows - and the results surprise even them: When asked how they were spending their time, they answered that, despite their fears, the pandemic is proving to be fertile ground - and they sent along some proof...Steven Holl depicted a pair of struggling lungs, and mourned a close friend [Michael Sorkin] - while continuing to design buildings...Frank Gehry sketched, but his big meeting got Zoombombed...As Maya Lin put it, “We’re going to get really interesting creativity out of this.”- New York Times Jellyfish spotted in Venice as lockdown leaves canals clear: Andrea Mangoni, a biologist who works in Venice, captured mesmerising video of a jellyfish gliding between reflections of Venetian palaces...low traffic amid Italy's coronavirus restrictions had increased water transparency...His underwater video shows a range of other aquatic life in the city's unusually still canals. (via Reuters)- RTÉ.ie (Ireland)

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