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Today's News - December 8, 2006

AIA awards 2007 Gold Medal posthumously and Firm Award to a woman-owned firm. -- Ouroussoff finds Boston's ICA "architecture of empathy" and "welcome therapy for a self-involved age." -- A museum win for a young architect is a "jump start for Palestinian architecture." -- Two takes on Calatrava's (now less) twisting tower. -- Gazprom Tower "just another global corporate monolith - banal, dull and inappropriate." -- Foster's Madison Avenue tower "atrocity or masterpiece?" -- Boddy finds architectural sophistication bodes well for a troubled Vancouver neighborhood. -- TOD's and TND's not really what they purport to be. -- Some successes, some failures for U.S cities pushing pedal power. -- A new study looks at the bright side of potential congestion pricing in NYC. -- Automated parking garages trying to catch on in the U.S. -- A new director (finally) found for Storefront for Art and Architecture. -- Weekend diversions: Kamin gives Wright play in Chicago a big thumbs-up. -- An exhibition in San Jose offers an artistic exploration of urban sprawl. -- A new Glenn Murcutt opus weighs in at 7 kg. (and only A$1650).

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Modernist Edward Larrabee Barnes posthumously wins Architects' 2007 Gold Medal. By Ann Jarmusch- San Diego Union-Tribune

Leers Weinzapfel Receives 2007 AIA Architecture Firm Award: Projects noted for commitment to ingenuity, resourcefulness, and design excellence..."The fact is that for a woman-owned firm to succeed as spectacularly as Leers Weinzapfel has required persistence, diligence, and inventiveness.”- American Institute of Architects (AIA)

Expansive Vistas Both Inside and Out: With its ability to interweave art and civic life, the new Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston is the most important building to rise there in a generation...It is the architecture of empathy, welcome therapy for a self-involved age. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Diller Scofidio & Renfro [images]- New York Times

A jump start for Palestinian architecture: Senan Abdelqader is designing the Museum of Art in Umm al-Fahm....[he] has the aplomb to believe he was not chosen, after negotiations with Hadid failed, "by accident or default." By Esther Zandberg- Ha`aretz (Israel)

Calatrava's Latest Twist from Spire to Licorice Stick: Some big changes at...proposed 2,000-foot-high Chicago Spire raise the question of whether the city has enough mega-millionaries left to absorb its 1,300 residential units...Will the tower wind up becoming a "Spire Too Far"? By Lynn Becker [images]- Repeat (Chicago)

New Calatrava design for Chicago is "a bit" worse: The first version is sleek, euro-chic, and urbane. ...the svelte ultra-feminine tower has, shall we say, gained a few pounds. By Edward Lifson- EdwardLifson.com

Gazprom Tower Will Blight St. Petersburg Skyline: Gazprom and RMJM are showing nothing but contempt and misunderstanding for the architectural legacy of a world heritage city...just another global corporate monolith -- banal, dull and inappropriate. By Colin Amery- Bloomberg News

Atrocity or masterpiece? Foster's [980 Madison Avenue] tower ignites New York battle- Guardian (UK)

Down and in on the Eastside: Artist Stan Douglas's studios, designed by Robert Kleyn, bring an architectural sophistication, with a nod to 1970s conceptual art, to a very troubled neighbourhood. By Trevor Boddy- Globe and Mail (Canada)

Op-Ed: Pedestrians Lost In The New Suburbia: A resident of a touted New Urbanist development in San Diego, California, comments on its failure as a walkable community...I remain a staunch supporter of the New Urbanism movement. -- Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND); Transit Oriented Development (TOD)- PLANetizen

Pedal Pushers: Fair- and foul-weather cities alike are gearing up to make it safer and easier for commuters to bicycle to work....The biggest lesson...is that a successful bike-commuting policy is a combination of infrastructure, education and promotion.- Governing

Battling Traffic: What New Yorkers Think About Road Pricing: Traveling on New York City’s streets and highways normally takes 50–75% longer at rush hour than under uncongested conditions. The value of time wasted from traffic congestion is about $8 billion annually.- Manhattan Institute

An Urban Parking Perk: The Automated Garage: The United States has been slow to come around to automated garages...largely because of fears that the technology is not reliable enough...many municipal codes do not allow automated parking...- New York Times

Storefront for Art and Architecture Hires Joseph Grima: Former editorial staffer of Domus lands long-vacant directorship- The Architect's Newspaper (NYC)

Art on the Fast Tract: "Suburban Escape: The Art of California Sprawl": Varied interpretations of suburban sprawl are explored in a new exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Art.- Metropolis Magazine

Deconstructing Wright: The architect: A man with skyscraper-size flaws..."Frank's Home," the new play at the Goodman Theatre...is fascinating because it makes two long-departed architectural giants of Chicago, Wright and Louis Sullivan, come vividly to life. By Blair Kamin- Chicago Tribune

Murcutt, the heavyweight: The work of Australia's most acclaimed architect is the subject of a lavish new book...by Kenneth Frampton.- The Age (Australia)

-- Competition winner: Morphosis: Phare Tower, La Défense, France
-- Book:s: Architecture Tours L.A, Guidebooks by Laura Massino

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