Today’s News - Wednesday, December 14, 2011
• Kamin x 2: he pays tribute to a Mies protégé who went on to be "an artist in his own right."
• On a brighter note, he cheers Graves winning the 2012 Driehaus Prize for traditional(!?) design.
• Brake's take on Graves's Driehaus win: "The small world of classicist architecture is working overtime to rehabilitate the 70s and 80s stylistic counter reformation."
• Hanscom calls Rybczynski to get a little perspective on Witold's opening "a can of Jedi-style whoopass on Richard Florida."
• ULI's Phillips on the new "What's Next?" report: "Ironically, some of the factors now shaping the future of our industry and our communities were influencing the nation's built environment when ULI was established in 1936."
• Lubell, meanwhile, leaves the recent ULI conference "depressed" because too many big-time developers "don't care enough about architecture": it's time for architects to work harder "to make themselves relevant to the development process."
• Farrelly x 2: Parramatta might seem an unlikely model to be a case-study city as "an exemplar of the West's urban ills," but doing so "could change the course of urban design" - this "grubby hub could yet be urban butterfly."
• She questions the billion-dollar price tag to bring Utzon's Opera House up to speed: "How much for love? Do we sign the blank check? Or do we allow the building its shortcomings and build a proper Opera House somewhere else?"
• LeBlanc goes in search of Toronto's "tattered, battered monuments to the space age" and finds only a few "remnants" that "are anything but junk"; their mid-century optimism still shines through.
• Dvir raises the specter of a Modernist geriatric hospital being "put out to pasture" (or sold and demolished) that would mean "the abandonment of a major piece of the country's architectural heritage."
• An incredibly in-depth look at the machinations behind mega-million plans to revamp NYC's famed 42nd Street library: "NYPL preaches accountability, but it doesn't always practice it" (transparency requested).
• A great take on the building of New Delhi and the irony "that the British had to use inspiration from a French architect to try and outdo their stunning success of Paris on far-flung Indian soil."
• Eyefuls of the two designs selected for two separate public spaces at the Olympic Park + the winners in the School 4 Burma Design Competition.
• Call for papers: 5th Healthy Cities: Working Together to Achieve Liveable Cities Conference in Australia next June.
• Call for entries: New visitor destination and public open space at Cronton Colliery, UK + Saint-Gobain 4th NOVA Innovation Competition (hefty prizes!) + IIDA's Interior Design Competition, Will Ching Design Competition, and Library Interior Design Awards.
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Obituary: Chicago architect Gene Summers, 83: a Mies assistant, he designed McCormick Place and headed IIT's College of Architecture: "I had an enormous amount of respect for him, not only as Mies’ chief lieutenant, but as an artist in his own right,” said Franz Schulze, author of “Mies van der Rohe: A Critical Biography." By Blair Kamin -- Mies van der Rohe; C.F. Murphy Associates; Helmut Jahn- Chicago Tribune |
Michael Graves, whose postmodern portolio ranges from skyscrapers to tea kettles, wins the 2012 Driehaus Prize for traditional design: "More than any other architect, he's democratized design." By Blair Kamin [images]- Chicago Tribune |
Postmodernists Are Now Classicists, Driehaus Confirms: The small world of classicist architecture in America...is working overtime to rehabilitate the 70s and 80s stylistic counter reformation...Michael Graves this year’s winner of the $200,000 Driehaus Prize...Elizabeth Barlow Rogers will receive the $50,000 Henry Hope Reed Prize... By Alan G. Brake [ images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Cities: Not quite as awesome as we like to think: Witold Rybczynski opened a can of Jedi-style whoopass on Richard Florida for playing "fast and loose" with income numbers to make the case that dense, city-style living is the source of all that's good in the world...I called him to get a little perspective...Here's what he said. By Greg Hanscom- Grist Magazine |
Why Land Use Planning Matters More Than Ever: On its 75th anniversary, the Urban Land Institute looks to the future: ULI report "What’s Next?"...is a wake-up call for both industry professionals and cities trying to position themselves in the post-recession environment...Ironically, some of the factors now shaping the future of our industry and our communities were influencing the nation’s built environment when ULI was established in 1936... By Patrick L. Phillips [link to report]- The Atlantic Cities |
Editorial> Who Cares About Architecture? Architects must work to make themselves relevant to the development process...by the end of the conference, I was depressed to face the fact that ULI and big-time real estate developers don’t care enough about architecture...it’s still more often considered the icing on the cake, a marketing tool, and not a significant factor...We need to convince developers that we should and must be partners in the process. By Sam Lubell- The Architect's Newspaper |
Grubby hub could yet be urban butterfly: Imagine...the case-study city...taken as an exemplar of the West's urban ills, could change the course of urban design...Parramatta...seems an unlikely urban model...But this is precisely what would make it worthwhile...the universal rule for a lovable town: to embrace the city as a made object, not a found one, and keep electing councillors who will champion the craft over the graft. Is that so hard? By Elizabeth Farrelly- Sydney Morning Herald |
Saving the sculpture by the sea: We always knew it was going to be expensive. Love is a costly business...But a billion dollars? As a work of sculpture, the Opera House is unsurpassed...But architecture has a more adult, more compromised, role. Architecture must work...the question remains. How much for love? Do we sign the blank cheque? Or do we allow the building its shortcomings...and build a proper Opera House somewhere else... By Elizabeth Farrelly -- Joern Utzon- Sydney Morning Herald |
In search of a city’s tattered, battered monuments to the space age: Like any large urban area, the GTA was once littered with stuff that co-opted the motifs of the space age, but, at 30 to 55 years old, there isn’t much left, and what remains is often in poor condition. But these remnants are anything but junk...mid-century optimism shines through. By Dave LeBlanc [slide show]- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
Back to the Future / No country for old-folks' homes: The decision to put Gedera's Hartzfeld Geriatric Hospital out to pasture means the abandonment of a major piece of the country's architectural heritage..."The hospital is a unique Modernist building and there is no doubt it is necessary to preserve it" By Noam Dvir -- Yaakov Gil/Avraham Yaski (1970); Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites [images]- Ha`aretz (Israel) |
Upheaval at the New York Public Library: ...details of the Central Library Plan are closely guarded
raises thorny questions. Will 42nd Street...be converted into a noisy, tumultuous branch library? Might the $250–$350 million designated for the renovation be better spent on the 87 branch libraries, many of which need structural improvements...NYPL preaches accountability, but it doesn’t always practice it. -- Carrère & Hastings (1911); Foster + Partners- The Nation |
Plaster of Paris: Architect and art restorer Aman Nath on how England’s French complexes helped build New Delhi: The first concept-plan copied New York...but what was eventually built was an adoption of Washington city plan by Pierre Charles L’Enfant...So the irony remained that the British had to use inspiration from a French architect to try and outdo their stunning success of Paris on far-flung Indian soil.- The Pioneer (India) |
James Corner Field Operation/Make Architects and Erect Architecture have been appointed to design two separate public spaces at the Olympic Park: ...picked from shortlists of five. [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
'School 4 Burma Design Competition' Winners -- Amadeo Bennetta/Daniel LaRossa; Atelier MF/Stephen Miles Architects & City Building; Tasou associates; Green Dwell; Tumpa Husna Yasmin/Mita Solanki; in situ studio/Matt Weiss/David Hill; Eleena Jamil Architects; Site-Specific Company/E.A.T.; João Guimarães/Miguel Magalhães; EsMiMi+1; etc. [images]- Building Trust International (UK) |
Call for papers: 5th Healthy Cities: Working Together to Achieve Liveable Cities Conference, June 6-8, 2012 in Geelong, Victoria, Australia; issues to include Healthy urban design; Urban renewal - green buildings; Urban landscapes, public spaces, natural resource management; Urban planning and social equity; deadline to submit abstracts: March 2, 2012- Healthy Cities |
Call for entries (international): New visitor destination and public open space at Cronton Colliery, Knowsley, UK; deadline: February 15, 2012- Land Trust / RIBA Competitions |
Call for entries (international): Saint-Gobain 4th NOVA Innovation Competition for construction products, advanced materials, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability; cash prizes; deadline: June 30, 2012- Saint-Gobain |
Call for entries (international): IIDA competitions: Interior Design Competition + Will Ching Design Competition; deadline to request entry kit: February 8, 2012; submission deadline: February 15, 2012 + IIDA/ALA Library Interior Design Awards: deadline: March 30, 2012- International Interior Design Association (IIDA) |
One-on-One: We architects are politicians: Interview with Giancarlo Mazzanti: "Now is the time to think of how architecture can change the world. We architects can assume that role and make a real difference in how people live and behave." By Vladimir Belogolovsky [images]- ArchNewsNow |
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Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture: Steel Hut & Silver Hut, Imabari, Japan |
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