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Today's News - Monday, April 7, 2008

ArcSpace hails us from HafenCity. -- Multiple tales from Dubai look at its "green revolution" and challenges in its "frenetic pace of growth." -- Macfarlane looks out over (and walks through) Beijing's cranes, concrete, and dust. -- Do plans for eco-towns risk becoming communities of Stepford Wives? -- Segovia's new arts quarter to get the Chipperfield touch. -- Gehry says Miss Brooklyn will "look better than anyone imagines." -- Just because technology lets us build with "whimsy and novelty" doesn't mean we should. -- Dyckhoff assesses Modernist contenders for preservation: "Transforming postwar architecture isn't rocket science" (and choosing Koolhaas for Commonwealth Institute redesign is "a bold, but perfect choice"). -- A Milwaukee Modernist home declared a misfit and about to get mashed. -- Revisiting Rapson with a 1957 excerpt where he laments the "angry sea of un-design." -- Mack's tribute to the master. -- As the Newseum gets ready for its close-up, Campbell loves the contents ("Just don't expect great architecture"). -- Dietsch is a bit more kind. -- It's also "dazzling, innovative and absorbing (or an "overpriced monument to journalistic self-glorification"). -- Audubon's new home brings home LEED Platinum. -- Despite the critics, Chicago's Children's Museum pushes on for park site. -- Saffron on last-ditch efforts to tweak Philly's South Street Bridge design with mostly modest refinements. -- A call to incorporate "passive survivability" into building codes. -- How Paul Williams dazzled Hollywood by surmounting racial prejudice with his elegant simplicity. -- An architect/photographer documents a derelict hospital island in the Bronx that's literally disappearing into the woods.

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-- KK Letter: A visit to HafenCity, Hamburg, Germany
-- Design Hotel: East Hotel, Hamburg, Germany

Going green and tall: Dubai has embarked on a mission to ensure the environmentally-friendliness of its built environment. As the boom continues, the emirate is battling to ensure that its economy and infrastructure can sustain this frenetic pace of growth. -- Atkins; FXFowle; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); etc. [links to articles]- Gulf Construction

Beijing: Hammers and drills, concrete and dust: Urban re-engineering has taken place on a greater scale, perhaps - Haussmann's Paris, Lutyens's New Delhi - but never so rapidly...Speer Junior's vision involved a radical widening and lengthening of Beijing's central axis. By Robert Macfarlane- Telegraph (UK)

Op-Ed: Eco-towns risk becoming communities of Stepford Wives: ...will be devoid of personality unless the government builds sufficient local amenities for its inhabitants...must ensure successful proposals go beyond environmental targets... By Rynd Smith/Royal Town Planning Institute- Building (UK)

Chipperfield arts quarter masterplan wins in Spain: ...a 120,000sq m arts and technology quarter in Segovia...project will also support Segovia’s bid to be 2016 European Capital of Culture. [image]- BD/Building Design (UK)

Gehry to Brooklyn Paper: Miss Brooklyn ain’t dead — in fact, she’s hotter than ever- The Brooklyn Paper

Litte Miss Modern: Shapes and structures: Just because modern technology allows us to build identical replicas of unrefined sketch models does not mean that we should. The architectural value of these buildings’ whimsy and novelty is overwhelmed by their mediocre functionality. By Caitlin Mueller -- Gehry; Saarinen; Eladio Dieste; Waclaw Zalewski- Stanford Daily (California)

Robin Hood Gardens, the Lloyd’s Building or the US Embassy, which buildings should be saved? Lovers of post-war concrete have their work cut out...nothing in the politics of architecture is more contentious than the listing of postwar buildings. By Tom Dyckhoff- The Times (UK)

Modernist misfit: Demolition, not recognition, awaits a midcentury house in our midst: It's ironic that the 1959 home, one of only a few examples of decent modernism in the area, will be torn down in a community created to showcase architecture and eclectic styles. -- William Wenzler [images]- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Ralph Rapson: Lamenting an 'angry sea of un-design': excerpt from "The New Architectural Disorder" (1957)...the architect must accept the design challenge of total environment if our society is to realize its fullest potential.- Minneapolis Star Tribune

Tribute: The hand of Ralph Rapson: In his role as educator, architect and advocate, Ralph Rapson shaped the built environment and influenced two generations of designers. By Linda Mack [images, links]- Minneapolis Star Tribune

Newseum's an attic packed with storied stuff: does work as urban design...It boldly fills what used to be an ugly gap in Pennsylvania Avenue...But as architecture, it's a bore....allow plenty of time to wallow in its almost limitless riches. The older you are, the more you'll love it. Just don't expect great architecture. By Robert Campbell -- Polshek Partnership; Ralph Appelbaum- Boston Globe

News under glass: Newseum...makes no attempt to bow and scrape to classical traditions ...unconventional architecture is somewhat frenetic but well suits its mission to celebrate the hectic job of news gathering... By Deborah Dietsch -- Polshek Partnership; Ralph Appelbaum Associates- Washington Times

At Sparkly Newseum, The Glory Of the Story Goes Above the Fold: ...dazzling, innovative and absorbing, a first-class addition to the capital's cultural institutions...It is also, in some respects, an overpriced monument to journalistic self-glorification. Not that there's anything wrong with that. -- Polshek Partnership; Ralph Appelbaum- Washington Post

Audubon’s New Home Brings the Outdoors In: ...the society decided to lead by example and to go as green as possible...went well beyond the criteria needed to be awarded LEED platinum...intended to have the least impact on habitats the society seeks to protect. -- FXFowle Architects [images]- New York Times

Children's Museum moves forward with petition to build in Grant Park: Critics say plan would violate state Supreme Court ruling that restrict construction in the park...plans have been tweaked since the controversy erupted last year, but appear largely unchanged. -- Krueck & Sexton [image]- Chicago Tribune

A redraw for South Street Bridge: ...report lays out how the current design could be quickly modified to make the new bridge more comfortable for pedestrians and bicyclists...mostly modest refinements. By Inga Saffron -- Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT); H2L2; Gannett Fleming [images, links]- Philadelphia Inquirer

Incorporate Passive Survivability into Building Codes: ...we need to convince code authorities and government leaders that risks of interruptions in electricity and heating fuel supply present a significant enough life-safety risk that we should incorporate passive survivability into all new houses. By Alex Wilson- Environmental Building News/BuildingGreen.com

African-American Architect Paul Revere Williams Dazzled Hollywood: ...surmounted racial prejudice to achieve extraordinary success in a white-dominated profession...known for his elegant simplicity.- NewsBlaze

Lost City in the Woods: Architect and photographer Christopher Payne’s latest subject is the buildings and landscape of North Brother, a derelict hospital island in the Bronx...literally disappearing into the woods...vestiges of civic aspirations long since jettisoned. By Alan G. Brake [images]- The Architect's Newspaper (NYC)

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