Today’s News - Wednesday, February 17, 2010
• A dressing down of starchitects who "feel able to design abominable" buildings, and "expect the rest of us to be admiring, deferential and grateful" (specifically Libeskind in Dresden and Hadid in Oxford - ouch!).
• Ditto for Canadian architects designing "technological dinosaurs" and missing opportunities being filled by others: the "profession has marginalized itself with its passive stance."
• A new report warns London's 2012 Olympics "may not leave its promised legacy of regeneration" (perhaps a study trip to Vancouver would help).
• Lubell is a bit kinder than Hawthorne was to L.A. Live's new hotel/condo tower: it's overall aesthetic may not be "earth-shattering," but it's still "a major step forward for an urban project that has been sorely lacking in innovative design and urbanism."
• An infusion of big bucks for NYC's Moynihan Station plans (remember those?), but its future is still "murky" (bless the transit advocates who are trying to stay optimistic - so are we).
• H&deM tapped for a residential project in Beirut with hopes it will "raise the bar in terms of quality architecture and community development."
• Baghdad names a winner in a competition to develop an area surrounding shrines in Al Kadhimiya that is "sensitive to area's historical, cultural and social character."
• An impressive shortlist to reinvent Toronto's St. Lawrence Market North building.
• Potential work for green designers? Ford to offer dealerships a sustainability program to help them become more energy-efficient.
• Discovering the mystery of the tent-roofed cube house, the "most characteristic countryside building type of 20th century Hungary."
• Glancey offers a glowing (but bitter-sweet) tribute to Eduardo Catalano: the ghost of his house in Raleigh "lives on to haunt the architectural imagination."
• Mark your calendars: this Saturday is 20x20 Pecha Kucha Haiti fundraiser in 200+ cities around the world (check listings - some cities are doing it on different dates).
• Szenasy challenges design competitions to get beyond awarding prizes based on pretty pictures: it's "a hopelessly outdated approach" that "does a disservice to everyone."
• Winners all (pretty pictures included): 4th Annual Smart Environment Awards for "for intimate spaces that are not just inspirational but humane"; Travel + Leisure's Design Awards 2010 (Motel 6 among 'em!); and UPTO35 winner is a "bold scheme" for student-housing in the historic center of Athens.
• Call for entries: UNESCO poster to celebrate "2010, International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures."
• We couldn't resist: some really amazing 3D pavement art (part deux).
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Architects should please the public, not spite them: New projects by Daniel Libeskind and Zaha Hadid show the pleasures and pitfalls of modern architecture...The trouble with architects who get a reputation for the odd entertaining building is that they then feel able to design abominable ones, shove them wherever they like, and expect the rest of us to be admiring, deferential and grateful. By Simon Heffer- Telegraph (UK) |
The Many Failures Of Canadian Architecture: So many of the buildings in this country are technological dinosaurs. Where is the innovation and sustainable design? ...many opportunities for design and technical innovation have been lost...filled by...project managers, engineers, specialized consultants, etc. The architecture profession has marginalized itself with its passive stance. By Graham Livesey, Associate Dean, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary- The Mark (Canada) |
2012 Olympics may fail to regenerate east London, report warns: ...may not leave its promised legacy of regeneration...London Assembly’s..."Legacy Limited?" assessed the challenges faced by the Olympic Park Legacy Company..."Time is running out and we are in real danger of missing a historic opportunity..." [link to report]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
In Detail: JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton: Gensler's tapering, glass-mosaic tower marks a milestone for L.A. Live...It’s not a groundbreaking list of green features, and the overall aesthetic...while dynamic, is not earth-shattering. Still, the tower is a major step forward for...an urban project that has been sorely lacking in innovative design and urbanism. By Sam Lubell [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Money for Moynihan Station, but Future’s Still Murky: ...long-delayed plan to build a grand annex to Pennsylvania Station...received $83.3 million in federal stimulus funds...final piece of financing needed for the project’s first phase...various agencies involved in the project suggested a more uncertain path.- New York Times |
Benchmark Development commissions Beijing National Stadium architects for project in Beirut: ...to head the architectural design of a residential project...Beirut Terraces...expected to raise the bar in terms of quality architecture and community development... -- Herzog & de Meuron- AME Info (United Arab Emirates/UAE) |
Dewan Architects & Engineers creates winning design in Baghdad Municipality contest: UAE firm to develop area surrounding shrines in Al Kadhimiya...judged “most comprehensive, aesthetically pleasing and sensitive to area’s historical, cultural and social character” [image]- Eye Of Dubai |
Five Teams Vying To Reinvent Toronto’s Birthplace: ...plans to replace the utilitarian St. Lawrence Market North building with a new multi-storey structure... -- Adamson Associates Architects/Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners; Cohos Evamy + Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects; Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg (KPMB); NORR; Taylor Hazell Architects/Montgomery Sisam Architects- CityNews (Canada) |
Ford Gives Dealerships a Blueprint for Sustainability: ...to help dealers become more energy-efficient...program developed in a partnership with the Rocky Mountain Institute...- Fast Company |
Revealing the Mystery of the Tent-roofed Cube House: ...the most characteristic countryside building type of 20th century Hungary...a contradiction in terms...representing individual will, unconciously contradicting authority of the regime, still resulting in "standard" shape, a mass product of socialist utopia, condemned by many - same then as today. [images]- hg.hu (Hungary) |
Eduardo Catalano: Inventive Argentinian architect and teacher whose work was eye-openingly modern...Diller Scofidio + Renfro have been rebuilding the Juilliard school of music and the Alice Tully hall...designed by Catalano with Pietro Belluschi. The legacy of this inventive designer and inspired teacher may be in safe – or at least, imaginative – hands. The ghost of the Catalano House in Raleigh lives on to haunt the architectural imagination. By Jonathan Glancey- Guardian (UK) |
20x20 Pecha Kucha Haiti: ...on February 20, some 280 cities across the globe...will join together to try and raise $1 million... [links]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Beyond the Beauty Shot: Awards based on pretty pictures alone do a disservice to everyone...a hopelessly outdated approach at a time when designers are struggling with environmental, social, and materials choices to make our rooms healthy and safe as well as to reduce our carbon footprints. By Susan S. Szenasy- Metropolis Magazine |
Fourth Annual Smart Environment Awards: This year’s winners paired clever interior design with the latest green technology for intimate spaces that are not just inspirational but humane. -- CCS Architecture; Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (ZGF); Hopkins Architects/Centerbrook Architects and Planners [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
T+L Design Awards 2010: Design and architecture shape every facet of the travel experience, from hotels and museums to train stations, restaurants, and luggage. -- Jacques Garcia; Santiago Calatrava; Marcel Wanders; David Chipperfield; Laurent and Pascal Grasso; Jensen & Skodvin Architects; Priestmangoode; Toyo Ito; Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa/sanaa [slide show]- Travel + Leisure |
UPTO35 architecture competition: The bold scheme involved a two-stage architecture competition for the design and later construction of a model student-housing complex in the historic centre of Athens...João Prates Ruivo & Raquel Maria Oliveira, and their proposal 18 Steps, as the recipients of the first prize. [link to images]- Wallpaper* |
Call for entries: Culture Counts: UNESCO poster competition: Create the poster that celebrates “2010, International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures"; cash prize + trip to Paris; deadline: March 9, 2010- DESIGN 21: Social Design Network |
Portsmouth - 3D pavement art, part two [slide show]- Telegraph (UK) |
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Exhibition: Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle: "Gravity is a Force to be Reckoned With," MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA...a half-scale, inverted version of Mies van der Rohe's uncompleted 50x50 House (1951) |
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