Today’s News - Wednesday, May 12, 2010
• Western media has it wrong when it comes to China's dilemma over urban regeneration: it's not all cultural destruction and forced evictions; some real strides are being made (a fascinating read).
• Hume x 2: a double-fume over Toronto's dysfunctional city planning system (no wonder Greenberg quit, now the Waterfront Design Review Panel might resign, too).
• NYC's chief city planner Amanda Burden gets the Vanity Fair treatment - hail to the re-zoning czar, waste-management expert, and birdcall imitator (maybe she could help Toronto?).
• Russell hails Germany's approach to conservation and renewable energy: "Americans are left to pray that global warming is a fraud, energy prices won't skyrocket, and drilling will be the answer."
• Centre Pompidou-Metz x 2: its "appearance might be hard to describe, but its ambitions are not"; but can it rise to greatness and does it have a purpose?
• Neutra's Cyclorama gets a reprieve, but its future is not (yet) secure.
• A Fort Worth architect calls for finding a balance "between historic precedent and necessary changes required to put historic buildings back into productive use."
• Kamin reports on Chicago's recent "request" that architects and engineers reduce fees by 10% (needless to say, there are fervent protests).
• Libeskind tapped to design Jewish Museum Berlin Academy.
• Eisenman criticizes contemporary architecture - and blames digital and sustainable architecture.
• A Filipino architect says it might take some time before green architecture becomes widespread in the Philippines - but there is hope on the horizon.
• University of Kansas's Studio 804 "is not your usual tippy-tappy studio" (now all it needs is to make a sale).
• 2010 Next Generation winner creates a bioengineered brick that's grown, not baked, "a testament to the value of an architect who knows her way around a microscope."
• Quebec design community launches Mission Design with the aim "to make design a real economic force that will act as an driver for the development."
• Tel Aviv's 2,000-acre landfill-to-park projects moves ahead.
• Call for entries: Canada's Design Exchange Awards.
• We couldn't resist: an eyeful of North Korea's Shanghai Expo pavilion: "Pesticides and agricultural products so good, they deserve to be behind glass."
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Beijing agonizes over urban regeneration: Western media has made the usual accusations of cultural destruction and forced evictions, but the reality is more complex...Gulou and Caochangdi exemplify the fundamental socio-economic dilemma facing strategists and urban planners throughout modern China: how to modernize the urban environment while preserving its physical and emotional essence.- Asia Times |
City to tweak waterfront sport complex plan: Responding to a storm of criticism...Toronto mayor now says city staff members are prepared to “tinker” with the project. Tinker?...sports complex has emerged as a metaphor for all that’s wrong...with planning in general; the lack of vision, the fear of thinking big, of being bold and holding out for what’s best. By Christopher Hume -- Ken Greenberg- Toronto Star |
How Toronto plans for failure: A lot of cities take urban planning seriously but Toronto isn't one of them...Ken Greenberg...served as director of Toronto’s urban design department from 1977 to ’87, also despairs at what he sees here now. “We have an extremely dysfunctional system"... By Christopher Hume- Toronto Star |
Princess of the City: New York City power broker Amanda Burden is sometimes labeled a socialite. Try re-zoning czar, waste-management expert, or birdcall imitator instead.- Vanity Fair |
As Oil Slick Spreads, German Bank, Unilever Harvest Sun, Wind: Germany’s approach to conservation and renewable energy urgently deserves a closer look...benefits from refining green technologies and pushing them into the market. Americans are left to pray that global warming is a fraud, energy prices won’t skyrocket, and drilling - as in the Gulf of Mexico - will be the answer. By James S. Russell -- Behnisch Architekten; Sauerbruch Hutton- Bloomberg News |
Art Under the 'Chinese Hat': The Lofty Ambitions of the New Centre Pompidou-Metz: The appearance might be hard to describe, but its ambitions are not...is destined to become the emblem of Lorraine's tiny metropolis, an architectural attraction and a symbol of economic change in northeastern France. -- Shigeru Ban; Jean de Gastines [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
A Masterful Debut, but Can It Rise to Greatness? In the age of starchitects, a building must make a statement even bigger sometimes than the art inside...aesthetics be damned...have succeeded in making a statement...The unanswered question is what Pompidou-Metz will actually become...does this museum have a purpose? -- Shigeru Ban; Jean de Gastines,- New York Times |
Persevering preservationists: Cyclorama Building gets a reprieve: ...hopes the ruling will end of years of litigation and launch a discussion on how to preserve the building..."Despite this favorable ruling, the future of the building is not secure." -- Richard Neutra; Robert Alexander; Dion Neutra [images, links]- The Hook (Virginia) |
Op-Ed: Preserving Fort Worth’s past while building our future: Part of being a responsible preservationist is to understand the world changes and there must be a balance between historic precedent and necessary changes required to put historic buildings back into productive use. By Lee Hill/Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford Architects- Fort Worth Business Press (Texas) |
Architects, engineers, road builders protesting city's 'request' to cut fees: ...protesting the City of Chicago's recent "request" that they reduce fees on existing contracts by 10 percent, saying it will lead to further job cuts. By Blair Kamin- Chicago Tribune |
Daniel Libeskind to design Jewish Museum Berlin Academy on the site of the former Berlin Flower Market (Blumengrossmarkt)..."a fascinating new building ensemble will emerge" [images]- e-architect (UK) |
Longing for the impossible: Peter Eisenman...is critical of contemporary architecture..."We don't have any new paradigms, new social ideas, political ideas. And I think digital architecture, as well as sustainable architecture, is to blame for that." By Efrat Neuman- Ha`aretz (Israel) |
Color him green: Despite the gradual acceptance of green architecture in the Philippines, architect John David O’Yek admits that it might still take some time before it becomes widespread...But there is hope on the horizon.- Manila Bulletin (Philippines) |
University of Kansas's student architects have built another amazing property, but they need to sell it - now: "This is not your usual tippy-tappy studio. We kick ass here."...Studio 804 is more than a class. It's a business. And it needs a sale to get back in the black. -- Dan Rockhill- The Pitch (Kansas City) |
The Better Brick: 2010 Next Generation Winner: ...a bioengineered brick, conceived by a young American architect - may be modest in physical scale, but it has the potential for global impact...proposes a radical alternative: don’t bake the brick; grow it...a testament to the value of an architect who knows her way around a microscope. -- Ginger Krieg Dosier [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
Mission Design - Bringing together design and economic development in Quebec: the first organization to highlight the design professions and be a true voice for this industry...“We want to make design a real economic force that will act as an driver for the development"- v2com (Montreal) |
Tel Aviv's landfill-to-park projects gets permit: ...will cover 8,000 dunam (2,000 acres) when completed... -- Peter Latz; Moria Sekely Landscape Architects; Braudo Maoz Landscape Architecture- Globes (Israel) |
Call for entries: Design Exchange Awards: only award program to judge design by results, balancing function, aesthetics, and economic success (Canada only); deadline: July 1- DX/Design Exchange (Toronto) |
Touring The "Axis Of Evil" In Shanghai: North Korea: The Tower of Juche Idea: Paradise For People. Except those who are hungry all the time...Pesticides and agricultural products so good, they deserve to be behind glass. [slide show]- Popular Science |
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Exhibition: "Feelings are facts": Olafur Eliasson & Ma Yansong, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing, China |
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