Today’s News - Monday, December 3, 2012
EDITOR'S NOTE: Early morning travel plans means we will not be posting tomorrow, but will return Wednesday, December 5.
• We are delighted to introduce ArcSpace's new look and new alliance with the Danish Architecture Center (DAC)! Editor-in-Chief Kirsten Kiser remains at its helm (and ANN remains its source for daily headlines). Do check it out!
• Kimmelman comes home from earthquake-devastated L'Aquila, Italy, with "a cautionary tale for New York, post-Hurricane Sandy."
• Moore minces no words about what he thinks of the "high-rise craze ruining London's skyline": "Towers can be beautiful...but what we are getting now are mostly units of speculation stacked high, garnished with developers' ego."
• NYC unveils Norten's towering plans for the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District (and then some).
• Saffron takes on a not-much-discussed trend outside of Philly: "compact small towns are starting to sample from the same demographic pot" as the city with walkable, culture-filled neighborhoods.
• Hume is somewhat heartened that Grumbach came to Toronto to check out plans for a new underground LRT; the French planner doesn't think it's such a good idea (neither does Hume).
• de Monchaux offers an in-depth and eloquent critique of the "rise and fall (and perhaps, rise again) of U.S. embassy architecture."
• What proves his optimism is the U.S. Department of State's just-released shortlists of teams for "worldwide new construction A/E design services" and "worldwide major rehabilitation/renovation A/E design services" (definitely not your same-old same olds!).
• Bullivant cheers BSI Swiss Architectural Award winners Benitez, Kéré, Studio Mumbai, "selected for both the originality of the process from which their projects were created as well as their quality."
• Q&A with Bohlin re: his Newport Beach Civic Center project as the "'Taj Mahal of Newport' begins big reveal."
• The big reveal of new Seattle arena design is "not exactly a slam-dunk" (as in "underwhelming" to some).
• UC Davis puts three teams on shortlist to design its new art museum (some surprises - we're impressed!).
• Russell gets the skinny on why celebrity architecture "is the last frontier" for the lifestyle renter...they are willing to pay for beauty."
• Libeskind shares his favorite innovations from the last 25 years, and his predictions for the next 25.
• Benfield is ebullient about the "coolest green infrastructure you are likely to see" (despite its awkward name).
• An eyeful of the "coolest condo towers going up in Toronto" (we question the cool factor of a few).
• One we couldn't resist: a delightful round-up of what to do when in Cape Town (penguins included).
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Books: "Tadao Ando: Conversations with Students"
-- "Sou Fujimoto – Sketchbook"
-- "Wang Shu – Imagining the House"
-- Hans, His Chairs and The World" by Anne Blond, illustrated by Birgitte Haahr Lund |
In Italian Ruins, New York Lessons: An earthquake devastated L’Aquila, Italy, in April 2009...a long way from the Rockaways and Staten Island, but its struggle to recover from an earthquake may provide a cautionary tale for New York, post-Hurricane Sandy...a disaster doesn’t just destroy homes and take lives. It tests a city’s, and a nation’s, imagination and capacity to change. By Michael Kimmelman- New York Times |
How a high-rise craze is ruining London's skyline: Most of the 20-plus towers being built or breaking ground are of inferior quality and fail to meet guidelines...What has happened to the planning system...Towers can be beautiful...but what we are getting now are mostly units of speculation stacked high, garnished with developers' ego. By Rowan Moore -- Norman Foster; Richard Rogers; Renzo Piano; Rafael Viñoly; Terry Farrell; Squire and Partners; Broadway Malyan; Allies and Morrison; David Chipperfield [slide show]- Observer (UK) |
BAM! Development Explosion: Bloomberg announces plans for last city-owned parcels in Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District...will bring affordable housing and additional cultural and community space... -- Enrique Norten/TEN Arquitectos [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Dynamic West Chester draws developers: We've heard plenty about the repopulation of big-city downtowns by postcollege singles, empty-nesters, and determined young families, all eager to live in neighborhoods where they can walk to work, restaurants, and culture. What hasn't gotten much attention - yet - is how compact small towns are starting to sample from the same demographic pot. By Inga Saffron -- Bernardon Haber Holloway [images]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Transit could help Eglinton turn the corner: Famed French planner comes to Toronto to help design the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown LRT...Antoine Grumbach questions the decision to build the line underground...the value of urban transit lies less in its ability to move people than its power to transform the city. By Christopher Hume- Toronto Star |
International Style: The rise and fall (and perhaps, rise again) of U.S. embassy architecture: [embassies] present extreme versions of the design dilemmas that all buildings must solve: how to both represent ambitious abstractions...and address ruthlessly practical problems...how to stand out and yet fit in, how to be both poetic and prosaic, open and closed, all at the same time. By Thomas de Monchaux -- KieranTimberlake; Eero Saarinen; Harrison & Ambramovitz; Oscar Niemeyer; Le Corbusier; Marcel Breuer; Gropius; Edward Durell Stone; Louis Kahn; John Johansen; Frank Gehry; Arquitectonica; RTKL; Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects; Davis Brody Bond; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
Initial Design Team Shortlist Announced by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) for Worldwide New Construction A/E Design Services -- BNIM Architects; Ennead Architects; Mack Scogin / Merrill Elam Architects; Miller Hull Partnership; Moore Ruble Yudell; Richard + Bauer Architecture; SHoP Architects; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Steven Holl Architects; Studio-Gang Architects; Weiss/Manfredi Architects- U.S. Department of State |
Initial Design Team Shortlist Announced by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) for Worldwide Major Rehabilitation/Renovation A/E Design Services -- Architecture Research Office (ARO); Beyer Blinder Belle Architects; BNIM Architects; CO Architects; Goody, Clancy & Associates; Krueck & Sexton Architects; Weiss/Manredi Architects; Clive Wilkinson Architects; Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (ZGF)- U.S. Department of State |
Architecture as a community: Following Solano Benitez and Diébédo Francis Kéré, Studio Mumbai and Bijoy Jain have won the latest edition of the BSI Swiss Architectural Award, selected for both the originality of the process from which their projects were created as well as their quality. By Lucy Bullivant [images]- Domus |
Q&A: Peter Bohlin hopes to create 'rich, diverse' space: Newport Beach Civic Center project is "much more than a few buildings." + 'Taj Mahal of Newport' begins big reveal -- Bohlin Cywinski Jackson [images]- Orange County Register (California) |
First showing of new arena design not exactly a slam-dunk: The initial responses of some local architects to the arena drawings were underwhelming. -- 360 Architecture [images, links]- Seattle Times |
Three teams compete to design UC Davis art museum: ...in the running to design and build the $30 million Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at the entrance to the University of California Davis. -- Kitchell/WORKac/Westlake Reed Leskosky; Oliver and Company/Henning Larsen Architects/Gould Evans; Whiting-Turner/SO–IL (Solid Objectives - Idenburg Liu)/Bohlin Cywinski Jackson- Sacramento Business Journal |
For $60,000 Rental, Penthouse Comes With Gehry Cachet: "People fell in love with the building...That’s why we changed the name to New York by Gehry"...Celebrity architecture “is the last frontier” for...the lifestyle renter...And “they are willing to pay for beauty"... By James S. Russell -- Bjarke Ingels Group/BIG; SLCE Architects [images]- Bloomberg News |
The Future of Design: Daniel Libeskind's Predictions: ...shares his favorite innovations from the past quarter century - and the ones that will change the world in the next 25 years...“Mass production is out. Customization...will be attainable for all.- Condé Nast Traveler |
The coolest green infrastructure you are likely to see: ...installed at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments...called the “Biodiversity Green Wall, Edible Green Screen & Water Harvesting Demonstration Project.” Not too good for sound bites, that name, but it certainly is descriptive. By Kaid Benfield [images, video]- Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) |
The Coolest Condo Towers Going Up in Toronto -- Quadrangle Architects; Teeple Architects; Tact Design; Core Architects; Roy Varacalli; Peter Clewes; architectsAlliance; 3rd Uncle; Chandler Graham/Montgomery Sisam; Daniel Liebeskind; MAD Architects [slide show essay]- Huffington Post Canada |
When in...Cape Town: Going Native: bays, penguins and Table Mountain—Dominique Botha on how to make the most of a beautiful city: Don't take the cable car up Table Mountain. Walk instead...Do spare your knees and take the cable car down...- The Economist / More Intelligent Life (UK) |
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