Today’s News - Thursday, September 6, 2012
• Brussat pays eloquent tribute to a "contrarian's contrarian" who left a "sublime gift to Providence" and "a legacy that would be hard to match."
• Libeskind's 2006 master plan for Copenhagen's massive Ørestad Downtown project gets downsized: "the dream is alive again - it's just different."
• Russell revisits the remnants of Seattle's 1962 World's Fair: "The fair did what great urban spectacles like the Olympics are supposed to do: It put the city on the map, jump-starting a half-century of transformation."
• A look at how much-berated towers-in-the-park "have evolved into something of a model for aging in place" (something "even Jane Jacobs could love").
• An eyeful of an affordable, transit-oriented (and green) housing project for low-income seniors in Oakland, CA (it's "stylish" and "sleek" to boot).
• Litt lights up when he enters Viñoly's "grand" new atrium at the Cleveland Museum of Art "full of finesse and finely calibrated detail."
• Scott Cohen's new "futuristic" Taiyuan Museum of Art in China "extols the digitally modeled aesthetic" using a "decidedly contemporary visual vocabulary to communicate an enduring idea."
• Davidson has a difficult time finding something good to say about the "jarring addition" to Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum: the "crushingly disappointing extension" leaves the original 1895 building "cowering behind a glossy white bathtub" (he's much kinder to the interior).
• Woodman waxes almost nostalgic about AHMM's "terrific" Dagenham Park Church of England School: now the BSF program has been scrapped, it is "sole testament to the ambitions of a now departed age," offering "a clear model for the way British school design might develop...but increasingly it looks like it will come to represent the end of an era."
• Baumgardner offers "a snapshot of how the highway of the future can be a boon, rather than a blight on, the urban fabric."
• Chipperfield fires back at Prix: "How can our profession be regarded as anything more than a soap opera if the personalities of architects dominate all reporting and serious critique is abandoned not only by the media but also by architects themselves?"
• Olcayto tackles both of their attacks on the media: "both of them use the press to further their own ambitions. Both are experienced media diehards too, not Bambi-like starlets caught unexpectedly in the headlights, despite their complaints."
• An impressive list of finalists in the 2012 Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design.
• A good reason to be in San Francisco this month: the Architecture and the City festival is underway + World Monuments Watch Day 2012 runs for much longer than a day.
• Two we couldn't resist: sourcing exactly where Eastwood's infamous empty chair came from + Presidential commercials from 1952 through 2008, courtesy of the Museum of the Moving Image (it's a hoot - we spent wayyyy too much time here!).
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Obituary: Bill Warner's sublime gift to Providence: ...left a legacy that would be hard to match. What Providence owes to [him] may equal, in fact, the debt owed by Paris to Baron Haussmann...This gentle man, this contrarian's contrarian, would...basically declaim, in his quavering, diffident grumble, "We're building a waterfront that the public will love." So there! And that's just what he did. By David Brussat -- William D. Warner [images]- Providence Journal (Rhode Island) |
Why Has Scandinavia's Biggest Development Project Abandoned its Master Plan? ...the coalition developing Ørestad...quietly replaced Daniel Libeskind’s 2006 plan...with a smaller-scale plan by COBE architects. If the first plan, designed by a world-famous architect, represented the ambitions of Ørestad, the second represents the reality...So the dream is alive again – it’s just different. [images]- The Atlantic Cities |
Seattle 1962 World’s Fair Shows Olympic Cities How to Win: The fair did what great urban spectacles like the Olympics are supposed to do: It put the city on the map, jump-starting a half-century of transformation. By James S. Russell -- Minoru Yamasaki; Victor Steinbrueck; Paul Thiry; Frank Gehry; John Graham and Co. [images]- Bloomberg News |
Modernism 2.0: A Tower in the Park Even Jane Jacobs Could Love: Though they weren’t built with seniors in mind, towers in the park have evolved into something of a model for aging in place...designated as naturally occurring retirement communities, or NORCs... -- Interboro Partners- Dwell |
Leddy Maytum Stacy’s Merritt Crossing Offers Affordable And Stylish Senior Housing: ...provides safe, sleek, and affordable transit-oriented housing for up to 70 low-income seniors [in Oakland, CA]...also slated to be stock full of eco-friendly features. [images]- Architizer |
Cleveland Museum of Art atrium can be the city's Pantheon: This grand interior space — nearly as big as a football field — was intended...to be the centerpiece of the $350 million expansion and renovation designed...a decade ago. Now it has the chance to do that job, and much more...has enormous potential to enhance everyday life in the city...crisp, limpid architecture...full of finesse and finely calibrated detail. By Steven Litt -- Rafael Viñoly [images]- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
Preston Scott Cohen Slows China's Building Fervor With Futuristic Taiyuan Museum of Art: ...extols the digitally modeled aesthetic. Set in an urban park...uses decidedly contemporary visual vocabulary to communicate an enduring idea. [slide show]- Artinfo |
There Goes the Neighborhood: The Stedelijk Museum's jarring addition strikes discord in Amsterdam's cultural enclave: The Netherlands' modern-art mecca can finally reopen...Unfortunately, the museum that contains such bounty has disappeared...the original building appears to be cowering behind a glossy white bathtub...crushingly disappointing extension... By Justin Davidson -- A.W. Weissman (1895); Benthem Crouwel [slide show]- Architectural Record |
Dagenham Park Church of England School: sole testament to the ambitions of a now departed age: After Michael Gove scrapped the Building Schools for the Future [BSF] plans, the terrific school provokes mixed emotions...[it] offers a clear model for the way British school design might develop...but increasingly it looks like it will come to represent the end of an era. By Ellis Woodman -- Allford Hall Monaghan Morris/AHMM [images]- Telegraph (UK) |
3 Projects That Transform Highways Into Urban Oases: Cities are turning former dead zones into walkable public spaces that bring communities together, rather than dividing them...a snapshot of how the highway of the future can be a boon, rather than a blight on, the urban fabric. By: Kinder Baumgardner/SWA Group [images]- Fast Company |
AJ exclusive: David Chipperfield counters Wolf Prix's Venice Biennale criticism: In a letter titled ‘Kicking against the Prix’..."How can our profession be regarded as anything more than a soap opera if the personalities of architects dominate all reporting and serious critique is abandoned not only by the media but also by architects themselves?"- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Starchitects think journalists should toe the line: That’s not how it works: It’s no surprise that both Wolf Prix...and David Chipperfield...both attack the media before rounding on each other. The press is just one more territory for both of these influential architects to exert control...both of them use the press to further their own ambitions. Both are experienced media diehards too, not Bambi-like starlets caught unexpectedly in the headlights, despite their complaints. By Rory Olcayto- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design Finalists -- Architropolis/ELK Collective; Champalimaud; Rockwell Group; BBGM; tvsdesign; II By IV Design; One Plus Partnership; Rottet Studio; Slade Architecture; Yabu Pushelberg; Avroko; Bentel & Bentel Architects; Steve Leung Designers; CCD/Cheng Chung Design; Clodagh Design; HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates; etc.- otto |
9th annual Architecture and the City festival, showcasing San Francisco’s diverse architectural talent - September 1-30- AIA San Francisco |
World Monuments Watch Day 2012: ...local communities are coming together this September and October to preserve, protect, and celebrate treasured places and local cultures...all of the places celebrating are on the 2012 World Monuments Watch.- World Monuments Fund/WMF |
Addressing Eastwood’s Infamous Chair: Fans of design may have recognized the empty chair from Clint Eastwood's confounding Republican National Convention performance as a part of Sergio Mian's 1992 Baba Collection.- Architectural Record |
The Living Room Candidate: Presidential commercials from 1952 through 2008- Museum of the Moving Image |
The Banal: Prix takes issue with the state of the Venice Architecture Biennale, saying "architects are playing on a sinking gondola while, outside in the real world, our leaky trade is sinking into powerlessness and irrelevance." By Wolf D. Prix/COOP HIMMELB(L)AU- ArchNewsNow |
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-- O Studio Architects: Church of Seed, Huizhou, China
-- Book: "Studio Olafur Eliasson: An Encyclopedia" |
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