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Today's News - July 22, 2002

Anyone traveling by Amtrak's new high-speed Acela trains along the northeast corridor (U.S.) will find their way to ticket counters and platforms without a problem. Our newest feature presents the signage program, by Calori & Vanden-Eynden/Design Consultants, is as elegant - and aerodynamic as the trains themselves.

As you can well imagine, there is much follow-up to Saturday's "Listening to the City" town hall gathering in New York…most of it opinion and commentary: "Don't be surprised if Disney-style urbanism winds up infecting the entire site." - Slate. "So rather than offer a solitary design to absorb the rage, disappointment and hatred of those viewing it, [the planning/design team] offered up six designs to absorb the blows." - New York Post. "…looks to some eyes as if somebody dug up a chunk of downtown Dallas and plopped it on the Washington Mall." - New York Times. "Looks like Albany." - anonymous participant. Paul Goldberger and Nicolai Ouroussoff also have a few things to say…

Meanwhile…Washington, DC's original master planner is lauded, as is the city's new $799 million convention center (question: why is it so many in mainstream media cover large scale projects like this without ever mentioning the architects?); the Canadian Embassy there takes its licks; and historic preservation and adaptive re-use save a neighborhood. Historic preservation wins over a long-standing Louis Kahn design for a 500-year-old Jerusalem synagogue. Sasaki Associates won Beijing's heart with its master plan for Olympic venues…and much more.

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Sleek Signs: Acela Station Signage by Calori & Vanden-Eynden / Design Consultants- ArchNewsNow

Fresh Visions of Ground Zero Could Delay Lower Manhattan's Recovery- New York Times

Panning The Plans: Reporting from "Listening to the City"- Gotham Gazette

Even Here, Profit Isn't a Dirty Word: ...it seems hard to ignore the fact that greed has always been a driving force in the city — and not always for ill.- New York Times

Opinion: Up From Zero: The bottom line rules at Ground Zero...we ought to be able to come up with something more than six variations in an ordinary key. By Paul Goldberger- New Yorker

Opinion: Mall of America: The shopping complex that ate the World Trade Center memorial.- Slate

Opinion: Scapegoats By Design: They weren't really designs at all. Rather, they were scapegoats in design form. And they served their purpose brilliantly.- New York Post

Opinion: For Great Buildings, Get a Great Client - Now that the Woolworth Building has renewed prominence in downtown Manhattan's skyline, it's worth thinking about just what makes that 90-year-old skyscraper such a great building.- New York Times

Opinion: Ideas for Ground Zero: Where's the Imagination? Lower Manhattan Development Corp.'s six new designs lack any sense of the area's monumental importance... By Nicolai Ouroussoff- Los Angeles Times

The Man With the Plan - Pierre Charles L'Enfant- Washington Post

D.C.'s Wonder of Architecture Nears Fruition: Blending Convention Center In Not Easy - Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associate; Devrouax & Purnell Architects; Mariani Architects-Engineers- Washington Post

Our embassy rated major ugly: $90-M edifice ninth of 10 worst: architects poll - Arthur Erickson- Canoe (Canada)

A Piece of Old Downtown, Back And Brand-New By Benjamin Forgey - Shalom Baranes Associates; SmithGroup Architects; FRCH; Adamstein & Demetriou; Gallagher & Associates- Washington Post

China strives to make sure Olympics venues are, above all, reusable: Sydney and Nagano, Japan, have had trouble refitting Olympic venues for regular urban life. (AP)- San Francisco Gate

US team wins over Beijing with unusual line of approach: Its concept, which factored in cultural and historical sensitivities, tugged at the heartstrings of the Chinese - Sasaki Associates; Tianjin Huahui Architect and Design Company- The Straits Times (Singapore)

Cabinet approves NIS 28 M Hurva [synagogue] restoration plan - Nahum Meltzer [images]- Ha`aretz (Israel)

Art Institute slows down its timetable for addition: Delays are not uncommon on complex projects by major architects. - Renzo Piano; Rem Koolhaas; Frank Gehry- Chicago Tribune

Safety fears spark building industry overhaul: ...call for an overhaul of controversial changes to the building process...- Sydeny Morning Herald

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