Today’s News - Tuesday, June 16, 2020

●  Kimmelman minces no words in calling the AIA on the carpet re: its statement "expressing solidarity with protesters. That's good to hear. So - how about stop repeating that it's OK by you for architects to design racially biased prisons - they should not contribute their expertise to a system that commits exceptional violence against African-Americans and other minorities. The least the AIA can do now is agree."

●  Kate Wagner delves into (mincing now words) re: her term "PR-chitecture" to call "attention to how designers and brands were using the coronavirus pandemic to promote themselves and their increasingly bizarre and ridiculous roster of solutions under the cover of 'good design.' It's architecture for the click economy. It dumbs architecture down" and "reinforces architecture's worst impulses: hero worship, technocracy, and elitism" (she names names).

●  Batcho delves into how Sweden's political concept Folkhem could be "an economic and political blueprint for a more just and sustainable future" that would "suspend opposing forces in complementary tension and interdependence" and bring out "the productive best of each - a nonaggression social pact between the Few and the Many."

●  Wainwright points out some major issues with the mayor of Middlesbrough's big plans to build a "Teesside Silicon Valley," beginning with an office tower that "looks like something from a cut-price Gotham City." Sayeth the mayor: "I've ignored the development frameworks and master plans - we have to make stuff happen. Then we'll start planning" (uh-oh).

●  Kamin cheers the opening of Chicago's Lakefront Trail - now, "let's reimagine biking to work. Somewhere in urban planning heaven, a smile is spreading across the mustachioed mug of Daniel Burnham. It's time to think big - a moment of tremendous possibility in the ongoing story of Chicago as 'Paris on the Prairie.'"

●  Morgan revisits P+W's 1972 "concrete behemoth," the Community College of Rhode Island - "a significant landmark worthy or our notice, and even veneration - the most remarkable thing is that it was built at all - not what you would call warm and fuzzy, but it has provided [CCRI] with a dramatic and ionic architectural landmark."

●  Alan Jones returns to his post as RIBA president, and "looks to put scandal behind him. In his 'I'm back on the job' apology letter, he more or less came clean and confirmed some of the allegations that had emerged during his leave."

●  ICYMI: ANN feature: Christopher Alexander: Lesson Plan #9: Ideas on Architectural Education: Schools of architecture have not found ways of teaching the art of building that is effective. We want, collectively, to make architectural teaching better, and through that, to make architecture better.

Of protests, racism, and urban issues - the industry responds:

●  HKS London's Alfonso Padro: "It's time to turn words into action. The combined impact of the covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests has, quite rightly, put equality firmly back on the agenda - the shocking lack of diversity is holding us back" (and why the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust is so vital).

●  Lamster: "How to suture a Dallas divided by racism. Active reform can begin with the frank admission that the design of the city has been an instrumental means for controlling black and brown bodies. That is a fact of American urban history - there are a number of immediate steps to become a more equitable place."

●  An "anti-racist architecture manifesto" by WAI Architecture Think Tank: "Architects should be aware of the programs of the buildings they design and be held accountable. They talk about reforming prisons, creating sustainable concentration camps and outlining 'community-oriented' buildings for policing. In their obstinate naiveté, they refuse to acknowledge the racist, colonial, and oppressive legacies of these archetypes."

COVID-19 news continues:

●  The Canada Green Building Council releases "its industry perspective on how strategic investment in green building could play a significant role in re-igniting Canada's economy" with recommendations that "target three key areas of investment."

●  Brasuell brings us the third installment of "an ongoing, curated list of a particularly contemporary genre of urbanism punditry. Maybe the public health crisis and the ensuing economic crisis, planted the seeds for a profound shift in the ways that planners, designers, engineers, and politicians reckon with the racist and discriminatory pasts of their professions. Maybe."

●  KPMB's Shirley Blumberg: "Place this pandemic alongside climate change, pollution, inequity - and once again architects and city planners are called upon to respond to urgent societal challenges - tectonic shifts in our design culture are already underway" (per Aalto, "we should always design for the person in the weakest position").

●  Chava Gourarie looks at how cities are rethinking their use of public space in a post-COVID future: "Many streetscape changes have been done - either through design or through bureaucratic methods - not only because the pandemic has given us a tremendous opportunity to envision other possibilities, but because there will be consequences if they don't."

●  Moore makes the case for letting "children reclaim the streets for a summer of outdoor play after their pandemic privations - its loss is at least as big a deprivation as that of schooling" + "The exhilarating dunking" of the Edward Colston statue "has caused waves of reaction so predictable that they could have been written by artificial intelligence programs."

●  A new report makes the case that "Canada needs to create a new national entity that houses the best available quantitative and qualitative data on cities - a Canadian urban policy observatory highlighting opportunities for shared problem solving."

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To subscribe to the free daily newsletter click here Michael Kimmelman: There’s No Reason for an Architect to Design a Death Chamber: As the country grapples with racial justice, architects should finally take a stand on the most barbaric aspects of a biased prison system: ...the American Institute of Architects issued a statement...expressing solidarity with protesters - and offering a mea culpa...added, “we will review our own programs” and “ask our community to join us and hold us accountable.” That’s good to hear. So...how about stop repeating that it’s OK by you for architects to design...racially biased prisons...Architects should not contribute their expertise to the most egregious aspects of a system that commits exceptional violence against African-Americans and other minorities. The least the AIA can do now is agree. -- Raphael Sperry/Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR); Vishaan Chakrabarti/PAU; Michael Ford/Urban Arts Collective/Hip Hop Architecture Camp; SmithGroup- New York Times Kate Wagner: No, ‘PR-chitecture’ won’t save us from the pandemic: I coined the term...calling attention to how designers and brands were using the coronavirus pandemic to promote themselves and their increasingly bizarre and ridiculous roster of solutions...under the cover of “good design"...architecture and design have had a PR-chitecture problem for far longer...It’s architecture for the click economy...the inevitable result of an image-driven, buzzword-laden media atmosphere...the truly subversive and transformative in architecture rarely gets the same attention...PR-chitecture sucks the air out of architecture...It dumbs architecture down...reinforces architecture’s worst impulses: hero worship, technocracy, and elitism...also a failure of criticism, a failure of curation... -- BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group; Oceanix- The Architect's Newspaper Kevin Batcho: Toward a Green Folkhem [“People’s Home”]: Climate Change as if Social Justice Matters: An economic and political blueprint for a more just and sustainable future: [Sweden's] Folkhem provided a societal framework that suspended opposing forces in complementary tension and interdependence...brought out the productive best of each while simultaneously suppressing the other’s more malignant tendencies...a nonaggression social pact between the Few and the Many.- Common Edge Oliver Wainwright: The Teesside Silicon Valley: Middlesbrough's £250m bid to be digital powerhouse: Shiny skyscrapers, rooftop ping-pong, a wellbeing village and an urban farm - the mayor wants to make his town a tech dream. Why are so many people horrified? ...his grand plan for a trio of 20-storey towers...he hopes will send chills down the spines of rival northern cities...£30m “digital” office tower...Boho X...Designed by...Logic Architecture, whose portfolio shows no evidence of tall buildings, the tower looks like something from a cut-price Gotham City...critics...fear it could lumber the town with a costly white elephant, a blot on the skyline for decades..."I've ignored the development frameworks and masterplans...we have to...make stuff happen...Then we’ll start planning"...he might want to do a bit more planning before the concrete-pouring begins. -- James Perry/Something Concrete and Modern; Will Alsop- Guardian (UK) Blair Kamin: Now that the Lakefront Trail is opening, let’s reimagine biking to work in Chicago: Hooray! The people have a sliver of their lakefront back...Somewhere in urban planning heaven, a smile is spreading across the mustachioed mug of the great urban planner Daniel Burnham, who once wrote: “The lakefront by right belongs to the people.” But in the spirit of Danny B, who was famous for making no little plans, why stop at just reopening the trail? It’s time to think big and explore a paradigm shift in downtown Chicago’s commuting patterns...this is a moment of tremendous possibility... in the ongoing story of Chicago as “Paris on the Prairie.”- Chicago Tribune William Morgan: CCRI Back to the Future: Surrounded by national guardsmen, tents, and military vehicles, the concrete behemoth of the Community College of Rhode Island in Warwick could be mistaken for a giant fortress or an aircraft carrier. Whether the feeling evoked by the garrisoned Knight campus is one of security or menace, the nearly 50-year-old single-building campus is a significant landmark worthy or our notice, and even veneration...the most remarkable thing...is that it was built at all...[its] intentionally heroic style...an unapologetic tribute to the work of Le Corbusier...a totally self-absorbed work of art, aloof and indifferent to the grim sea of commuters’ cars surrounding it...not what you would call warm and fuzzy, but it has provided New England's largest community college with a dramatic and ionic architectural landmark. -- Perkins & Will (1972); Robinson Green Beretta- GoLocalProv.com (Providence, Rhode Island) Alan Jones returns as RIBA president, looks to put scandal behind him: ...he had only held the prestigious post for seven months before abruptly taking leave...as RIBA officially commenced its search for a successor...rumors...began to swirl...In his “I’m back on the job” apology letter, Jones more or less came clean and confirmed some of the allegations that had emerged during his leave. His letter reads in full:- The Architects' Journal (UK) Alfonso Padro/HKS London: It’s time to turn words into action: There are things all of us can - and should - do to make the profession more diverse: The combined impact of the covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests has, quite rightly, put equality firmly back on the agenda...the shocking lack of diversity...which can also include background, gender...and sexual orientation is holding us back...that’s why the work done by the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust is so vital in supporting young people to overcome disadvantage and discrimination...and enter professions they may believe are “not for them”- BD/Building Design (UK) Mark Lamster: How to suture a Dallas divided by racism: the status quo is no longer acceptable: Active reform can begin with the frank admission that, like the use of police force, the design of the city has been an instrumental means for controlling black and brown bodies. That is a fact of American urban history and the harshness of that reality is especially glaring in Dallas...white supremacy was built into the planning texts of the city...there are a number of immediate steps that the city can take to become a more equitable place.- Dallas Morning News WAI Architecture Think Tank: Un-making ARCHITECTURE: An anti-racist architecture manifesto: Buildings can protect but they can also confine, instill fear, crush, oppress...Architects should be aware of the programs of the buildings they design and be held accountable...Architecture is too obsessed with making. Trained as yes men and women...In their naive idealism, architects often fantasize about the possibility of exorcising the evil out of buildings...They talk about reforming prisons, creating sustainable concentration camps, laying out pristine border walls, and outlining “community-oriented” buildings for policing. In their obstinate naivete, they refuse to acknowledge the racist, colonial, and oppressive legacies of these archetypes.- The Architect's Newspaper CaGBC [Canada Green Building Council] tables recommendations for Canada’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery: ...released its industry perspective on how strategic investment in green building could play a significant role in re-igniting Canada’s economy...shared "Ready, set, grow: How the green building industry can re-ignite Canada’s economy"...recommendations target three key areas of investment: Workplace training and skills development, removing barriers to, and encouraging deep energy retrofits, and shifting the industry to zero carbon building.- Canadian Architect James Brasuell: Debating the Future of Cities After the Coronavirus, Volume 3: The third installment of an ongoing, curated list of a particularly contemporary genre of urbanism punditry: Maybe the public health crisis of the coronavirus, and the ensuing economic crisis, planted the seeds for a profound shift in the ways that planners, designers, engineers, and politicians reckon with the racist and discriminatory pasts of their professions...Maybe...Here are a few examples of the urbanist genre of pandemic punditry during the months of May and June (so far):- PLANetizen Shirley Blumberg/KPMB Architects: Epidemics, architecture and city-building: Throughout history, disease and urban life are bound together, and together they’ve had a profound impact on the design of cities...I find it interesting that Alvar Aalto’s belief was that we should always design for the person in the weakest position...This resonates most poignantly, as we consider how to redesign long-term care environments for our elderly...We can no longer escape the obvious and urgent need to provide affordable housing for all. Globally, this is our weakest link...Place this pandemic alongside climate change, pollution, inequity and our surveillance culture, and once again architects and city planners are called upon to respond to urgent societal challenges...tectonic shifts in our design culture are already underway. -- Frederick Law Olmsted; Aino Aalto- Canadian Architect Chava Gourarie: Cities Rethink Their Use of Public Space: From bike lanes to car-free cores, cities are preparing for recovery and a post-COVID future: The deadly virus jolted cities out of complacency...cities around the world began to rethink the use of their public spaces and public infrastructure...Many streetscape changes have been done in a temporary, adaptive fashion, either through design...or through bureaucratic methods...and have done so in a nimble, adaptive fashion...cities will need to adapt, not only because the pandemic has given us a tremendous opportunity to envision other possibilities, but because there will be consequences if they don’t.- Commercial Observer Rowan Moore: Let children reclaim the streets for a summer of outdoor play: The young deserve to have fun and games after their pandemic privations: Make up for the lockdown’s constriction of space with abundance of it...Definitions of acceptable outdoor behaviour haven’t included children’s play, but its loss is at least as big a deprivation as that of schooling; Falling from grace: The exhilarating dunking of Edward Colston in a Bristol dock has caused waves of reaction so predictable that they could have been written by artificial intelligence programs- Observer (UK) New research says Canada is falling behind on how it collects and shares critical information on cities: ...has become even more urgent in the face of COVID-19...Canada needs to create a new national entity that houses the best available quantitative and qualitative data on cities...a Canadian urban policy observatory...would serve as a building block toward greater intergovernmental dialogue on urban priorities...highlighting opportunities for shared problem solving. [link to report]- Canadian Urban Institute ANN feature: Christopher Alexander: Lesson Plan #9: Ideas on Architectural Education: Schools of architecture have not found ways of teaching the art of building that is effective. We want, collectively, to make architectural teaching better, and through that, to make architecture better.- ArchNewsNow.com

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