Today’s News - Wednesday, January 20, 2021
● Crosbie delves into why "the response to the Capitol attack demonstrates that even civic buildings can inhabit the realm of sacred architecture. Many reactions were expressed in language typically reserved for holy places" - the "domestic terrorists" thought they "could mortally wound this temple and what it stood for. But they are wrong."
● Karrie Jacobs explores the new Moynihan Train Hall and finds "even the dullest details thrilling. It radiates daylight in a way that makes you think a micro-dose of euphoria has somehow been engineered in" - the new space feels, "not like it's always been here, but like it always should have been here."
● Valeria Ricciulli takes a look inside the new Uber Eats-funded "streeteries" for six Black-owned businesses on Harlem's historic Strivers' Row designed by local artists and architects, including WXY, JP Design, Brandt:Haferd, and Body Lawson.
● Jake Blumgart explores how Vienna "earned its place in housing history" by undertaking "one of the most ambitious public housing programs in the 1920s - credited with maintaining affordability a century later. In many ways, the socialist government's planning and architecture mirrored many of the best practices of today."
● Welton cheers Marlon Blackwell Architects' lab and barn for the progressive Lamplighter School in Dallas that "illuminate why the firm won the 2020 AIA Gold Medal."
● Eyefuls of before/after images of Marvel's reimagining of NYC's Union Square, creating 33% more (mostly car-free) public space. "Why can't we have this kind of public space everywhere?"
● Ravenscroft brings us eyefuls of Sasaki's linear park on the site of a former airport in Shanghai - the main pedestrian path is "formed from a 3.6-metre-wide section of the runway that still has its original direction markings."
● Artist Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group's "poignant memorial" to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, the 22-foot-tall bronze sculpture "The Embrace" is destined for Boston Common next year.
● Virginia Blue tells us the fascinating story of Howard Lawson, Australia's "forgotten architect" who was "larger than life" and "ahead of his time - his progressive ideas for urban planning and social housing has gently slipped through the cracks of architectural history."
● Martin Pedersen great Q&A with Blair Kamin re: his run as architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune who "was not afraid to offend the less than delicate sensibilities of those in power" nor did he pander to starchitects: "My mantra was: You judge the architecture, not the architect."
● Hip Hop Architecture Camp interns from across the U.S. and their mentors presented a virtual showcase of the spaces they'd designed - the projects "served as learning experiences for their mentors, too": "At the end of the day, you don't need our profession. Our profession needs you guys."
● One you won't be able to resist: A fab showcase of the winners of and other submissions to the first of the weekly BD Junior Wonders international art competition, themed "tall buildings" + Call for entries to next, themed "fun homes" (deadline: Sunday!); per BD editor Elizabeth Hopkirk: "The future's in safe hands if these kids become architects (and artists, urban planners, clients, politicians etc!)" -. be sure to read the captions!
● ICYMI: ANN feature: Dave Hora: Nature of Order #3: Nos. 9-15 of Christopher Alexander's 15 Fundamental Properties of Wholeness: In contrast with the first eight, something feels more primal and elemental in these properties.
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Michael J. Crosbie: Assault on a Sacred Place: The response to the Capitol attack demonstrates that even civic buildings can inhabit the realm of sacred architecture: As the building and grounds were secured and the terrorists removed, reactions poured forth...Many...of shock and disgust were expressed in language typically reserved for holy places...Unlike any other building in Washington, D.C., [it] is designed to be a symbol of the belief in this country that democracy is a sacred undertaking...domestic terrorists...believing that their destructive behavior could mortally wound this temple and what it stood for. But they are wrong. Desecrated and defiled places believed to be sacred can be repaired, restored...- Common Edge |
Karrie Jacobs: The Inevitable Nature of the New Moynihan Train Hall: SOM's long-awaited annex to Penn Station: ...modeled on the proportions of the beloved main concourse of nearby Grand Central Termina...I found even the dullest details thrilling...I was struck by how lovely the train hall is. It radiates daylight in a way that makes you think a micro-dose of euphoria has somehow been engineered in...The high-tech arches...(courtesy of the old Farley Post Office), make this new space feel, not like it’s always been here, but like it always should have been here... -- Alexandros Washburn; David Childs/Colin Koop/Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; McKim Mead & White; FX Collaborative- Architect Magazine |
Valeria Ricciulli: A Look Inside the New Uber Eats-Funded Streeteries in Harlem: Local designers and artists teamed up to create custom structures for six Black-owned businesses: ...program called Renaissance Pavilion, which paired six Black-owned businesses on historic Strivers’ Row...with local architects and artists to create custom streeteries... project was intended to showcase easily replicable structures built with readily available materials. -- David Vega-Barachowitz/WXY; Zevilla Jackson Preston/JP Design; Brandt Knapp/Jerome Haferd/Brandt:Haferd; Body Lawson- Curbed New York |
Jake Blumgart: Red Vienna: How Austria’s capital earned its place in housing history: Between the two world wars, Vienna undertook one of the most ambitious public housing programmes ever...credited with maintaining affordability a century later: ...today, 60% of residents live in co-ops, government-owned or -subsidised housing built around the nucleus of the 1920s system...many left-of-centre policymakers hope to emulate in other places...In recent years, there has been a greater emphasis...on building neighbourhoods, not just dwellings... In many ways, the socialist government’s planning and architecture mirrored many of the best practices of today.- City Monitor |
J. Michael Welton: In Dallas, a Lab and a Barn by Marlon Blackwell Architects: Two new projects for Lamplighter School...illuminate why the firm won the 2020 AIA Gold Medal: ...progressive, pre-K-through-fourth-grade school, founded in the late 1960s [is] about applied learning...open campus consists of 1970s shed structures designed by Texas modernist O’Neil Ford, with others by Frank Welch in the 1980s and ’90s...Rooflines earn these two [new] designs distinction.- Architects + Artisans |
The Union Square Plan: Get Rid of Cars, Create More Space for People: $100-million renovation, expansion...would create 33% more public space...Most striking in the renderings is just how much can be accomplished when planners fully commit to banishing the automobile from public spaces...Union Square Partnership hasn’t fully locked down its car-free plan, only sort-of alluding to it in renderings...Why can’t we have this kind of public space everywhere? -- Guido Hartray/Marvel architects- Streetsblog.org |
Tom Ravenscroft: Former Shanghai airport transformed into Xuhui Runway Park: Sasaki has created an expansive [1,830-metre-long] linear park on the site of the runway for the former Longhua Airport in the Xuhui riverfront area of Shanghai...main pedestrian path...formed from a 3.6-metre-wide section of the runway that still has its original direction markings...park was designed to collect runoff rainwater from the surrounding area with a large rain garden...and a collection basin built under the wetland...- Dezeen |
Hank Willis Thomas’s Poignant Memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King Will Be Unveiled in Boston Next Fall: A 22-foot-tall bronze memorial...in the country’s oldest public park. Designed by artist...Thomas with a team of architects from the MASS Design Group, the sculpture ["The Embrace"], destined for Boston Common, depicts two disembodied pairs of arms in a tender embrace- artnet News |
Virginia Blue: Howard Lawson: the ‘forgotten architect’ ahead of his time: The early 20th-century Victorian architect...His reputation has suffered...due to misinformation and a misunderstanding of events. He was, in fact, very progressive...with a keen interest in bettering lives...utilised recycled materials well before it was considered to be fashionable or desirable, and an early pioneer of building conversions in 1912...[he] was larger than life...with more than 200 buildings to his name...progressive ideas for urban planning and social housing...has gently slipped through the cracks of architectural history.- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
Martin C. Pedersen: Blair Kamin Ends His Run as Architecture Critic of the Chicago Tribune: An exit interview with the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist: His writing...was sharp and lucid; he was not afraid to offend the less than delicate sensibilities of those in power...[he] was an activist critic, very much in the tradition of Ada Louise Huxtable and Allan Temko..."My primary role was to be an educator, to open people’s eyes, and raise their expectations for architecture and urban design [and] to act as a watchdog"...Herbert Muschamp...loved to follow the stars..."My mantra was: You judge the architecture, not the architect."- Common Edge |
Hip Hop Architecture interns team up with pros to flesh out their designs: ..award-winning camp...has reached young people in new corners of the country...At a virtual showcase...interns and their mentors presented the spaces they’d designed, including a supermarket-garden hybrid, a refuge for the homeless and a museum marking the significant events of 2020...The interns' projects have served as learning experiences for their mentors, too..."at the end of the day, you don’t need our profession. Our profession needs you guys.” -- Michael Ford; BRIC Architecture; Chandra Robinson/LEVER; Juan Carlos Garduño/Oh Planning+Design- Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) |
Winners announced in weekly BD Junior Wonders "tall buildings" art competition + Call for entries (international) next competition theme - "fun homes" - deadline: Sunday, January 24: "tall buildings" winner, ages 8-11 - Niamh Smith for her drawing of the Gherkin: “A joyous artwork, full of life, colour and detail. And who cares if the gherkin wobbles a bit?”; ages 5-8 winner - Izzy Unwin for her drawing of the Golden Lane Estate..."bold, clear and colourful"...- BD/Building Design (UK) |
ANN feature: Dave Hora: Nature of Order #3: Nos. 9-15 of Christopher Alexander's 15 Fundamental Properties of Wholeness: In contrast with the first eight, something feels more primal and elemental in these properties.- ArchNewsNow.com |
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