ArchNewsNow

Home Yesterday's News Calendar Contact Us Subscribe

Today's News - Monday, August 27, 2007

ArcSpace brings us Hadid and 3XN in China and Denmark. -- The frightening (and sad) tale of China's pollution problems and its search for a "meteorological deus ex machina." -- Overdue recognition of the sad state of Shanghai's Art Deco legacy (but is it enough and in time?). -- Is Venice really just "a pretend city, a stage-set for tourists" -- An in-depth look at Harvard's ongoing efforts to hire "amazing architects to design amazing buildings": what does and doesn't get built and why. -- Scottish architects claim a "London-centric bias" in Olympic building contracts. -- Scotland's latest export: a Tudor-style "millionaires' village" in Taipei (oh joy). -- Boddy finds Copenhagen in "the throes of a building boom it cannot quite understand, much less tame." -- Glancey visits a nostalgic Koolhaas: "he hates 'celebrity' culture" and "almost means it" (and media that "encourages this teenage architecture"). -- Just how green with Orlando Performing Arts Center be? -- Litt's hard-hat tours of Cleveland's cool, new cultural projects. -- Chandler likes how New Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver is shaping up. -- King offers his take on the "must-see architecture" of Napa Valley's wineries. -- Ouroussoff's sleep-over in the "best house in Paris." -- Kennicott on the beauty (and politics) of Washington's night lights. -- Two very different takes on "Frank Lloyd Wright and the House Beautiful" at the Portland Museum of Art.

To subscribe to the free daily newsletter click here

-- Under construction: Zaha Hadid Architects: Guangzhou Opera House, Guangzhou, China
-- 3XN: Alsion, Danish University South, Science Park South & Concert Hall, Sonderborg, Denmark

As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes: China’s pollution problem, like the speed and scale of its rise as an economic power, has shattered all precedents...Beijing is frantically searching for a magic formula, a meteorological deus ex machina, to clear its skies for the 2008 Olympics. [links]- New York Times

Shanghai: Art Deco capital - for now: Just as Shanghai's priceless architectural legacy is gaining overdue recognition, it faces new threats from developers...Two new books, and an exhibition...have focused minds. Whether they will be enough to stop the rampant destruction is another matter. By Richard Spencer -- Deke Erh; Greg Girard [slide show]- Telegraph (UK)

Op-Ed: Declaring Venice dead is very fashionable — and dangerous: If Venice is dead, just a pretend city, a stage-set for tourists, then it follows that there is no point in doing any more for it besides encourage the tourist industry....What a pool of talent, power and wealth that could be harnessed for the city! By Anna Somers Cocks- The Art Newspaper (UK)

Bricks & Politics: What gets built at Harvard, what doesn't, and why: So why isn’t Harvard still hiring amazing architects to design amazing buildings? In fact, the University has tried. By Joan Wickersham -- Renzo Piano; Hans Hollein; Josep Lluis Sert; Robert A.M. Stern; I.M. Pei; Machado and Silvetti; Henry Cobb; Rafael Moneo; Bruner/Cott; Leers Weinzapfel; Behnisch Architects; etc. [images, links]- Harvard Magazine

Pro-London bias claim over Olympic building contracts: ...construction chiefs have been accused of freezing out Scottish architects from lucrative contracts to build a £2bn athletes' village for the 2012 games in London...confirms fears that the financial benefits...will not spread beyond the south-east of England.- The Scotsman (UK)

Architect wins £50m Taiwan homes contract: ...50 mansions based on traditional British architectural designs for a luxury development overlooking Taiwan's capital, Taipei. -- Lewis & Hickey- The Scotsman (UK)

Copenhagen: A new design flair warms Nordic hearts...the Danish capital is in the throes of a building boom it cannot quite understand, much less tame...In parallel with the new urbanism along the waterfront, Copenhagen's architecture is shifting, too. By Trevor Boddy -- Jean Nouvel; Zaha Hadid; Rem Koolhaas; Bjarke Ingels/PLOT/BIG- Globe and Mail (Canada)

Welcome to the future: Any self-respecting world city now needs outlandish buildings, but what about the past? Superstar architect Rem Koolhaas tells Jonathan Glancey why even he gets nostalgic -- Office for Metropolitan Architecture/OMA; Cecil Balmond/Arup- Guardian (UK)

Shades of Green: Planners unsure to what degree Orlando Performing Arts Center will be eco-friendly -- Barton Myers Associates- Orlando Sentinel (Florida)

Taking a hardhat tour of the Cleveland Museum of Art's expansion project. By Steven Litt -- Benjamin Hubbell/Dominick Benes (1916); Rafael Vinoly [images]- Cleveland Plain Dealer

New Cleveland Institute of Music recital hall looks like a winner: ...will soon face a delightful problem...new Mixon Recital Hall -- the heart of the institute's $32 million expansion project...looks so beautiful as it nears completion that it could cause a run on free tickets... By Steven Litt -- Charles Young [images]- Cleveland Plain Dealer

Inside the box: New Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver squares up space for art, education, community. By Mary Voelz Chandler -- David Adjaye/Davis Partnership Architects- Rocky Mountain News (Denver)

Napa's houses of wine: Would-be castles, eye-popping showpieces and more must-see architecture ...an opinionated taster's choice of wineries...that are worth a visit from an architectural perspective. By John King -- Cliff May; Herzog & de Meuron; Michael Graves; Friedensreich Hundertwasser; Frank Gehry; Johnson Fain; William Turnbull; Ned Forrest [slide show]- San Francisco Chronicle

The Best House in Paris: With help of an American collector, a glass house’s enchanting secrets are revealed....Maison de Verre...challenges our assumptions about the nature of Modernism ...painstaking renovation...a role model for those who seek to preserve an architectural relic without turning it into a mausoleum. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Pierre Chareau (1932); Robert Rubin [slide show]- New York Times

Bathed In the Right Light: There's a Star System That Decides What Does and Doesn't Glow in the Washington Night. By Philip Kennicott -- Claude Engle; Moshe Safdie; Musco Lighting; LAM Partners; Eric Howeler/J. Meejin Yoon [slide show]- Washington Post

Frank Lloyd Wright, From the Inside and Out: “Frank Lloyd Wright and the House Beautiful” at the Portland Museum of Art provides an engrossingly detailed picture of how Wright achieved his vision, with many examples of his furniture, plans, drawings and publications.- New York Times

The flaws in Frank Lloyd Wright's design for living: The Portland Museum shows downside of the architect's indoor vision..."Frank Lloyd Wright and the House Beautiful."- Boston Globe

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window.
External news links are not endorsed by ArchNewsNow.com.
Free registration may be required on some sites.
Some pages may expire after a few days.

Yesterday's News