Today’s News - Tuesday, August 16, 2011
• ArcSpace brings us a colorful eyeful from the pages of "Construction and Design Manual: Architectural Diagrams."
• Urban planner Vanstiphout delves deeply, thoughtfully (and eloquently) into "what the violence may mean for the future of Britain's cities"; lessons from France's "architectural circle jerk"; and "urban politics and hence planning and urban design are too often treating the city with ulterior motives, instead of actually working for the city itself."
• Kamin, Hawthorne, Moore, and Davidson make their way to the 9/11 Memorial and come away with (mostly) mixed musings.
• Russell x 2: his tour of Lower Manhattan proves that the neighborhood "has overcome antiterrorist bombast and mismanaged rebuilding to make a powerful case that cities can civilize."
• He tours the construction site of what will soon be Kahn's (finally) completed FDR Memorial: the design of "a contemplative space in the middle of the city's noise and bustle...hasn't dated," and he hopes "visitors give both men their due."
• Needham is not as positive about D.C.'s ("made in China") Martin Luther King Memorial: though it "has its strengths," the real story "is one of a bizarrely managed process."
• A look at four cities "known for their architectural relevance - and four firms making waves in their cities and beyond."
• Mays is dismayed the "taut elegance and forthright modernism" of a new Toronto tower is yet another "example of modern design integrity being compromised in order to mimic the old fabric of a neighborhood."
• Mehrotra reflects on urban growth and the challenges facing Indian cities: "We need community consensus."
• The Houses of Sagaponac Modernist enclave lets traditional designs in, "regardless of whether they were compromising the community's original modernist aesthetic" because buyers "want traditional out here" (oh well...).
• Rochon's serious (and amusing) take on a few conundrums raised by Architect Barbie's Dream House: "Why does a single gal like you need a 4,881-square-foot dream home?" (never mind "those high-heeled booties aren't going to work on a construction site").
• An ode to Kahn's 1961 library at Phillips Exeter Academy, "an enduring and visionary model for what a library could be."
• Pierre Jeanneret's archives find a publicly accessible home at the CCA, with some surprises to be uncovered.
• Woodman reviews the U.K.'s week in architecture (Alsop's "peripatetic history" included).
• Paul Hawken pays tribute to Ray Anderson.
• We couldn't resist: Tomorrow, landscape architects will hold happenings on city streets from Alaska to Florida and everywhere in between with simultaneous events.
• Call for entries: Parks for the People: A Student Competition to Re-imagine America's National Parks.
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Book feature: Architectural Diagrams: Construction and Design Manual by Pyo Mi Young |
Back to normal? ...what the violence may mean for the future of Britain’s cities...the French example...shows how quickly the possibility of a real debate and a rethink of urban politics can evaporate and be replaced by something as ridiculous as was the architectural circle jerk of “Le Grand Paris”...urban politics and hence planning and urban design are too often treating the city with ulterior motives, instead of actually working for the city itself. By Wouter Vanstiphout/Crimson Architectural Historians -- Terry Perkins; Charles Holland/FAT; Stephen Hodder/Hodder & Partners- BD/Building Design (UK) |
National September 11 Memorial: A tough work of abstract minimalism, softened by waterfalls and oak trees, seeks to meld remembrance and regeneration...one looks back at all the battles that made these hallowed 16 acres a capital of contention...there should at least be relief about the memorial...the design derives its strength from its unflinching stoicism and specificity + Q&A: Daniel Libeskind, praises 9/11 memorial, calls it a 'visceral encounter with this piece of New York'. By Blair Kamin -- Michael Arad/Handel Architects; Peter Walker/PWP Landscape Architecture [images]- Chicago Tribune |
National September 11 Memorial: The design by Michael Arad and Peter Walker has weathered a long process of changes intact...to preserve at least a kernel of genuine and affecting meaning...lifting the memorial also allowed it to flow directly into the surrounding neighborhood...may in the end have a larger impact on the urban character of the rebuilt World Trade Center than any other. By Christopher Hawthorne -- Snohetta; Daniel Libeskind; David Childs/Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM); Fumihiko Maki; Santiago Calatrava [slide show]- Los Angeles Times |
Ground Zero 9/11 memorial flows with mournful splendour: A first look at New York's 'footprint fountains'...reveals an impressive – if exhausting – spectacle...But memory should include detail as well as majesty, and it has to be said the memorial lacks intimacy. By Rowan Moore -- Michael Arad; Peter Walker- Guardian (UK) |
Cold Openings: On the 9/11 memorial and its disappointments: arad's huge cubes of nothingness...take their place among the pinstriped canyons of steel and glass...winds up looking like an adornment for real estate...I can’t help wondering whether the place will really be exhortation to memory, or just a pair of darkly alluring holes - a doubled invitation to oblivion. By Justin Davidson -- Michael Arad; Daniel Libeskind; Peter Walker and Partners- New York Magazine |
Wall Street Fights Terror’s Long Shadow With Urban Life: In the decade since Sept. 11, Lower Manhattan has overcome antiterrorist bombast and mismanaged rebuilding to make a powerful case that cities can civilize. By James S. Russell -- Smith-Miller + Hawkinson; Gehry Partners; Tsao & McKown; Piet Oudolf; George Tsypin; WXY Architects; Ben van Berkel/UNStudio; Ken Smith; SHoP Architects [images]- Bloomberg News |
Louis Kahn FDR Memorial Rises in New York River After 40 Years: The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park...is finally being built almost exactly as Kahn designed it...a contemplative space in the middle of the city’s noise and bustle...[his] design hasn’t dated, and I find myself wistful for Roosevelt, who forcefully steered the nation through the Great Depression and World War II. I hope visitors give both men their due. By James S. Russell -- Mitchell/Giurgola [images]- Bloomberg News |
Martin Luther King Memorial: A 'Made In China' Design Comes To DC: There are other issues with the memorial...To be fair, the King Memorial has its strengths...But the story here is one of a bizarrely managed process... By Paul Needham -- Lei Yixin; ROMA Design Group [images]- Huffington Post |
Living Architecture in Europe: How Tomorrow Is Built Today: ...a look at four cities known for their architectural relevance - London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Barcelona - and four firms making waves in their cities and beyond. -- Enric Ruiz-Geli/Cloud9 Architects; Sarah Wigglesworth; Bjarne Mastenbroek/SeARCH; Bjarke Ingels/Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) [images]- Wall Street Journal |
Why try to disguise a tall tower? The Peter Street Condominium project is the latest example of modern design integrity being compromised in order to mimic the old fabric of a neighbourhood...Its taut elegance and forthright modernism...will make it stand out sharply from the architectural muddle round about...should soar free above all that came before... By John Bentley Mays -- Peter Clewes/architectsAlliance [image]- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
"We need community consensus...": ... to create a plausible conservation strategy. With the recent release of his book "Architecture in India Since 1990," historian, architect and academic Rahul Mehrotra reflects on urban growth and the challenges facing Indian cities.- The Hindu (India) |
A Modernist Community Lets in the Traditional: Only eight of 32 planned modernist homes were built in the Houses of Sagaponac — a ninth is under construction — so the owners decided to open the community to other home styles...regardless of whether they were compromising the community’s original modernist aesthetic...buyers “want traditional out here"... -- Richard Meier; Stephen Kanner; Henry Cobb; Frank Lloyd Wright (1954); Keenen Riley/K/R Architects [images]- New York Times |
Blueprint for Architect Barbie! Think pink – and give her a monster home: Barbie, those high-heeled booties aren’t going to work on a construction site. And your country is bankrupt. Why does a single gal like you need a 4,881-square-foot dream home? By Lisa Rochon -- Ting Li; Maja Paklar- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
A Monument to the Life of the Mind: Louis Kahn's library at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H....an enduring and visionary model for what a library could be, a powerful space to serve as the anchor of a community built around learning...as much a statement on pedagogy as it is on principles of architectural permanence. [images]- Wall Street Journal |
Shining New Light on a Modernist: The archives of the Modernist architect Pierre Jeanneret, who worked with his cousin, Le Corbusier, are now becoming publicly accessible at the Canadian Center for Architecture..."One without the other would not have been able to achieve what they did in Chandigarh"- New York Times |
Constructive criticism: the week in architecture: A first glimpse of the soaring new concourse at King's Cross, Norman Foster defects to China, and architects wonder if they are to blame for the UK riots...as Alsop's peripatetic history suggests, business management skills aren't necessarily part of the package. By Ellis Woodman -- John McAslan; Foster + Partners; Will Alsop; RMJM; Wouter Vanstiphout- Guardian (UK) |
Paul Hawken's Eulogy for Ray Anderson: Reimagining the World Was a Responsibility: Ultimately, Ray’s work was not about making a sustainable business, it was about justice, ethics, and honoring creation. Zero waste was the path to 100% respect for living beings.- GreenBiz.com |
Landscape Architects Hit the Streets Nationwide: From Alaska to Florida and everywhere in between, landscape architects across the country will hold simultaneous events on 08.17.11 to educate the public that landscape architecture is your environment, designed. [video]- American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Call for entries: Parks for the People: A Student Competition to Reimagine America’s National Parks; Stage 1: submit a proposal for a Spring 2012 studio class based around one of the 7 national park sites; deadline: November 1- Van Alen Institute / U.S. National Park Service / National Parks Conservation Association |
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