Today’s News - Thursday, December 10, 2020
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days - we'll be back Tuesday, December 15. In the meantime: Stay well. Stay especially safe.
● Saffron re: Louis Kahn's "quirky and little-known" Point Counterpoint II music barge that "could be permanently moored at a glorious ruin that is being restored and converted into a mixed-use hub" - but "it is not quite the done deal" as has been reported."
● Justin Davidson cheers ODA's Denizen, an art-filled 2-block apartment complex in Brooklyn with "the weirdness of a live-in Museum of Bushwick" - there's "hardly an undecorated surface" and "an almost comical variety of finishes" that "reads as exuberance rather than chaos - a development that's deliberately messy."
● Wainwright cheers the winners and shortlisted firms in the U.K.'s Home of 2030 competition: "Given the likelihood of their eminently buildable ideas being watered down by the usual commercial constraints, the teams have chosen to go it alone - a fitting result for a competition that appeared to be little more than a government PR exercise to distract from the reality of retrograde reforms."
● Gunts reports on the official opening of the White House's classically-inspired tennis pavilion that "draws 'tone deaf' criticism": "First Lady Melania Trump unveiled her latest contribution to the White House grounds and to American architecture."
● Architect Teresa Hoskyns and formTL engineers have developed "Lunar Dome," a mobile tent that accommodates 1,600 visitors for the 3D Apollo 11 traveling roadshow (videos are fun - and who doesn't like a moon story?).
● M Moser's pilot office for Okta's new HQ in San Francisco "explores a dynamic environment that serves as home bases for remote working employees to come together - designed to be a hub to give employees a 'recharge.' on Okta culture."
● On the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement, "ASLA joins over a thousand leaders in affirming a commitment to global climate action" with the "America Is All In" declaration.
Winners all + 1 Deadline:
● Call for entries: C40 Students Reinventing Cities: International competition to harness new models for green and thriving city neighborhoods; choose one (or several) site(s) from the 18 participating cities.
● AIA 2021 honors include: Gold Medal: Edward Mazria; 2021 Architecture Firm Award: Moody Nolan; Edward C. Kemper Award: Anthony Schirripa; and Whitney M. Young Jr. Award: Pascale Sablan.
● Katie Gerfen & Edward Keegan present winners of the 2020 Studio Prize - 6 studios that "encouraged students to think critically about the role of architecture and how designers can better engage with the communities they serve" (great presentations - and hope for the future!).
● ICYMI: ANN feature: Dave Hora's Nature of Order #2: The First Eight of Christopher Alexander's 15 Fundamental Properties of Wholeness: These are properties that describe how centers work together to produce life in a given scope of the structural fabric we inhabit, the wholeness.
Weekend diversions + Page-turners:
● For your amusement - Ben Flatman's take on "The Crown": "Whatever happened to the episode where Charles triggers the architects? The prince's notorious speech was a missed opportunity for the profession to interest the public in what it does - they could always shoehorn in the carbuncle speech at the start of season five."
● "Broken Nature," opening Saturday in MoMA's street-level galleries, "shows how design and architecture might jumpstart constructive change" and the concept of and strategies for restorative design (scroll down for lots of pix).
● Ostrowski's Q&A with Daniel Parolek re: his book, "Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today's Housing Crisis," in which he argues that "building more medium-density housing could ease affordability squeeze" (once past the barriers).
● Dan Parolek: "The answer to America's housing crisis might be housing types" that "provide a broad range of affordability. The reality in most cities is that their planning and regulatory systems are barriers to delivering the housing choices that communities need" (adapted from the introduction to "Missing Middle Housing").
● Rowan Moore talks to "the audacious Dane" Bjarke Ingels re: his new book, "Formgiving: An Architectural Future History": With "a WTF fondness for puncturing piety and pomposity - he offers his 'oxymoron,' which makes complexity and contradiction into a charmingly consumable package."
● Jared Green rounds up the Best Books of 2020 that "renew our hope for racial justice, human and environmental health, and climate action - now is a great time to explore bold new ideas."
● Welton offers his essay from JoAnn Locktov's"Dream of Venice Architecture" - an "exquisite gem of a tome" that in "an era of pandemic, will transport its reader to better times and places."
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Inga Saffron: Music barge designed by Louis Kahn could anchor in Philadelphia as a concert stage: ...a quirky and little-known Kahn design could be installed on the Delaware River waterfront...Point Counterpoint II, would be permanently moored at...a glorious ruin that is being restored and converted into a mixed-use hub...it is not quite the done deal...It is still not clear whether the 50-year-old barge...can be salvaged at a reasonable cost. The developers would also need to obtain approval from the city...If quixotic effort does succeed, it would be a poignant finale for one of Kahn’s most unusual designs...“It would truly be a happy ending,” said Nathaniel Kahn. -- Lee Skolnick; Strada; Gensler- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Justin Davidson: The Art on This Big Bushwick Project Is Not a Mere Marketing Ploy: Denizen aims to engage with its Brooklyn surroundings: ...it’s rare to come across a building generous enough to embrace that sense of architectural citizenship...two-block apartment complex on the old Rheingold Brewery site...a design intended to melt hostility...There is hardly an undecorated surface...the weirdness of a live-in Museum of Bushwick...ODA expanded on the flavor of roughness with an almost comical variety of finishes...reads as exuberance rather than chaos...a development that’s deliberately messy. -- Eran Chen; ODA Public Engagement in Neighborhoods (OPEN)- Curbed New York |
Oliver Wainwright: The house of the future? A sun-filled, shape-shifting, shed-share paradise: What will homes be like 10 years from now? Judging by the winners of the Home of 2030 competition, sharing will be key: Given...the likelihood of their ideas being watered down by the usual commercial constraints, the 6 shortlisted teams have chosen to go it alone...It is a fitting result for a competition that appeared to be little more than a government PR exercise to distract from the reality of retrograde reforms...the ambitions of the winning teams are admirable - and...eminently buildable - but there is little evidence...that either the government or the volume housebuilding sector has any intention of putting them into practice. For that, we must...hope that a progressive coalition...has the imagination to follow their lead. -- Jennifer Beningfield/Openstudio; Chris Brown/Igloo Regeneration; MawsonKer- Guardian (UK) |
Edward Gunts: The White House’s classically-inspired tennis pavilion is complete, draws “tone deaf” criticism: First Lady Melania Trump unveiled her latest contribution to the White House grounds and to American architecture...lead architect was identified as Steven Spandle...the White House was the primary precedent he studied in designing the pavilion and its classical detailing...- The Architect's Newspaper |
Apollo 11 mobile tent allows visitors to experience moon landing milestones in 3D: Architect Teresa Hoskyns and formTL engineers have developed a large-scale mobile tent called ‘Lunar Dome’ for the Apollo 11 roadshow....accommodating 1,600 visitors, it was conceived as a temporary structure...individual elements are optimized for quick assembly and easy transport. -- Matthew Churchill- Construction Specifier |
Okta’s New HQ Transforms Their Use Of Physical Space Around The World: San Francisco pilot office by M Moser explores a dynamic environment that serves as home bases for remote working employees to come together...while maintaining independence: ...designed to be a hub that could give employees a “recharge” on Okta culture...zoned to support different work activities and behavior and anchored by “home bases” that teams can personalize to provide a greater sense of belonging than a standard free address space typically provides.- Work Design Magazine |
America Is All In - And So Is ASLA: On the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement, ASLA joins over a thousand leaders in affirming our commitment to global climate action: ...a call to action for the incoming administration to recommit the U.S. to global climate action...expanding U.S. leadership at home and abroad, and reimagining community partnerships to advance just and equitable climate solutions for all.- American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Call for entries: C40 Students Reinventing Cities: A global competition to harness new models for green and thriving city neighbourhoods; choose one (or several) site(s) from the 18 participating cities; registration deadline: March 18, 2021 (submissions due May 27, 2021)- C40 Cities |
AIA announces its top honors for 2021, including Edward Mazria as Gold Medal recipient: In the 1990s, he helped to establish the AIA’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) and went on to found Architecture 2030; Moody Nolan [wins] the 2021 AIA Architecture Firm Award. The largest African American-owned and operated firm in the U.S. with 11 offices nationwide; Pascale Sablan/S9 Architecture, recipient of the 2021 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award, is advancing change in a field not historically known for racial or gender diversity; Anthony Schirripa receives AIA 2021 Edward C. Kemper Award. A leader in the Institute...New York–based architect is known for his mentorship and advocacy work in the profession.- The Architect's Newspaper |
Katie Gerfen & Edward Keegan: Winners of the 2020 Studio Prize: ...six studios that encouraged students to think critically about the role of architecture and about how designers can better engage with the communities they serve...as COVID-19 forced schools to shift to remote instruction...the level of investigation, inquiry, and exploration did not falter. -- CCNY Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; Cornell University, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning; Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP); Carleton University, Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism; University of Virginia, School of Architecture; California Polytechnic State University- Architect Magazine |
Ben Flatman: Whatever happened to "The Crown" episode where Charles triggers the architects? The prince’s notorious speech was a missed opportunity for the profession to interest the public in what it does: The dramatic core of this “missing episode” should surely have been the infamous 1984 “carbuncle speech”...In architectural folklore it’s come to be seen as an unforgiveable act of treachery...But reading the speech today, the striking thing is how mainstream most of it sounds...they could always shoehorn in the carbuncle speech at the start of season five...something tells me season five isn’t going to be kind to the prince.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
"Broken Nature": From regenerating coral reefs to contemplating feeding an overpopulated planet, the works...show how design and architecture might jumpstart constructive change...highlights the concept of restorative design, and offers strategies to help humans repair their relationship to the environments that they share with other species and each other. thru August 15, 2021 -- Triennale di Milano- Museum of Modern Art / MoMA (New York City) |
Jeff Ostrowski: ‘Missing middle’ homes could ease affordability squeeze, architect says: In "Missing Middle Housing," Daniel Parolek proposes building more medium-density housing, such as duplexes, four-unit buildings and cottage apartments. Those housing types were common in American cities before World War II...These cozier housing types are smaller than suburban houses, but they also cost significantly less..."Unfortunately, there's a lot of barriers. First and foremost - zoning...neighborhood opposition...building codes... -- Opticos Design- MSN.com |
Dan Parolek: Missing Middle: The answer to America’s housing crisis might be hiding in plain sight: ...housing types, such as duplexes, fourplexes, cottage courts, and courtyard buildings, are examples of Missing Middle Housing...provide a broad range of affordability...within walking distance to amenities...The reality in most cities is that their planning and regulatory systems are barriers to delivering the housing choices that communities need...Density- and use-based planning and zoning were established to separate uses and create suburban environments, which makes it difficult, or impossible, to mix forms, uses, and types that result in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods.- The Architect's Newspaper |
Rowan Moore: Bjarke Ingels: the BIG-time architect with designs on the entire planet: The audacious Dane behind projects as diverse as Google’s new HQs, Copenhagen’s ski-slope power plant and flood defences for New York tells our critic that he now has designs on the Earth as a whole: ...bridles at the suggestion that he is megalomaniac. “I made a mistake...when I named my office BIG"...but his new book, "Formgiving: An Architectural Future History," does place the work...in the context of a timeline of the creation of absolutely everything [and] introduces the concept of Masterplanet...a WTF fondness for puncturing piety and pomposity...he offers his “oxymoron”, which makes complexity and contradiction into a charmingly consumable package. -- BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group; Heatherwick Studio; Rem Koolhaas- Observer (UK) |
Jared Green: Best Books of 2020: ...a number of new books...renew our hope for racial justice, human and environmental health, and climate action...now is a great time to explore bold new ideas -- "Black Landscapes Matter" - Walter Hood & Grace Mitchell Tada; "The Art of Earth Architecture: Past, Present, and Future" - Jean Dethier; "Impact: The Effect of Climate Change on Coastlines" - Alex MacLean; "The Invention of Public Space: Designing for Inclusion in Lindsay’s New York - Miana Mogilevich; "Lo-TEK. Design by Radical Indigenism" - Julia Watson; "Transforming Landscapes: Michel Desvigne Paysagiste"; "Parks and Recreation System Planning: A New Approach for Creating Sustainable, Resilient Communities" - David Barth; etc.- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
J. Michael Welton: From Dream of Venice: ‘Lost No More’: JoAnn Locktov asked me to contribute an essay to...“Dream of Venice Architecture"...an exquisite gem of a tome...With essays by the likes of Tadao Ando, Mario Botta, Louise Braverman, Frank Harmon, Thomas Woltz and the late William Menking, it’s the perfect 2020 holiday gift. During an era of pandemic, this book will transport its reader to better times and places.- Architects and Artisans |
ANN feature: Dave Hora: Nature of Order #2: The First Eight of Christopher Alexander's 15 Fundamental Properties of Wholeness: These are properties that describe how centers work together to produce life in a given scope of the structural fabric we inhabit, the wholeness.- ArchNewsNow.com |
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