Today’s News - Thursday, September 9, 2010
• Two-part NPR report re: green building - is it really creating a real estate revolution, and is USGBC's LEED program fulfilling its promises?
• An architect gets serious about how architecture can help the elderly age gracefully.
• Steve Paul pulls no punches about a Kansas City project and mediocrity: the "big bad corporate bullies have backed down" on a historic preservation issue, but it still leaves "a hulky, bulky heap of office plop. Should we expect any more than this?"
• A new development forgoes tiled roofs for "boxy Bauhaus dwellings" that becomes "a critique of Israeli suburbanization" (but folks seem to like it).
• Plans to return part of San Diego's Balboa Park to pedestrians puts parking problems in the spotlight.
• Bey and Kamin weigh in on Chicago's mega-mover Mayor Daley's 21(!)-year architectural legacy, now he's stepping down: the city is "more walkable, livable, sustainable and beautiful," but "there is more work to be done"; and the "democratically-elected king...ruled with an iron fist and a green thumb," taking "urban design risks that other mayors...would be too timid to try."
• Kamin also offers news that the "the mayor's agenda for re-shaping the city rolls on."
• Iain Sinclair, "seduced by its faded charms," offers an eloquent ode to the U.K.'s 1938 Marine Court apartment complex: it may have "the dignity of an old circus elephant," but its "magic, despite all evidence to the contrary, is happening again: an onboard democracy based on unreasoning love."
• California plans to throw its hat in the ring to host 2020 World Expo in Silicon Valley (Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, and Minneapolis have the same high hopes).
• Q&A with RIBA's CEO Rich re: competitions ("Architects should not provide free creative work"), and expectations ("The thing we can't do is stop the recession").
• McKeag cheers teams of young architects thrown into a room for 10 days to learn to use new parametric software tools and concepts about biomimicry: "you get some pretty excited designers and you get some pretty interesting results."
• Researchers from the U.S., Australia, and Russia create nano-architectured aluminum alloy with strength of steel (let those young designers loose with that!).
• An architect hopes her "Bat Tower" in Buffalo's Griffis Sculpture Park will raise awareness about the animals and a fatal disease threatening their population in the Northeast.
• Hosey named president and CEO of sustainability non-profit GreenBlue (yay, Lance!).
• ASLA announces 2010 Student Awards (and we cheer our pal John King receiving Hon. ASLA tonight, on the eve of the ASLA Convention in D.C.).
• Sierra Club issues its Cool School list of America's greenest campuses.
• Call for entries: 4th Annual Design Collabetition for K-12 schools, and 2nd Annual Design Collabetition for college campuses + Deadline reminder: 5th Annual IIDA/Metropolis Smart Environment Awards.
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Green Building part 1 & 2: A Real Estate Revolution? Green building now accounts for nearly one-third of new construction in the U.S. That's up from 2 percent in 2005...There are many factors - and many players - in this move toward green building + Critics Say LEED Program Doesn't Fulfill Promises- National Public Radio (NPR) |
Can Architecture Help the Elderly Age Gracefully? Matthias Hollwich thinks so, and he's set up a new program at the University of Pennsylvania to explore how..."I believe that sustainability (saving the planet) and designing for an aging society are the two biggest topics we as designers have to tackle in our lifetime." -- Architizer; HollwichKushner/HWKN [images, links]- Fast Company |
Shall we resign ourselves to mediocrity in Plaza architecture? The people have spoken. The big bad corporate bullies have backed down. And the Country Club Plaza will have it both ways: a little helping of historical preservation and a hulky, bulky heap of office plop. Should we expect any more than this? By Steve Paul- Kansas City Star |
Cubism of a different sort: Throwing tiled roofs aside, a new neighborhood in Rishon Letzion offers boxy Bauhaus dwellings instead...Villa Nobel neighborhood, designed by architect Ilan Pivko with 72 houses, offers a critique of Israeli suburbanization...- Ha`aretz (Israel) |
Plaza plan for Balboa Park unveiled: Proposal to clear cars out of historic square might mean parking fees for a future garage...vision of returning the plaza to what it was like as a pedestrian-only zone for the 1915 exposition and the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition... -- Civitas [images]- San Diego Union-Tribune |
Office of the chief architect: A look at Daley’s architectural legacy: No Chicago mayor has left a mark on the city’s built environment as broad or as indelible...But it wasn’t always that way...is the city on the whole significantly more walkable, livable, sustainable and beautiful now than before? Yes...There is more work to be done, however. Now let’s see what the next mayor does. By Lee Bey- Lee Bey's Chicago |
Daley, Boss and Builder, changed the face of Chicago: ...a democratically-elected king...He ruled with an iron fist and a green thumb, and he often used the power of the former to carry out the agenda of the latter...long tenure...allowed him to take urban design risks that other mayors, nervously contemplating the next election, would be too timid to try. By Blair Kamin- Chicago Tribune |
City Council approves South Works plan; Daley floats tech park at Michael Reese: Even as speculation swirls over who will lead Chicago in the post-Richard M. Daley era, the mayor's agenda for re-shaping the city rolls on. By Blair Kamin -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Sasaki Associates- Chicago Tribune |
Marine Court: Hymn to the Sun: A crumbling art deco apartment block designed to resemble the Queen Mary is one of the glories of England's south coast. Iain Sinclair is seduced by its faded charms...has the dignity of an old circus elephant...The old Marine Court magic, despite all evidence to the contrary, is happening again: an onboard democracy based on unreasoning love. -- Kenneth Dalgleish/Roger Pullen (1938) [image]- Guardian (UK) |
California preparing bid to host 2020 World Expo in Silicon Valley: ...faces formidable hurdles, including competition from other cities and a financial commitment that could be in the billions...Boosters in several cities - Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Minneapolis - have already begun efforts to put together proposals.- Mercury News (California) |
Harry Rich: ‘Architects should not provide free creative work’: chief executive of the RIBA, tells Richard Waite why architects must be prepared to stand up for themselves and explain to clients that their services are worth paying for. By Richard Waite- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Building as a Verb: Designing a Building That Works Harder for You: What do you get when you throw 60 young architects into a room for 10 days and teach them new parametric software tools, concepts about bio-inspired design, and give them a bunch of servo-motors, sensors and actuators to play with? Well, you get some pretty excited designers, for one thing, and you get some pretty interesting results, for another. By Tom McKeag- GreenBiz |
Researchers create nano-architectured aluminum alloy with strength of steel: ...but with reasonable plasticity to stretch and not break under stress. Importantly, the technique of creating these nanostructures can be used on many different types of metals...- Gizmag (Australia) |
Architect Creates 'Bat Tower' at Griffis Sculpture Park: ...raising awareness about the animals and a fatal disease threatening their population in the Northeast. -- Joyce Hwang [images]- University at Buffalo News |
Lance Hosey Named GreenBlue President and CEO: Leader in Sustainable Design and Development to Take the Helm of Innovative Sustainability Nonprofit- GreenBlue |
ASLA 2010 Student Awards Announced: ...32 projects in seven categories... [links to info, images]- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Cool Schools | Quantifying "Cool": How (and why) we came up with our list of America's greenest campuses [links to info]- Sierra Club magazine |
Call for entries: 4th Annual Design Collabetition showcasing unique design features from K-12 schools around the world + Collegedesigner 2nd Annual Design Collabetition; registration deadline: October 14 [pdf]- Schooldesigner |
Call for entries deadline reminder: 5th Annual IIDA/Metropolis Smart Environment Awards: recognize individuals and collaborative teams creating excellent, leading edge interior environments; Request an Entry Kit by September 23- IIDA/Metropolis |
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-- OMA/Office for Metropolitan Architecture: The Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Venice, Italy
-- Exhibition: "Re-loved" - Chris Bosse/LAVA, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia
-- Paul Andreu Architecte: National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing, China |
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