Today’s News - Thursday, August 19, 2010
• Gisolfi issues a call for architects to develop a new design culture of responsibility if we're to save what's left of our planet.
• Prince-Ramus, Croxton, and Toivonen say a "broader vision of design" is needed, "where architects and engineers claim their role in positively changing human behavior, not just advancing building technology."
• Khanna + Kotkin: one says cities are "where we are most actively experimenting with efforts to save the planet from ourselves"; the other argues "why suburbs, not cities, are the answer."
• Rybczynski goes in search of "vernacular landscapes" where even the most ordinary places can "mean whatever we want them to mean" (and even be meaningful).
• Long has high hopes for the new London Housing Design Guide, though "until there are some role models, the entrenched housing industry will find it hard to improve its product."
• Corbu's Chandigarh is showing wear, "but who will care, if access to its most impressive monuments is restricted?"
• Betsky cheers the Indianapolis Museum of Art's 100 Acres, "where landscape becomes art, and art that looks an awful lot like good architecture."
• A most interesting (and quite amusing) conversation with "Citizen Lambert," who minces no words about compromise and what she thinks of some of the most revered starchitects (ouch!).
• Two Korean brothers take on the Biennale with a mix of art and architecture.
• Eyefuls of Architect Magazine's 4th Annual R+D Award winners, from sustainable housing to rubber sinks (cool stuff, great presentation).
• The Earth Awards announces six finalists (more cool stuff and great presentation).
• An eyeful of the six finalists vying for London's Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth (blue rooster included).
• Call for entries: Research Papers and Design Works for UIA2011 TOKYO: "Design2050."
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INSIGHT: Save What's Left: Architects as Stewards of Our Planet: We need to develop a new design culture of responsibility, one that seeks in every instance to do as little damage as possible to natural systems. By Peter Gisolfi, AIA, ASLA, LEED AP- ArchNewsNow |
Green buildings won't save the planet: While most of these strategies fall outside the conventional scope of the building-design community, perhaps a broader vision of design is equally imperative, where architects and engineers claim their role in positively changing human behavior, not just advancing building technology. By Joshua Prince-Ramus/REX, Randolph Croxton/Croxton Collaborative Architects, and Tuomas Toivonen/NOW- CNN |
Beyond City Limits: The age of nations is over. The new urban age has begun...cities rather than states are becoming the islands of governance on which the future world order will be built...Cities are the true daily test of whether we can build a better future or are heading toward a dystopian nightmare...where we are most actively experimenting with efforts to save the planet from ourselves. By Parag Khanna- Foreign Policy magazine |
Urban Legends: Why suburbs, not cities, are the answer...the new age of the megacity might well be an era of unparalleled human congestion and gross inequality...what if healthy growth turns out to be best achieved through dispersion, not concentration? Instead of overcrowded cities rimmed by hellish new slums, imagine a world filled with vibrant smaller cities, suburbs, and towns. By Joel Kotkin- Foreign Policy magazine |
Ordinary Places: Rediscovering the parking lot, the big-box store, the farmers market, the gas station...the vernacular landscape...mean whatever we want them to mean. By Witold Rybczynski -- J.B. Jackson; Walter Dorwin Teague; Charles McKim; Rogers Stirk Harbour [slide show essay]- Slate |
Boris the builder: The London Housing Design Guide...takes us back to the Sixties in terms of housing standards. And I mean this as a profound compliment...by and large these standards should improve greatly the housing stock...Developers will have to lump it...Until there are some role models, the entrenched housing industry will find it hard to improve its product. By Kieran Long- Evening Standard (UK) |
The Town That Le Corbusier Built: Respect for the design of Chandigarh, India, is growing, even as the modernist city is showing wear. But who will care, if access to its most impressive monuments is restricted?...In the tussle over the question of who really “owns” the capitol - citizens or government - something vital has been neglected: the magnificent buildings themselves. [images]- Design Observer |
Crit: 100 Acres at the Indianapolis Museum of Art: Over the years, the museum might add a few pieces, and a few might fade into the landscape as they deteriorate. But 100 Acres will remain a place where landscape becomes art, and art that looks an awful lot like good architecture. By Aaron Betsky -- Edward L. Blake/Landscape Studio; Marlon Blackwell [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Joan of Architecture Speaks: Phyllis Lambert...has charted an uncompromising course in the cultural world. "I don't believe in compromise. I think it's a terrible word"...is known, somewhat paradoxically, for her patronage of both historical preservation and architectural innovation. "It's all the same thing"... -- Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA); Mies van der Rohe; Peter Rose; Piano; Safdie; Libeskind; Koolhaas; Eisenman; Gehry- Wall Street Journal |
Suh brothers to take on Venice: Two Korean brothers will be showcasing a mix of art and architecture at the 2010 Venice Biennale...This is the first time a Korean team has been invited to the main exhibition...“Blueprint”...translucent fabric façade of a New York town house...part of the series in which the artist recreates the buildings he has lived in. -- Suh Architects [images]- Korea Herald |
Fourth Annual R+D Awards: ...11 winners - ranging from sustainable housing to steam-bending and rubber sinks - based on a combination of performance, aesthetics, and progressive thinking. -- Della Valle Bernheimer/Architecture Research Office (ARO); Minarc; Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture; RVTR/Team North; PLY Architecture; Anmahian Winton Architects; PROJECTiONE; Rogers Marvel Architects; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) [images, info]- Architect Magazine |
The Earth Awards Announces Six Finalists To Redesign Tomorrow: ...finalists pitch to investors to prove design can build a new economy...awards identifies viable ideas from fashion to architecture and consumer products, and marries them with investors to provide a real solution to improving quality of life. [links to images, info]- The Earth Awards |
London Trafalgar Square fourth plinth hopefuls unveiled: A Battenberg cake, a blue cockerel and an organ-shaped cashpoint are among the six works in the running... [slide show]- BBC |
Call for entries: Research Papers and Design Works for UIA2011 TOKYO: "Design2050: Environment, Cultural Exchange and Life; deadline: October 31- International Union of Architects (UIA) |
Why "Greatest Hits" Lists by Architecture's Stars Should Be Mocked: Transferring the musical or cinematic "greatest hits" list mind-set to architecture is deleterious, and here's why. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
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Arata Isozaki & Associates: CAFA Art Museum (China Central Academy of Fine Arts), Beijing, China |
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