Today’s News - Monday, November 17, 2008
• ArcSpace brings us Hadid in Tokyo, and H&deM in Manhattan.
• Glancey looks at what the recession means for the profession and once-booming cityscapes (the good news: no more "frumpitecture").
• Rawsthorn says "Design-Art" R.I.P. - it could be a boom time for design to tackle social problems instead of "expensive, uncomfortable furniture."
• Is the economic downturn good for architectural creativity? Yes, says Coates; no, says Sidor.
• Rocky Mountain Institute's principal architect tackles the recession: with existing buildings, "We are sitting on a virtual oilfield."
• Hume: "Toronto's excited about the skyline again" (not just because of the AGO).
• Ouroussoff gives two thumbs-up's to Gehry's AGO and the master's "ability to balance exuberance with delicious moments of restraint" (great pix, too).
• The unflashy Gehry that "may be small in scale but serves a grand purpose": Maggie's Centre in Scotland.
• Gunts offers an eyeful of starchitects' proposals for University of Baltimore's new law building (winner to be announced later today).
• Kamin on how the Art Institute of Chicago and Piano are resolving a tug-of-war between the art and grand vistas.
• Rochon raves about a streetcar shed transformed into a temple for art and an artists' eco-haven.
• Libeskind tapped to design new synagogue for Munich; rabbi's mandate: "We are not just looking for a prestige object...Good acoustics and accessibility are more important than fancy shapes."
• Gehl to New York: you're doing better (but lose more cars).
• Another grand plan for the South Boston waterfront: an instant urban village.
• Architects take on big-box reuse challenge (our fave: "Turn it upside down and make it a litter box for a 10-story-tall intergalactic pussycat" - pix to prove it).
• An in-depth look at the HOK/Biomimicry Guild alliance.
• Call for Entries: 2009 North American Copper in Architecture Awards.
• Winners, big and small: Hearst Tower wins International Highrise Award 2008; and NYC's CityRacks Design Competition winners: elegant, yet sturdy (they better be!).
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-- Zaha Hadid Architects: Neil Barrett Store, Tokyo
-- Under construction: Herzog & de Meuron: 56 Leonard Street, New York, NY |
Frozen skyline: In the last recession, 40% of architects lost their jobs. Are they prepared for this one? And how will the crunch affect our once-booming cityscapes? ...public projects are feeling the squeeze, and there is certainly nothing around the corner as grand and bold as Roosevelt's awe-inspiring TVA. By Jonathan Glancey -- Hadid; Gehry; Sunand Prasad/RIBA; Pringle Richards Sharratt; Will Alsop; Foster + Partners; Nigel Coates; Alison Brooks- Guardian (UK) |
Recessionary design: A boom time for creative energy: Design has always coped well with austerity, and is especially well-equipped to do so now..."Design-Art" R.I.P....what's the most exciting role for design? Developing new business concepts and cracking social problems, or making expensive, uncomfortable furniture? By Alice Rawsthorn -- Buckminster Fuller; Tejo Remy; Nacho Carbonell; Maarten Baas; IDEO; Make it Work/Live|Work- International Herald Tribune |
Will the downturn be good for architectural creativity? Yes, says Nigel Coates, as that’s when ideas are nurtured, but Grimshaw partner Neven Sidor believes creativity is driven by surplus- BD/Building Design (UK) |
James Scott Brew on Recession: With Existing Buildings "We Are Sitting On a Virtual Oilfield": ...a principal architect with the Rocky Mountain Institute, the seminal green "think and do tank"...[answers] a few big questions that anyone passionate -- or not -- about green buildings might be asking now too. By Alex Pasternack- TreeHugger.com |
Standing (ren)ovation: Toronto's excited about the skyline again, and all it took was seven new cultural cathedrals. We're finally getting it: Great buildings like the AGO are worth the risk...building design once again matters in Toronto...the city is thinking big. By Christopher Hume -- Gehry; Libeskind; Will Alsop; Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg (KPMB); Foster + Partners- Toronto Star |
Gehry Puts a Very Different Signature on His Old Hometown’s Museum: ...Art Gallery of Ontario...is a masterly example of how to breathe life into a staid old structure. And its interiors underscore one of the most underrated dimensions of [his] immense talent: a supple feel for context and an ability to balance exuberance with delicious moments of restraint. By Nicolai Ouroussoff [slide show]- New York Times |
A picture and a thousand words: Not all Frank Gehry buildings are as flashy as Toronto's renovated AGO. This one may be small in scale but it serves a grand purpose...Maggie's Centre in Dundee, Scotland...the cozy building creates a sense of calm that befits its purpose. [image]- Toronto Star |
Visions of new University of Baltimore law building: Angelos Law Center could have glass tower, spiraling chambers or a 'neural' system. By Edward Gunts -- SmithGroup; Moshe Safdie/Hord|Coplan|Macht; Behnisch Architekten/Ayers/Saint/Gross; Foster + Partners/Cho Benn Holback; Dominique Perrault/Ziger/Snead [slide show]- Baltimore Sun |
Art Institute of Chicago's new Modern Wing strives to resolve conflicts between art and vistas: The view to Millennium Park is "quite strong," Rondeau said, even describing it as "relentless." By Blair Kamin -- Renzo Piano [images, video]- Chicago Tribune |
A temple in a streetcar shed: The Wychwood barns have all the trappings of an artists' eco-haven. Outdoor bake-oven? Check. Rainwater to flush the toilets? Check. But none of that really matters - it's the soaring design that makes the place feel holy. By Lisa Rochon -- du Toit Allsopp Hillier Architects- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
Libeskind to Create New Synagogue for Munich: ...if the local Jewish community has its way, the building will bring history full circle: They want to build it on the site of Munich's first synagogue, destroyed during the 1938 Night of Broken Glass..."We are not just looking for a prestige object...Good acoustics and accessibility are more important than fancy shapes."- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
Gehl to New York: Lose the Cars: ...has made a surprising about-face on matters of public space...still bears deep scars of Robert Moses’ long reign...“Jane Jacobs is looking down and thinking, ‘Finally, my city is on the right track!’”- The Architect's Newspaper |
Seaport Square: Another Grand Plan for the South Boston Waterfront...this one is particularly ambitious...6.5-million-square-foot, $3.5 billion project...amounts to an attempt to create an instant urban village... -- Libeskind; HOK; CBT Architects; Hacin + Associates; Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF); ADD Inc. [images]- Architectural Record |
Big Box & Beyond: Today's Temples of Consumption Don't Have To Be Tomorrow's Ruins. What's in Store? The assignment...come up with ideas that were creative, credible, local, of the moment, the now. Don't Trash Big Boxes, Repackage Them! -- Julia Christensen; Christopher B. Leinberger; Darrel Rippeteau; Roger K. Lewis; Esocoff & Associates; Peter Winant/Tom Ashcraft; Rusty Meadows/Tammy Tim/Perkins + Will; Harold Linton [images]- Washington Post |
Globe-girdling architect embraces 'biomimicry': Mitigation of 'huge environmental footfall' one motivation to try 'completely different idea' -- HOK; Biomimicry Guild- Vancouver Sun |
Call for Entries: 2009 North American Copper in Architecture Awards; deadline: December 31, 2008- Copper Development Association |
Hearst Tower wins International Highrise Award 2008: exhibition at Deutsches Architekturmuseum/DAM through 4 January 2009 showcases the broad spectrum of prize-winning and nominated projects. -- Foster + Partners/Adamson Associates/Gensler; Office for Metropolitan Architecture/OMA; Renzo Piano/FXFOWLE; WOHA; Mass Studies [links]- International Highrise Award |
And the Winners Are... CityRacks Design Competition -- Ian Mahaffy/Maarten De Greeve; Andrew Lang/Harry Dobbs/Ignacio Ciocchini; RSVP Studio; Jessica Lee/Anthony Lau [images, links]- CityRacks |
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