Today’s News - Wednesday, December 3, 2008
• Duany slams U.K. architects' "infantile" pursuit of ego-driven visions: the likes of Rogers, Gehry, Hadid, Eisenman are "increasingly irrelevant" - Prassad and others beg to differ.
• Kennicott and Leigh give two (almost mean) thumbs-down to new Capitol Visitor Center in DC; but Fisher begs to differ, calling it an "underground jewel."
• Durham, NC's central-city revival sparkles with a new Performing Arts Center.
• Litt wonders if the Cleveland Institute of Art "can be saved from the architectural embarrassment it's about to inflict on itself": it should "admit that the idea of recruiting a star architect did not bear fruit."
• Columbus, Ohio's waterfront revival is "one of the Midwest's most successful urban redevelopment projects."
• Dunlop rethinks Art Basel and other such fairs: they "have accelerated the rebirth of whole neighborhoods and affirmed the role that art plays in our lives."
• Searching for the true beating heart of Denver: some say it's perfect, but a developer bemoans the lack of a "desire for greatness."
• Heading to MIPIM Horizons for emerging markets in Cannes could prove to be a lifeline in tough economic times.
• Speck takes on the state of architecture education: it's no longer the "narrow, politicized ivory towers of yesterday."
• Giovannini is (fairly) positive about Rudolph restoration at Yale, but finds the "earnest and respectful restoration sadly misses several germane issues" (while you're there, click to other school projects by Predock, Rios Clementi Hale, and others).
• An eyeful of Arch Record's 10 Design Vanguards for 2008 (but "could they also represent the end of an era?").
• Libeskind talks about his green dream for his Manhattan tower (he'll be talking to Goldberger at the Center for Architecture on Dec. 10).
• Sudjic on Utzon: if he "had managed a sustained run of work exploring the themes that underpinned his work, he could genuinely have transformed the architectural landscape."
• Glancey on Utzon: "the man I met in Mallorca, was a delight...nothing like the difficult, stand-offish, stubborn architect I had expected."
• The Irish Georgian Society celebrates its 50th anniversary; still battling to save architectural gems across Ireland.
• The Empire State Building archive of renderings, working drawings, models, etc. to hit the auction block (too bad the collection will most likely be split - or will it?).
• An eyeful of the Ed Bacon Foundation National Student Design Competition winners (Norquist honored, too).
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Architect slams 'dismal' UK design: Prince Charles ally Andres Duany attacks British buildings of last 60 years...accused architects of being "infantile" in pursuing ego-driven visions ..."heedless of technical and social dysfunction and widespread lack of popularity" caused by their designs...will reignite a battle between architects who believe in modernism and his own "church" of new urbanism...- Guardian (UK) |
The Capitol Addition That Takes Too Much Away: Capitol Visitor Center...a tragically misconceived and overscale addition...a historical and aesthetic jumble, a nonsensical place and a gross disfigurement of one of this country's most important and iconic buildings. By Philip Kennicott -- RTKL; Ralph Appelbaum [images, links]- Washington Post |
In the Nation's Capital, An Uninviting Addition: Capitol Visitor Center...is fundamentally misconceived...a banal exercise in modernistic, ersatz classicism...seriously disrupt the topography of Frederick Law Olmsted's 1874 landscape design. By Catesby Leigh -- RTKL; Ralph Appelbaum [images]- Wall Street Journal |
D.C.'s New Underground Jewel: Best In A Decade: As a public works project and as an expenditure of the taxpayers' money, the Visitor Center is an obscenity...But...as a contemporary museum of American civics and government, and as a demonstration of how to blend education and entertainment without insulting the intelligence of the citizenry, the Visitor Center is a smash hit. -- RTKL; Ralph Appelbaum- Washington Post |
Durham's new venue shines: Performing Arts Center is 'quite a light, quite a beacon'...It's been a good year for Durham's central-city revival. -- Szostak Design; Jaume Plensa- News & Observer (North Carolina) |
Cleveland Institute of Art should drop banner idea for expansion on grounds of aesthetics, safety: It's time to ask whether the Institute can be saved from the architectural embarrassment it's about to inflict on itself...The wisest course would be to admit that the idea of recruiting a star architect from Europe did not bear fruit. By Steven Litt -- Winy Maas/MVRDV; Burt, Hill [images]- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
A Waterfront Revival in Columbus, Ohio: A former industrial wasteland becomes a neighborhood of housing, retailers and entertainment...regarded as one of the Midwest’s most successful urban redevelopment projects. [images]- New York Times |
The power of art: Art Basel and its satellite fairs have accelerated the rebirth of whole neighborhoods and affirmed the role that art plays in our lives. By Beth Dunlop- Miami Herald |
Desperately Seeking Denver: Searching for the true beating heart of our tough-to-pin-down hometown..."The problem," developer Mickey Zeppelin says, "is that Denver is just too comfortable. There's nothing to overcome here, thus there is no desire for greatness...when people are comfortable they don't take risks. They're not daring. They don't push the boundaries."- 5280 magazine (Denver) |
MIPIM Horizons: You really should be here: More UK firms should be attending the new MIPIM event for emerging markets: the amount of work on offer could be a lifeline- Building (UK) |
Op-Ed: A Higher Education: The narrow, politicized ivory towers of yesterday have been replaced by architecture schools that value diversity of thought and practice...I would encourage professionals to become engaged in an architecture school and discover the changes that have occurred in the past decade. By Lawrence W. Speck- Architect Magazine |
Old School, New School: Yale University: Gwathmey Siegel renovates and expands Paul Rudolph's legendary, controversial A&A building...The earnest and respectful restoration sadly misses several germane issues. By Joseph Giovannini [images]- Architect Magazine |
Design Vanguard 2008: annual list of 10 firms to watch...could they also represent the end of an era? -- Atelier Zhanglei; BRS Architectes; Cadaval & Solà-Morales; Cadaval & Solà-Morales; Gianni Botsford; Kuehn Malvezzi; MOS; Smiljan Radic; Makoto Tanijiri/Suppose Design Office; Urban A&O [images]- Architectural Record |
Libeskind's Green Dream: Architect discusses vision for Madison Square Park tower...would be the city’s tallest residential structure..."This is a building for the city’s future" [image, links to images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Jørn Utzon: "If you like an architect's work, you give him something to build, not a medal."...If Utzon had managed a sustained run of work exploring the themes that underpinned his work, he could genuinely have transformed the architectural landscape. By Deyan Sudjic- Guardian (UK) |
My memories of architect Jørn Utzon: Utzon's architecture, like the man himself, was something special - it's a tragedy he built so little...the man I met in Mallorca, was a delight...nothing like the difficult, stand-offish, stubborn architect I had expected. By Jonathan Glancey [links]- Guardian (UK) |
A 50-Year Battle to Save Old Ireland: Now celebrating its 50th year, the revived Irish Georgian Society has been credited with restoring dozens of architectural gems across Ireland...Saving Castletown, Ireland’s largest Palladian house was one of Desmond Guinness’s biggest victories. [slide show]- New York Times |
Empire on the Block: Archive of famed skyscraper to be auctioned...at the Wright auction house in Chicago on December 11...The items are being sold separately, so it is likely that they will be dispersed among multiple collectors. -- Shreve Lamb & Harmon [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Ed Bacon Foundation REBUILD | REVIVE National Student Design Competition winners; John O. Norquist, President and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), receives Award for Professional Excellence [links to images]- Ed Bacon Foundation |
WORDS THAT BUILD: Tip #9: Work with your clients' contradictions to discover possible solutions. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
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-- Jørn Utzon 1918 - 2008: "I think back on my life with my father with great joy and love. To be allowed to spend so much time together with such a remarkable man, father and architect, has been a great privilege indeed." -- Jan Utzon |
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