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Today's News - Friday, January 11, 2008

Modular and prefab moving from "the utopia to which it has been consigned" to mainstream. -- Instead of going nuclear, British architects design energy islands as a better answer. -- It seems Gazprom tower just might win over UNESCO (with some digital imagery). -- Boddy is all for housing the homeless, but what about affordability for a struggling creative class who "who will build tomorrow's economy"? -- Perhaps some solutions will come out of Bauhaus-Dessau Foundation's social housing design competition. -- Green mobile homes another possibility for long-term housing. -- Bird-friendly architecture gains LEED support as "form follows feathers" (finally!). -- Green gains in historic preservation as well (also a long time coming). -- Hawthorne's take on L.A.'s public plaza building binge: just how public are they? -- Becker bemoans the possible loss of one of Chicago's great public spaces. -- An outcry over CABE's plan to fund architecture centers: does it "penalize success" - and just what are the centers for? -- Glancey previews Terminal 5: it was worth the wait. -- Litt finds quest for good architecture in Cleveland is "contagious" - if only budget didn't get in the way of boldness. -- Thumbs-up for Liverpool's biggest-ever residential development. -- Big plans for health and social care center in White City. -- Why Stern is the "Ralph Lauren of Architecture." -- Weekend diversions: Noguchi Museum examines Japan's collision with Western Modernism. -- The dilemma of selecting 1001 buildings to see before you die.

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INSIGHT: Mod Mods: Manufacturing Markets for Modulars: With market forces finally putting wind in the sails of pre-fab, the promise of sales should finally save industrial production of housing from the utopia to which it has been consigned. By John Newman, AIA- ArchNewsNow

Could sea power solve the energy crisis? As Gordon Brown steers Britain towards a nuclear future, Dominic Michaelis, Alex Michaelis and Trevor Cooper-Chadwick suggest we turn to the oceans instead...developing the energy island concept... [images]- Telegraph (UK)

'Green' Energy Efficient Mobile Home Designed: ...design shows how the GreenMobile can function as viable long-term housing or as short-term disaster housing. -- Michael Berk- ScienceDaily

RMJM wins over Unesco in St Petersburg tower battle: Head of UN's cultural arm tells design director [Tony Kettle] that impact is "obviously not a problem"...Okhta tower is a step closer to construction after the architect used image to persuade Unesco...that the 396m high building would not spoil historic views. [images]- Building (UK)

Creativity needs a home: A new emphasis on finding shelter for the destitute is welcome, but threatens to obscure the need to support the people who will build tomorrow's economy...We have not made strategic investments in places where these innovators can afford to live [and] start and grow new businesses. By Trevor Boddy- Globe and Mail (Canada)

Bauhaus-Dessau Foundation Launches Social Housing Architecture Award: "Housing shortages: The minimum subsistence level housing of today"...aims to encourage young architects to build attractive homes for the poor. [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany)

Call for entries: 2008 International Bauhaus Award: "Housing shortages: The minimum subsistence level housing of today"; deadline: March 31- Bauhaus Dessau Foundation

Form Follows Feathers: Bird-Friendly Architecture: ...design guidelines are largely an appeal to enlightened self-interest, saving birds while reaping the financial benefits of green building...As LEED gains traction, establishing bird-safe design on the scorecard can give it more of a boost. -- FXFowle Architects; Cooper Cary; Studio Gang [images]- Architectural Record

Historic Renovation in Raleigh Hits LEED Platinum: Inherently green renovations rarely achieve high LEED rating -- Tise-Kiester Architects [images]- AIArchitect

L.A. Squared: The city’s new plazas are not quite what they seem...Each one is shaped, controlled or compromised by private, commercial or other interests...There are a number of reasons for this plaza creep. By Christopher Hawthorne -- Renzo Piano; Rios Clementi Hale Studios- Los Angeles Times Magazine

Endgame for one of Chicago's Great Public Places? Will Holabird and Root's classic Art Deco Chicago Daily News Building be squeezed and its public plaza destroyed for a new office tower from Sam Zell? By Lynn Becker [images, links]- Repeat (Chicago)

Cabe cuts funding to architecture centres: funding "penalises success": Fury as Open House and New London Architecture (NLA) grants are slashed in favour of regions; Centres without a cause: Does anyone know what architecture centres are for? asks Amanda Baillieu- BD/Building Design (UK)

First class all the way: It took 18 years to design, 20,000 workers to build and cost £4.3bn - but now Heathrow airport's terminal five is finally complete...what you might call long-haul architecture...has it been worth the wait? ...an architectural and engineering tour de force that raises the standards of British airport design by 100%. By Jonathan Glancey -- Richard Rogers Partnership/Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners; Foster + Partners- Guardian (UK)

Design for new Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center is solid, but could it be even better? The quest for better architecture in Cleveland is becoming contagious...design could have been bolder and more exciting...cost was a factor. By Steven Litt -- Bostwick Design Partnership [images]- Cleveland Plain Dealer

Gateway to culture: Planning permission has been granted for a project by Alison Brooks Architects — part of a scheme by Urban Splash believed to be Liverpool’s biggest-ever residential development. -- Shed KM; Querkraft [image]- BD/Building Design (UK)

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners submits White City plans: ...£30 million Collaborative Care Centre ...mixed-use development, billed as a one-stop-shop for health and social care, will be RSH+P's first major public healthcare project. [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK)

"The Ralph Lauren of Architecture": Experts say Robert A.M. Stern's retreat into historicism was gradual and his commercial success has not come solely from his sharp design skills, but also from strong management, ambition, and a keen understanding of particular societal needs at a given time.- New York Sun

A Japanese Renaissance in Industrial Design: Japan's collision with Western Modernism marked the end of one era and the beginning of another...explored through industrial design...Noguchi Museum's superb cross-cultural exhibition "Design: Isamu Noguchi and Isamu Kenmochi."- New York Sun

Building sights: "1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die": When Mark Irving was compiling a book of the world's finest architectural triumphs, his biggest problem was stopping at 1,001.- The Scotsman (UK)

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