Today’s News - Tuesday, March 2, 2021
EDITOR'S NOTE: A reminder that tomorrow will be a no-newsletter day. If all goes well, we'll be back Thursday, March 4 (or possibly Tuesday, March 9).
● Justin R. Wolf takes a deep dive into "what -isms tell us about architecture's preoccupation with 'human' design" - and "why this newfound focus on making the human experience better feels dismissive and cynical."
● Mimi Zeiger explains why "it's time to abolish the architecture critic - largely white, male" - they "are a reflection of the structural inequalities of the built environment - we need "an outpouring of criticism by as large and diverse a group of writers as we can muster" (comments are interesting).
● Justin Davidson turns to the "feisty New York firm" Architecture Research Office - who worked "for the eminently reasonable fee of zero dollars" - "to see how cubicles and conference rooms might be magicked into kitchens and bedrooms" in a 1952 office tower on Manhattan's E. 38th St. - "a combination of zoning changes and tax incentives" could "coax owners into turning their carbon-spewing old clunkers into green affordable housing. I dare you to show me the downside."
● Edward Gunts reports on Eamon Roche defending "his father's legacy ahead of proposed changes" to The Met's Rockefeller Wing by Beyer Blinder Belle - the "issue came down to weighing consideration for aesthetics and the original architect's design intent against a desire to improve the technical performance."
● Pedersen's great Q&A with Harriet Pattison re: her book "Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn," the 92-year-old landscape architect's "contributions to some seminal Kahn projects" (like Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island), and "the enduring legacy of the great architect."
● Rebecca Greenwald talks to the pro's about "how polished branding is shaping a new generation of public parks" - like Miami's The Underline and others - "it is critical for building community support and investor buy-in."
● In honor of Women's History Month, ASLA is launching the 2021 #Woman2Woman campaign that "will highlight the stories, challenges, and advice of women in the field of landscape architecture at all stages of their careers."
● Cajsa Carlson reports that the London School of Architecture has announced the architectural historian Neal Shasore "is set to take over from the school's founder Will Hunter as head of school and CEO."
Deadline + Winners all:
● Reminder - deadline looms - website is now LIVE! Call for entries: HOME: Our Place competition: an international design event for students to design their ideal home; conceived by Building Beauty Faculty Member Duo Dickinson.
● The nonprofit collective MASS Design Group wins the 2021 AIA Collaborative Achievement Award "for its contributions to the architecture profession and its influence on health care-sensitive design" that has "has proven invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic."
● The International Garden Festival announces the five winning designs from Canada, U.S., France, and Sweden that will create an open-air museum of gardens at Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens, Quebec, this summer.
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Justin R. Wolf: What -isms Tell Us About Architecture’s Preoccupation with “Human” Design: Does the now ubiquitous phase still have meaning? Study of the causal relationship between architecture and human behavior is fairly well worn territory, having yielded all manner of theories, both optimistic and skeptical...architectural determinism theory purports that the built environment is the sole determinant of human behavior...All that’s left, it would seem, is to remind the general public that their human interests are at the heart of everything...it’s near impossible to find a time and place when the human experience wasn’t a central tenet of architecture. All the more reason why this newfound focus on making that experience better feels dismissive and cynical.- Common Edge |
Mimi Zeiger: It's time to abolish the architecture critic: Newspapers' largely white, male architecture critics are a reflection of the structural inequalities of the built environment...not equipped to deal with our current time of crisis: We are led to believe through myth and snark that criticism is a rarefied act...I want to envision what [it] might look like without a heavy capstone of "the critic"...the term is restrictive. Urgencies of our time demand an outpouring of criticism by as large and diverse a group of writers as we can muster...the same structural conditions that produce inequity in the field and the greater built environment also limit who is legitimised as a critic. -- Blair Kamin; Christopher Hawthorne; Nicolai Ouroussoff; Zach Mortice; Ada Louise Huxtable; Esther McCoy; Inga Saffron; Alexandra Lange- Dezeen |
Justin Davidson: Would You Want to Live in a Mid-Century Office Tower on East 38th Street? We asked an architectural firm to game out a (theoretical) conversion: ...a vast stash of 50- to 70-year-old modernist office buildings in Manhattan...begging for new purpose...To see how cubicles and conference rooms might be magicked into kitchens and bedrooms, I turned to a small but feisty New York firm, Architecture Research Office...They concluded (and convinced me) that...a combination of zoning changes and tax incentives...can coax owners into turn their carbon-spewing old clunkers into green affordable housing...ARO’s creation looks like a fun place to live...It’s rare for so many different desire lines to lead in the same direction...In a miraculous alignment, what’s good for the building is also good for the block, the neighborhood, the city, and the planet. I dare you to show me the downside. -- Sylvan Bien; Stephen Cassell; Kim Yao; Adam Yarinsky; David McCarty/Alloy- Curbed New York |
Edward Gunts: Eamon Roche defends his father’s legacy ahead of proposed changes at The Met: New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) put the brakes on a $70 million renovation project [Rockefeller Wing] at the Metropolitan Museum of Art after [he] expressed concerns about the proposal to change part of the museum his firm had designed four decades before...{He] started his testimony by thanking Beyer Blinder Belle for making a “great presentation”...But thought its proposal was “underwhelming,” “less appealing” than his firm’s design...issue came down to...weighing consideration for aesthetics and the original architect’s design intent against a desire to improve the technical performance. -- Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates; Kulapat Yantrasast/wHY Architecture- The Architect's Newspaper |
Martin C. Pedersen: Harriet Pattison on the Creative Process of Louis Kahn and Making History: Q&A with the author of "Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn": Nathaniel Kahn’s..."My Architect," was at its beating heart a son’s search for his father...Pattison, Nathaniel Kahn’s mother, released a gorgeous new book...The 92-year-old has had a long and distinguished career as a landscape architect...To celebrate the 120th anniversary of Kahn’s birth...[we] talk about the book, her contributions to some seminal Kahn projects, and the enduring legacy of the great architect.- Common Edge |
Rebecca Greenwald: How Polished Branding is Shaping a New Generation of Public Parks: Borrowing from the design language of startups, public spaces are positioning themselves as both destination and consumable experience: For public projects in the concept and development stage, polished branding is critical for building community support and investor buy-in...Many...draw on the legacy of The High Line...flexible identity systems and design toolkits have been designed to perform as “a swiss army knife”... -- Hamish Smyth/Order Design; Carbon Office; James Corner Field Operations; Paula Scher/Pentagram; Laura Stein/Bruce Mau Design; John Caserta/Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)- AIGA Eye on Design |
For Women's History Month, ASLA Seeks to Connect Women in Landscape Architecture: American Society of Landscape Architects is launching the 2021 #Woman2Woman campaign...will highlight the stories, challenges, and advice of women in the field at all stages of their careers...Be sure to watch ASLA's posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest to follow the entire campaign.- American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Cajsa Carlson: London School of Architecture names Neal Shasore head of school: ...architectural historian...is set to take over from the school's founder Will Hunter as head of school and chief executive officer (CEO)...LSA was founded in 2015 as London's first independent school of architecture to open since the Architectural Association [AA] was established in 1847...Students at the school work part-time for an architecture studio in their first year, making the two-year course "cost-neutral"...- Dezeen |
Reminder (deadline looms!): Call for entries: HOME: Our Place competition is now live: an international design event for students to design their ideal home; conceived by Building Beauty Faculty Member Duo Dickinson; deadline: March 8- Building Beauty |
MASS Design Group Wins 2021 AIA Collaborative Achievement Award: The Boston- and Kigali, Rwanda-based firm has been recognized for its contributions to the architecture profession and its influence on health care-sensitive design: Co-founded in 2008 by Michael Murphy and Alan Ricks, MASS [Model of Architecture Serving Society] has grown into a 120-person collective...nonprofit has also donated upwards of $8 million in design services [and "unlocked more than $80 million in...investment through savvy philanthropic outreach"]...its health care-sensitive design...has proven invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic...As of 2021, the firm has 30 projects, either completed or under construction, around the world.- Architect Magazine |
The International Garden Festival unveils the 2021 designs: ...gardens chosen for the 22nd edition of the Festival. Five new projects from Canada, the United States, France and Sweden...themed “Magic Lies Outside”, the five projects...will be integrated around the existing gardens to create an open-air museum...at Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens, Quebec, from June 26 to October 3. -- Balmori Associates; Emil Bäckström, architect; Emmanuelle Loslie & Camille Zaroubi; legaga [Gabriel Lemelin, Francis Gaignard, Sandrine Gaulin, interns in architecture]; David Bonnard/Laura Giuliani, landscaper/Amélie Viale- Canadian Interiors |
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