Today’s News - Tuesday, February 21, 2012
• ArcSpace brings us an eyeful of Romero's Soumaya Museum.
• Berger on signs that Seattle is getting ready for its next boom: though good signs are in "abundance," what is really needed is "enlightened and creative planning" so that "development opportunities aren't squandered."
• Hinshaw, on the other hand, says San Diego holds a lesson for Seattle in "how NOT to treat a central waterfront."
• King takes on the pro's and con's of some of San Francisco's newest POPS (privately owned public spaces) and how to "make a worthy program better" (signage has a lot to do with it) + he sizes up 6 POPS re: "Why you should go. Why you haven't gone: How would you know? What can be done" to make them better.
• A 4-year study by Design Council Cabe on the relationship between crime and contemporary housing casts doubts on the "efficacy of the police's controversial Secured by Design strategy."
• Baillieu minces no words about what she thinks of the study results: the "case for Secured by Design has always looked doubtful...the way to tackle crime is by having police on the streets not sitting in committee rooms telling architects what to do."
• Hume cheers the pro-bono transformation of a former Toronto Salvation Army soup kitchen into a studio/theatre in a "part of town not normally associated with high culture that will in turn help transform the larger neighborhood."
• Clemson University (finally) taps a new team for an architecture center on a different site than previously planned in 2005 (with a design panned for being too modern, so now it's a parking lot - you expected...?).
• Moore has a most amusing conversation with Gehry re: the "backlash" against him that he finds "self-righteous" and "annoying" (he can do square, too).
• Welton gets the scoop from Freelon re: the evolution of the design for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (groundbreaking tomorrow!).
• A Kathmandu architect on a crusade to chronicle and preserve Nepal's architectural treasures: "To put things into a book is an act of preservation because one day this will be the only way to remember."
• Long's long journey from Berlin to London and Venice: "three cities that shaped my views on architecture...where transformation is more compelling than the shock of the new."
• Litt explores some of Rome's shocking new architecture that "communicates that Italy wants very much to assert itself as a contemporary creative power, not just as the heir to a glorious past."
• Eyefuls of winners in the Bab Al Bahrain Open Ideas Competition to redesign one of the few existing public squares in Bahrain, and The Core Project Competition to vitalize the city of Sebastopol, California.
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FREE Fernando Romero: Soumaya Museum, Mexico City, Mexico |
Seattle: If this is a bust, what will a boom look like? During the economic downturn, the city and region have been setting the stage for the next boom...good signs were in abundance last week...a re-evaluation of its development rules...One thing that has often been missing...is enlightened and creative planning...that does more than cheerlead, but steers us to a future where...development opportunities aren't squandered. By Knute Berger -- James Corner Field Operations- Crosscut (Seattle) |
San Diego: how NOT to treat a central waterfront: A developer, aided by the daily newspaper he just bought, wants to plop a big football stadium on the harborfront. That's an idea Seattle should not import...The message is less than subtle. Want a big park? Then you will have to accept a big stadium. But most locals aren’t buying that proposition. By Mark Hinshaw [images]- Crosscut (Seattle) |
Privately owned public spaces: Guidance needed: The Roof Terrace at One Kearny...is a case study in why the generation-old guidelines must be improved...as a new wave of downtown development begins to gain momentum, San Francisco planners and decision-makers should make a worthy program better. Simple remedies to the current rules would increase awareness of good spaces... By John King [slide show]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Privately owned public spaces' potential, pitfalls: In the past five years, six unusual public spaces have opened in downtown San Francisco...Why you should go...Why you haven't gone: How would you know? What can be done... By John King [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
Study raises questions on using design to cut crime: A four-year study into the relationship between crime and contemporary housing by Design Council Cabe has cast doubts on the efficacy of gated developments — a tenet of the police’s controversial Secured by Design strategy.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Let architects design while the police tackle real crime: The case for Secured by Design...has always looked doubtful. It’s not just a case of more red tape and an example of how specialisation is threatening the architects’ role...the way to tackle crime is by having police on the streets not sitting in committee rooms telling architects what to do. By Amanda Baillieu- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Regent Park finds its dancing shoes: Former Toronto Salvation Army soup kitchen now dance/yoga centre: ...Coleman Lemieux and Company (CLC) opened their freshly renovated studio/theatre in a part of town not normally associated with high culture...a modest but efficient amenity that will in turn help transform the larger neighbourhood. By Christopher Hume -- Don Schmitt/Diamond Schmitt [video]- Toronto Star |
Clemson University plans architecture site: Brad Cloepfil was one of four architects...in 2005 competition...Kennedy & Violich Architecture received that commission, but its proposed building was hotly opposed because of its modern design...new building will allow the school to expand its Clemson Architecture Center and its graduate program in historic preservation... By Robert Behre -- Allied Works Architecture; e.e. fava architects- Charleston Post and Courier (South Carolina) |
Frank Gehry: 'There's a backlash against me': His success with the Bilbao Guggenheim sparked an inevitable backlash, but, as he says, 'expression' is still vital to architecture..."I can do square too"...he is concerned with how buildings are constructed and the making of spaces and forms...holds on to the idea that architecture is about relationships...between the people who make them and the people that use them. By Rowan Moore [slide show]- Observer (UK) |
Philip Freelon, architect of record of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: The museum’s design is the result of an intense collaboration among Freelon...David Adjaye and the late Max Bond...It’s a different kind of design for a space known largely for its neoclassical landscape. This museum eschews the influence of Western civilization... By J. Michael Welton -- Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup (Freelon Group; Adjaye Associates; Davis Brody Bond; SmithGroup [images, links]- Washington Post |
Saving stone treasures: A Kathmandu architect is attempting to chronicle a dying culture: ...much of the capital’s ancient architecture will soon be no more than a memory...as haphazard urbanisation and a desire for modernity change Kathmandu..."To put things into a book is an act of preservation because one day this will be the only way to remember,” says Niels Gutschow, who has dedicated the last four decades to chronicling and preserving Nepal’s architectural treasures.- The Star (Malaysia) |
Kieran Long's architectual journey from Berlin to London and Venice: The three cities that shaped my views on architecture are places where history wins over innovation...where transformation is more compelling than the shock of the new...a building’s fabric displays the ebb and flow of history, if you just know how to look at it. -- David Chipperfield; John Soane- Telegraph (UK) |
Rome mixes contemporary architecture while keeping its focus on past: ...latest architectural additions...render visible the tension between past and present...communicates that Italy wants very much to assert itself as a contemporary creative power, not just as the heir to a glorious past. By Steven Litt -- Zaha Hadid; Richard Meier; Renzo Piano; Massimiliano Fuksas [images]- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
Swiss Architect Takes First Prize at Bab Al Bahrain Open Ideas Competition: ...to redesign one of the few existing public squares in Bahrain...Second and Third Place were given to teams from Italy and the Netherlands. -- Lukas Lenherr; Baukuh and Guido Tesio; Partizan Publik- Dus Architects [images, links]- Bustler |
Winners Announced: The Core Project Competition to vitalize the city of Sebastopol, California -- Vinod Kadu/Smita Ambadi; Joel Baumgardner/William Baumgardner; Steve Jewkes/Rick Rocchetti/Deborah Woodbury; Pavel Kouznetsov/Albert Escobar/David AT Phan/Leandro Yuan [images]- City of Sebastopol / AIA Redwood Empire Chapter |
INSIGHT: Bringing Art to the Streets without Breaking the Bank: An architect explains how he used innovative materials and a close-knit alliance of stakeholders to create an economical yet artful amenity for a city's public transit passengers. By Walter Geiger, AIA, FARA- ArchNewsNow |
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