Today’s News - Wednesday, November 3, 2010
• Kengo Kuma wins V&A at Dundee design competition, with hopes it will create a Bilbao effect for the city (though his design wasn't the public's pick).
• Long laments the demise of the LDA: "With it will go some of the only public-sector expertise that London has in making decent places and transforming parts of the city that really need attention."
• The man who "spearheaded the cultural and economic renaissance of Glasgow, Scotland" brings his expertise to Brantford, Canada, saying it could be a North American tourist hot spot by following a similar marketing plan.
• Bernstein reports on a battle that brews re: bending the rules to build tall on Waikiki Beach (developer's claims of "hardship" are hardly convincing).
• Perhaps the players should attend the 3rd Annual Urban Waterfront conference in Doha for some guidance.
• Re: LACMA's new Resnick Pavilion - "After visiting so many 'destination' buildings by other architects that try to outshine their contents, I found Mr. Piano's generous reticence welcome" (alas, "pity about the art").
• In only 9 months, a "rat-infested warehouse" in Glasgow is transformed into new studios for the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama that will also serve "the communities on its doorstep."
• A new visitors center for Malta's megalithic temples is designed to be "as inconspicuous as possible" - with a "touchy-feely vibe."
• Teeple selected to lead team in the design of the River of Death and Discovery Dinosaur Museum in Alberta.
• After being invited to build his £750,000 studio in Shanghai, officials have ordered Ai Wei Wei to tear it down.
• Gaudí's Sagrada Familia readies itself for papal visit: the Pope "will find a minor miracle: this seemingly endless construction project is nearly complete" ("complete" being a "relative term").
• Huge monthly cleaning bill for London's City Hall (with many panes remaining "filthy") is "a prime example of a modern building where the design has come first and practicalities second."
• More details re: the Perkins Eastman/EE&K merger: It's a perfect marriage" not done for financial reasons (must be so - "both firms are currently in hiring mode").
• An eyeful of the shortlisted projects vying for the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland.
• We couldn't resist: LaBarre offers up an amazing billboard that advertises nothing but clean air at a U.S./Canada border crossing commissioned by the GSA's Design Excellence program (a.k.a. "the federal government, which usually regards high art the way one would a dead rat").
• Call for entries: Total Housing: Apartments design competition - address the incongruity between outmoded ideas of domestic space and contemporary urban lifestyles.
| |
|
|
|
To subscribe to the free daily newsletter
click here
|
Kengo Kuma wins Dundee V&A design competition: ...the chance to build what is hoped will become as iconic a structure as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao...."This has the potential to be one of Europe's most exciting buildings." [images]- The Courier (Scotland) |
Say goodbye to The London Development Agency: A city such as London needs teams of experts who know how to get things done. On Friday, we lost one of these...With it will go some of the only public-sector expertise that London has in making decent places and transforming parts of the city that really need attention. By Kieran Long- Evening Standard (UK) |
City can learn from rebranding of Glasgow: ...says the man who spearheaded the cultural and economic renaissance of Glasgow, Scotland...can reframe Brantford, Canada, as a hot spot in North America by following a marketing plan like the one he used to change Glasgow's image from post-industrial slum to cosmopolitan mecca in the last two decades of the 20th century. -- Eddie Friel- Brantford Expositor (Canada) |
In Waikiki, Fears That Construction Will Spoil Beach: Critics say a new building will overpower a beach that is already losing one to two feet a year to erosion...Kyo-ya, which owns large swaths of Waikiki, is proposing a $700 million redevelopment...new building would create “a solid wall effect” [which] “is exactly what legislation 34 years ago was meant to prevent.” By Fred A. Bernstein- New York Times |
3rd Annual Urban Waterfront conference, Doha, Qatar, November 28-29: designed to meet the needs of the delegates who are involved in creating large urban waterfront projects in the Middle East region from the inception to the completion stage.- Marcus Evans |
Nice Wing, Pity About the Art: Los Angeles County Museum of Art...Resnick Pavilion is what museum curators have often claimed to long for - a well-lit, flexible white box that will enhance rather than do battle with the art inside. After visiting so many "destination" buildings by other architects that try to outshine their contents, I found Mr. Piano's generous reticence welcome. -- Renzo Piano.- Wall Street Journal |
Inside the RSAMD’s Speirs Locks studios: Nine months ago, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama’s new high-spec studios [in Glasgow] were a rat-infested warehouse - now they define the future for developing the arts in Scotland...will also open up a host of new creative experiences for the communities on its doorstep. -- Malcolm Fraser Architects- The Herald (Scotland) |
Touchy-feely vibe at visitor centre: If you want to grasp how ancient man moved massive boulders, all you have to do is try your hand at doing it...the stepping stone to understanding the megalithic temples of Mnajdra and Hagar Qim...The building is intended to be as inconspicuous as possible...an example of how contemporary architecture can blend into rural surroundings and...model for energy-efficient climate control. -- Walter Hunziker- Times of Malta |
Teeple Architects Inc. leads team in the design of the River of Death and Discovery Dinosaur Museum in Alberta: ...one of the world’s foremost museums of paleontology and natural history, it will tell the fascinating story of how the Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Bonebed was discovered and then subsequently excavated...targeting LEED Gold certification. -- Architecture | ATB; Reich + Petch Design International- Canadian Architect |
Controversial Chinese artist ordered to demolish studio: Ai Wei Wei, whose Sunflower Seeds is currently being shown at the Tate Modern...has once again fallen foul of the Chinese authorities who have ordered the demolition of his new £750,000 studio in Shanghai. [image, links]- Telegraph (UK) |
The Sagrada Familia: Men At Work (for the last 125 years): The Pope's visit next weekend has induced unusual urgency in the building programme...Rush is a relative term...he will find a minor miracle: this seemingly endless construction project is nearly complete. Well, that's another relative term..."From an architectural point of view, it's finished"... -- Antoni Gaudí; Etsuro Sotoo; Armand Puig; Jordi Bonet- Independent (UK) |
Dim view of £140,000 bill for cleaning London Assembly's City Hall windows: Washing the 3,000-plus panes of glass...now costs £13,600 a month — more than doubling the bill eight years ago when it opened...its complicated design means many windows are still filthy..."a prime example of a modern building where the design has come first and practicalities second"... -- Foster + Partners- Evening Standard (UK) |
Merger creates largest NY architecture firm: “We were not in need of merging from a financial point of view"...For far-larger Perkins Eastman, the merger will enable it to pick up Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn's expertise in designing urban as well as campus space and multi-building projects. EE&K will benefit from Perkins Eastman's experience in designing individual buildings. “It's a perfect marriage"...both firms are currently in hiring mode...- Crain's New York |
11 buildings shortlisted for this year’s RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland award, which carries a £25,000 first prize. -- Nicoll Russell Studios; Rural Design; Pollock Hammond Partnership; Paterson Architects; Edward Cullinan Architects; Page Park Architects; Reiach & Hall Architects; Dualchas Building Design; Elder & Cannon Architects; Gokay Devici Chartered Architect; Anderson Bell & Christie [slide show]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
A Billboard That Advertises Nothing But Clean Air: A provocative new sculpture ["Non-Sign II"] has opened at the U.S.-Canada border crossing near Vancouver, BC...a snarl of stainless steel rods...surrounding only the clean air of Blaine, Washington...commissioned by the federal government, which usually regards high art the way one would a dead rat. By Suzanne LaBarre -- Lead Pencil Studio [images]- Fast Company |
Call for entries: Total Housing: Apartments: built or proposed residential projects that address the incongruity between outmoded ideas of domestic space and contemporary urban lifestyles...apartments that demonstrate innovation through material applications, programmatic arrangements, technological implementations, or radical conceptual propositions; no fee; deadline: November 28- Actar / Architizer.com / Storefront for Art & Architecture |
A Meditation on the Beauty of Zaha Hadid's Door Handle: Hadid's design issues a challenge: define beauty by lyrically playing with illusion. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
|
-- Richard Meier & Partners: Coffee Plaza, Hamburg, Germany
-- Atelier Jean Nouvel: Seguin Island, Paris, France |
|
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window.
External news links are not endorsed by ArchNewsNow.com.
Free registration may be required on some sites.
Some pages may expire after a few days.
© 2010 ArchNewsNow.com