Today’s News - Tuesday, March 10, 2009
• Is "well-designed green architecture" an oxymoron? Why green architecture is like Ford's Edsel: "It looks like the future, but it doesn't look good."
• Architects and clients weigh the pro's and con's of LEED.
• European starchitects envision a green future for Paris.
• King revisits California Tomorrow's archives from the 1960s-1980s: a "chance to reflect on what has - and hasn't - changed" (growth issues remain the same).
• A healthy summarization of Krieger and Saunders' "Urban Design," a new book that tackles the key issues in contemporary urban design.
• What's in store for OMA's fire-damaged Mandarin Oriental in Beijing: could it be rebuilt - some say yes; would anybody stay there - some say no (pix are almost painful).
• Time running out for Hanoi's Old Quarter (talk about red tape and Catch 22's!).
• Saffron on Philadelphia's "oldest established permanent floating slots game": perhaps a landmarked building "offers a new set of possibilities for the city" (secrecy aside).
• Kamin gives (mostly) thumbs-up to Lagrange's "lively but not gaudy" casino that gets "both the basics and the spectacle right."
• Rochon applauds the "cinematic architecture" of Saucier + Perrotte's Les Bains Vieux-Montréal.
• Five tries is a charm: Apple finally wins approval for new store in historic Georgetown: the story through pictures.
• Ian Simpson wins National Wildflower Centre with a "powerful Fibonacci generated spiral solution."
• A young Minneapolis architect finds meaning - and frustration - in New Orleans.
• Bayley finds Corbu's cabanon "far from being a sinister and soul-less machine à habiter"; and Glancey offers a video tour.
• Emerging Voices 2009: 8 young firms from around the world step up an important rung on the ladder of architectural prestige.
• We couldn't resist: FLW's Fawcett House up for sale (even if you don't have $2.7 million, the slide show is worth the trip).
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Green Building Blues: Is "well-designed green architecture" an oxymoron? The field of architecture is experiencing a design crisis, with clients...demanding that architects prioritize sustainability above all else - as if design itself were an obnoxious carbon-emitter...As a result, much green architecture...looks like the future, but it doesn't look good. -- Arthur Erickson; James Wines; Shuhei Endo; Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner; etc.- The American Prospect |
Industry weighs pros, cons of LEED projects: Proponents say it is important to have a respected green ratings system...But the additional cost and time associated with going through the LEED process is not worth it for all clients. -- TSP; JLG Architects; Stahl Architects; Perkins + Will; Shultz & AssociatesRitterbush-Ellig-Hulsing- Prairie Business Magazine (North Dakota) |
Top architects unveil vision for Paris of the future: ...10 teams of architects and urban planners to imagine a "Grand Paris" that would be among the world's most environmentally-friendly and boldly designed capitals. -- Richard Rogers; Jean Nouvel; Christian de Portzamparc; Roland Castro; Antoine Grumbach; Groupe Descartes; Bernardo Secchi- AFP |
Times change - California growth issues don't: California Tomorrow entered the public eye in 1962 with a broadside titled "California, Going, Going ..." that warned "the challenge of growth ... has reached emergency proportions."...California Historical Society has catalogued the small organization's files from 1961 to 1983...a chance to reflect on what has - and hasn't - changed... By John King -- Alfred Heller; Samuel Wood [links]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Being Urban Minded: Three Current Debates Around Urban Design Practice: 'Urban design' is still a relatively new discipline, a nexus of urban planning, architecture, and increasingly, landscape architecture. Alex Krieger and William S. Saunders have edited a new book that tackles the key issues in contemporary urban design, summarized here.- PLANetizen |
Still Standing: Future unclear for OMA's fire-damaged TVCC: Would the 141-room Mandarin Oriental hotel be rebuilt? ...would anyone stay if it were? What about the insurance money? But above all else, the question was not would Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren’s 522-foot tower be rebuilt, but could it even be done? -- Office for Metropolitan Architecture [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Time running out for Hanoi’s Old Quarter: Preservation work in the capital’s oldest section is often held up by obstacles like red tape and lack of funds, leaving residents trapped in century-old buildings falling into ruin. -- Nguyen Thi Hoa; Hoang Thuc Hao/1+1>2 Group [images]- Viet Nam News |
Betting on Strawbridge: Foxwoods has become the oldest established permanent floating slots game in Philadelphia...eyeing the historic Strawbridge & Clothier building...has yet to show...a single architectural drawing of what its gaming hall might look like. Officials aren't even certain which architecture firm the company is using...Apart from [the] secrecy...the location offers a new set of possibilities for the city. By Inga Saffron -- EE&K Architects [image]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Learning from Lagrange: His new casino hotel does right by the basics - and the spectacle...deftly weaves a new hotel tower, event center and entrance canopy into a visually humdrum casino complex, was form-follows-fantasy escapism, not form-follows-function realism...The outcome is lively but not gaudy... By Blair Kamin -- Lucien Lagrange [images]- Chicago Tribune |
Full steam ahead for an ancient cleansing ritual: Les Bains Vieux-Montréal: A 19th-century warehouse becomes a place of contemplation...drowns conventional spa design, leading us instead into an interior that pushes us back into our minds...cinematic architecture... By Lisa Rochon -- Saucier + Perrotte architectes- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
Apple’s first D.C. store: Design by committee: It took five tries - and four redesigns – but Apple finally won approval...designed to echo the architectural features of the city’s historic Georgetown neighborhood...enthusiastically embraced...the story through pictures... -- Bohlin Cywinski Jackson [images, links]- CNN |
Ian Simpson wins National Wildflower Centre: ...a new ‘architecturally striking’ complex in Knowsley...a "powerful Fibonacci generated spiral solution..." [image]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
'Idealist' makes a home in New Orleans: A young Minneapolis architect found meaning -- and frustration -- in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: There's a new breed of activist architects.
By Linda Mack -- John Dwyer/Shelter Architecture; Architecture for Humanity- Minneapolis Star Tribune |
Wherever Le Corbusier lays his hut...The only building the modernist master made for himself was a primitive log cabin – the inside was pretty impressive though. By Stephen Bayley + Jonathan Glancey steps inside Le Corbusier's reconstructed summer cabin [video]- Guardian (UK) |
Emerging Voices 2009: Now in its 26th year, the Architectural League’s program is an important rung on the ladder of American architectural prestige. -- Andrew Berman Architect; LevenBetts; Dellekamp arquitectos; A-I-R; Hutchinson & Maul Architecture; Coen + Partners; Gray Organschi Architecture; at103 [images, links]- The Architect's Newspaper |
A rare chance to buy a Frank Lloyd Wright house: The price tag alone - $2.7 million for a roughly 3,700-square-foot home in Los Banos - is likely to eliminate anyone who isn't a full-fledged architecture buff...Fawcett House "requires a lot of love and maintenance. We just want to see it get to somebody who really loves it..." [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
WORDS THAT BUILD: Taking Advantage of Interruptions in Architectural Communication: Tip #12: Cogent communicators exploit opportunities offered by interruptions. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
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GRAFT Architects: Dental Clinic KU64 and Kinderdentist, Berlin, Germany |
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