Today’s News - Tuesday, August 10, 2010
• McDonald on Dublin's future development plans: some fear "it could inaugurate an era of random high-rise schemes," but well-designed tall buildings in the right place can be a good thing.
• Young architects have a plan to revitalize Sophia, Bulgaria - and the city is taking it seriously: the "most valuable contribution might be to get people talking about the city's future."
• King x 2: "A shot of 21st century Manhattanization is what San Francisco needs" - the "irrepressible street life" and the "sense of adventure - a willingness to explore innovations at a large scale, rather than recoil from anything ambitious or new" + S.F.'s new, temporary bus station has an "airy informality" that "is inviting, and it suits our uncertain times better than you might expect" (rescued palm trees included!).
• Kamin x 2: he reflects on Chicago's new "glass giants" that have "layered a new generation of glass towers into the skyline" + Roosevelt University is building a glass tower of its own: not quite a "glass giant," but it "could be one of the finest new glass-sheathed towers on Chicago's skyline" (if it doesn't get value-engineered to death).
• Mithun takes on two mega-urban redevelopment projects that "couldn't possibly be more different": one to re-possess a built landscape; another to re-connect to a natural ecosystem.
• Goldberger sits down with Richard Cook to discuss sustainable architecture, the use of nature in design, and the debates over the LEED standard.
• Lifson has a lively chat with Heatherwick re: his Seed Cathedral: "I can't say that [it] makes the world a better place. But if someone's there saying, 'Mummy, why?' I'm pleased."
• An old church "is now one of the most beautiful libraries in Ireland."
• Sarasota's new Police Department HQ makes a dramatic architectural statement - a veritable "urban sculpture."
• Portland and Vancouver, Oregon mayors want an iconic bridge for the Columbia River Crossing, taking issue with a report that says an off-the-shelf design would be better (and cheaper, of course).
• ASLA issues its third Sustainability Toolkit: Social Models that includes community participation and public health models - from macro- to micro-scales.
• Call for entries: Los Angeles Clean Tech Corridor and Green District Competition.
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Planning for Dublin's future proving to be a tall order: ...well designed and in appropriate locations, tall buildings enhance the city...The new city plan will set the framework for development over the next six or seven years...we need to lay down some markers now. By Frank McDonald -- Gilroy McMahon; Iser Architects (1986); Sam Stephenson Associates (1978); OMP Architects; Desmond Rea O’Kelly (1965); Shay Cleary Architects [images]- Irish Times |
A Bold Vision for a More Beautiful Sofia: An independent group of young architects has mapped out a plan to revitalize the Bulgarian capital. Now they're looking for funds to realize their dreams...Sofia 2020 will evolve into a new portal integrated into the city's official website by the end of the year.- Bloomberg/BusinessWeek |
Our city could use a little 'Manhattanization': ...the most vivid impression...is the irrepressible street life, ground-level urbanity that allows for the unexpected and, increasingly, favors pedestrians over the automobile...Parochial San Franciscans identify such traits as unique to this place...The difference in New York is the sense of adventure - a willingness to explore innovations at a large scale, rather than recoil from anything ambitious or new. By John King- San Francisco Chronicle |
Temporary S.F. bus station suits the times: It's the last thing you expect to find on the edge of the city's Financial District, but the airy informality of the full-block bus stop is inviting, and it suits our uncertain times better than you might expect. By John King -- Jacobs; Merrell Morris Partners [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Reflective giants: Chicago's building boom, now nearing its end, has layered a new generation of glass towers into the skyline...this invasion is by and large a good thing, giving us buildings notable not simply for their shapes, but for their lightness, transparency and reflectivity. By Blair Kamin -- Adrian Smith; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Solomon Cordwell Buenz; Pauline Saliga/Society of Architectural Historians; Pappageorge Haymes [images]- Chicago Tribune |
Roosevelt University building a glass tower of its own: It’s too short to be a “glass giant,” but it could be one of the finest new glass-sheathed towers on Chicago’s skyline...If cost-cutting does not crimp it, this skyscraper could well be at the head of its class. By Blair Kamin -- VOA Associates [image]- Chicago Tribune |
Redesigning City Centers, Rejuvenating Riverfronts: Mithun will take on mega-urban redevelopment projects...As large-scale exercises in urban redesign, the two projects couldn’t possibly be more different...Baltimore’s citizens must re-possess a built landscape; in St. Paul they must re-connect to a natural ecosystem. -- Wenk Associates [images, links]- Metropolis Magazine |
Richard Cook on Sustainable Architecture: Paul Goldberger talks to the designer of the new Bank of America Tower about green design and the built environment...they discuss sustainable architecture, the use of nature in design, and the debates over the LEED standard. -- Cook+Fox Architects [video]- New Yorker |
Q&A: Thomas Heatherwick on His “Seed Cathedral” in Shanghai: ...his design, his message to the Chinese people, and the purpose of world’s fairs in the 21st century..."I can’t say that my seed cathedral makes the world a better place. But if someone’s there saying, ‘Mummy, why?’ I’m pleased." By Edward Lifson [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
Hallowed halls + Pull Up a Pew: From a dramatic library conversion in Rush to homes in Kilkenny, churches are being transformed in myriad ways for secular uses..."You could make a tour de force, but the majority of work shouldn’t be like that. It should be just a slight adjustment of the ordinary – to discover the extraordinary.” -- McCullough Mulvin architects [images, link]- Irish Times |
Sarasota's new police station adds to the city's architectural fabric: ...makes a dramatic architectural statement..."We felt like we had an opportunity to do an urban sculpture"... -- Architects Design Group [image]- Herald- Tribune (Florida) |
Columbia River Crossing will be 10 lanes, not 12; Ugly or not, it just got a whole lot easier to picture the proposed $3.6 billion project...grew contentious when [mayors] raised the topic of the Interstate 5 bridge's architectural design...Saying they want a bridge that is "iconic" as well as functional...[they] took issue with a recent independent report that says an off-the-shelf design would be smarter, easier to build and less expensive.- The Oregonian |
Sustainability Toolkit: Social Models: ...explores the social components of sustainability, including community participation and public health models...arranged from macro- to micro-scales... [links]- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Call for entries: Los Angeles Clean Tech Corridor and Green District Competition: ...create an innovative urban vision for a several-mile-long development zone on the eastern edge of downtown LA.; cash prizes; deadline: registration deadline: August 30- Southern California Institute of Architecture/SCI-Arc / The Architect’s Newspaper |
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MoMA/P.S.1 2010 winner: Florian Idenburg & Jing Liu POLE DANCE -- SO–IL (Solid Objectives) |
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