Today’s News - Monday, February 22, 2010
• ArcSpace brings us an eyeful of GRAFT's Hotel Q in Berlin (more than just linens are folded).
• Kamin takes a hard look at the stimulus package, one year later: "too much quick fix; too little long-term infrastructure" - it's time to start thinking about infrastructure in more than one dimension.
• Hume on NIMBYists and infrastructure: "successful cities will be those that figure out how to make the infrastructure part of the urban fabric" (making it beautiful would also help).
• It looks like a no-go (at any budget or with any design) for turning Auckland's Queens Wharf into "party central" for the Rugby World Cup.
• Can construction workers survive the recession? (some unusual survival strategies)
• The most important issue facing the future of green building is "performance slippage": life-cycle assessment (LCA) will be key.
• Ouroussoff cheers Maltzan's commitment to help uplift the poor with two projects that "are remarkable for their architectural sophistication and their spirit of public service."
• L.A.'s "infamous" Jordan Downs public housing complex in Watts has a new master plan.
• Campbell cheers the Brits as the only people who take architectural criticism to an extreme and actually demolish eyesores: "I'd like to see that kind of passion here."
• Moore is "mesmerized" by SANAA's Rolex Learning Center: the "spectacular, otherwordly" building is "a playground, a hippie utopia adapted for future masters of a technological universe."
• On the other hand, while Yale's new School of Management will most likely be approved, "the design is disappointingly unoriginal" and an "outsized monument to Foster + Partners" (ouch!).
• Not all are pleased with plans for "a multi-million pound makeover to "smarten up scruffy parts of east London" in time for the 2012 Olympics; two teams win High Street 2012 competition.
• Hawthorne cheers Field Operations' win of Santa Monica park project: "This qualifies as very good news for fans of ambitious landscape architecture."
• Ottawa narrows it down to five impressive teams competing for Lansdowne Park redesign.
• An in-depth profile of the Lords who have come to lord over planning cultural projects worldwide.
• An eyeful of Rockwell's second stage for Oscar night - there's sure to be "plenty of bling."
• An eyeful of Winnipeg's (wacky and/or wonderful) winter warming sheds along the longest skating trail in the world.
• An impressive list of 2010 Building Awards nominees.
• Call for entries: 2010 Genuine Design Scholarship: create a short Public Service Announcement re: genuine design and the problem of knock-offs; "Safe Trestles": design a train track crossing that makes it safe for surfers and the environment; Call for presentations: IALD Enlighten Americas 2010 conference.
| |
|
|
|
To subscribe to the free daily newsletter
click here
|
|
GRAFT: Hotel Q, Berlin, Germany |
Obama's stimulus package, one year later: Too much quick fix; too little long-term infrastructure...How to strike a better balance between short-term economic needs and long-term infrastructure goals?...The key is to do things wisely: To think about infrastructure in several dimensions rather than one... By Blair Kamin -- Ross Barney Architects; URS- Chicago Tribune |
Beauty has its uses: Leslieville residents rejected TTC plans for a streetcar yard in their neighbourhood. But could design change their minds?...the real debate should be about how to fit it into a mixed urban context and make a positive feature on the landscape...successful cities will be those that figure out how to make the infrastructure part of the urban fabric. By Christopher Hume- Toronto Star |
Mayors reject Queens Wharf funding plan: ...hopes for a Rugby World Cup "party central" on Auckland's Queens Wharf have been quashed...$97 million development...was rejected, and three other, cheaper plans for temporary structures also put on hold until a masterplan for the waterfront was developed... [images]- New Zealand Herald |
The Great Recession: Will Construction Workers Survive? Commercial construction workers are in a bind. Before, if work dried up in Boston or Seattle...would pack up and go to Las Vegas or Texas or Alaska. "Now there is no work anywhere"...work for realtors cleaning out foreclosed homes.- Time Magazine |
Could poorly performing projects kill green building? Owners and architects are less likely to use green-rating tools if upfront costs aren’t offset by operational savings...the marketplace is already taking steps to remedy the problems associated with performance slippage. By Mark Rossolo/Green Building Initiative- Daily Journal of Commerce (Oregon) |
Designed to Help Uplift the Poor: Michael Maltzan’s housing projects for the homeless and an arts complex for underprivileged children are remarkable for their architectural sophistication and their spirit of public service. By Nicolai Ouroussoff [images]- New York Times |
Downs Gets Up: Infamous LA housing project Jordan Downs to be remade as mixed-income neighborhood...public housing complex in Watts is a cold collection of repetitive and faceless brick buildings...new master plan...would tear down and replace the current facilities, create civic activity and economic opportunity, and connect the complex to the surrounding area. -- WRT Solomon E.T.C. [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Should this building be razed? Says who? When local taste meets aesthetic standards: Taking architectural criticism to an extreme...Bournemouth recently voted to...demolish the so-called Waterfront Leisure Complex...Are Brits the only people who take a sporting interest in architectural disaster?...I’d like to see that kind of passion here. By Robert Campbell- Boston Globe |
The Rolex Learning Centre, Lausanne: Our new critic admires the Japanese precision and flow of a spectacular, otherwordly campus building in Switzerland...The mesmerising building...a playground, a hippie utopia adapted for future masters of a technological universe...an astonishing place...for all its otherworldliness, reinstates your sense of yourself. By Rowan Moore -- Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA [images]- Guardian (UK) |
Op-Ed: Famed architect gives Yale disappointing design: ...new School of Management...There can be little doubt the board will approve it...It’s hard to imagine a design that would complement the neighborhood less than this one...the design is disappointingly unoriginal...more than anything else, the proposed building is an outsized monument to Foster + Partners. By David R. Cameron- New Haven Register (Connecticut) |
£3 million sculpture to hide Stratford eyesore: A controversial piece of public art is set to form the centrepiece of a multi-million pound makeover designed to smarten up scruffy parts of east London ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games...winners of the High Street 2012 competition -- Studio Egret West; Gross Max; Muf/JMP; East/Alan Baxter [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
High Line designer wins park job in Santa Monica: This qualifies as very good news for fans of ambitious landscape architecture...James Corner Field Operations beat out five other teams...the only one without an architecture firm attached. By Christopher Hawthorne- Los Angeles Times |
Five firms compete for Lansdowne Park redesign: Ottawa mayor lauds ‘world-class talent’ -- Michael Van Valkenburgh/Greenberg Consultants/Shim-Sutcliffe Architects/Harboe Architects/Uhlir Consulting/James Carpenter Design Associates; Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg/ Julian Smith/Stantec/Jill Anholt; SWA Group/Corush Sunderland Wright/The ARCOP Group/J.L. Richards & Associates/WESA (Ottawa)/Ned Kahn; West 8/Robertson Martin Architects; Williams, Asselin, Ackaou/Éclairage Public/Michel Dallaire/Les Architectes FABG/Vinci Consultants/Linda Covit- Ottawa Citizen (Canada) |
Marking the world: Saadiyat museum planners Gail and Barry Lord: ...the Toronto couple have shaped 1,700 institutions, including some of the world’s most beloved cultural centres. Their work has not only given them an unmatched vantage on the state of the modern museum...it has given them remarkable power to define it. -- Lord Cultural Resources- The National (UAE) |
A stage design fit for Oscar: This year's set at the Kodak Theatre harks back to Hollywood's heyday, with three presentation areas, plus plenty of bling. -- David Rockwell/Rockwell Group [slide show]- Los Angeles Times |
Architecture to warm you in ‘Winterpeg’: ...the longest skating trail in the world...along the Assiniboine River...unusual huts that resemble everything from a piece of crumpled aluminium foil to a giant orange orb suspended above the frozen river...heated structures will allow visitors to sit down and warm... -- Antoine Predock/Scatliff+Miller+Murray; Sputnik Architecture/Jon Pylypchuk; Richard Kroeker/Neil Forrest; Ewa Tarsia/5468796 Architecture [images]- Archiseek (Canada) |
2010 Building Awards nominees revealed -- Allford Hall Monghan Morris (AHMM); BDP; Edward Cullinan; Feilden Clegg Bradley; HLM Architects; Scott Brownrigg; Van Heyningen and Haward; Rick Mather; Foster + Partners; Mott MacDonald; The Apollo Group; Mace Group; Marks Barfield; Robert McAlpine; etc.- Building (UK) |
Call for entries: 2010 Genuine Design Scholarship: Create a short video in the form of a Public Service Announcement on the topic of genuine design and the problem of knock-offs; open to design students across the country; March 5, 2010- Genuine Design |
Call for entries: Safe Trestles: Design Competition to Create Safe, Low-Impact Access to Trestles at San Onofre State Beach...two-stage design competition to create a safe pathway...crossing active train tracks, help to restore wetlands, etc.; registration deadline: March 17, 2010- Open Architecture Network |
Call for presentations: IALD Enlighten Americas 2010 conference: DESIGN, (Oct. 7-9, Colorado); deadline: March 15, 2010- International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) |
|
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window.
External news links are not endorsed by ArchNewsNow.com.
Free registration may be required on some sites.
Some pages may expire after a few days.
© 2010 ArchNewsNow.com