Today’s News - Wednesday, June 29, 2011
EDITOR'S NOTE: We're heading south early, early tomorrow morning for some 4th of July family fun, then wending our way northward via the Blue Ridge Parkway. We may - or may not - be able to post from the road next week, but the newsletter will definitely return by Monday, July 11.
• Part 1 of our new series "You Survived": Take control of the financial life of your business, and uncover hidden revenue streams and new service offerings (with some inspiring - and cautionary - case studies).
• Ivy seems to agree: the "era of the star" is over, and architectural practice may be shifting in some positive ways, with architects expanding their offerings beyond traditional building design.
• Gans offers a candid assessment of her team's efforts to develop relief housing in New Orleans - a well-told "story of our work from the ground up - of its rich range of consequences and, ultimately, of its limitations."
• High hopes for the Christchurch City Council 48 Hour Design Challenge this weekend, with 15 teams from around the world working to redesign parts of the quake-ravaged city: "We're really looking for the teams to 'wow' us."
• Irking drivers as urban policy: many European cities are trying "to make car use expensive and just plain miserable enough to tilt drivers toward more environmentally friendly modes of transportation" - as opposed to many U.S. cities that often seem to bend over backwards to keep drivers happy.
• First look at the Whitney's High Line Maintenance & Operations building: this "is no incidental little shed for storing lawnmowers" (and Friends of the High Line are thrilled).
• It's been awhile since we've heard word of the Okhta Center (a.k.a. Gazprom Tower) in St. Petersburg: it seems it's now to be built on "a far more remote location on the shore of the Gulf of Finland" - but the hecklers still came out (RMJM architect had to cut his presentation short).
• Arquitectonica tapped to master plan a $3 billion South Florida resort, and "other world-class architects" will be invited to design specific elements (but does Miami really want it?).
• It's only two years late, but it looks like the Prince's House ("formerly known as the Natural House") is ready for its close-up - and a call for "architects to follow its traditional approach" to eco-living (to each his own).
• A veteran Chinese architect says "the country's architects need to stay in touch with their roots if they are to become truly international": "It is really painful to see the characteristics of ancient China's architectural style losing out."
• King calls timid preservationists on the carpet for "too rarely calling their brethren to task" when a disputed building really doesn't merit preservation: "not all old buildings are created equal."
• Fairbanks, Alaska's largest abandoned building is "Looking For Love Again," with help from an artist/urbanist.
• High hopes to save an Art Deco architectural gem in the north of England that could "disappear forever under tons of concrete" if development plans move forward.
• On a brighter note, Gropius' Fagus Factory has been added to the UNESCO Heritage List - and two Corbu-designed homes in a Stuttgart housing estate could join the list (great slide show) + Bauhaus designer Wagenfeld finally gets the attention he deserves, taking center stage at the Bauhaus Dessau (another great slide show).
• Hagberg's "Nature Framed" is "at its heart, a love story between shrubbery and architecture" (our kind of love affair!); more seriously, it is a "thoughtful exploration of the intersection between architecture and nature."
• Call for entries: BD's 6th annual Carbuncle Cup opens for nominations for the "ugliest building completed in Britain in the past 12 months" (jurors are some of the U.K.'s best architecture critics - oh to be a fly on the wall!).
| |
|
|
|
To subscribe to the free daily newsletter
click here
|
You Survived: Part 1: Regaining Profitability - and Moving Ahead: Take control of the financial life of your business, uncover hidden revenue streams and new service offerings while charting a more stable course for the future. By Michael S. Bernard, AIA, and Nancy Kleppel, Assoc. AIA- ArchNewsNow |
Robert Ivy on the Future of Architecture: ...the new CEO of the AIA and former editor of Architectural Record, said architects are already expanding their offerings beyond traditional building design to “supplemental services.” Eventually, architects may even become “creative consultants” to a wide range of industries...- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Below the Sill Plate: New Orleans East Struggles to Recover: ...in particular the neighborhood of Plum Orchard, and subsequently for portions of the Lower Ninth Ward. This is a story of our work from the ground up — of its rich range of consequences and, ultimately, of its limitations. By Deborah Gans/Gans Studio (excerpted from "Beyond Shelter: Architecture and Human Dignity") [images]- Places Journal |
International interest in Christchurch City Council 48 Hour Design Challenge being held this weekend to redesign parts of the Central City: Architects and designers from the UK, Singapore, Australia and around New Zealand...this will be a testing ground for the draft Plan and an opportunity to gather ideas from the professional design community..."We’re really looking for the teams to ‘wow’ us."- Scoop (New Zealand) |
Across Europe, Irking Drivers Is Urban Policy: While American cities are synchronizing green lights to improve traffic flow and offering apps to help drivers find parking, many European cities are doing the opposite...the mission is clear — to make car use expensive and just plain miserable enough to tilt drivers toward more environmentally friendly modes of transportation.- New York Times |
Bigger Than a Bread Box: No Whitney clone, Piano's maintenance building will have a major presence on the High Line...Maintenance and Operations building is no incidental little shed for storing lawnmowers...with a complex program that mixes public and private, back-stage functions and an open-air gallery. "If I had only two words for the building: it would be frugal and robust"...strict parameters were an inspiration... -- Renzo Piano Building Workshop; Beyer Blinder Belle; Cooper, Robertson & Partners [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Public Heckles Skyscraper Architect: ...RMJM’s design principal behind the design for the controversial Gazprom tower — had to cut his presentation short...Although Gazprom has moved the planned skyscraper to a far more remote location on the shore of the Gulf of Finland in Lakhta...the project has continued to cause controversy.- St. Petersburg Times (Russia) |
Resorts World Miami Developer Selects Arquitectonica to Design New $3 Billion South Florida Resort: ...appointment comes less than 3 weeks after Genting's purchase of approximately 13.9 acres of land currently housing The Miami Herald Media Company...will invite other world-class architects to design specific elements of the master plan...- World Property Channel |
Prince's House unveiled at Building Research Establishment: Pilot project is two years late but housing minister calls on architects to follow its traditional approach...formerly known as the Natural House...The design is billed as the Prince’s Foundation’s answer to eco-living..."ideal for the vast majority of homebuyers who want to be green but prefer traditional homes." -- Hank Dittmar [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Buildings that speak volumes: Veteran architect Cheng Taining says the country's architects need to stay in touch with their roots if they are to become truly international..."It is really painful to see the characteristics of ancient China's architectural style losing out"...only when Chinese architecture is truly integrated...will Chinese architects have a say in the world's architectural circles.- China Daily |
Battle over preserving North Beach Branch Library: ...I argued in print that the structure was nondescript at best...Half a dozen respected local preservationists thanked me privately...[they] hadn't wanted to say so publicly...too rarely call their brethren to task...We need the historic preservation movement...the more that its leaders accept the notion that not all old buildings are created equal, the stronger it will be. By John King -- Appleton & Wolfard (1959)- San Francisco Chronicle |
Abandoned Buildings That Ask Cities For Renewal: Candy Chang's "Looking For Love Again" involves the citizens of Fairbanks, Alaska, in formulating a new vision for how to reuse their city's largest abandoned building...the Polaris...the latest project from artist and urbanist...whose work focuses on the relationship between people and the built environment of their cities. [images]- Fast Company |
Campaign to save Grange-over-Sands lido: The Art Deco architectural gem could disappear forever if a development goes ahead...vanishing forever under tonnes of concrete..."It's hard to see any logic in council's plan to demolish the Art Deco lido and the award winning swimming pool built just a few years ago and spend money on yet another pool right next to the two old ones"- Guardian (UK) |
Factory Fanfare: Modernist Icon Joins UNESCO Heritage List: Walter Gropius' Fagus Factory has long been considered a frontrunner of modernist architecture. Now, a century after it was designed, the building...has been added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites...another modernist classic may be added to the list: two houses in the Weissenhof housing estate in Stuttgart designed by Le Corbusier. [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
A Guiding Light: Bauhaus designer Wilhelm Wagenfeld left an indelible mark on international product design..."A Lasting Impression: Wilhelm Wagenfeld" charts his legacy...seeks to give the designer the attention he deserves...within the sleek modernist walls of the Bauhaus Dessau. [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
"Nature Framed: At Home in the Landscape": Eva Hagberg's thoughtful exploration of the intersection between architecture and nature is, at its heart...a love story between shrubbery and architecture..."No matter what, nature will always be bigger than you"..The architects...revealed their clients' ambivalent desire, as Hagberg puts it, "to enjoy the nature they secretly fear." -- Fernau & Hartman; Craig Steely Architecture; Aidlin Darling Design; etc. [slide show]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Call for entries: Carbuncle Cup opens for nominations: ...BD’s 6th annual award presented in recognition of the ugliest building completed in Britain in the past 12 months...for the first time, the jury is to be drawn from the ranks of the national newspapers’ architecture critics; deadline: July 15- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Book Review: A Shout Out for Leers Weinzapfel Associates - Some Meditations on Rejuvenating Campus Architecture: “Lovers of the Difficult” was one of many compellingly memorable phrases by the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and it’s a phrase that comes readily to mind when perusing the new retrospective monograph, "Made to Measure"... By Norman Weinstein- ArchNewsNow |
Poetry as Rescuing Angel: The Angel Island Immigration Station, San Francisco Bay: Long abandoned and near demolition, an important part of American immigration history was saved by writings on the wall. -- Architectural Resources Group; Tom Eliot Fisch; Daniel Quan Design- ArchNewsNow |
|
Peter Zumthor: Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011, London, UK |
Juan Navarro Baldeweg: Human Evolution Museum, Burgos, Spain |
|
|
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.
© 2011 ArchNewsNow.com