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Today's News - February 15, 2007

New Orleans's unified plan "lacks the vision - and teeth - to save the city." -- Fate of modernist landmark in Gentilly in FEMA's hands. -- Zandberg on the "architectural conspiracy of silence" surrounding several big plans in Jerusalem. -- International architects and landscape architects are excited about Lower Don Lands rejuvenation despite cynical Torontonians. -- Public parks getting a bit too cozy with commercial supporters ("the devil does wear Prada" in Bryant Park). -- Fueled by failing grade in environmental sustainability, USC students campaign for a more environmentally conscious campus. -- A Charlottesville, VA, project may be shooting for LEED Platinum, but review board doesn't want it to be a "mondo condo." -- Mondo condo plan near Miami's Vizcaya has some fuming. -- Another take on favorite 150 buildings list: "reveals the triumph of familiarity over beauty" but has the AIA really "fulfilled its founders' mandate to 'elevate the standing of the profession'?" -- Barton Myers ready to "plunge" back into steel houses. -- Just to prove architects can have a sense of humor: An often-amusing Q&A with Robert A.M. Stern. -- Gehry on his jewelry: "the reason I entered jewelery design is that it is an excuse to look at pretty ladies!' grins the Machiavellian." -- Nobel's annual valentine to architecture. -- Rybczynski's ode to chairs and tribute to Hans J. Wegner.

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$14 Billion Plan for New Orleans May Strand Whole Neighborhoods: ...long-anticipated Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP), like others before it, lacks the vision -- and teeth -- to save the city. By James S. Russell -- Concordia; Urban Land Institute (ULI); Peter Calthorpe; Lambert Advisory- Bloomberg News

Hundreds weigh in on church's fate: How high are passions running over the fate of St. Frances Cabrini Church in Gentilly? -- Curtis and Davis (1960s)- The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

The architectural conspiracy of silence: Apart from any other implications, the affair of the new Mugrabi bridge is an extreme example of the dark and covert way in which Israel's professional and political planning world conducts itself. By Esther Zandberg -- Gehry; Calatrava; Ada Karmi-Melamede- Ha`aretz (Israel)

Rival top guns love that Docklands mix: Far-flung architects and landscape architects are trying to figure out the best ways to transform a derelict, severely damaged area...Here at home, the cynicism continues. By Christopher Hume -- Stoss/Brown & Storey/ZAS Architects; Weiss/Manfredi/du Toit Allsopp Hillier; Michael Van Valkenburgh/Behnisch Architects/Great Eastern Ecology/Ken Greenberg; Atelier Girot/Office of Landscape Morphology/ReK Productions- Toronto Star

Across the U.S., public parks are landing private operators: New York's Bryant Park runs on commercial support. Critics warn the concept could disenfranchise the poor...an ambitious experiment in the private operation of public places...being watched by urban planners and city managers worldwide.- Los Angeles Times

Sodding for sustainability on campus rooftops: Two students camp on grass sods, urging USC to think environmentally...campaigning for a more environmentally conscious campus.- Daily Trojan (University of Southern California)

Green monster? BAR [Board of Architectural Review] vote highlights doubts over 201 Avon: ...planners seemed decidedly unimpressed...suggested subtle design changes that would keep the building from looking too much like just another mondo condo. -- Croxton Collaborative Architects [image]- The Hook (Virginia)

Grove high-rise project brings two views: Visitors to Miami's landmark Vizcaya Museum would see high-rise condos mixed in with their view of the famous home's gardens if Miami commissioners approve a development...Which makes some historians and Vizcaya lovers furious. -- Arquitectonica- Miami Herald

Much-loved monstrosities: A survey of Americans' favourite architecture reveals the triumph of familiarity over beauty...the purpose of surveys, lists and top tens is to promote debate and garner publicity. So the AIA has succeeded in part, but has it fulfilled its founders' mandate to "elevate the standing of the profession"?- Guardian (UK)

A house turned inside out: ...house was a return to steel houses, a building type that the architect has been designing for more than 35 years...the chance to plunge into a new series of steel houses. -- Barton Myers [slide show]- Los Angeles Times

Stern and the City: The architect and historian completes his epic five-volume survey of the Big Apple..."New York 2000"...Q&A with Robert A.M. Stern about the book, how the city has changed over the past 30 years, and the legacies of Post-Modernism, Donald Trump, and eighties nightclubs. By Paul Makovsky -- Gehry; Isozaki; Johnson; Koolhaas; Polshek; Eisenman; Theoharis David- Metropolis Magazine

Artistic bent: Frank Gehry’s obsession with art prompted Tiffany to invite him to launch his own jewellery collection...why the quantum leap from brick and mortar to gold and diamonds? “My guiding principle is ‘Beauty Without Rules’ and defiantly so."- The Star (Malaysia)

Lovefest 2007: In his annual valentine, our resident curmudgeon finds — to his mild surprise — an awful lot to like. By Philip Nobel -- Gehry; Foster; Koolhaas; Piano; Herzog & de Meuron; Stern; etc.- Metropolis Magazine

A Chair To Remember: The marvelous furniture of Hans J. Wegner. By Witold Rybczynski- Slate

In Their Own Words: Abu Dhabi Cultural District: How Gehry, Hadid, Nouvel, and Ando envision their cultural venues on Saadiyat Island. [images]- ArchNewsNow

-- 3XN: Music Building / BIMhuis, Amsterdam
-- Eric Owen Moss Architects: The Stealth, Culver City, California

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