Today’s News - Monday, April 2, 2012
• ArcSpace brings us Coop Himmelb(l)au in Lyon, Hadid in London, and some amazing photography that is "The poetry of the skeleton" (of buildings).
• We lose Lockwood, whose "Bricks and Brownstone" is a "bible for buffs, architects and preservationists."
• An engineer challenges Shuttleworth's call for engineers to stand up to architects: "The issue is not the clichés of the timidity of engineers or the overweening ego of architects, but society's assumption that big business naturally means big and shiny...Rather than pick on the engineers, work on the perception of the public."
• A report by the Council of Australian Governments finds "cities' planning needs a shake-up."
• MAS sponsors a lively debate re: NYU's massive expansion plan in Greenwich Village and "what the city might do to better balance the needs of large institutions with those of the community and city at large."
• Hume hails a Waterfront Toronto report that "reaffirms what we all knew: city-building requires patience," with a waterfront that "needs to be protected from ignorant and grasping politicians every bit as much as it does from floods."
• Rochon is a bit more heartened with a new residential development in Toronto's west end that will bring "some contemporary design meat" to the neighborhood.
• In a region of rural China, lavish villas dating back centuries may have a new lease on life, "drawing the attention of scholars, tourists and filmmakers."
• A Mies masterpiece in Berlin to get a makeover as Chipperfield is tapped for the revamp.
• University at Buffalo announces an impressive shortlist for a new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; we won't see proposals until May, but UB School of Architecture and Planning folks were happy to talk about them.
• Three finalists in Kaiser Permanante's "Small Hospitals, Big Idea" competition offer visions of what the future of healthcare might look like (fresh-baked bread included).
• Chaban gets Goldberger's take on his move from The New Yorker to Vanity Fair (our fingers are crossed PG's words won't get locked behind yet another pay wall!).
• Goldberger, meanwhile, pens a brief but eloquent tribute to Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial for its 30th anniversary: "It is still far and away the greatest memorial of modern times."
• Lubell minces no words when it comes to the divide between architectural education and practice: "schools have become incredibly sophisticated laboratories for theoretical and technical discourse. But those skills are not sufficient...for the issues, challenges and constraints of the real world."
• Welton on Graves's Driehaus Prize and Rogers' Henry Hope Reed Award: they "represent the best of what classicists can symbolize in 2012: They're interpreting age-old, proven values, in new ways."
• Even the most banal detail was the subject of intense debate in designing the ultimate taxi for NYC: "it was a very urban and derelict environment that we wanted to change" (alas, no mention of its carbon foot print - 'er, tire tread).
• Why April is one of our favorites: it's National Landscape Architecture Month (we're dreaming of diggin' in the dirt!).
• We couldn't resist: last week was Mies's 126th birthday: "he's seen as arguably the first architect to have the last word," says Rose + Q&A with the designer who volunteered to create a Google doodle for the master: "it was going to be my first architect doodle and Mies Van Der Rohe is not a bad first at all."
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-- Coop Himmelb(l)au: Musée des Confluences, Lyon, France
-- Zaha Hadid Architects: Rocca London Gallery, London, UK
-- The Camera: Fernando Alda: The poetry of the skeleton |
Obituary: Charles Lockwood, Who Wrote the Row-House Bible, 63: A specialist in restoration, he chronicled and furthered the row-house revival that transformed many New York neighborhoods....“Bricks and Brownstone” a “bible for buffs, architects and preservationists.”- New York Times |
Timid engineers: Ken Shuttleworth recently called for engineers to stand up to architects...and to end the “orgy of glass”...my first thought was to question the notion...They are opinionated professionals in their own right...The issue...is not the cliches of the timidity of engineers or the overweening ego of architects, but society’s assumption that big business...naturally means big and shiny...Rather than pick on the engineers, work on the perception of the public. By Stephen Melville- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Cities planning needs a shake-up: COAG report: A major review of Australia’s capital cities by the Council of Australian Governments has found that governments need to do more to plan better for the future land use, infrastructure and economies...COAG’s reforms and the review process demonstrate the value of collaboration by governments on planning capital cities. [link to report]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
MAS Panel Debates NYU Expansion: ...disucussed what NYU could do to better engage the community and to what the city might do going forward to better balance the needs of large institutions with those of the community and city at large. -- Vin Cipolla; John Alschuler; Hilary Ballon; Gary Hack; Ron Shiffman; Brad Hoylman [video]- Municipal Art Society of New York |
Waterfront report sinks Doug Ford’s Port Lands vision: ...reaffirms what we all knew: city-building requires patience...Under Ford...the city’s focus has shifted from urban excellence to turning a profit as quickly as possible with as small an investment as possible...the waterfront, let alone Waterfront Toronto, needs to be protected from ignorant and grasping politicians every bit as much as it does from floods. By Christopher Hume- Toronto Star |
In Toronto’s west end, modern homes of a human scale: ...with the arrival of Edition Richmond...the neighbourhood is about to receive some contemporary design meat...the promise of conversation between two well-crafted, low-scale contemporary developments: Across the narrow street, there’s an elegant and modern interpretation of the Toronto row house... By Lisa Rochon -- Gianpiero Pugliese/AUDAX; Core Architects [image]- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
In Rural China, Temples to Past Merchant Wealth Endure: Lavish villas built by merchants still endure across the Huizhou region...once synonymous with entrepreneurialism. Now tourism companies are trying to preserve them...drawing the attention of scholars, tourists and filmmakers. [images]- New York Times |
David Chipperfield to overhaul Mies' Berlin masterpiece: ...appointed to revamp Mies van der Rohe’s (1968) iconic Neue Nationalgalerie...for the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation..."I know this icon of modern architecture is in the best hands." [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Finalists announced in UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences design competition: While...presentation was not open to the public, faculty members in the UB School of Architecture and Planning talked to the UB Reporter about the four design teams in the running for the commission. -- Cannon Design/Pelli Clarke Pelli Associates; HOK; Rafael Vinoly Architects/FoitAlbert Associates; Grimshaw/Davis Brody Bond- UB Reporter (University at Buffalo) |
The Small Hospital Of The Future: Farmers Markets, Energy Harvesting, And Fresh-Baked Bread: ...for people living away from urban centers, what is the future of health? Here are three visions of how people might get care in the coming decades (from Kaiser Permanante's "Small Hospitals, Big Idea" competition) -- Aditazz; Gresham, Smith and Partners; Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch/Perkins+Will By Ariel Schwartz [images]- Fast Company |
T-Squared Off: With Paul Goldberger Leaving for Vanity Fair, Is This the End of Architecture Criticism at The New Yorker? ...he is looking forward to his new gig and the flexibility being a contributing editor will afford him, particularly to work on that biography of Frank Gehry. “It’s a sh*tload of work"... By Matt Chaban -- Lewis Mumford; Ada Louise Huxtable; Michael Kimmelman- New York Observer |
Reflected Grief: Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial...was finished 30 years ago. It is still far and away the greatest memorial of modern times...It’s also the most abstract, which makes it even more miraculous that it was built... By Paul Goldberger- Vanity Fair |
A Teaching Moment: ...the divide between architectural education and practice...schools have become incredibly sophisticated laboratories for theoretical and technical discourse...But those skills are not sufficient to getting architects ready for the issues, challenges and constraints of the real world. By Sam Lubell- The Architect's Newspaper |
Classical Design, Timeless Principles: A pair of epiphanies decades ago guided Betsy Rogers and Michael Graves along paths that led to two of the most coveted awards in classical design [Richard H. Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture; Henry Hope Reed Award]...represent the best of what classicists can symbolize in 2012: They're interpreting age-old, proven values, in new ways. By J. Michael Welton- Huffington Post |
Painstakingly Reimagining City’s Cabs, Down to the Floor Mats: What color should the meter cover be? At planning meetings for the Taxi of Tomorrow, no detail was too banal to debate...Final decisions about New York’s next taxi, the Nissan NV 200, came after months of discussions and research. A prototype arrived Saturday..."it was a very urban and derelict environment that we wanted to change.” -- Design Trust for Public Space- New York Times |
April Is National Landscape Architecture Month: Public Health & Active Living 2012: Landscape architects to show their communities how they promote healthy living.
http://www.asla.org/ContentDetail.aspx?id=34913- American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Mies van der Rohe: an architect's reputation rebuilt: The German master was scorned by postmodernists, but now – as his Google doodle demonstrates – he's seen as arguably the first architect to have the last word. By Steve Rose- Guardian (UK) |
Google Doodle in honor of Mies van der Rohe’s 126th birthday: Q&S with doodle designer Willie Real, a San Francisco-based artist who has long loved architecture (and Mies, of course)...."I volunteered for this doodle because it was going to be my first architect doodle and Mies Van Der Rohe is not a bad first at all."- Mies van der Rohe Society |
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