Today’s News - Monday, March 8, 2010
• ArcSpace brings us Hadid in Amman, Jordan.
• Layman takes on Gruber re: what "organic redevelopment" really means (and why it happens so rarely).
• A look at how the new federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities will roll out - with high hopes the DOT, EPA, and HUD will not "work at cross-purposes" and will stop "subsidizing sprawl."
• When organic growth isn't good: the relocation of an organic market "risks disrupting the local ecosystem" of a Minneapolis neighborhood.
• Long Island offers a template for taking back acres of asphalt, but "we don't have unlimited time to unpave parking lots and put up paradise."
• Iovine has high hopes that next step for the pedestrian plazas of Times and Herald Squares will be "something truly transformative" (it doesn't have to be Rome's Piazza Navona, but "epoxy gravel is hardly the stuff of inspiring design").
• It's "regrettable" that views of Memphis Airport's iconic terminal will have to be obscured by a new parking garage.
• Saffron on the need to add some pizzazz to Philly's Market East (but in city politics, does one had even know what the other is doing?).
• Strategies to green the Empire State Building were not of one-offs or "incredibly high-tech, expensive, or sexy," but they "allowed the do-gooders to communicate in a language that capital understands."
• Lerner on how new libraries are rejuvenating urban centers around the world (it's not all in the architecture).
• The Fort Worth Zoo's new Museum of Living Art highlights the beauty of some creepy crawly things.
• McMansions go modular "for the money-conscious Lexus set" (oh joy): they may be the future for some, but others see "another blot on the landscape threatening to multiply."
• OLIN talks landscape for the U.S. Embassy in London: it's "the opportunity to create a contemporary working landscape...truly American yet responsive to the context of London."
• A 28-year-old Egyptian architect making a "swift rise to the top."
• Incredible images of Rudolph homes just prior to demolition: "Warning: What you are about to see contains depictions of extreme violence."
• Hawthorne on Raimund Abraham, known "most of all, as a teacher who struck his students by turns as deeply passionate, gruff and quixotic" (with link to his final SCI-Arc lecture just prior to his death).
• Winners all: a Chilean firm takes Brit Insurance Architecture Award with social housing scheme in Mexico; and eyefuls of 3 winners and special mentions in eVolo's 2010 Skyscraper Competition (we doubt we'll be seeing any of them any time soon).
• Call for entries: 2010 Spark Design Awards, and ZweigWhite's 2010 Hot Firm List.
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Zaha Hadid Architects: King Abdullah II House of Culture & Art, Amman, Jordan |
Rolling out the new federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Getting high-quality input is critical to ensuring the three organizations “do not work at cross-purposes” and stop “subsidizing sprawl.” “We just need to get out of the way of smart growth.” -- Department of Transportation (DOT); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Organic redevelopment in the city: ...is more about adaptive reuse of extant places...without overarching design guidelines/smart code type requirements/focused commercial district revitalization programs, and of course having incredibly progressive developers and property owners, having organic development result in quantum improvements that are truly significant happens very rarely. By Richard Layman- Chicago Sun-Times |
When Growth Isn’t Good: The dangers of uprooting our “Home Trees”: ...Linden Hills Co-op...Moving nearly a mile away...may or may not be good for the tree, but displacement risks disrupting the local ecosystem from which it is being uprooted...we all need more local businesses...that are large enough to meet your needs, and small enough to meet your neighbors. By Eric Utne- Utne Reader |
Paved paradise? Asphalt becomes a developers’ best friend: In municipalities across the country, parking lots are getting reincarnated as everything from outdoor food markets to condos...in Long Island and elsewhere, growth waits for no strategic plan; we don't have unlimited time to unpave parking lots and put up paradise. By Lisa Selin Davis [links]- Grist Magazine |
Surface Improvements: Now that the plazas at Times and Herald squares are permanent, the next step is making them look worthy of the part...Epoxy gravel is hardly the stuff of inspiring design...Hopes remain high...the powers that be will make every effort to create something truly transformative for people. No one's expecting Rome's Piazza Navona, but someplace comfortable from which to watch the Naked Cowboy would be nice. By Julie V. Iovine -- Janette Sadik-Khan; Selldorf Architects; Snøhetta; Rogers Marvel; Thomas Phifer- Wall Street Journal |
With parking project, big change begins for Memphis airport skyline: "The regrettable thing was the size and position of the building, which for all practical purposes will obliterate the view of the terminal building itself." -- Roy Harrover (1963); Looney Ricks Kiss; Self Tucker Architects; Clark Dixon Associates- Commercial Appeal (Memphis) |
Putting pizzazz into Market East: ...shopping malls everywhere are fighting for their lives...Philadelphia finds itself stuck with an unattractive, underused box in the center of its downtown...The city is just waking up to the seriousness of the street's decline...The Gallery's blank walls are irresistible canvas for something eye-catching... By Inga Saffron -- Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Greening an Icon: The Empire State Building: An Economic Approach to Retrofits: ...using economics to push for greener alternatives has allowed the do-gooders to communicate in a language that capital understands...The improvements the team decided to pursue are not incredibly high-tech, expensive, or sexy. -- Clinton Climate Initiative; Johnson Controls; Jones Lang LaSalle; Rocky Mountain Institute [images, links]- New York Construction News |
New Libraries Revitalize Cities: New library complexes rejuvenate urban centers around the world by including theaters, shops, cafes, offices and even gyms. By Jonathan Lerner- Miller-McCune |
At Fort Worth Zoo, a world-class collection is given a world-class home: ...an architecturally significant and striking herpetarium for animals that have long lived in the shadows of the great apes, elephants and big cats...$19 million Museum of Living Art -- MOLA...opens to the public... -- Gideon Toal; CLR Design [images]- Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas) |
Mansions go modular as costs, timeline lure high-end buyers: ...the stigma of double-wides and flimsy suburban boxes is being blown away for the money-conscious Lexus set...Custom modular - it sounds like an oxymoron. But elite architects who've seen their business drop in the recession are teaming up with manufacturers across the country, designing lines of Georgians, Federals, Mediterraneans and more. [images]- Washington Post |
OLIN Part of Winning Design Team for U.S. Embassy in London: ...involved in three of four of the finalist proposals, including those of KieranTimberlake, Morphosis and Richard Meier..."the opportunity to create a contemporary working landscape...truly American yet responsive to the context of London."- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Laithy Mekawy [Architect]: ...attributes much of his swift rise to the top...to luck, but anyone who has seen his buildings, from Cairo to the North Coast, can see that he’s being modest. Few architects have had the opportunities that the 28-year-old has, but then few share his level of talent at such an early age. -- Laithy Architects- Egypt Today |
After You Left They Took It Apart: Warning: What you are about to see contains depictions of extreme violence...Chris Mottalini...captured what he calls “final portraits” of the three houses.., now demolished... -- Paul Rudolph [images]- ArchitectureBoston (Boston Society of Architects/BSA) |
Obituary: Raimund Abraham, Austrian-born architect, theorist and teacher, 76: ...Austrian Cultural Forum building in New York is among the most forceful architectural pieces of the last decade...With only a handful of completed projects to his credit...was well known in the profession as a theorist and, perhaps most of all, a teacher who struck his students by turns as deeply passionate, gruff and quixotic. By Christopher Hawthorne [link to SCI-Arc lecture]]- Los Angeles Times |
Brit Insurance Design Awards 2010: Architecture Award : Monterrey Housing, Mexico by ELEMENTAL, Chile [images, links]- Design Museum (UK) |
2010 Skyscraper Competition Winners: The Jury selected 3 winners and 27 special mentions among 430 entries from 42 countries. -- Chow Khoon Toong/Ong Tien Yee/Beh Ssi Cze (Malaysia); Rezza Rahdian/Erwin Setiawan/Ayu Diah Shanti/eonardus Chrisnantyo (Indonesia); Ryohei Koike/Jarod Poenisch (U.S.) [images]- eVolo Magazine |
Call for entries: 2010 Spark Design Awards; deadline: May 31, 2010- Spark |
Call for entries: The Zweig Letter 2010 Hot Firm List (U.S & Canada); deadline: May 3, 2010- ZweigWhite |
Book Review: "Design through Dialogue: A Guide for Clients and Architects," by Karen A. Franck and Teresa von Sommaruga Howard: A helpful communications primer offers...but as useful as this book proves, it leaves some uncomfortable questions about communication unaddressed. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
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