Today’s News - Thursday, May 7, 2009
• McDonald cheers signs that Limerick is going in the right direction in terms of design, development, and public space (despite bad press and worse economy).
• It's 10-4 (a.k.a. gets planning permission) for Viñoly's Walkie Talkie tower (but will economy put a kink in the timetable?).
• Lewis makes the case for design competitions, especially for universities: they "can be a win-win experience, even for competitors who don't win."
• It must be so: LSE picks a shortlist of six for new student center.
• Merrick on the "architectural feeding frenzy" for Glasgow School of Art students' building (though his numbers are off: more than 150 entries - not 9,000 - include Pritzker winners, foreigners); Finch promises a cultural commission "untainted by either nationalist politics or royal interference" (time will tell).
• University of Greenwich hopes for the same with a competition for new £60 million school of architecture in south London.
• Meanwhile, a landscape architect calls for more attention to the spaces in between: "too often colleges overlook the influential role that campus landscape can play."
• Fresh hurdles loom for Moynihan Station plans: proving to be "a textbook case of the inability to execute large-scale public projects in New York City."
• Saffron cheers deadline extension for designing Philadelphia's South Street Bridge to allow time to add actual design to the plans (what a concept!).
• Farrelly fumes over plans to duplicate an uninspired bridge instead of considering "a serious alternative of such blinding simplicity" that would be "cheaper, quicker, cleaner, prettier, more heritage-minded, more intelligent proposal" than a "dumb doppelganger."
• Depressing trend? Developer in California demolishes built/partially built homes in new housing development (it's happening elsewhere as well).
• Hopefully, things will be better for new low-carbon home development in the U.K.
• Blum plumbs NYC's new tourist office and likes what he sees: "This isn't Ye Olde New-York visitors' center."
• Kamin calls for preservationists to back off trying to save squat Mies box on IIT campus: it is "utterly dispensable": and there are more important preservation battles to deal with.
• Flight 93 Memorial update: government has to resort to land condemnation to get property for memorial in Pennsylvania.
• OWP/P merging with Cannon Design.
• The new dean of University of California, Berkeley's College of Environmental Design has some big plans.
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Limerick changing for the better, building for the future: Despite its repeated bad press, there are signs that Limerick is going in the right direction in terms of design, development and public space. By Frank McDonald -- Murray O'Laoire; Nicholas de Jong; Wilkinson Eyre/Arup [images]- Irish Times |
Viñoly's Walkie Talkie tower gets planning permission, but recession casts doubt on timetable...Committee members welcomed the redesigned building...conservation groups, including the City Heritage Society and Historic Royal Palaces, objected to the proposals on the grounds of scale and design.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
The Case for Architectural-Design Competitions:...a design competition can produce exceptional architecture that might not otherwise result from conventional procurement methods...Yet design competitions can be problematic and risky...Carried out properly, a design competition can be a win-win experience, even for competitors who don't win. By Roger K. Lewis- The Chronicle of Higher Education |
Six shortlisted for £21.5m LSE students centre: ...a prestigious £21.5 million project for the London School of Economics. -- O'Donnell & Tuomey; Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM); de Rijke Marsh Morgan (dRMM); David Chipperfield; Feilden Clegg Bradley; 3XN- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Glasgow's big 'Mac' in architectural feeding frenzy: Big-hitting names from the world of architecture...are expected to put designs forward for the new Glasgow School of Art students' building...Paul Finch...described the competition as an opportunity for architects to win a major cultural commission in Scotland untainted by either nationalist politics or royal interference. By Jay Merrick- Independent (UK) |
University of Greenwich launches contest for new £60 million school of architecture and construction building in Greenwich town centre, south London- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
The Power of Place on Campus: ...too often colleges overlook the influential role that campus landscape can play...First, university officials must identify spaces that have great power and importance to the campus community. By Earl Broussard/TBG Partners- The Chronicle of Higher Education |
World Trade Center Derailing Moynihan Station? Plans to expand Pennsylvania Station...face fresh hurdles, as a new cost estimate for the project...leaves a funding gap of up to $1 billion...In the works since...1992, the planned station has proved repeatedly to be a textbook case of the inability to execute large-scale public projects in New York City.- New York Observer |
Deadline extended for bridge design: After declaring...that they were ending an effort to design architectural elements for the new South Street Bridge, Philadelphia officials reversed course...becoming clear that the Art Commission might reject the rendering of the stripped-down version... By Inga Saffron -- Gannett Fleming; H2L2 [image]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Whiff of mystery is hanging over Iron Cove: Having practised on the Alfords Point Bridge, Georges River, the RTA mob now wants to duplicate that duplication at Iron Cove...One native, architect Michael Morrisey, sketched a quick alternative...a serious alternative of such blinding simplicity...Why knowingly ignore a cheaper, quicker, cleaner, prettier, more heritage-minded, more intelligent proposal for the dumb doppleganger? By Elizabeth Farrelly- Sydney Morning Herald |
No Sale: Bank Wrecks New Houses: A Texas bank is about done demolishing 16 new and partially built houses acquired in Southern California through foreclosure, figuring it was better to knock them down than to try selling them in the depressed housing market...to provide a "safe environment" for neighbors of the abandoned housing tract...- Wall Street Journal |
Portland green housing scheme goes in for planning: HTA-designed development will have 77 new low-carbon homes at Osprey Quay, of which 23 will be affordable [images]- Building (UK) |
The Big Apple Store: New York tourism gets a 21st-century interface: ...the city’s new official tourist office, in a storefront at the northern edge of Times Square. This isn’t Ye Olde New-York visitors’ center... By Andrew Blum -- Local Projects; WXY Architecture + Urban Design [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
One Mies building on IIT campus can go: Squat brick building isn't his best work, and preservationists need to fight other battles...Mediocre buildings by world-class architects sometimes have to make way for pieces of civic infrastructure that uplift the community as a whole...advocates are vastly overstating the merits of a building that is utterly dispensable. By Blair Kamin -- Mies van der Rohe; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Dirk Lohan [images]- Chicago Tribune |
Government to Condemn Land for Flight 93 Memorial: US to resort to land condemnation to get property for memorial in Pennsylvania (AP)- ABC News (US) |
Chicago design firm OWP/P merging with Cannon Design of New York: The deal would make it the nation's 11th largest architectural firm. By Blair Kamin- Chicago Tribune |
The New Dean: USC's Jennifer Wolch To Lead University of California, Berkeley's College of Environmental Design..."Given all the challenges around climate change and sustainability and questions of globalization, poverty, public health and social justice, we now realize just how urgent it is to address these issues."- The Architect's Newspaper |
WORDS THAT BUILD: Tip #14: Cluster symbolic and mythically-charged keywords in communication with clients. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
Stylish Stacking: Shipping containers will jump off the rails to form an innovative multifamily apartment complex near a Salt Lake City commuter rail station. -- Group 41 [images]- ArchNewsNow |
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-- KK Letter: From Graz, Austria to Ljubljana, Slovenia
-- Design Hotel: Augartenhotel, Graz, Austria |
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