Today’s News - Thursday, February 24, 2011
• Good news for the Solar Decathlon: it will be presented on the National Mall (well...sort of).
• Prasad says "there's a fight on" re: U.K. architects and standardized school design.
• Obesity and Active Design: "We need a public health strategy beyond finger wagging, and the solution just might be design."
• Kamin cheers the "design doctoring" of fortress-like housing towers in Chicago and hopes the trend spreads.
• A Philly suburb isn't sure what to do with a soon-to-be vacated naval base that "will leave an 892-acre hole in the heart" of the community: "like a group of covetous relatives, area residents, developers and governments are salivating over how best to use their unusual bequest."
• Litt on a Cleveland community rallying "to resolve longstanding conflicts among traditional industries and new land uses."
• Q&A with Passivhaus Institut's Feist re: the fundamentals of the stringent Passive House standard, which is slowly making its way to the U.S.
• Groves reports on the sad demise of Beverly Hills' Friars Club that signifies "the continued erosion of the region's legacy of 1960s architecture and underscores the need for stronger local preservation measures."
• Greater Boston area has a great number of mid-century Modern homes at risk of being torn down.
• LaBarre cheers 3XN's winning design for Swedbank HQ in Stockholm: the "light-filled confection" is "a lot more like a glowy art museum than a stodgy old bank."
• A Mumbai-based firm wins over "stiff competition" to design India's National Tax Headquarters (indications there's an image, but we couldn't find it).
• Thackara's thoughts on India's decision to set up four new National Institutes of Design and the "lively debate about the kinds of design they should teach."
• University of Saskatchewan is getting closer to getting an architecture school in Saskatoon that "would be a powerful catalyst for cultural and urban transformation" (and help keep talent close to home).
• We couldn't resist: an amazing photo essay showing the "then and now" of urban skylines around the world (truly amazing - some scary, some inspiring).
• Call for entries: 2011 Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition + Stop the Paper Towels Competition.
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Solar Decathlon houses now have a home on the Mall: ...will not return to the marquee spot on the Mall's main strip between the Washington Monument and the Capitol...It will move to West Potomac Park...- Washington Post |
Sunand Prasad rallies the profession on school design: “There’s a fight on” says former RIBA president...Architects must fight to convince the government they possess the skills to make the standardisation of school buildings a success...warned the architect’s role...would be further eroded unless the profession seized the chance to shape the government’s agenda.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
A New Design Movement That Can Help Us Beat Obesity: A primer on Active Design, which creates buildings and environments that fight America’s obesity epidemic...We need a public health strategy beyond finger wagging, and the solution just might be design. By Jack L. Robbins -- WalkScore; Perkins+Will [images, links]- Fast Company |
Presidential Towers has new storefronts that face the street, a big change from its original fortress look: Should a building become more inviting and street-friendly once it’s changed the conditions that led to its hostile design? ...this sort of design doctoring can be applied to other fortress-like facades in the West Loop and beyond. By Blair Kamin -- Valerio Dewalt Train [images]- Chicago Tribune |
Willow Grove site a gift, and a burden, for Horsham: The long, slow death of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station...will leave an 892-acre hole in the heart of Horsham...like a group of covetous relatives, area residents, developers and governments are salivating over how best to use their unusual bequest...- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Brainstorming session on Flats is intended to solve longstanding conflicts along the Cuyahoga Riverfront: A new consortium of foundations, community development organizations and developers wants to fix longstanding problems...goal is to resolve longstanding conflicts among traditional industries and new land uses, including entertainment, housing and recreation. By Steven Litt- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
Feist’s Physics: Dr. Wolfgang Feist discusses the fundamentals of the stringent Passive House standard, which is slowly making its way to the U.S. -- Passivhaus Institut- GreenSource Magazine |
Friars Club's old Beverly Hills home tumbling down: The Los Angeles Conservancy decried the destruction, saying it signified the continued erosion of the region's legacy of 1960s architecture and underscored the need for stronger local preservation measures. By Martha Groves -- Sidney Eisenshtat (1961)- Los Angeles Times |
Out to save the modern home: Showing their age, distinctive structures at risk of being torn down: ...there are between 1,500 and 2,000 midcentury modern homes in Massachusetts...The irony of Greater Boston becoming home to modern developments was apparent even as the first houses were built. -- DOCOMOMO; Walter Gropius; Dick Morehouse/Architect's Collaborative; Carl Koch; Walter Pierce; Marcel Breuer- Boston Globe |
A Transparent Bank Designed for Financial Idealism: 3XN proposes a monument to transparency for Swedbank in Stockholm...light-filled confection that (fingers crossed) hints at a sunnier future for the financial industry...sounds and feels a lot more like a glowy art museum than a stodgy old bank... By Suzanne LaBarre [images]- Fast Company |
Design of National Tax Headquarters Finalized after Stiff Competition: Mumbai Based Architectural Firm Wins -- Siddharth Shirur/Vistaar Architects & Planners- Press Information Bureau, Government of India (New Delhi) |
Renovated warehouse may house University of Saskatchewan architecture school in Saskatoon: ..."would be a powerful catalyst for cultural and urban transformation"...students must leave the province to study architecture and many don’t return, creating a shortage of skilled professionals... -- Olfert Dressel Burnyeat Tracey- Daily Commercial News (Canada) |
What Kind of Design Institutes for India? A decision by the Indian government set up four new National Institutes of Design (NIDs) in the country has sparked a lively debate about the kinds of design they should teach. By John Thackara/Doors of Perception -- VisonPlus; Xskool [links]- Design Observer |
Then & Now: The Stunning Speed of Urban Development: ...the dramatic speeds with which cities can change, sometimes rendering their skylines virtually unrecognizable within decades. [images]- WebUrbanist |
Call for entries: 2011 Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition: In contrast to previous years, there is no theme...iers Gough of CZWG and Alan Stanton of Stanton Williams, who are exhibition co-coordinators...said they were "particularly interested in receiving submissions relating to Berlin"; deadline: March 4- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Call for entries: Stop the Paper Towels Competition: use your design skills to save enough trees to cover Alaska; deadline: March 7- Inhabitat / PeopleTowels |
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Álvaro Siza Arquitecto: Mimesis Museum, Paju Book City, South Korea |
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