Today’s News - Wednesday, January 19, 2011
• Tenner takes on Rybczysnki re: the architect-patron relationship and China: "The world is getting weirder all the time...China's new national pride is enhanced by the work of foreign architects, products of a supposedly mediocre educational system."
• Horton on venomous criticism: "It's really off-putting and makes it difficult to see the valid points...or to see the point of criticism altogether."
• Myers-Briggs tests show there really is an "architect type" (we needed a test to know that?).
• Kamin hopes Chicago takes Smith + Gill's Chicago Central Area DeCarbonization Plan seriously: "It's not enough to build new energy-efficient structures; the old ones must be fixed."
• Litt hopes to give thumbs-up's to GSA plans to add a second skin to a '60s federal building in Cleveland: it's "worthy of close attention because it's a harbinger of the future for skylines across the country" (it "could be great - or awful" - no way to know until the design is released).
• With "luxury architecture" in Mecca and the "blinged-out buildings of Dubai," the "fading green credentials of Islamic architecture are in need of revival."
• Thackara cheers Milan's new Territorial Government Plan: "Unlike in traditional planning, the city never arrives at the moment in which its plan is finished."
• Anderton has a lively conversation with Diller, Lubell, et al re: can architecture alone fix what ails Grand Avenue? + behind our clean technologies and glistening gadgets, there is a dirty story - of rare earths + a show that will explore how fantasy feeds real world design.
• A fascinating tale of Otero-Pailos and the ethics of preservation: the "provocateur" poses questions that others have perhaps been too busy, or too unwilling, to ask, such as: If preservationists are restoring objects that have already been made, is the field still a creative discipline?
• Kuma's first North American project: the expansion of the Portland Japanese Garden.
• An eyeful of LAGI's "Beautiful Energy" UAE Public Art and Energy Design Competition winners.
• A good reason to head to Toronto next week: the International Design Festival.
• Deadline reminder: 2011 Next Generation Design Competition.
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New Architecture, Sanity or Timidity? ...Rybczysnki may be oversimplifying the architect-patron relationship...It's sad that there seems to be more aesthetic sophistication among developers in a state still ruled by a Communist Party...The world is getting weirder all the time...Its new national pride is enhanced by the work of foreign architects, products of a supposedly mediocre educational system. By Edward Tenner- The Atlantic |
Why We Look at Architecture: How critics can read, and misread the built environment...There is so much venom in criticism. So much negativity and vehemence. It’s really off-putting and makes it difficult to see the valid points...or to see the point of criticism altogether. Is it possible to “see” the architecture this way? By Guy Horton -- Diller Scofidio + Renfro [images, links]- Metropolis Magazine |
A Difficult Character: When a leadership consultant reviewed the Myers-Briggs tests of 100 architects, he discovered there really is an “architect type” — and it’s not always an easy one...the test itself is not without its critics...there’s something compelling about Gaarder’s findings, which seem to support anecdotal wisdom about “the typical architect.”- Architect Magazine |
A 'greener' downtown Chicago will require retrofitting. It's not enough to build new energy-efficient structures; the old ones must be fixed...“Chicago Central Area DeCarbonization Plan"...Despite its awkward title and some analytical flaws, their plan ought to be taken seriously. By Blair Kamin -- Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill- Chicago Tribune |
Celebrezze Federal Building renovation in Cleveland is a national test case on balancing preservation and energy conservation: ...wrapped with a new glass facade...leaving the original facade intact and visible...Adding a second skin could be great - or awful...worthy of close attention because it's a harbinger of the future for skylines across the country. By Steven Litt -- Peter van Dijk (1967); IDEA/Interactive Design Eight Architects [images, links]- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
What Happened To Islam’s Environmentally Friendly Architecture? From luxury architecture in Mecca to the blinged-out buildings of Dubai, it seems that Islamic architecture is all about opulence and grandeur...In the past...sought to reflect the environment rather than to outshine it...fading green credentials of Islamic architecture are in need of revival. -- Ibrahim Mohammed Jaidah; Qatar Green Buildings Council (QGBC)- Green Prophet (Middle East) |
The Service Ecology of a City: Milan has approved a new Territorial Government Plan (Piano di Governo del Territorio) in which public services, and the way they are planned, are at the centre of the whole project...Unlike in traditional planning, the city never arrives at the moment in which its plan is finished. By John Thackara/Doors of Perception -- Interaction Design Lab/Id-Lab [images, links]- Design Observer |
DnA/Frances Anderton: Grand Visions, Rare Earths and Design's Fictions: ...can architecture alone fix what ails Grand Avenue? + behind our clean technologies and glistening gadgets, there is a dirty story - of rare earths + a show that will explore how fantasy feeds real world design. -- Elizabeth Diller/Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Sam Lubell; Richard Seymour; Tim Durfee- KCRW (Los Angeles) |
Jorge Otero-Pailos and the Ethics of Preservation: ...has become the provocateur of the field, posing fundamental questions...that embattled preservationists and conservationists have perhaps been too busy, or too unwilling, to ask. Why do we preserve buildings? What do we preserve?...If preservationists are restoring objects that have already been made, is the field still a creative discipline? -- James Marston Fitch; John Ruskin [images]- Places Journal |
Portland Japanese Garden looks to expand with help of Kengo Kuma: ...will mark Kuma's first public design in North America...it took years to persuade [him] to join the project..."I likened this to the first time Frank Lloyd Wright went to Japan...We're going to look back at this 50 years from now, and it will be just as notable." -- Takuma Tono (1967) [images]- The Oregonian |
Lunar Cubit wins first place in Land Art Generator Initiative 2010 UAE Public Art and Energy Design Competition "Beautiful Energy" -- Robert Flottemesch/Jen DeNike/Johanna Ballhaus/Adrian P. De Luca; Atelier dna/Darío Núñez Ameni/Thomas Siegl; Predock Frane Architects [images]- Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) |
Toronto International Design Festival January 24-30: ...produced by the 13th annual Interior Design Show (IDS)...offers a snapshot of everything new in contemporary design, handpicked from around the globe.- Canadian Architect |
Deadline reminder: Call for entries: 2011 Next Generation Design Competition: Get the Feds to Zero - Create a Zero Environmental Footprint for 1965 building in Los Angeles designed by Welton Becket, Albert C. Martin, and Paul R. Williams in 1965; $10,000 prize; deadline: January 31- Metropolis Magazine / U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) |
Book Review: How New Urbanism's Case Triumphs Best Through "The Language of Towns & Cities: A Visual Dictionary" by Dhiru A. Thadani: His oversized reference charms, infuriates, and enlightens. By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
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-- Diller Scofidio + Renfro: The Broad, Los Angeles
-- Travel: New Orleans: Soniat House, The French Quarter + "Architecture in Times of Need: Make it Right - Rebuilding the New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward" |
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