Today’s News - Friday, July 12, 2013
EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry for late posting - our Internet tubes were broken for several hours (again...).
• ANN presents: Caldwell has a candid conversation with Young, author of "Teardown," re: his adventures and encounters when he returned to his hometown of Flint, Michigan: Place is not always the result of the work of well-intended design professionals.
• Dale says that what makes Young's '"Teardown" most interesting: "The folks who have planted a stake in Flint, have worked hard to be the best possible neighbors they can be, and take part in whatever gossamer strands of community remain."
• Meanwhile, in Detroit, two organizations with overlapping visions for the city have created "on-the-ground confusion" about "who's behind which civic-minded program. It has stoked dissension."
• Jenkins minces no words about who he thinks is has turned London into a slave "to 'anything goes' money" that is "taking shape in the form of some 30 bleak glass megaliths" (and talking to architects is "like talking disarmament with the NRA").
• A Hamiltonian takes issue with Hume's call for the Canadian city to find its own Bilbao: perhaps he "should look at the lessons of his own city" - he "fails to mention Toronto's two attempts at Bilbao-ing" (that aren't all that successful).
• Jaklitsch takes journalists to task for using the word "starchitect": it "has passed its shelf life. When journals endorse the cult of celebrity, it does a disservice to all of us" (comments are very interesting, too).
• Saffron cheers Philly's latest addition to its "growing collection of pop-up parks, an increasingly popular and low-cost way for cities to carve out green retreats amid the crowded hardscape desert."
• New details about Hadid's Miami skyscraper show "the already dramatic tower even more extraordinary."
• Local talent scores big as ALA Architects wins the Helsinki Library Competition.
• Weekend diversions:
• Heller hails "Sukkah City," a new documentary that offers a "rare and an intimate glimpse inside a juried architecture competition" (and then some).
• Hawthorne is a bit more iffy about "Windshield Perspective" at L.A.'s A+D Museum: it is "one of the more gregarious exhibitions in the Getty's Pacific Standard Time Presents - a colorful, deceptively ambitious and in the end oddly dated look at a relatively short stretch of Beverly Boulevard."
• Betsky on two other Getty shows, "Everything Loose Will Land" and "Overdrive": each is "the perfect antidote" to the other, but together, they "make you realize how serious and seriously beautiful the architecture of L.A. really is."
• Down Under, Aucklanders get their own chance to bask in some California dreamin' with "California Design."
• An obscure (and canceled) Lebbeus Woods project pops up (overnight!) in Los Angeles.
• "Colombia: Transformed/Architecture=Politics" has moved to NYC's Center for Architecture: it "traces significant new projects that exemplify innovative architectural forms and spaces while serving as conduits for social inclusion. With measurable results."
• Woodman is not at all wild about a master drawings show at London's Sir John Soane's Museum: it's "a fine collection undermined by the staggering vanity of its owner," Tchoban, who just designed his own museum in Berlin (see next article) - the "conceit" of including his own not-very-masterful drawings "is little short of mind-boggling."
• Meanwhile, Wilson gives (mostly) thumbs-up to Tchoban's Berlin museum and its first exhibition (a Piranesi show from Soane's) - they're minor reservations, "given that this impressive, small museum has landed so fully-formed and seemingly firing on all cylinders"
• In Pittsburgh, "The Playground Project" shows that the evolution of playgrounds was (and is) not child's play.
• In Hong Kong, "Piece of Peace" recreates 40 UNESCO heritage sites built with LEGO blocks.
• Din finds Huisman's "The New Rijksmuseum: Cruz y Ortiz architects" a "thoughtfully designed book," except that it "leaves the reader confused but hungry for more."
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A Conversation with Gordon Young, Author of "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City": Place is not always the result of the work of well-intended design professionals. By Kenneth Caldwell [images]- ArchNewsNow |
Holding Out for Past Glories in Gordon Young’s ‘"Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City": ...is less about shrinking cities and more about the author’s general fixation on Flint, Michigan...what’s most interesting: The folks who have planted a stake in Flint and won’t be moved, have worked hard to be the best possible neighbors they can be, and take part in whatever gossamer strands of community remain. By Brady Dale- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
Two Distinct But Overlapping Visions for the Future of Detroit: ...Detroit Future City project is situating itself to implement a blueprint for its namesake city over the next 50 years...Allied Media Projects idea...to substantively transform its communities, making them healthier, safer and more equitable...there is on-the-ground confusion among residents...not being clear who’s behind which civic-minded program. It has stoked dissension...- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
Who let this Gulf on Thames scar London's Southbank? Mayor Boris Johnson: [He] pledged to control the vulgarity of bigness. But his city is alone in Europe in its slavery to 'anything goes' money...taking shape in the form of some 30 bleak glass megaliths...Talking towers with London architects is like talking disarmament with the National Rifle Association. By Simon Jenkins- Guardian (UK) |
Bilbao on Burlington Bay? Perhaps Toronto architecture critic should look at the lessons of his own city: When an architect starts citing comparisons to the Bilbao museum, as did Christopher Hume...it becomes worrisome...fails to mention Toronto's two attempts at Bilbao-ing...The Spanish community I would nominate for emulation is not Bilbao but Barcelona. By Ron Johnson -- Daniel Libeskind; Frank Gehry; Antoni Gaudí- The Hamilton Spectator (Canada) |
Letter to the Editor: The Expression “Starchitect” Has Passed Its Shelf Life: ...undermines serious discourse regarding architecture and urbanism...When journals endorse the cult of celebrity, it does a disservice to all of us. By Stephan Jaklitsch/Jaklitsch / Gardner Architects- ArchDaily |
Pop-up parks perk up dull city spots: ...the latest addition to Philadelphia's growing collection of pop-up parks, an increasingly popular and low-cost way for cities to carve out green retreats amid the crowded hardscape desert...Because pop-ups are so cheap, cities can easily beta-test the locations. By Inga Saffron -- Groundswell Design Group [slide show]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Zaha Hadid Unveils New Details About Her Miami Skyscraper: One Thousand Museum...plans for the already dramatic tower even more extraordinary. [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Finnish Partnership ALA Architects Named Winner of Helsinki Library Competition [slide show]- Architectural Record |
"Sukkah City": Revisiting the Crazy, High-Concept, Temporary Jewish Huts of NYC: A documentary...offers a "rare and an intimate glimpse inside a juried architecture competition"...Rather than religious, the film is ultimately about the artistic process of designers and architects, and more broadly, ideas and the execution of ideas. By Steven Heller- The Atlantic |
"Windshield Perspective" is a tricky way to look at L.A.: ...one of the more gregarious exhibitions in the Getty's ongoing Pacific Standard Time Presents...a colorful, deceptively ambitious and in the end oddly dated look at a relatively short stretch of Beverly Boulevard. [Architecture and Design Museum] By Christopher Hawthorne- Los Angeles Times |
Beyond Pacific Standard Time: "Everything Loose Will Land" is the perfect antidote to the sprawl and import of "Overdrive." But the reverse is also true. Together, these exhibitions make you realize how serious and seriously beautiful the architecture of L.A. really is. By Aaron Betsky- Architect Magazine |
The golden age of design: Californian dreams incite themes in an exhibition that epitomises cool: "California Design" show at Auckland Art Gallery: "The pleasure is that a number of the movers and shakers are still around, so that was a real highlight of the research." -- Alvin Lustig; Glen Lukens; Charles and Ray Eames; Julius Schulman- New Zealand Herald |
A Resurrection Of The “Alien 3” Architect Lands in L.A.: ...Lebbeus Woods got to realize only one building in his lifetime. Now, a posthumous project rises from the city streets...“Earthwave” is a new installation in L.A. that realizes an obscure (and canceled) Woods project. -- Eric Owen Moss; Christoph A. Kumpusch [images]- Fast Company |
"Colombia: Transformed/Architecture=Politics" at the Center for Architecture: ...traces significant new projects that exemplify innovative architectural forms and spaces while serving as conduits for social inclusion. With measurable results... -- Giancarlo Mazzanti; Felipe Mesa/Plan b arquitectos; Daniel Bonilla; Felipe Uribe +UdeB; Juan Manuel Pelaez; Orlando Garcia; Vladimir Belogolovsky/Intercontinental Curatorial Project; Fernando Villa; Magnusson Architecture & Planning [images, links]- ArchDaily |
"Northern Vision: Master Drawings from the Tchoban Foundation" at Sir John Soane’s Museum, London: A fine collection...undermined by the staggering vanity of its owner...the cast-list live up to their exalted billing. Whether everything here can be claimed as a masterpiece is a different matter...[one gallery] is entirely given over to...one architect, namely Sergei Tchoban himself...Masterful they are not. Indeed, the conceit of their inclusion here is little short of mind-boggling. By Ellis Woodman [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Column lust: A new architecture museum has opened in Berlin: The Tchoban Foundation – Museum for Architectural Drawing...with an exhibition of Giovanni Battista Piranesi...This is an expensively tooled cabinet of a building...For all this grandeur...don’t quite get away from the feeling of being merely L-shaped left-over spaces around the stairwell...these reservations are minor, given that this impressive, small museum has landed so fully-formed and seemingly firing on all cylinders. By Rob Wilson -- Sergei Tchoban/Sergey Kuznetsov [images]- Uncube magazine (Germany) |
The Work Behind Child’s Play: At the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, “The Playground Project" looks at the evolution of playgrounds from 19th-century “sand gardens” to postwar “junk playgrounds” and play areas inspired by abstract sculpture. -- Carl Theodor Sorensen; M. Paul Friedberg; Richard Dattner; Joseph Brown; Aldo van Eyck; Isamu Noguchi; Louis Kahn; Yvan Pestalozzi [images, video]- New York Times |
“Piece of Peace — World Heritage Exhibition Built with LEGO Brick”: ...recreating 40 UNESCO heritage sites...Touring for the first time outside Japan, the exhibition is on until July 31 at Cityplaza in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong. [links]- Artinfo Hong Kong |
"The New Rijksmuseum: Cruz y Ortiz architects" by Jaap Huisman: A thoughtfully designed book leaves the reader confused but hungry for more...there is not enough insight on how this historical museum was modernised for the 21st century...relies on readers’ previous knowledge of the building. By Asif Din- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Saarinen's TWA Terminal Revisited: It was great to move once again within this swooping, multi-level building with its sunken lounges, suspended bridges, and shallow steps that invite gliding rather than climbing (and that tile work!). By Janet Adams Strong [images]- ArchNewsNow |
Leon Krier Answers Norman Weinstein's Questions (and then some!): Dear Mr. Weinstein: Thank you for mentioning my Speer reprint. I will respond gladly to your questions if you respond to my "pointed" questions.- ArchNewsNow |
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-- Aires Mateus e Associados: Houses for elderly people in Alcácer do Sal, Alcácer do Sal, Portugal
-- Atelier Peter Zumthor: Kolumba Museum, Cologne, Germany |
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