Today’s News - Thursday, January 12, 2012
• Tributes are paid to John Madin, architect of the controversial (and now demolished) Birmingham Central Library: "Future generations will regret the loss of many of his fine buildings."
• Two years after the earthquake, Haiti "is slowly moving from an aid-and-rescue approach towards comprehensive redevelopment."
• Frog Design's Chipchase tries to answer the tricky question: "Do designers actually exploit the poor while trying to do good?"
• As Helsinki takes on the mantle of World Design Capital 2012, Carr considers: "Is it something Australia should be looking at? Is it something it's even ready for?"
• Dobrzynski cheers Philly's mayor with an arts plan: "With government support for the arts on the wane in most places, here's a city singing a different tune."
• The new wing of Boston's Gardner Museum is ready for its close-up, though it was "not a stress-free march to the finish line" with an architect who didn't hesitate to make changes: "Renzo will be drawing until you take the pencil away from him" (lots of pix).
• Campbell cogitates on Boston's old, now barely-there West End neighborhood that "persists as a memory palace": "I don't think there's a comparable example of neighborhood loyalty to be found anywhere in the U.S. There's a lesson here for architects and city planners."
• Many wonder if a Chicago public housing project from the 1930s is worth preserving instead of demolishing for a mixed-use development: "residents fear the poor will be squeezed out," never mind its architectural significance and community-friendly design: "It's really beautiful. If it's not broke, don't fix it."
• Beverly Hills (finally) establishes a preservation program for its historic architecture: "Cookie-cutter bigger is the best is absolutely not our mantra," says the mayor.
• Brussat hands out his international Roses and Raspberries for 2011 to "buildings, people and events that moved the world as we know it closer to or farther from the world as we'd like to see it" (Gehry gets both; and a blushing Thank You for the lovely rose tossed to ANN!).
• The gloves come off re: Gehry's Eisenhower memorial: the entire family has "officially called for a stop to the project all together," along with some flak from the NCAS: the "competition, planning, and design were and are irredeemably flawed...secretive, exclusive, elitist, and undemocratic" (ouch!).
• O'Brien minces no words re: the project as well: "I suspect that we may just live in an age when glorifying avant-garde architects feels safer than honoring heroic generals. His exceptional leadership earned him a place among the capital's memorials. But not the place Frank Gehry has in mind."
• McGuirk reports from Lenin's tomb and ponders: "is it time to bury Lenin's stage-managed show?" (a most amusing read).
• Q&A with Hawkinson about The Speculation Studio's collaboration between architecture and real estate students that "explodes the myth that considering financial implications in a student design process will constrain creativity and innovation" - and "the return of big ideas."
• Q&A with MoMA's new curator Gadanho re: his new role and the challenges facing architects today: "Maybe architects have to get out of that high place in academia or in the corporate office and go back in the streets and find work there."
• An interesting profile of the "30-year-old underemployed architect" who, through Boffo, is now a "creative matchmaker" between young fashion designers and emerging architects.
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Obituary: John Madin, 87, Birmingham Central Library architect: Known for working in the Brutalist style, he was unfortunate in having a number of his buildings demolished during his lifetime..."Future generations will regret the loss of many of his fine buildings"..."Few produced the level of quality he did" -- Twentieth Century Society; Owen Luder; Bob Ghosh/K4 Architects; Glenn Howells/Glenn Howells Architects; Aidan Ridyard/Broadway Malyan; John Prevc/Make Architects- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Two Years After Cataclysmic Quake, New Community Designs Take Shape in Haiti: ...the country is slowly moving from an aid-and-rescue approach towards comprehensive redevelopment...with AIA members playing key roles as architects, planners, and builders. -- Patrick Delatour; Grina Architects; Harold Gaspard; Duany Plater-Zyberk (DPZ & Co.); The Prince's Foundation; Janine Glaeser; Architecture for Humanity; All Hands Volunteers; Habitat for Humanity; Pan American Development Foundation; AIA Disaster Response Task Force; Architects Without Borders; Noushin Ehsan; Haiti Housing Collaborative [images, links]- AIArchitect |
Do Designers Actually Exploit The Poor While Trying To Do Good? Jan Chipchase of Frog Responds: ...design for social good should almost always have a quantifiable impact. But bringing a product to market is often simply beyond nonprofits...humanitarian charity isn't a sustainable model - the effects can be few, and the money pit bottomless...Many designers have become disillusioned with the nonprofit model. By Shoham Arad/See Why Studios -- Design That Matters- Fast Company |
Helsinki, World Design Capital 2012: The WDC program essentially serves as a template for cities to participate in a global dialogue..."it’s about how countries can benefit by looking outward and engaging with the rest of the world"...Is it something Australia should be looking at? ...is it something it's even ready for? ...with design seen as a growth industry...the time may be ripe to step into a larger role on the world’s design stage. By Michael Carr- Australian Design Review |
"The Mayor Has An [Arts] Plan" -- Where? With government support for the arts on the wane in most places, here's a city singing a different tune...It's Philadelphia...Mayor Michael Nutter is talking the talk in a difficult environment... By Judith H. Dobrzynski- ArtsJournal |
Gardner shows off its graceful update: $114m wing unveiled with founder’s vision in mind...not to say it was a stress-free march to the finish line. Piano is very detail-oriented and doesn’t hesitate to make changes..."Renzo will be drawing until you take the pencil away from him." -- Renzo Piano [images]- Boston Globe |
Boston’s old West End persists as a ‘memory palace’: ...surviving former residents...now live scattered all over the map...But as far as they’re concerned, they’re still members of a community...I don’t think there’s a comparable example of neighborhood loyalty to be found anywhere in the United States...There’s a lesson here for architects and city planners. What is it that makes the West End so intensely remembered? By Robert Campbell- Boston Globe |
At Lathrop Homes, Chicago Housing Authority's talk of transformation brings worry: Residents fear the poor will be squeezed out by redevelopment...its architectural significance and community-friendly design make it public housing worth preserving..."It's really beautiful. If it's not broke, don't fix it." -- Robert S. DeGolyer; Hugh M.G. Garden; Jens Jensen (1930s)- Chicago Tribune |
Beverly Hills City Council Establishes Preservation Program for Historic Architecture: A new ordinance, commission and city staff position will focus on preventing the demolition of buildings with historic value...projects that pertain to structures at least 45 years old and designed by master architects...- Beverly Hills Patch |
World roses and raspberries for 2011: ...buildings, people and events that moved the world as we know it closer to or farther from the world as we'd like to see it. By David Brussat -- Daniel Libeskind; Frank Gehry; National Civic Art Society; Reconsidering Postmodernism; Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA); Driehaus Prize; Michael Graves; Léon Krier; Renzo Piano; Richard Meier [images]- Providence Journal (Rhode Island) |
Eisenhower Family Says Frank Gehry's D.C. Memorial Doesn't Honor Ike as a "Serious Man": On Monday the gloves came off...a letter representing the entire Eisenhower family...officially called for a stop to the project all together...Gehry’s design is also facing some flack from the National Civic Art Society...“the Memorial competition, planning, and design were and are irredeemably flawed&hellip secretive, exclusive, elitist, and undemocratic"... [links]- Artinfo |
Op-Ed: Diminishing Dwight Eisenhower in D.C. memorial: Gehry's plan is to depict Eisenhower as the "barefoot boy"...The Eisenhower who lives in America's memory is not a barefoot boy...I suspect that we may just live in an age when glorifying avant-garde architects feels safer than honoring heroic generals...His exceptional leadership earned him a place...among the capital's memorials. But not the place Frank Gehry has in mind. By Kevin O'Brien- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
The designer skin he lives in: is it time to bury Lenin's stage-managed show? Young Russians no longer pay homage to him, but the Bolshevik leader 'lives on' in a carefully choreographed show of solemnity inside a Moscow mausoleum. But for how long? ...not withstanding the irony of a secular political system creating its own saint, there is something of Mecca about it... By Justin McGuirk -- Alexey Shchusev (1929)- Guardian (UK) |
Studio Report | The Speculation Studio: Governors Island, The Sixth Borough? ...signals an overdue evolution in architectural education...explode the myth that considering financial implications in a student design process will constrain creativity and innovation...Q&A with Laurie Hawkinson about the studio’s theme and site, about the nature of the collaboration between architecture and real estate students, and about the return of big ideas. -- Vishaan Chakrabarti; Smith Miller + Hawkinson Architecture [images, links]- Urban Omnibus |
A Lisbon Architect Brings His Skills to MoMA: Pedro Gadanho...may represent the future of the profession, in that he doesn’t do much actual building...spoke about his role at the museum and the challenges facing architects today..."Maybe architects have to get out of that high place in academia or in the corporate office and go back in the streets and find work there...'performance architecture.'"- New York Times |
The Cool Kid From Joplin, Mo.: ...a 30-year-old underemployed architect, Faris Al-Shathir...has popped up around New York, transforming oddly configured or forgotten spaces into architecturally stunning retail installations...a creative matchmaker, pairing young fashion designers with emerging architects through Boffo... -- Marc Fornes/THEVERYMANY; Gage/Clemenceau; Spilios Gianakopoulos; Snarkitecture; Collective- New York Times |
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Steven Holl Architects: Cité de l’Océan et du Surf, Biarritz, France |
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