Today’s News - Thursday, October 29, 2020
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no newsletter days - we'll be back Tuesday, November 3. In between is a triple trick-or-treat weekend: Saturday is Halloween. It will star a Blue (full!) Moon. It's also the most depressing weekend of the year for many of us: clocks turn back an hour and it's dark by 4:30 - ugh.
● ANN feature: Dave Hora kicks off a new ANN series: Nature of Order: Christopher Alexander's work and its importance in shaping a healthy, living world (based on a program by Sorrento, Italy-based Building Beauty).
● Lisa Chamberlain reports on the Rockefeller-funded 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) initiative: After disbanding last year, it's "rising from the ashes as a new, more nimble organization that is applying lessons learned" (most excellent news!)
● Zach Mortice digs into a new nationwide "Superstudio," a "sweeping pedagogical project spanning 140 design studios at scores of colleges and universities" that "aims to broaden the appeal of the Green New Deal beyond the liberal coasts."
● Viglucci reports on the "vision plan" that "takes an unusual and seemingly counter-intuitive approach" for the Wynwood Norte working-class neighborhood in Miami to fight gentrification, spur development, and increase affordable housing - "a model for other distressed urban areas."
● Davidson cheers Marble Fairbanks & SCAPE's new public library in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, "enfolded in gardens" and "filled with light and dotted with details that will make its users happy" (the bad news: the "nosebleed-inducing" cost).
● Osman Can Yerebakan talks to Glenn Adamson & Stephen Burks re: their "Design in Dialogue" - "design's most ambitious conversation series," now nearing its 70th episode (it's "a time capsule about a very particular time for the creative world") - all are available on Friedman Benda gallery's Vimeo.
● John Parman considers "the nature of design firms" from his five-decade career with "S, M, L, and XL firms" - boiled down to 1-2-line "aphorisms on leadership and collaboration" (e.g. "Don't waste time working for an idiot...").
● Dean Amale Andraos announces Columbia GSAPP's $1 million commitment to establish the Norma Merrick Sklarek Scholars Fund for "full-tuition scholarships intended to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity by breaking down barriers to access for graduate study."
● Plan to spend some time with the AIA Film Challenge 2020 winners: "60- to 90-second documentaries highlighting architects partnering with communities and civic leaders to design a healthy, sustainable, just world that improves peoples' lives" + link to all entries.
● Two we couldn't resist (get a head-start on holiday shopping!): Elsa Lam rounds up some (great!) "gifts by architects, for architects. Some of these objects are made as extensions of an architectural practice, others are a side-hustle."
● Hilary Reid "talked to nine architects and designers about the gifts they think other architects would appreciate. Much of which is (not surprisingly) all black" ($130 t-shirt - really???).
Weekend diversions + Page-turners:
● The Brooklyn Museum offers "Design: 1880 to Now" that "explores tensions between craft and industry, and examinee issues of cultural appropriation across decorative arts mediums" - organized by Aric Chen.
● The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC, is finally open(!) - in time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Thomas Phifer-designed expansion with "West Building and the Architecture of Light."
● An excerpt from Josh Stephens' new book, "The Urban Mystique: Notes on California, Los Angeles, and Beyond": "Cities are wonderful places, but they can be terrible places too - sometimes all at once" (great read!).
● Emily Farra cheers Julia Watson's "Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism" that documents indigenous communities that embraced "regenerative agriculture, zero-waste living, and nature-based solutions long before they were 2020 buzzwords - these are real, tangible, positive things we can do right now."
● Andreea Cutieru cheers Klaus Jan Philipp's "Architecture - Drawn, From the Middle Ages to the Present" that explores "all the different inventions, revolutions, and continuities spanning 8 centuries - with numerous exquisite examples - an excellent background for further inquiries and new forms of artistic expression."
● An excerpt from Hugh Campbell's "Space Framed: Photography, Architecture, and the Social Landscape" that looks at the Camera Obscura series by Cuban-American photographer Abelardo Morell (amazing images!).
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ANN feature: Dave Hora: Nature of Order #1: Christopher Alexander's work and its importance in shaping a healthy, living world: There is an undercurrent of the idea that architecture, when carried out with processes that Alexander presents in "The Nature of Order," can indeed lead to a more whole and humane society.- ArchNewsNow.com |
Lisa Chamberlain: The Death and Life of the Resilient City Movement: Rising from the ashes: a new, more nimble organization that is applying lessons learned: ...Rockefeller-funded...100 Resilient Cities (100RC)...disbanded [in] 2019 - turned out to be quite resilient. Formed in the wake of Superstorm Sandy in 2012...spent 5 years building a coalition of cities...to address climate change and foster resilience...[It's] early demise was an unexpected shock...The leadership...began forming two independent organizations...Global Resilient Cities Network...to maintain the coalition of cities...Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC) carries forward the knowledge gleaned from developing and implementing...resilience projects..."we intentionally built in the flexibility to scale it up and down.” -- Michael Berkowitz- Common Edge |
Zach Mortice: Design Crit: A nationwide “Superstudio” aims to broaden the appeal of the Green New Deal beyond the liberal coasts: A sweeping new pedagogical project spanning 140 design studios at scores of colleges and universities hopes to enlist a rising generation of landscape architects and designers in this cause...The starry-eyed hope...is that the design disciplines can broaden the appeal of the GND while tiptoeing along the partisan divide...open to all built environment design fields...one measure of success will be getting the plans...into the hands of a wide swath of climate and economic justice activists...necessitates a pivot away from the traditional private-sector fee-for-service model...This activist model of practice is also a way to teach students to examine their own discipline. -- Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF);. Billy Fleming/McHarg Center, University of Pennsylvania; American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA); etc.- The Architect's Newspaper |
Andres Viglucci: To fight gentrification, [Wynwood Norte] a working-class Miami enclave wins plan to spur development: ...arose from a grassroots effort to reverse the historic residential enclave’s declining fortunes...takes an unusual and seemingly counter-intuitive approach that sponsors hope will be a model for other distressed urban areas where residents are at risk of displacement from redevelopment, gentrification and a shrinking supply of affordable housing...seeks to attract badly needed investment to the neighborhood, plagued by demolitions and vacant or abandoned lots and buildings, by promoting modestly larger and denser but still small-scale infill development... To encourage business formation, the new zoning would also allow...micro-retail and incubator spaces. -- Plusurbia Design- Miami Herald |
Justin Davidson: Greenpoint’s New Public Library “Makes You Want to Move In”: We all paid a lot for it, but we got something worth having: ...polluted pit took two years and several million dollars to clean up, but it’s finally birthed Greenpoint’s greenest building, a library enfolded in gardens, doing double duty as an environmental education center...filled with light and dotted with details that will make its users happy...The bad news is that the 15,000-square-foot building wound up costing...$1,533 per square foot, which is a nosebleed-inducing figure...If it costs too much to do things well, the answer is to figure out ways to pay less, not do less or do it badly. -- Marble Fairbanks; SCAPE- Curbed |
Osman Can Yerebakan: Glenn Adamson, Stephen Burks, and Design’s Most Ambitious Conversation Series: Since the pandemic started, the duo has been interviewing a broad roster of international figures in architecture and design: Design in Dialogue...first guest was Switzerland-based Nigerian-American designer Ini Archibog...Within six months, the series has formed a who’s-who of design, all stored on gallery Friedman Benda’s Vimeo channel...Now nearing its 70th episode, what is next for Design in Dialogue in a post-pandemic landscape? “The series is a time capsule about a very particular time for the creative world." -- Najla El Zein- Metropolis Magazine |
John J. Parman: The Nature of Design Firms From a Five-Decade Veteran: Aphorisms on leadership and collaboration: ...boil experience down to a line or two meant for people across the board: students, midcareer professionals, and senior folks wondering if it’s time to move on. (A personal note on that final category: They’ll be surprised how liberating this is.): Don’t waste time working for an idiot...- Common Edge |
GSAPP commits $1 million to establish the Norma Merrick Sklarek Scholars Fund supporting full-tuition scholarships over three years: Dean Amale Andraos announced [the fund] intended to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity by breaking down barriers to access for graduate study...Columbia alumna Sklarek...was among the first Black women to become a registered architect in the State of New York...the first Black woman to receive a fellowship by the American Institute of Architects...he first African-American woman to establish and manage an architectural firm.- Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) |
AIA Film Challenge 2020 winners: ...60- to 90-second documentaries highlighting architects partnering with communities and civic leaders to design a healthy, sustainable, just world that improves peoples’ lives. Grand Prize: "Dallas Holocaust & Human Rights Museum" - John Gordon, Omniplan; "From Ruins to City" - Jake Catalanotto, STUDIO V Architecture; "BOXVILLE: Creating a Just World" - Asia Taylor, "A Beacon of Light in Times of Crisis" - Jean-Marc Grambert + link to all films- American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
Elsa Lam: Gifts by architects, for architects (and others): The pandemic has foregrounded the importance - and necessity - of supporting local economies and communities. In that spirit, we’ve assembled a 2020 gift guide of items made by Canadian architects. Some of these objects are made as extensions of an architectural practice, others are a side-hustle. -- Mari Fujito/Michael Barton; Nine Yards Studio; Deagan McDonald/Kelsey Nilsen/Origins; Amanda Large/Doublespace; Charisma Panchapakesan/CAB Architects; Natalie and Zain; Molo Design; Shirley Liu; Atelier YUL; Becki Chan; Hiroko Kobayashi; Brigitte Shim/Howard Sutcliffe- Canadian Architect |
Hilary Reid: The Best Gifts for Architects, According to Architects: Much of which is (not surpsingly) all black: If you’re stumped about what to get the aspiring Le Corbusier on your list, fear not: We’ve talked to nine architects and designers about the gifts they think other architects would appreciate. -- Barbara Bestor; Andy Lantz/RIOS; Nicholas Batie; Julia Marani; Peter Feigenbaum; Jacob Segal; Rebecca Rudolph/Catherine Johnson/Design, Bitches; f-architecture/Feminist Architecture Collaborative- New York Magazine |
"Design: 1880 to Now" - Brooklyn Museum: ...an exciting range of designers and manufacturers from the late 19th century to the present day...works offer competing visions of modernity, explore tensions between craft and industry, and demonstrate critical innovations in production...also expands upon the traditional Eurocentric narrative...examining issues of cultural appropriation across decorative arts mediums; organized by Aric Chen. thru November 1, 2021- Brooklyn Museum |
"West Building and the Architecture of Light": celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Thomas Phifer-designed West Building at the North Carolina Museum of Art - finally open! Raleigh, NC, thru February 7, 2021- North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) |
Searching for the "Urban Mystique": An excerpt from a new book by Josh Stephens, "The Urban Mystique: Notes on California, Los Angeles, and Beyond": Cities are wonderful places, but they can be terrible places too - sometimes all at once...Cities will never be “perfect” the way the suburbs have been rumored to be...ideally, they require everyone to contribute to their evolution. Urban life should center on inspiration and improvement, not passivity and resignation...Our greatest challenge is to make sure that urban life serves everyone so that rich and poor, marginalized and powerful are all enriched by one another. -- Christopher Hawthorne- PLANetizen |
Emily Farra: How Indigenous Architecture Can Change the Way We Live on Earth: We’re beginning to understand a great irony of climate change: that the people most affected often did the least to cause it...many...also have the technology, philosophy, and knowledge that could have prevented [natural disasters] in the first place...embracing regenerative agriculture, zero-waste living, and nature-based solutions long before they were 2020 buzzwords...Julia Watson traveled across 18 countries for 6 years to...document their ways of life in..."Lo-TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism"...illustrates how indigenous methods...might be adopted worldwide in the face of climate crisis...The most energizing story, though, is of the climate solutions laid out in these pages...these are real, tangible, positive things we can do right now... -- Watson Salembier- Vogue |
Andreea Cutieru: Klaus Jan Philipp Explores the History of Architectural Drawings: "Architecture - Drawn, From the Middle Ages to the Present"...recounts the historical development of architectural drawings, exploring all the different inventions, revolutions and continuities spanning eight centuries...with numerous exquisite examples of drawings...the culmination of years of exhibitions, lectures and essays...provides an excellent background for further inquiries and new forms of artistic expression.- ArchDaily |
Hugh Campbell: Camera In Camera: Abelardo Morell’s Camera Obscura photographs are enchanting and also disorienting, as the spectacle of public life is overlaid upon the realm of private experience, and the two are shown to be inextricably linked: For more than two decades, the Cuban American photographer has been working on and off on his series...photographs are both instantly enchanting and endlessly fascinating...[His] images overlay public spectacle upon private interiority, and point to their inextricable co-existence in the city. (excerpt from "Space Framed: Photography, Architecture, and the Social Landscape")- Places Journal |
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