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Today's News - Tuesday, October 2, 2007

If everything goes as planned, Winnipeg will have a new downtown. -- Suburban Boston mall transformed into its own downtown. -- Hess hopes architects of an until-now "ill-starred" suburban town center in California will "sustain their creativity to the end." -- Upside of real estate down-turn: San Diego luxury condo project becomes affordable housing (not all are pleased). -- "Trophy planning" is a bait-and-switch scheme. -- U.K. gets revised zero carbon homes guide. -- Construction folks not all that pleased with "Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets." -- New college wants to turn out engineers with soul and courage, "not just calculating machines." -- How MIT's SENSEable City Laboratory's Wiki City technology can be used by urban planners. -- An urban anthropologist evaluates his favorite urban habitats. -- Fujimori's "gleefully childlike" architecture invites you to play in the dirt (pix to prove it!). -- A new use for a government bunker. -- Keeping acoustics in mind, architects are reinventing the concert hall. -- An odds-maker places the odds on Stirling winner. -- 2nd annual Carbuncle Cup shortlist for worst British building of the year. -- RIAS short-list for Andrew Doolan Award. -- South Africa's best green building. -- Ontario's 2007 ARIDO Awards of Excellence. -- October is L.A.'s first Architecture Month.

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Winnipeg in 2012: What could be: If everyone's plans come through, 2012 will see a new downtown. ...many of downtown's dead zones are destined for more than just a cosmetic facelift, thanks to the combined, if not exactly concerted efforts of private investors, public utilities, development agencies and politicians.- Winnipeg Free Press (Canada)

When Downtown Is in the Suburbs: What was once a lonely mall in suburban Boston is now prime real estate...Nouvelle at Natick...the first built within an older enclosed shopping mall...transformation of the mall is less revolutionary than evolutionary.- New York Times

The new Sunnyvale vision: As a new Town Center rises, architects and city officials must strive to make the most of this suburban opportunity. By Alan Hess -- Kenneth Rodrigues & Partners; RTKL; KTGY Group; Guzzardo Partnership- Mercury News (California)

Luxury project becomes affordable: Thanks to the nearly flat-lined downtown real estate market, what was supposed to be a luxury condominium tower is morphing into a landmark low-income apartment project.- San Diego Union-Tribune

Architect complains of 'trophy planning': Richard Murphy...claims that after his designs won planning permission "in a remarkably short time" and also gained approval from Historic Scotland...his firm was replaced without notice by Yeoman McAllister...- The Scotsman (UK)

Communities and Local Government (CLG) publishes revised zero carbon homes guide...under the Code for Sustainable Homes, following feedback from the construction industry. [link]- Contract Journal (UK)

Fix Construction’s “Busted Budgets”?: Barry LePatner...sees a problem with the construction industry in the United States — clearly indicated by the title of his book "Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets." Unsurprisingly, construction leaders are troubled by his claims.- Architectural Record

Re-Engineering Engineering: In an era when software matters more than steel, Olin College wants to produce technologists with soul...to make engineers “comfortable as citizens and not just calculating machines”...stressing creativity, teamwork and entrepreneurship — and, in no small part, courage.- New York Times Magazine

Technology Meets The City: Massachusetts Institute of Technology's SENSEable City Laboratory's 's "Wiki City Rome" team leader Francesco Calabrese talks about the project and how similar uses of technology can be used by urban planners.- PLANetizen

Impresario of the Village Green: Fred Kent is an urban anthropologist and space doctor, and as founder of the Project for Public Spaces...he spends his days observing homo sapiens in one of its favorite habitats: cities. [links]- New York Times

Terunobu Fujimori and the roots of reinvention: Japanese architect pays homage to the hut, history and a nature-filled way of life....There is something gleefully childlike about the mayhem in [his] architecture, as if he is beckoning you to play in the dirt, to get a splinter in your finger. [slide show]- Los Angeles Times

Library of Congress Gives Hillside Bunker a New Use: How do you . . . adaptively reuse and expand an existing structure into a state-of-the-art preservation and storage facility? National Audio-Visual Conservation Center ...to preserve collection of moving pictures and sound recordings. -- SmithGroup; BAR Architects; SWA [images]- AIArchitect

Concert Halls Hit High Notes: Once merely built to house an orchestra and host events, halls are becoming social centers and tourist attractions. Still, architects keep acoustics in mind -- Jean Nouvel; van Loon/Scheeren/KoolhaasOffice for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA); Gehry; Yasuhisa Toyota/Nagata Acoustics [slide show]- BusinessWeek

William Hill tips David Chipperfield to win Stirling prize: With only four days to go until the prize draw, who do you think will win the RIBA Stirling Prize? -- Glenn Howells Architects; Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)/Arup-AFA; Haworth Tompkins; Foster + Partners- Building (UK)

Carbuncle Cup shortlist revealed: Seven buildings are on the shortlist for...worst building of the year. -- Peter Redhead Architects; Norman Foster; BBLB Architects/John Rocha; Stephen George and Partners; Allford Hall Monaghan Morris; Edward Potter Associates; East Riding Council Architects/Atkins [images, links]- BD/Building Design (UK)

Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) reveals short-list for Andrew Doolan Award -- Malcolm Fraser Architects; Gordon Murray & Alan Dunlop Architects; Zaha Hadid; Page/Park Architects; Gareth Hoskins Architects; Reiach & Hall Architects- Archiseek (Scotland)

South Africa's best green building can be found in...Huis van Dijk in Johannesburg beat 11 other buildings...award presented by VISI magazine and the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA)... -- Earthworld Architects- Independent Online (South Africa)

Ontario's Top Interior Designers Recognized at 2007 ARIDO Awards of Excellence -- burdifilek; Figure 3; IBI Group; Chapman Design Group; Oomph; Anacleto Design Associates; full scale + partners; Hudson Kruse Design; Gow Hastings Architects; Cecconi Simone; HOK; Smith Grimley Harris Design Partners; etc.- Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO)

October is First Architecture Month in Los Angeles: Activities include the Mobius LA expo and design conference. [links]- Interior Design Newswire

-- kk Letter: Three days in Barcelona: Miralles/Tagliabue/EMBT; Arata Isozaki; Jean Nouvel; Herzog & de Meuron; Gaudi
-- Design Hotel: Hotel Omm, Barcelona -- Juli Capella; Sandra Tarruella/Isabel López; Beth Figueras

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