Today’s News - Friday, June 4, 2010
• We are so saddened by the news that we've lost David Dillon, an eloquent critical voice in architecture.
• Oates goes in search of a green urbanism for the not-rich: transit, humanely structured density, and public space "do not have to be postponed until the penthouses are all filled."
• An in-depth, multi-media profile of the Rural Studio where students learn - and practice - the "architecture of decency."
• Five young architects transform an abandoned Detroit house into "their very own lab rat."
• What's the secret to reviving abandoned urban parks? (lots of history here)
• Chandigarh, India, gets serious about saving its Corbusian heritage.
• Unitsky's String Transport Systems could turn out to be a low cost, low impact, high speed transport alternative (if only there weren't so many if's).
• An eyeful of the Beyond the Hive competition shortlist: the 5 five-star hotels for bugs will be built.
• Weekend diversions:
• Last chance to see "The Bilbao Effect" and "The Glass House": two plays that "present - and then undercut - the persona of the uncompromising visionary who dreams up buildings."
• Arieff on why Cooper-Hewitt's "Why Design Now?" is so important: it shows the design community "some of it, anyway - has realized the need to stop reinventing the chair."
• Iovine gives a thumbs-up to Arch League's "The City We Imagined/The City We Made" thanks "to the clarity and elegance of the presentation" + how the New New York Photography Corps actually pulled it off (great slide show).
• The Göteborg City Museum hosts "Super Sustainable City" (great website here).
• Sydney's Vivid LIVE bathes the city's iconic buildings in light and sound (terrific slide shows!).
• Page turners: "Rematerial: From Waste to Architecture" spotlights young upstarts and notable names who are reusing waste for architecture (great slide show here, too).
• Five new tomes no Frankophile (as in FLW) library should be without.
• Iovine says the new edition of the "AIA Guide to New York City" is "perhaps the finest-grained study of New York's built environment that exists" (we concur!).
• Miami puts out two "meticulously documented, tidily organized and richly illustrated guidebooks" (just in time for AIA convention next week): "Inclusion doesn't necessarily mean it's a great building."
• And a new guidebook to "Vancouver's brave new architecture" (some mediocrity included).
• Paige Rense retires (gasp!): an amusingly written shortlist of who could take over Arch Digest.
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Obituary: David Dillon, longtime Dallas Morning News architecture critic, 68: ...combined architectural knowledge with flair for writing... Never one to shy away from controversy...But he was warm in his praise of honest design...- Dallas Morning News |
Eco City Dreaming: In search of a green urbanism for the not-rich...How can green cities offer an environmentalism for the coming century, if they depend on crumbs from business-as-usual real-estatery? Transit, humanely structured density, public space: planning for people...do not have to be left to trickle-down Green Urbanism. They do not have to be postponed until the penthouses are all filled. By David Oates -- Dennis Wilde; Gil Peñalosa- Orion magazine |
An Architecture of Decency: The Rural Studio in western Alabama draws architectural students...creating beautiful and economical structures that are unique in the world - and that nurture sustainability of the natural world as of human dignity. -- Andrew Freear [images, audio, etc.]- American Public Media (public radio) |
Young Architects Buy Detroit Home for $500, Turn It into Design Lab: The Motor City has 33,529 vacant houses....that's 33,529 reasons to wring its hands over What To Do About Detroit. To architects, it's a gold mine...transformed an abandoned house...into their very own lab rat. -- Thomas Moran; Meredith Miller; Ellie Abrons; Rosalyne Shieh; Catie Newell [images, links]- Fast Company |
Breaking the Silence: What’s the secret to reviving abandoned urban parks? In the middle of the 20th century, cities became more interested in building fast, efficient ways for their citizens to escape to the suburbs than in offering reasons to stay...The result was disinvestment in cities themselves and the parks within them. -- Frederick Law Olmsted; George Aloysius Frederick; Howard Daniels [images]- Urbanite Baltimore |
Expert committee formed to preserve architectural heritage of Chandigarh: ...members are eminent professionals who have professional expertise, in-depth knowledge and sensitivity to the planning concepts of Chandigarh and Le Corbusier’s philosophy.- Punjab Newsline (India) |
String Rail - a low cost, low impact, high speed transport alternative: ...Anatoly Unitsky's String Transport Systems look like they've got so much potential...first started developing the UST system in 1977...[images, videos]- Gizmag (Australia) |
Arup Associates shortlisted to design a five-star hotel for insects: ...5 shortlisted projects will now be built...Beyond the Hive competition...sought proposals for an ecologically sustainable and creative insect habitat. -- Brookfield Europe; Fisher Tomlin; Metalanguage Design; German Women in Property [images, link to details]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Throwing Stones at Builders’ Crass Houses: Two new dramas present - and then undercut - the persona of the uncompromising visionary who dreams up buildings...“The Bilbao Effect” by Oren Safdie and “The Glass House” by June Finfer- New York Times |
The Way We Design Now: ...most design efforts these days...seem to be very much the product of teams. Coming off an era where designers assumed the role of artist/auteur, that’s a big shift.
Design now exists less to shape objects than to produce solutions...“Why Design Now?” [at Cooper-Hewitt] is an important show because design is in a strange place...design community — some of it, anyway — has realized the need to stop reinventing the chair. By Allison Arieff- New York Times |
A Decade of Constructive Criticism: "The City We Imagined/The City We Made: New New York, 2001-2010"...Designed on the cheap...with little more than paper, cardboard liners and rubber cement...dry-sounding statistics actually read more like a page-turner thanks to the clarity and elegance of the presentation... By Julie V. Iovine -- Moorehead & Moorehead- Wall Street Journal |
Here Is New York: Architectural League's photo corps capture changing city..."The City We Imagined/The City We Made: New New York 2001–2010"...took nearly 100 photographers, six months, and more than 4,500 images to get a grip on the five boroughs. [slide show]- The Architect's Newspaper |
"Super Sustainable City": ...exhibition for a sustainable Gothenburg...at the Göteborg City Museum through August 15...gives us a glimpse of a possible sustainable future. -- Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture [images, videos]- Super Sustainable City |
"Lighting the Sails" co-curated by Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed as part of Vivid LIVE...Some of Sydney’s iconic city buildings are bathed in light and sound...along Macquarie Street and on the Sydney Opera House sails every night until June 20. [slide shows]- Sydney Morning Herald |
"Rematerial: From Waste to Architecture" by Alejandro Bahamon & Maria Camila Sanjines: ...spotlights an emerging movement fundamental to the environmental debate: the reuse of waste for architecture...the quest to breathe new life into something that has been discarded. -- Estudio Beldarrain; Juan Manuel Casillas Pintor; Luis M. Mansilla/Emilio Tuñón; Rural Studio (Andrew Frear, Amy Green Bullington, Stephen Long); REFUNC.NL/Denis Oudendijk, Jan Körbes, Mantas Lesauskas; SINGLE speed DESIGN; Rodrigo Sheward [slide show]- Places Journal |
The Frankophile’s Library: Five recent monographs underscore the extraordinary scope and abundance of Frank Lloyd Wright's career..."Complete Works" by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer; "From Within Outward" by Mina Marefat; "The Heroic Years" by Pfeiffer; "American Master" by Alan Weintraub and Kathryn Smith- Metropolis Magazine |
The Architect's Cookbook: One Writer's Unexpected Role in Charting the History of New York's Buildings: ...fifth edition of the "AIA Guide to New York City" is perhaps the finest-grained study of New York's built environment that exists... By Julie V. Iovine -- Fran Leadon; Norval White; Elliot Willensky- Wall Street Journal |
Architecture guidebooks capture flavor of Miami: In time for national AIA convention...two meticulously documented, tidily organized and richly illustrated guidebooks..."Miami Architecture" by Allan Shulman, Randall Robinson and Jeff Donnelly; " Building Paradise: An Architectural Guide to the Magic City" by Marilys Nepomechie..."Inclusion doesn't necessarily mean it's a great building"- Miami Herald |
Vancouver's brave new architecture: "A Guidebook to Contemporary Architecture in Vancouver" offers a revealing look at some of the most significant contemporary buildings...built across the region between Expo 86 and the 2010 Olympics. -- Chris Macdonald; Adele Weder; Matthew Soules; Arthur Erickson; Patkau Architects; Pechet and Robb; BattersbyHowatt/Hancock Bruckner/Eng + Wright; Richard Henriquez; Bing Thom Architects [images]- Georgia Straight (Vancouver) |
Who's Going to Take Over Architectural Digest? Our Short List...Paige Rense is done! -- Paul Goldberger; Margaret Russell; Ilse Crawford; Deborah Needleman; Pilar Viladas; Wendy Goodman; Suzanne Slesin- New York Observer |
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Exhibition: Greg Lynn: Fountain of Toys - Hammer Museum, Los Angeles -- FORM |
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