Today’s News - Monday, February 18, 2013
• ArcSpace brings us Pei's Bank of China HQ in Beijing, and Hadid's Antwerp Port Authority HQ.
• Hadid is not happy with how women architects are treated in Britain: she's faced "more misogynist behavior" in London than anywhere else in Europe.
• Australian AIA President Penn pens a report on how re-crunching the 2012 GradStats numbers shows that "gender equity in architecture is not as bad as we thought," but it doesn't mean that it is not "an urgent issue within the profession."
• Calthorpe champions New Urbanism in China: while cities are built from scratch in a few years, "the question is: how do you turn that activity into something benign?"
• Williams watches the Suzhou "skyline being transformed before my very eyes," then visits ""crumbling, anarchic, messy" Kolkata for the first time in 30 years - almost nothing had changed, except on the fringes: "urbanism in China is clean, sanitized and exciting; India's is grimy, raw... and exciting."
• Saffron delves into the "real problem with gentrification": neighborhoods that have revived are "not merely livable, but immensely desirable. The trouble is the [Jacobsian] vision is also giving us a new kind of sterility."
• Crosbie cheers the new Hartford Public Safety complex that "stands as a flag of optimism planted in a bleak landscape...a stand-in for history and it is well done" (though for "die-hard Modernists" it "might make your skin crawl").
• King gives two thumbs-ups to two new infill housing projects: some might say they're "exercises in urbanism more than architecture, but such a distinction would be unfair...smarts often count for more than style."
• New role models for affordable housing in NYC are a welcome "trend to replace bland institutional architecture typical of affordable housing with creative and striking design."
• Micro-apartments may be another new trend, but standards can be very different in different places: "what's humane stretches only to a point...how much can we tolerate, for the sake of participating in that great big metropolitan world?"
• Water, water everywhere: Kimmelman in the Netherlands enlists Tracy Metz to show him why and how "the Dutch are starting to let the water in": American politicians could learn a lot about how to "improve public life, public space and the landscape at a fraction of the billions American taxpayers pay out for repairing hurricane damage" (and "Sweet & Salt" should be required reading).
• Green catches up with Metz and American landscape architect Poole at the National Building Museum: "the Dutch go for these types of national solutions because they see water as a collective issue, while Americans think they're own their own" (great pix).
• UVA students spend a week with Geuze "learning the poetry of 'unreasonability'": his "style was fast paced, witty, and often sarcastic, full of curious comments that had some puzzled, some delighted, and some slighted" (and they learned a lot!).
• A shortlist of international "architectural royalty" vies to design what could be "the most iconic building to be constructed in Sydney since the Opera House."
• Hosey on the science behind "why we love beautiful things," and why designers need to understand "more about the mathematics of attraction, the mechanics of affection."
• Everyone is hard at work on STUDIOKCA's "Head in the Clouds," Figment's summer pavilion on Governors Island, and a Kickstarter campaign is underway (full discloser: yours truly was a juror, and gave it two big thumbs-ups!).
• The model maker of RMJM's doomed Gazprom tower puts his massive model up for sale in hopes of recouping his £70k (it will also be on view in Edinburgh and London).
• ENR's 2012 Best of the Best Projects.
• Call for entries: LANDMARK MIAMI: 6th DawnTown international design ideas competition to create an iconic, architectural monument for the city (no fee).
• EDITOR'S NOTE: ArchNewsNow turns 11 today - Happy Birthday to us!
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-- I.M. Pei/Pei Partnership Architects: Bank of China Headquarters, Beijing, China
-- Zaha Hadid Architects: Antwerp Port Authority Headquarters, Antwerp, Belgium |
Zaha Hadid: Britain must do more to help encourage its women architects: The world's leading female architect says women in the UK are pushed away from leading big projects...says she has faced "more misogynist behaviour" in London than anywhere else in Europe and that things are not improving at all for women in architecture.- Observer (UK) |
RAIA president: Gender equity in architecture not as bad as we thought: ...Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) 2012 GradStats report. The figures were shocking...AIA suspected that the figures for architecture were skewed...When looking at the detail for architecture masters graduates...the results were dramatically different and much more positive...does not mean that gender equity is not an urgent issue within the profession... By Shelley Penn, Australian Institute of Architects- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
New Urbanism Takes Root in China: As China accelerates its urban development...it is turning to people like...Peter Calthorpe to help it design better cities—and quickly..."you’ll see cities designed for one and two million people built from scratch in a few years. The question is: how do you turn that activity into something benign?" -- Calpthorpe Associates [images]- Architectural Record |
India, China: Talk of the town: I hadn’t been to Kolkata for 30 years. Then, it had been a crumbling, anarchic, messy, congested, dusty, frantic confusion of people, cars and animals...Tellingly, almost nothing had changed...the real changes were happening on the fringes, the satellite cities and the new town developments...In short, urbanism in China is clean, sanitised and exciting; India’s is grimy, raw... and exciting. By Austin Williams- The Asian Age (India) |
The Real Problem with Gentrification: A phenomenon that revived cities can also make them monotonous: A funny thing happened in the half century since Jane Jacobs published her classic treatise...the neighborhoods that have revived...became not merely livable, but immensely desirable. The trouble is, that vision is also giving us a new kind of sterility. By Inga Saffron- The New Republic |
New Hartford Public Safety complex Lifts Neighborhood: ...stands as a flag of optimism planted in a bleak landscape...physical evidence of what one hopes is the city's commitment to regenerate the neighborhood, enticing others to build there. Architecturally, it is a solid start...a stand-in for history and it is well done... By Michael J. Crosbie -- JCJ Architecture- Hartford Courant (Connecticut) |
Exciting, enticing: housing that fits in: "Infill housing" is one of those phrases that planning geeks love...two recent additions to the San Francisco landscape...The case could be made that these projects are exercises in urbanism more than architecture, but such a distinction would be unfair...when new buildings are added to a settled city, smarts often count for more than style. By John King -- Pyatok Architects; Gould Evans [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
A Role Model for New York City's Affordable Housing: An urban farm on the rooftop of [the] Sugar Hill Housing affordable-housing project in Harlem will provide fresh produce and income for the building...the latest example in a trend to replace bland institutional architecture typical of affordable housing with creative and striking design. -- David Adjaye; Dattner Architects; Grimshaw Architects; nARCHITECTS; SLCE Architects [images]- Architectural Record |
The Claustrophia of Micro-Apartment Living: Sure, tiny spaces look cool. But would you actually want to live in one? The standards of what makes a home habitable can vary widely, but what’s humane stretches only to a point...we may wonder where to draw the line... By Betsy Morais -- adAPT NYC; "Making Room"- The Atlantic Cities |
Going With the Flow: The Dutch are starting to let the water in...Protecting the country from storms and floods isn’t treated here merely as a burden or a political football but as an economic and architectural opportunity...American politicians...might want to see how the Dutch have managed to improve public life, public space and the landscape at a fraction of the billions American taxpayers pay out for repairing hurricane damage. By Michael Kimmelman -- Tracy Metz; Manuel de Solà-Morales; West 8 [slide show]- New York Times |
"Sweet and Salt: Water and the Dutch" by Tracy Metz and Maartje van den Heuvel: New Orleans scared at least some in the Dutch government out of a complacency...the Dutch go for these types of national solutions because they see water as a collective issue, while Americans think they’re own their own...Americans...need to see “sea water as infrastructure.” By Jared Green -- De Urbanisten; Kathy Poole/Poole Design, Landscape Architecture [images]- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
A Week with Adriaan Geuze Learning the Poetry of “Unreasonability”: 30 University of Virginia (UVA) School of Architecture teams ...shared one self-proclaimed “unreasonable” guest lecturer and critic...His style was fast paced, witty, and often sarcastic, full of curious comments that had some puzzled, some delighted, and some slighted...He argued that with the big idea, all the other elements would fall into place. -- West 8- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
World's best architects vie to make their mark on Sydney: It looms as the most iconic building to be constructed in Sydney since the Opera House - judging by the architectural royalty lining up to design James Packer's $1 billion six-star Crown Sydney resort at Barangaroo... -- Renzo Piano; Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture; Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; Wilkinson Eyre Architects- The Australian |
Why We Love Beautiful Things: If designers understood more about the mathematics of attraction, the mechanics of affection, all design could both look good and be good for you...To paraphrase one biologist, beauty is in the genes of the beholder — home is where the genome is. By Lance Hosey- New York Times |
Governors Island's Latest Summer Pavilion Seeks Funding: Studio Klimoski Chang Architects/STUDIOKCA is hard at work on its "Head in the Clouds" project, the winning design for this summer's pavilion at the Figment Arts Festival... [images, links]- Curbed New York |
RMJM model maker puts his Gazprom tower up for sale: Creditor hopes to recoup £70k following collapse of practice: ...tower in St. Petersburg...has been mired in controversy because of the city’s World Heritage status. Now Henry Milner has struck deals to showcase the model at the Edinburgh College of Art and at the Gallery of Russian Art and Design Gallery on London’s Little Portland Street. [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
2012 Best of the Best Projects: ...honor the most outstanding construction efforts completed in the U.S. and Puerto Rico... -- Safdie Architects; GSBS Architects/Ennead Architects; EHDD; CO Architects; ZGF Architects; BRPH Architects-Engineers; Gensler; Becker Morgan Group; Michael Arad/Handel Architects/Davis Brody Bond/PWP Landscape Architecture; BOKA Powell; Albert Kahn Assoc.; Rodriguez & Quiroga Architects; RVK; PageSoutherlandPage; Populous; etc. [images, info]- Engineering News-Record (ENR) |
Call for entries: LANDMARK MIAMI: 6th DawnTown international design ideas competition to create an iconic, architectural monument located within Bayfront Park that will become an instant identifier for Miami; no entry fee; cash prizes; deadline: April 16- DawnTown (Miami) |
One-on-One: Revolution in Architecture: Interview with Gregg Pasquarelli, SHoP Architects: "We never limit ourselves to simply designing an image. Part of our initial concept is always about knowing how something is going to be built." By Vladimir Belogolovsky [images]- ArchNewsNow |
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