Today’s News - Wednesday, February 9, 2011
EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to technical difficulties beyond our control, we were unable to post the news yesterday (oh - those pesky technology gods!). All's well now (we hope!).
• Gehry doesn't have very nice things to say about certain Parisians after the "uncouth philistines" succeed in cancelling planning permission for his "latest spectacular edifice" - a cultural center already under construction ("reaction was relayed by Jean Nouvel").
• LaBarre on BIG's NYC "housing experiment" West 57 that "mates the American skyscraper and the European perimeter block to spawn a freak, architectural love child...But there's a persuasive logic at play" (great slide show!).
• Ouroussoff is left practically breathless by Moneo's interdisciplinary science building at Columbia University: "This is superb architecture...It's a big, tough building, but it's tenderhearted too" (oh - it also includes what "may be the most elegant aluminum siding in America" - and more!).
• Kamin is a bit more sanguine about two new Chicago high-rises: while "the architecture is better than the names," they still "suffer from the blandness bug" - but at least "they haven't saddled us with any eyesores either."
• Q&A with Geuze re: his team's plans for Governors Island: they are prepared "to survive maybe three or four mayors, to adapt constantly to the changing social, political and economic climate - all that is part of park design as well."
• ITDP issues a report that shows "innovative parking reforms have been successful in coaxing car drivers into using public transport systems" in Europe (lessons for the rest of us?).
• Ahoy there: a boat-shaped room moored atop Queen Elizabeth Hall at Southbank Centre wins A Room For London competition (no word yet on how much it will cost to sail in it for a night).
• The formerly scrapped 2012 Olympic Stadium "wrap" not dead in the water, it seems (if the private sector is willing to pay to play).
• Architects and corporate social responsibility policies: are they lagging behind, and why?
• A small NYC firm combines their practice with an autonomous nonprofit that, together, "form an unusual model in the field of design and social change."
• Phil Freelon gets some Houston kids to care about architecture and history, but Black architecture? "Where's architecture's Dizzy Gillespie? There just aren't enough of us."
• Alsop cheers Ingenium Archial dropping Alsop Sparch name: "We [at RMJM] are trading as Will Alsop and there's only one of us and that's me."
• Albert Kahn and the decline of Detroit: a breathtaking and heart-rending slide show (our must-see of the day).
• First public comment period opens for Green Firm Certification.
• Call for entries: Changing the Face: Pushkinsky Cinema, an open, international ideas competition (hefty cash prizes, too, thanks to DuPont).
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Frank Gehry brands Paris residents 'uncouth philistines' after planning permission revoked: ...for his latest spectacular edifice..."Cloud", a stunning, €100 million glass-covered complex...due to house a cultural centre owned by France's richest man, Bernard Arnaud/LVHM...Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation – is in the final stages of construction... [image]- Telegraph (UK) |
Bjarke Ingels's BIG Housing Experiment In New York: A 600-unit residential complex ...W57...purports to do something never before done in New York: Mate the American skyscraper and the European perimeter block to spawn a freak, architectural love child...“It looks quite wild.”...But there’s a persuasive logic at play. By Suzanne LaBarre [images]- Fast Company |
A Building Forms a Bridge Between Columbia University’s Past and Future: Its muscular steel-and-aluminum frame is a vivid example of how to fit into a difficult historical context without slavishly kowtowing to it...a gleaming physical expression...to bridge the divide between the insular world of the campus and the community beyond its walls...This is superb architecture...It’s a big, tough building, but it’s tenderhearted too. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- José Rafael Moneo [slide show]- New York Times |
'Lake Wobegon' in the sky: Apartment high-rises are above average, but nothing special...two new apartment towers...215 West...200 Squared...Fortunately, the architecture is better than the names, though nothing here is going to turn heads...suffer from the blandness bug...haven't produced any masterpieces...but they haven't saddled us with any eyesores either. By Blair Kamin -- Solomon Cordwell Buenz [images]- Chicago Tribune |
The New Public Landscapes of Governors Island: An Interview with Adriaan Geuze: "...we are prepared to deliver a park because we know how to deal with complex bureaucracies and long timetables...to survive maybe three or four mayors, to adapt constantly to the changing social, political and economic climate — all that is part of park design as well." -- West 8; Rogers Marvel Architects; Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects; Urban Design + [images, links]- Places Journal |
European cities influence travel behavior through parking reforms: A report by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) has shown that innovative parking reforms have been successful in coaxing car drivers into using public transport systems..."Europe's Parking U-Turn: From Accommodation to Regulation" [link to full report]- Gizmag (Australia) |
Boat-Shaped Room To Be Built On Queen Elizabeth Hall [at Southbank Centre]: ...winner of A Room For London, a design competition run by Living Architecture and Artangel as part of the London 2012 Festival... -- Fiona Banner/David Kohn Architects [images, links]- Londonist (UK) |
Controversial 2012 Olympic Stadium 'wrap' gets go ahead: London Organising commitee (Locog) invites private sector bids despite scrapping the £7 million ’wrap’ last year -- Populous- Building (UK) |
Architects shouldn’t fear corporate social responsibility: CSR is having an impact...Why the reluctance among architects?...the costs involved...put firms at a financial disadvantage to those who do not adopt them..."the leaders are ultimately constrained by the laggards" -- Pascall+Watson; RMJM; Edward Cullinan Architects; Article 25; Architecture for Humanity- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Hester Street Collaborative: For Leroy Street Studio, a small architecture firm in New York’s Chinatown, social design efforts are enhanced by an autonomous nonprofit unit...that spearheads community design programs. Taken together, they form an unusual model in the field of design and social change.- Change Observer |
Making kids care about architecture and history: Could Phil Freelon explain to these kids what architecture is? ...Black architecture?..."There are so few of us in architecture, we haven't developed a distinctive style...We developed jazz; we developed the blues. But where's architecture's Dizzy Gillespie? There just aren't enough of us." -- Freelon Group- Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
Will Alsop welcomes Alsop Sparch name drop: Archial is in consultation about ceasing use of the Alsop Sparch brand..."We [at RMJM] are trading as Will Alsop and there’s only one of us and that’s me"...Ingenium is proposing to consolidate its two London offices...would operate solely under the Archial brand across the UK and Europe.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
American Gothic: Until the mid-20th century, Detroit was the most significant industrial town in the world, and Albert Kahn was its architect..built factories and sky scrapers like they were coming off a conveyor belt. And then, just as quickly as his city grew, its downtown began to decay..."Ruins of Detroit" by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
First Public Comment Period Opens for Green Firm Certification: Sustainable Performance Institute Certification has established metrics to validate capability of design and construction companies to deliver sustainability services...64 required credits and 15 optional credits across five categories...- Sustainable Performance Institute |
Call for entries: Changing the Face: Pushkinsky Cinema, an open, international ideas competition to redesign the façade of the cinema building in central Moscow; cash prizes; deadline: May 15- Architizer |
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Morphosis: Giant Interactive Group, Headquarters, Shanghai, China -- SWA Group; TOPO Design Group |
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