Today’s News - Wednesday, March 28, 2012
• A new report calls for design and planning to address "worrying signs that isolation and loneliness are growing in Australia."
• The U.K.'s new National Planning and Policy Framework "is not an invitation to concrete over Britain, as some would have us believe."
• An interesting report on China's "weird, wacky building boom" (Perhaps official Carbuncle Awards in the wind? Probably not...).
• Lewis bemoans the lost opportunities with the arrival of the Metrorail extension through Tysons Corner: "This sad tale is emblematic of a recurring American tendency" that "is truly lamentable" - we are capable of so much more.
• Hume gives us a sneak peek at what's coming up under Toronto's Gardner Expressway (good things!).
• Russell roams Times Square and marvels at the "inventiveness of sign makers" who keep "the canyon-like streets a throbbing urban nexus."
• Kennicott reports on the Eisenhower Memorial Commission's statement in support of Gehry's design: "Without citing names, the letter made explicit reference to the hostility of the tone of the debate."
• ArcelorMittal's Louden responds to criticism of the Orbit: the "'something for everyone' aspect is the Orbit's strength, not its weakness."
• Koons' "Train" could be chugging towards the High Line (tracks not needed).
• Zeiger's "Interventionist's Toolkit" (part 4) "analyzes the unfolding dynamic between the grassroots tactics of activist artists and designers and the institutional strategies of NYC's cultural leaders."
• Switzerland's latest successful export is architects, paving the way for a new generation to integrate architecture with (some very pesky) urban Swiss zoning rules.
• A fascinating look at a 1961 apartment complex in Brisbane that "remains immensely livable today" (we'd live there!).
• Bernstein gives us a look at a Lebbeus Woods project in China that the architect "considers his first permanent work."
• Lubell gets a tip that Google has fired Ingenhoven from its Mountain View HQ project, and is reportedly soliciting a new design team.
• Princeton's appointment of Zaera-Polo as dean of the School of Architecture sparks some opposition.
• Walden reminisces about his days in Dacca back in the '60s and his adventures starting an architecture school in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
• Venice is in deeper trouble than previously thought: it's not only sinking - it's tilting!
• One we couldn't resist: a one-minute time-lapse history of 256 years of human global CO2 emissions.
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Design must tackle our growing loneliness: Grattan Institute Social Cities report: There are worrying signs that isolation and loneliness are growing in Australia and design and planning needs to address the situation...The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) noted that the report highlights the crucial role that parks play in neighbourhoods. [link to report]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
Planning shake-up: National Planning and Policy Framework (NPPF) brings 'most exacting requirement for design ever': "Let’s be clear, this is not an invitation to concrete over Britain, as some would have us believe."- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
China amid weird, wacky building boom: ...bizarre Emperor Hotel is designed in the shape of three deities voted one of China's ugliest buildings...Some of the new buildings have won international acclaim...But far too many are eyesores... [image]- USA Today |
Along Dulles Airport Metrorail extension through Tysons Corner, expediency trumps aesthetics: ...even more unattractive and visually intrusive than predicted by many...This sad tale is emblematic of a recurring American tendency to make expedient, process-driven decisions while ignoring or sacrificing long-term performance and aesthetic benefits...this tendency is truly lamentable. Yet we are capable of behaving otherwise when investing in infrastructure. By Roger K. Lewis- Washington Post |
Most Torontonians have never stood here – that’s about to change: an exclusive preview of Toronto's next waterfront destination, Underpass Park. By Christopher Hume- Toronto Star |
Tourists Abet Digital Signs in Times Square’s Urban Mall: ...230 flickering signs that ascend more than 20 stories over New York City’s central public square. It’s a head-on collision between 350,000 daily pedestrians and 385,000 square feet of saturated color...the inventiveness of sign makers has kept the canyonlike streets a throbbing urban nexus. By James S. Russell -- D3led [images]- Bloomberg News |
Eisenhower Memorial Commission issues statement in support of Frank Gehry: Susan Eisenhower compared Gehry’s designs to the aesthetics of “Marx, Engels and Lenin,” Ho Chi Minh, and the death camps of Adolf Hitler...Without citing names, the letter made explicit reference to the hostility of the tone of the debate...“Frank Gehry has been a loyal soldier in our effort. We confirm our selection of him, confirm our enthusiastic endorsement of his design concept... By Philip Kennicott- Washington Post |
Is Criticism of the New Inevitable? Probably, yes, and arguably it's healthy too...It's always been good sport to criticise the new...In the case of Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond's ArcelorMittal Orbit, further ammunition is delivered to the doubters by the fact that no-one can really say what it is...this 'something for everyone' aspect is the Orbit's strength, not its weakness. By Ian Louden/ArcelorMittal- Huffington Post UK |
Jeff Koons 'Train' Sculpture Could Be Suspended Above The High Line: ...a full-size replica of a 1943 Baldwin 2900 steam locomotive...dangling from a crane...70-foot sculpture would also spin its wheels, blow a horn and emit steam...now the Friends of The High Line just have to find a donor willing to dish out $25 million to complete the sculpture... -- James Corner Field Operations; Diller Scofidio + Renfro) [images]- Huffington Post |
The Interventionist’s Toolkit: Project, Map, Occupy : 4th installment on DIY urbanism and interventionist practice, Mimi Zeiger surveys some of the events and exhibitions organized in New York City last year and inspired by Occupy Wall Street...she analyzes the unfolding dynamic between the grassroots tactics of activist artists and designers and the institutional strategies of the city's cultural leaders. -- Storefront for Art and Architecture; John Southern; John Peterson/Public Architecture; Mitch McEwen/A. Conglomerate; New Museum; BMW Guggenheim Lab; Creative Time; Design Trust for Public Space; Raumlabor; Common Room [images, links]- Places Journal |
Swiss Designers of Spas, Tate Modern Follow Le Corbusier: Forget cheese and chocolate. Switzerland’s latest successful export is architects...as younger architects find a toehold at home...may pave the way for a new generation that integrates architecture with urban Swiss zoning... -- Herzog a& de Meuron; Bernard Tschumi; Mario Botta; Christian Schmid; Peter Zumthor; Livio Vacchini; Peter Maerkli- Bloomberg News |
Life Cycle: Torbreck, an apartment complex in Highgate Hill, lies two kilometres from Brisbane’s city centre. Designed in 1957 by Aubrey Job and Robert Froud...and completed in 1961, it remains immensely liveable today...The architects hoped it might become a small city...embedded within a suburb of timber detached houses, that seems to have been realised. By Andrew Wilson [images, links]- Australian Design Review |
Ever the Visionary, Lebbeus Woods Gets Real: A pavilion designed by Woods in collaboration with Christoph a. Kumpusch is under construction in Chengdu, China. Four stories high, it is a riot of angled steel beams housed in polycarbonate sleeves containing LEDs...considers it his first permanent work. And he is clear that it is architecture, not art... By Fred A. Bernstein [images]- Architectural Record |
Google Fires Ingenhoven Architects from Mountain View Headquarters Project: ...according to our sources, Google has sent out another request to solicit new architects and engineers. By Sam Lubell- The Architect's Newspaper |
New dean of Architecture School sparks controversy: Alejandro Zaera-Polo's appointment has been met with opposition from graduate students and doctoral candidates, who say the School has been less than receptive to their opinions throughout the search process...will replace Stan Allen [who will] step down as dean at the end of this school year. -- Foreign Office Architects (FOA)- Daily Princetonian |
Memoir: My Dacca Days: In the 1960s, James Walden and two colleagues started an architecture school in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, as part of a USAID initiative. He recently returned to give a keynote address at the school’s 50th-anniversary celebration...Our modest contribution clearly delivered a huge return.- Architectural Record |
Venice Sinking More Than Previously Thought: ...has begun sinking again and is even tilting slightly eastward, new satellite measurements have revealed.- Discovery News |
Video: One-minute time-lapse history of human global CO2 emissions: ...makes it easy to visualize the geographical distribution and trends in post-industrial revolution anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions over 256 years.- EarthSky |
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-- Caruso St John: Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK
-- Exhibition: Thomas Demand: Model Studies, Nottingham Contemporary |
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