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Today’s News - Tuesday, June 23, 2020

● Salingaros makes the case for why the "headache-inducingly hideous" proposal "to add an incongruous glass box" to the Federal Reserve HQ in DC "would be wrong for several reasons - known to environmental psychologists and the medical world. Intelligent people should keep up with scientific literacy and not adhere to practices that negatively affect the public."

● Annie Howard delves into how mega-developments like Chicago's Lincoln Yards and The 78 (and NYC's Hudson Yards) make "even less sense" in the COVID era by further transforming "a city already known for intense (and growing) racial and economic segregation" - and crowd out "other approaches to the uncertain future of the city."

● In Portland, Oregon, Holst Architecture completes the "color-drenched" Argyle Gardens, a 72-unit "deeply affordable" housing project that used the firm's "highly adaptable approach to modular building" where "costs were 31% lower than similar affordable housing undertakings" (a model for other types of co-housing).

● Gunts reports that FXCollaborative gets the go-ahead to convert a 1903 Carrère and Hastings church into the Children's Museum of Manhattan with revised plans that make it "an outstanding adaptive reuse project."

● King parses two new South Bay transit stations that "have grand ambitions - and mixed results" - and the communities (or lack thereof) surrounding them - "all the ingredients are there. Let's hope that planners soon find a way to concoct a tastier recipe."

● A light moment for the day: Felino A. Palafox, Jr. shares his take on "memorable quotes on architecture and planning" (among our faves: "An architect is the drawer of dreams." - Grace McGarvie).

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

● Kamin talks to Chicago's top planner Maurice Cox, who "sees opportunity" despite crises of racial unrest and coronavirus - "too little attention is being paid to the nitty-gritty task of building up African-American and Latino neighborhoods that have been hammered by decades of disinvestment and decay. That's Cox's task."

● Vancouver-based urban planner & co-chair of the Canadian Institute of Planners Social Equity Committee Amina Yasin calls on planners and urbanists "to reckon with the racism rampant in city building - focused on fighting inanimate objects - like cars - while silencing advocates who point out that streets aren't in reality for everyone. Perhaps systemic racism is the greatest enemy to cities and not cars" - she does offer four anti-racist actions they can take.

● Miranda spoke with 9 architects, planners, and advocates re: their ideas for making "public space more race equitable - conversations can often get tied up on issues such as bike lanes and height limits, without considering the larger inequities our cities perpetuate."

● Marisa Angell Brown delves into "preservation's existential crisis - it has been complicit in extending and valorizing white dominance. I felt hopeful that the field was changing. Now, I'm not so sure. Some will say that preservation cannot transform into what feels like a social justice movement that is somehow "political" in nature - preservation, they say, must remain politically neutral. But it never was."

● The National Trust for Historic Preservation "supports removal of Confederate monuments - these symbols do not reflect, and are in fact abhorrent to, our values" (some surprising comments!).

● The Society of Architectural Historians "supports and encourages" the removal of Confederate monuments - SAH has never before advocated for the direct removal of any historic resource" - but they "express white supremacy and dominance. Our inaction gives them power" (both NTHP and SAH support relocation).

● AIANY and the Center for Architecture "have gathered numerous anti-racism resources specifically for the architecture community."

● Places Journal has received a grant "to establish a 2020 Writers Fund dedicated to supporting the work of BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and People of Color] authors to bring new depth and range to our public scholarship on architecture, landscape, and urbanism" (Bravo!).

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Nikos Salingaros: The Modernist Federal Reserve Facade Is Headache-Inducingly Hideous And Should Be Abandoned Immediately: It’s time for our society to awaken from its media-induced slumber and demand human-scale architecture once again: ...proposal to add an incongruous glass box to the original marble-faced structure...would be wrong for several reasons...known to environmental psychologists and the medical world. The only people who willfully ignore them are architects, plus those who continue lobbying for industrial-modernist-style buildings. Yet this is not a matter of aesthetics but of the mathematical ordering of our world...Intelligent people should keep up with scientific literacy and not adhere to practices that negatively affect the public.- The Federalist

Annie Howard: In the Covid era, the relationship between cities and megadevelopments makes even less sense: ...large-scale projects like [Sidewalk Labs’ Waterfront Toronto] Quayside appear increasingly untenable, laying bare many of the criticisms brought against such developments: ...two similar megadevelopments currently planned for Chicago...Lincoln Yards and The 78...would further transform a city already known for intense (and growing) racial and economic segregation...By suggesting that the city’s industrial past can only be reimagined in the form of speculative real estate projects, other approaches to the uncertain future of the city are crowded out...large-scale development grows increasingly disconnected from city residents’ most pressing needs.- CityMetric (UK)

Holst Architecture completes color-drenched co-housing for low-income Portlanders: Women-owned Portland, Oregon-based architecture firm...has unveiled Argyle Gardens...“deeply affordable housing”...72-unit compound...also notable for employing a highly adaptable approach to modular building...dubbed LISHA (Low Income Single Adult Housing)...the LISAH model can also be used in the creation of co-housing for funding-strapped students, entry-level workers, and low-income renters entering retirement...development costs were 31% lower than similar affordable housing undertakings.- The Architect's Newspaper

Edward Gunts: FXCollaborative wins approval to convert Carrère and Hastings [1903] church into Children’s Museum of Manhattan: ...NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) unanimously voted to approve revised plans...team, led by senior partner Sylvia Smith, had been responsive to their comments and they now felt comfortable approving a certificate of appropriateness...The Beaux-Arts Classical-style building...for the First Church of Christ Scientist...“This is an outstanding adaptive reuse project"...- The Architect's Newspaper

John King: BART’s new South Bay stations have grand ambitions - and mixed results: Transit stations...intended to send a larger message, reflecting civic and policy priorities beyond the quest for convenient travel...Each is designed to announce that you have arrived at the threshold of a beckoning future - though the reality of what currently exists is a far cry from what boosters hope will flourish...Architecturally...[Berryessa] station has an awkward air. Perfunctory in some spots, clumsy in others...Milpitas Station aims higher. It also gets most of the way there...At [both], all the ingredients are there. Let’s hope that planners soon find a way to concoct a tastier recipe. -- FMG Architects; AVA; VBN Architects; AO- San Francisco Chronicle

Felino A. Palafox, Jr.: Memorable quotes on architecture and planning: I wish to share these compelling descriptions about the nobility of architecture and planning, especially to fellow architects and planners and those hoping to be professionals of the built environment.- The Manila Times

Blair Kamin: Amid crises of racial unrest and coronavirus, Chicago’s top planner sees opportunity to revive South and West Sides: ...you might think, [Maurice Cox] would have every reason to feel burdened and overwhelmed by events out of his control...While much of the national conversation...has rightly focused on tearing down Confederate monuments and other symbols of racism, too little attention is being paid to the nitty-gritty task of building up African-American and Latino neighborhoods that have been hammered by decades of disinvestment and decay. That’s Cox’s task...in his view, the crises...have made it easier...In Chicago and other American cities, the great unknown is still this: Will the present push for revival be more successful than the failed urban renewal efforts of the past?- Chicago Tribune

Amina Yasin: Whose Streets? Black Streets: Planners and urbanists, it’s time to reckon with the racism rampant in city building. Here are four [anti-racist] actions to take: Urban planners need to interrogate whether the profession has value if it fails to protect the public interest by not analyzing the historic and current manifestations of racism...that pervades it...how can urbanists remain singularly focused on fighting inanimate objects - like cars - while actively ignoring human rights, and silencing advocates who point out that streets aren’t in reality for everyone? Perhaps systemic racism...is the greatest enemy to cities and not cars?- The Tyee (Vancouver)

Carolina A. Miranda: Nine ideas for making our city’s public space more race equitable: ...debate is roiling the world of design and urban planning, where conversations can often get tied up on issues such as bike lanes and height limits, without considering the larger inequities our cities perpetuate...The Times spoke with 9 architects, planners and advocates for their ideas. -- Destiny Thomas; Tamika Butler/Toole Design; Mabel O. Wilson; Rosten Woo; Faiza Moatasim/USC School of Architecture; Christopher Hawthorne; Leslie Kern; Adonia Lugo; James Rojas/Place It!; Karen Mack/LA Commons- Los Angeles Times

Marisa Angell Brown: Preservation’s Existential Crisis: The field...is undergoing profound changes...What is important...the recognition that preservation can take on an activist mission...[It] has been complicit in extending and valorizing white dominance...I felt hopeful that the field was changing in all of the right ways, slowly but surely. Now, I’m not so sure...the problem: ...it feels very much like what was on the distant horizon 10 years ago is now on our doorstep...active participation in dismantling the systems and culture of white dominance and supremacy may require letting some places go...Some will say that preservation cannot transform into what feels like a social justice movement that is somehow “political” in nature - preservation, they say, must remain politically neutral. But it never was.- National Trust for Historic Preservation/NTHP

National Trust for Historic Preservation Supports Removal of Confederate Monuments: NTHP "supports this fight for justice...historic preservation has a powerful role to play in telling the full story of our often-difficult history...most Confederate monuments were intended to serve as a celebration of Lost Cause mythology and to advance the ideas of white supremacy...sometimes serve as rallying points for bigotry and hate today...these symbols do not reflect, and are in fact abhorrent to, our values..we support relocation of these monuments to...places...so that their history as elements of Jim Crow and racial injustice can be recognized and interpreted.- Architectural Record

Society of Architectural Historians Statement on The Removal of Monuments to the Confederacy from Public Spaces: SAH supports and encourages [their] removal...In its 80-year history, SAH has never before advocated for the direct removal of any historic resource...we have vigorously championed the preservation of difficult aspects of our nation’s history...Confederate monuments do not serve as catalysts for a cleansing public conversation, but rather express white supremacy and dominance...Our inaction gives these monuments power...[they] should be removed...should be stored in secure locations...[they] are potent political symbols that cannot be viewed as neutral works of art.- Society of Architectural Historians

Anti-Racism Resources for Architects: AIANY and the Center for Architecture have voiced their commitment to the dismantling of systemic racism from within the profession... we have gathered numerous anti-racism resources specifically for the architecture community...share feedback or add anything to this list...- AIA New York (AIANY)

Our Next Step on Anti-Racism in Design: As part of the national reckoning, the design disciplines are struggling with a long-standing complicity...Here at Places we are grappling with our own role in these silences and erasures...we have received a generous grant from the Cravens Foundation to establish our 2020 Writers Fund, which will be dedicated to supporting the work of BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and People of Color] authors and bringing significant new depth and range to our public scholarship on architecture, landscape, and urbanism. -- National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)- Places Journal

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