Today’s News - Tuesday, July 14, 2020
● Sisson delves into the do's and don'ts of building trust in community-led design projects, especially now: "Architects will be challenged like never before to help disadvantaged communities irrevocably changed by coronavirus and protests, both of which have altered perceptions of public space" (don't be tone deaf).
● Meaghan O'Neill on "why justice in design is critical to repairing racial inequity - here's how we can begin to fix that. Design professionals alone, of course, are not to blame. But they have some power - and responsibility - to help un-build inequity."
● Giovannini re: LACMA: "By Jane Jacobs's measure, the Zumthor design not only arrives DOA but also kills the street - so self-absorbed - simply hiking up its skirts as it wades across Wilshire in order to avoid getting soaked in the urban toxins" when it should be "the core of a lively district."
● Moore mulls "wasteful, damaging and outmoded" skyscrapers and whether it's time to stop building them: "In Britain, they are signs of failed planning. In Gulf States, they often indicate corruption. What they are not are markers of progress."
● Wainwright minces no words about "the most audacious shaft that God's Own Country has ever seen," confirming that new developments in Leeds are leaving it looking "like a depot of discarded fridges"; the proposed (tallest) tower "looks like some contorted Space Invaders monster with a fire-hazard death-wish" and "represents a new low."
● King, on a brighter note, cheers Studio Gang's "twisty white Mira tower" that is "dazzling" on San Francisco's skyline - "a flowing [39-story] stack of tightly wound white metal bays, frozen in motion - a voyeuristic kick made more satisfying by the thought that went into it."
● Linda Cheng reports on the Australian Institute of Architects' testimony before an Australian parliamentary inquiry re: why the "'wasteful and unnecessary' war memorial project should be ditched. The Institute has long campaigned to stop the proposed demolition" of Denton Corker Marshall's award-winning Anzac Hall, "but its efforts have been met with disdain from the Australian War Memorial."
● On a brighter note, The Momentary, a satellite of the Walton Foundation's (courtesy Wal-Mart) Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, is set to re-open - Wheeler Kearns's transformation of the former cheese factory is a "gritty (yet comfortable) mix of the old and the new."
● Ravenscroft x 2: He reports that Architectural Association director Eva Franch i Gilabert has been fired for "specific failures of performance" - the AA is "now planning to redefine the role of the director position before finding a replacement."
● His good news: Notre-Dame's spire will be a replica of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's 1859 spire - the "decision ends speculation" about a design competition for a contemporary structure (yay!).
● Meanwhile, the French government estimated that the Notre Dame fire released about 330 pounds of lead, but calculations by a geochemist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory found "that about a ton of lead probably ended up on the ground, on sidewalks and streets, and filtering into buildings" (and children).
● ICYMI: ANN feature: Bloszies' Left Coast Reflections #7: Plague 2.0: Architects, for the most part, are idealists but have little power to affect change beyond altering the built environment one building at a time. What does COVID-19 portend when economic growth is driven by "greed-ocracy."
Winners all:
● The Van Alen Institute's Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge Competition results in a shortlist of 6 proposals to reconfigure the bridge "as a pedestrian-friendly structure, part of the public spaces of the city - online presentations and a Design Showdown, i.e. public voting, begin July 23.
● An impressive international team wins the competition to design a new waterfront tower in Brisbane with a "distinctive" design for a "cleverly conceived shading system."
COVID-19 news continues:
● Russell explains why calling on "the talents of architects and other designers can get us through a 'reopening' that is at once liberating and horrifying - design thinking is especially valuable at this time - UK's Maggie's Centers offer a model. The frontline health workers who have done the most with the least deserve nothing less."
● Gunts reports on Baltimore's Design for Distancing initiative that "aims to bring life back to public spaces left dormant in lockdown," and the free online "Design for Distancing Ideas Guidebook" that can "serve as a jumping-off point for other cities looking into reopening strategies."
● Lydia Lee's (great) Q&A with San Francisco-based David Baker re: "affordable housing in COVID times. The pandemic's financial impact could be devastating, but for Baker, it's the right time to tackle the city's housing shortage."
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Patrick Sisson: Rebuilding Trust: Community-led design seeks to dispel myths about who best understands how to shape public space: The realities of working in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and the recent wave of protests over police brutality...have made outreach and community engagement even more essential tools for facing an “existential crisis"...architects will be challenged like never before to help disadvantaged communities...irrevocably changed by coronavirus and protests, both of which have altered perceptions of public space...the value of..hearing about their struggles and trauma, and getting their buy-in is immeasurable...Don’t ask about problems someone faces...at a time when compounding crises make that sound slightly tone deaf. -- Craig Stevenson/Sarah Loy/Open Architecture Collaborative; Liz Ogbu; William Bates; Sara Aye/Greater Good Studio; Katherine Darnstadt/Latent Design; Patricia Gruits/MASS Design Group- AIA Architect |
Meaghan O'Neill: Why Justice in Design Is Critical to Repairing America: Racial inequity is historically and literally built into the country’s landscape - here’s how we can begin to fix that: Design professionals alone, of course, are not to blame. But as a group of people who generally view themselves as progressive problem solvers, they have some power - and responsibility - to help un-build inequity...we must seek to end the systemic power structures that enable oppressive architecture as well as radically rethink how we build neighborhoods... -- Mabel O.Wilson; Bryan C. Lee Jr./Colloqate; Höweler + Yoon; Deanna Van Buren/Designing Justice + Designing Spaces; Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility/ADPSR- Architectural Digest |
Joseph Giovannini: LACMA Town: The Museum as Urban Catalyst, not Urban Desert: By Jane Jacobs’s measure, the Peter Zumthor design not only arrives DOA but also kills the street...so self-absorbed...hovering like a helicopter...placeless design fails to leverage the museum’s presence to shape the city around it, simply hiking up its skirts as it wades across Wilshire in order to avoid getting soaked in the urban toxins...should aim instead to become the core of a lively district...an urbanizing vision, not a suburbanizing throwback...COVID-19...a reason to apply the brakes...At The Grand, Frank Gehry is...building his usual, people-friendly pile of off-kilter stuff...to build a neighborhood. -- Michael Govan- Los Angeles Review of Books |
Rowan Moore: Wasteful, damaging and outmoded: is it time to stop building skyscrapers? Tall buildings are still deemed desirable, even glamorous, but experts are drawing attention to the high environmental cost of building them: ...tall buildings are still sold on the basis that they are good for the environment. Mostly the argument is about density...There’s some truth in this...it’s a bit of mystery why towers are thought desirable...In Britain, [they] are signs of failed planning...In Gulf states...skyscrapers often indicate corruption. What they are not are markers of progress...And why, really and truly, would you want to live in one of these things? -- Tim Snelson/Arup- Observer (UK) |
Oliver Wainwright: Another terrible tower? Why Leeds looks like a depot of discarded fridges: Plans to build Yorkshire’s tallest building have provoked outrage: ...Leeds has proudly greeted visitors...with some of the most elegant towers in the land...this sophisticated scene has been overshadowed by towers of a different kind...to be trumped by the most audacious shaft that God’s Own Country has ever seen...46 storeys, Two Springwell Gardens...Sadly, for the future residents...it seems like both developer and architect, Nick Brown...forgot to think enough about the inside...the plan looks like some contorted Space Invaders monster with a fire-hazard death-wish...represents a new low. -- William Bakewell; Morrison Design; Carey Jones- Guardian (UK) |
John King: Twisty white Mira tower is dazzling on the skyline, but less so on the ground: ...a flowing [39-story] stack of tightly wound white metal bays, frozen in motion...whipsawed slivers amid the stodgy norm...392-unit residential complex was also conceived as a celebration of triumphant urbanism...a heartening 40% of the condominiums are reserved for [moderate income buyers]...visual pop on the skyline - a voyeuristic kick made more satisfying by the thought that went into it...A year from now, perhaps, ground-floor retail spaces will hold cafes and boutiques...In the meantime? ...most units come with a balcony, ensuring virus-free air. -- Jeanne Gang/Studio Gang- San Francisco Chronicle |
Linda Cheng: ‘Wasteful and unnecessary’ war memorial project should be ditched, Australian Institute of Architects tells inquiry: Australian parliamentary inquiry...invited the Institute to give evidence on the $498 million project to redevelop the war memorial, which would include the demolition of Anzac Hall, designed by Denton Corker Marshall...The Institute has long campaigned to stop the proposed demolition...but its efforts have been met with disdain from the Australian War Memorial...project has had “clear and numerous failures of due process.” -- Julia Cambage; Cox Architecture- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
The Momentary, a cheese-factory-turned-contemporary-art-venue, reopens its doors: ...satellite contemporary art venue of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art...in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas...there’s been no opportunity lost in showcasing via photography the adaptive reuse led by Wheeler Kearns Architects...tasked with transforming a cavernous, 63,000-square-foot former cheese factory formerly operated by Kraft Foods from 1947 through 2013, into a “multidisciplinary space...[it] is funded largely by the Walton Family Foundation...A gritty (yet comfortable) mix of the old and the new... -- Howell Vancuren Landscape Architects- The Architect's Newspaper |
Tom Ravenscroft: Eva Franch i Gilabert fired as AA [Architectural Association] director for "specific failures of performance": ...two weeks after losing a vote of no confidence in her leadership...second vote against the Spanish architect's strategy led to the decision, the school said...The Spanish architect, who became the first-ever female director of the AA in March 2018...AA now planning to redefine the role of the director position before finding a replacement...- Dezeen |
Tom Ravenscroft: Notre-Dame spire will be reconstructed "identically": President Macron has announced that a replica of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc 93-metre-high spire, which was added to the 13th-century cathedral in 1859, will be built as part of the reconstruction...decision ends speculation over whether a contemporary structure would be added to the French landmark...Designers created many alternative spires. -- Vincent Callebaut; Miysis Studio; StudioNAB; Studio Fuksas; Mathieu Lehanneur- Dezeen |
New study: Lead poisoning from Notre Dame fire worse than first thought: When the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris went up in flames in April 2019, images were made even more dramatic by thick smoke tinged with yellow as the 460 tons of lead on the roof and spire melted...French government-funded studies estimated that about 330 pounds of lead were deposited...geochemist Alexander van Geen's calculations show that about a ton of lead probably ended up on the ground, on sidewalks and streets, and filtering into buildings...- Catholic News Service |
Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge Competition Reveals 6 Finalists: Van Alen and the New York City Council international competition, in both the professionals and young adults categories...gathered short-term interventions and longer-term proposals for a complete reconfiguration of the bridge...as a pedestrian-friendly structure, part of the public spaces of the city...on July 23, the public can hear from finalists and cast votes online in a Design Showdown. Professional category: BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group + ARUP; ScenesLab + Minzi Long + Andrew Nash; Pilot Projects Design Collective/Cities4Forests/Wildlife Conservation Society/Grimshaw/Silman -- Van Alen Institute- ArchDaily |
Winning design for Brisbane waterfront tower unveiled: Hassell, New York’s REX and Brisbane firms Richards and Spence and Arcadia Landscape Architecture have taken out a design competition for a 37-storey office tower at 205 North Quay on the Brisbane river...design is distinctive for its cleverly conceived shading system. -- Cox Architecture/SOM (Chicago)/Rapt Studio; BVN/SHoP Architects (New York); Architectus and WOHA (Singapore)- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
James S. Russell: How to Minimize Reopening Risk and Avoid Financial Ruin: Call in designers to make sense of the overload of murky COVID guidance: Our new spatial reality puts us in the realm of architecture...Unleashing the talents of architects and other designers can get us through a “reopening” that is at once liberating and horrifying...You may not think of architects as the problem-solvers we need now...in a world ruled by public-health experts, few doctors and scientists can interpret their mandates in three dimensions...design thinking is especially valuable at this time...UK’s Maggie’s Centers offer a model...designed by some of the best architects in the world. The frontline health workers who have done the most with the least deserve nothing less. -- Claire Weisz/WXY; Michael Murphy/MASS Design Group; Steven Yablon- Medium |
Edward Gunts: Design for Distancing aims to bring life back to public spaces left dormant in lockdown: ...planning initiative in Baltimore that has brought architects and public health experts together to develop tactical solutions for modifying city streets and sidewalks so they work better for [businesses]...“Design for Distancing Ideas Guidebook,” a free online resource filled with strategies for bringing life back to public spaces while still complying with...social distancing...“Baltimore’s gift to the global community"...could also serve as a jumping-off point for other cities looking into reopening strategies. -- Ziger/Snead Architects; Ayers Saint Gross; PI.KL Studio; Quinn Evans; etc.- The Architect's Newspaper |
Lydia Lee: Affordable Housing in COVID Times: Q&A with San Francisco Architect David Baker: The pandemic’s financial impact could be devastating, but for Baker, it’s the right time to tackle the city’s housing shortage. He [talks] about working remotely in the age of coronavirus, the urgency of housing “the neediest people,” and why he’s optimistic about the future: "it’s clear that middle-income workforce housing is also really needed, which some people lump with affordable housing. It’s a tragedy and disgrace that we haven’t been able to build unsubsidized workforce housing...The only way to get there is to lower or eliminate the regulatory burden, which is huge."- The Frisc (San Francisco) |
ANN feature: Charles F. Bloszies: Left Coast Reflections #7: Plague 2.0: Architects, for the most part, are idealists but have little power to affect change beyond altering the built environment one building at a time. What does COVID-19 portend when economic growth is driven by "greed-ocracy."- ArchNewsNow.com |
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