Today’s News - Monday, March 25, 2013
EDITOR'S NOTE: We are pleased to be the media sponsor of the 3C: Comprehensive Coastal Communities Competition, a global ideas competition being launched today by Operation Resilient Long Island (ORLI), a student-led grassroots committee of architecture, interior design, and construction management students from NYIT. Click the 3C Competition button below for details - and sign up!
• Heathcote takes on "the bold, the bland and the bulging" London skyline of "more anonymous" (and often huge) background buildings by non-starchitects "which arguably have an even greater impact on the city's landscape."
• Merrick is of mixed mind about London's "newest startling building" that sets "an interesting, but rather tricky, precedent - a worrying possibility emerges. What if it catches on?"
• Diez disses Berlin: it may be "one of world's coolest artistic meccas," but with the current mayor, it "has devolved into a backward-looking architectural wasteland" of "countless façades of overwhelming cowardice" (with few exceptions - ouch!).
• Hawthorne travels Wilshire Boulevard: L.A.'s 16-mile-long boulevard of prototypes, a string of hypotheses - our boulevard of cold feet and second thoughts."
• Litt has high hopes for Cleveland's University Circle: "If it all works as well as it should, it could be one of the most fascinating urban laboratories in the world."
• A new report makes an environmental argument against preserving midcentury skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan: preserve the masterpieces, "but not scores of unremarkable copycats."
• Is this a time for clients to be brave? Yes, says Reading; No, says BAM Design's Pryke: "We don't want clients to be brave; we want them to take professional advice and think through their decisions."
• Betsky bemoans "the death of civic culture" in the divisive debate over the Eisenhower Memorial: "I do not think anybody is looking at the actual design. They are pursuing culture and petty political wars through architecture."
• Menking, on a brighter note, reports on Madrid's IE School of Architecture students having a hand in building a temporary paper tube pavilion by Shigeru Ban.
• Moore cheers the English country house getting its "mojo back - it's refreshing to see a brand new country house that tries to be something other than a phony throwback" (from the slide show, it's anything but!).
• Hosey and Bejan discuss the science behind good design, and whether beautiful design is the same as good design.
• Two fascinating looks at lessons to be learned from Google's perks: "there's some evidence that great physical space enhances creativity" + It's not just a happy accident.
• Baillieu calls for a clamp-down on firms that will work for nothing: a "zero-fee culture is corrosive to the profession."
• Gerber issues a most amusing - but a most serious - "Top 11 reasons you should ignore Top 10 (or Top 100) lists: What we need is imagination and innovation, not ranking systems."
• The Australian Institute of Architects honors an impressive group with 2013 Australian Achievement in Architecture Awards.
• Call for entries: 3C: Comprehensive Coastal Communities Competition (international).
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The bold, the bland and the bulging: London’s skyline is changing more rapidly and more radically than it has at any time in the city’s history...dominated by the starchitects...the more anonymous background...is being filled in by lesser-known designers...often huge buildings...which arguably have an even greater impact on the city’s landscape. By Edwin Heathcote -- Broadway Malyan; Ian Simpson; BFLS; TP Bennett; Allies & Morrison- Financial Times (UK) |
A new prospect for Piccadilly: St James's Gateway building is London's newest startling building: Eric Parry has...set an interesting, but rather tricky, precedent about the way some street-scapes can be vertically resurfaced. And a worrying possibility emerges. What if it catches on? By Jay Merrick [image]- Independent (UK) |
Missed Opportunities: Berlin's Architectural Wasteland: Klaus Wowereit, Berlin's mayor since 2001, has watched his city become one of world's coolest artistic meccas. But under his guidance, the city has devolved into a backward-looking architectural wasteland in which urban planning only favors the rich. By By Georg Diez -- Daniel Libeskind; Frank Gehry; I.M. Pei; Philippe Starck; Barkow Leibinger [slide show]- Der Spiegel (Germany) |
Wilshire Boulevard, a Main Street that stands apart: Los Angeles has long tested out its grandest ambitions on Wilshire Boulevard, where innovation has arisen even as dreams have been dashed...L.A.'s boulevard of prototypes, a string of hypotheses 16 miles long...our boulevard of cold feet and second thoughts... By Christopher Hawthorne [images]- Los Angeles Times |
Can University Circle lure the rich back to Cleveland, acquire a skyline and share the wealth? ...will need to maintain the highest standards of urban design and maintenance in its parks and public spaces — and make sure that the district is welcoming to everyone. If it all works as well as it should, [it] could be one of the most fascinating urban laboratories in the world. By Steven Litt- Cleveland Plain Dealer |
Landmark battle turns green: Best fate for many energy-inefficient glass towers may be the wrecking ball...an environmental argument against preserving midcentury skyscrapers...one can be torn down and rebuilt with 44% more square footage while using 5% less energy...it makes sense to preserve such masterpieces but not scores of unremarkable copycats. -- Bill Browning/Terrapin Bright Green; CookFox- Crain's New York Business |
Is this a time for clients to be brave? In an uncertain climate, do architects need clients who are willing to take risks? Yes: Malcolm Reading/Malcolm Reading Associates...No: Andrew Pryke/BAM Design...We don’t want clients to be brave, we want them to take professional advice and think through their decisions.- BD/Building Design (UK) |
The Death of Civic Culture: The Eisenhower Memorial debate is over politics, not art: I do not think anybody is looking at the actual design. They are pursuing culture and petty political wars through architecture. It makes me think that we have learned nothing from the memorials that dot the Washington landscape. By Aaron Betsky -- Frank Gehry- Architect Magazine |
Students Help Shigeru Ban Build a Temporary Structure in Madrid: ...paper tube building has opened at IE University...took only two weeks to build, is based on sustainability objectives...students from IE School of Architecture took part in assembling the paper tubes, and underscored how important it was as an educational experience for them. By William Menking [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Downley House: The English country house has got its mojo back – thanks to teamwork, Swiss timber and more than a touch of romance...it's refreshing to see a brand new country house that tries to be something other than a phoney throwback...It is heroic, and playful, and enjoyable... By Rowan Moore -- Birds Portchmouth Russum [slide show]- Observer (UK) |
The Science Behind Good Design: Why are some shapes more pleasing to us than others? And is beautiful design the same as good design? We explore what nature and science have to say. -- Lamce Hosey/RTKL; Adrian Bejan, author of "Design and Nature"- WAMU.org - American University Radio |
Looking for a Lesson in Google’s Perks: As to the broader relationship between the workplace and creativity, “there’s some evidence that great physical space enhances creativity"... [slide show]- New York Times |
Not A Happy Accident: How Google Deliberately Designs Workplace Satisfaction: ...has devoted the same level of intellectual firepower it used to create self-driving cars to discovering, refining, and implementing leadership practices that optimize human performance in the workplace. By Mark C. Crowley [images]- Fast Company |
Get tough on the practices that will work for nothing: Sanctuary’s U-turn only shows how the zero-fee culture is corrosive to the profession...RIBA needs to get much tougher on members who willingly work for nothing...School building is the next sector to be driven down to its lowest common denominator in this lunatic belief that cheapest is best. By Amanda Baillieu- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Top 11 Reasons You Should Ignore Top 10 (or Top 100) Lists: Public Interest Design named me as one of the top 100 people re-imagining the world. As honored as I am – and please do put me on all your lists! - I couldn’t help but think that “top” lists are exactly the opposite of innovation. By Elizabeth Gerber/Design For America- Metropolis Magazine |
Winners announced in the 2013 Australian Achievement in Architecture Awards: Architecture professionals, academics and students acknowledged...including the Gold Medal and Emerging Architect Prize. -- Peter Wilson/Bolles+Wilson; Daniel Grollo/Grocon; John Gollings; Clare Cousins; Prof. Peter Corrigan; Louise Cox; Australian Institute of Architects- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
Call for entries: 3C: Comprehensive Coastal Communities Competition (international): re-imagine the coastal communities hit by Superstorm Sandy; no fee; registration deadline: June 30- Operation Resilient Long Island / ORLI (New York Institute of Technology/NYIT) |
Preservation Alert: P.S. 199, by Edward Durell Stone (1963): The public school on Manhattan's Upper West Side could be facing demolition if a developer takes up New York City's offer to sell the site. By Fred A. Bernstein- ArchNewsNow |
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