Today’s News - Friday, July 26, 2013
• Russell is a bit riled about security plans for WTC site that "run counter to the master plan developed after 9/11," and "should not go ahead until the Police Department shows that they are not extravagantly redundant paeans to fear."
• Kimmelman is not much kinder about re-zoning plan for Manhattan's East Midtown: "its priorities are upside down, focusing on buildings, not what's around them. Adding thousands of commuters who work in giant new office buildings without upgrading the surrounding streets and subways...will only set the city back."
• MacDonald bemoans the loss of "another gem of Scotland's disappearing modernist architecture" as the Inverkip power station stack (the country's tallest structure) will tumble in a controlled explosion this Sunday (in "Building Scotland, 1945-1985" at the Glasgow City Heritage Trust, "a visual record is, in many cases, all that remains" of other gems).
• Lamster parses the differences between the three teams vying to transform Dallas's Trinity River: "The results are critical to the future of Dallas. It comes with many questions and concerns."
• An impressive shortlist in the running to design LSE's Global Centre for the Social Sciences.
• Harris pens a provocative piece re: "Race, Space, and Trayvon Martin": "How might we shape educational cultures in design schools that permit a greater breadth and depth of intellectual conversation and debate about the connections between structural racism and the built environment?"
• Murray and Fretton both fret about the state of architectural education in the U.K.: "The current system is flabby" leaving too many students "simply unemployable"; it's time to "raise the bar higher - with a high failure rate: fewer bad architects, fewer good architects."
• Thailand, on the other hand, is seeing a high demand for architecture graduates, "surprisingly," from "other industries unrelated to building construction."
• Horton joins the debate re: the term "starchitect": "we are going to be stuck with it until everybody with a keyboard agrees to retire it" (and he solicits opinions from a few other notable folks).
• Weekend diversions:
• London's Floating Cinema returns!
• Giovannini weighs in with a weighty (well worth reading) take on MoMA's Corbu extravaganza: it's a "voluptuous show, rich in visually tactile material. But there are trade-offs."
• Hodge singles out five projects in A+D Museum's "Never Built: Los Angeles" that "that didn't make it past the drawing board," but he wishes they had.
• KCRW "goes in search of the stories behind four of the most fascinating "Never Built" projects."
• Wainwright finds "a wealth of brilliant ideas" in the Design Museum's showcase of 3D-printing and open source design, "but the overriding sense of wonder is dimmed by the fact that not a lot of the designs are particularly good."
• In Glasgow, "Ice Lab: New Architecture and Science in Antarctica" showcases not only the architecture, but the life of scientists in these research facilities (great pix).
• "Architactics: SAYA - Design for Change" in Tel Aviv Port puts the spotlight on a firm whose aim "is to redefine the role and responsibility of architects in conflict resolution."
• The Virginia Center for Architecture explores the DNA of 20th-century design and "how evolutions in technology allowed designers to build upon a collective heredity."
• Self ends up feeling "hectored" by Hollis's "Cities Are Good for You": "a partisan, clap-happy study of cities fails to reflect reality" + Dale struggled "to figure out the precise point...It felt like so much cheerleading that only folks who already agreed with him would read."
• "Unsprawl: Remixing Spaces and Places" proves "that there are better ways to build communities."
• Webb finds "Berthold Lubetkin: Architecture and the Tradition of Progress" to be "an extraordinary story, compellingly told" ("lucid writing" makes up for its not-great layout).
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World Trade Center Bosses Turn Site into Grim Fortress: Lower Manhattan is turning into an armored security zone...a plan to cordon off the entire 16-acre WTC site...runs counter to the master plan that was developed...after 9/11...The security ring wasn’t supposed to be necessary...should not go ahead until the Police Department shows that they are not extravagantly redundant paeans to fear. By James S. Russell -- Jonathan Marvel/Rogers Marvel Architects [images]- Bloomberg News |
The Plan to Swallow Midtown: Bloomberg’s plan for East Midtown: What’s the problem with the plan? For starters, its priorities are upside down, focusing on buildings, not what’s around them...Adding thousands of commuters who work in giant new office buildings without upgrading the surrounding streets and subways...will only set New York City back. By Michael Kimmelman- New York Times |
Scotland's modernist buildings die another death as Inverkip's vast chimney falls: On Sunday the tallest structure in Scotland will fall as a controlled explosion destroys Inverkip power station's stack and with it another gem of Scotland's disappearing modernist architecture...comes with a ready supply of powerful clichés – blight, eyesore, carbuncle – around which contemporary planners have learned to tread warily. By Fraser MacDonald -- Robert Matthew/RMJM; Egon Riss- Guardian (UK) |
Three teams to preview Trinity River plans: Connected City Design Challenge is a chance to transform a derelict and neglected flood plain into an urban amenity and economic engine for the next century...The results...are critical to the future of Dallas...It comes with many questions and concerns. By Mark Lamster -- OMA-AMO/Rem Koolhaas; Stoss Landscape Urbanism/SHoP Architects; Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura- Dallas Morning News |
Stirling Prize nominees on international shortlist for LSE project: Grafton Architects and Heneghan Peng are among the practices shortlisted...to design Global Centre for the Social Sciences for the London School of Economics...Hopkins Architects, Steven Holl, Rogers Stirk Harbour and OMA are the others in the running...- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Race, Space, and Trayvon Martin: What role do courses like my seminar on “Race and Space” play in the pedagogical work and praxis we perform as architectural, landscape, and urban historians? How might we shape educational cultures in design schools that permit a greater breadth and depth of intellectual conversation and debate about the connections that exist between structural racism and the built environment...? By Dianne Harris, Dept. of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign- Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) |
Too many architecture students are simply unemployable: The profession is calling for change in the Parts system and the institutes need to listen...the conversation seems to go in circles...The current system is flabby...The only consistency across schools is the length of the course...If the profession truly supports radical change, it must rattle the cages of its member organisations. By Christine Murray- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Tony Fretton: ‘Raise the bar higher at the schools’: ...has claimed entry requirements for architecture school should be ‘much higher’ and has advocated a tougher four-year course ‘with a high failure rate...There should be a shortage of architects in the UK: fewer bad architects, fewer good architects.'- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
High demand across the board for architecture graduates: Each year, a little over 1,000 graduates with a bachelor's degree in architecture enter the workforce...Surprisingly, other industries unrelated to building construction...have joined the practice of recruiting architecture graduates. By Ponn Virulrak -- Architect Council of Thailand- The Nation (Thailand) |
Starchitect, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Portmanteau: There may be better terms but it seems we are going to be stuck with “starchitect” until everybody with a keyboard agrees to retire it...I asked a few people what they thought. By Guy Horton -- Stephan Jaklitsch; Frances Anderton; Blair Kamin; Curtis B. Wayne; Orhan Ayyüce; Andrea Dean; Marjanne Pearson; Nancy Egan; Witold Rybczynski; Mimi Zeiger- ArchDaily |
The Floating Cinema Returns in 2013: ‘Extra-Ordinary’ will launch July 27, navigating the breadth of London’s canals with a 10 week programme -- Duggan Morris Architects; Nina Pope/Karen Guthrie/Somewhere- UP Projects / The Architecture Foundation |
Le Corbusier, At Last: ...curators have accomplished what Philip Johnson himself could not: "Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes"...stunning for its generous array of original artifacts...at least Corb has not been already over-exhibited, and at least the show is comprehensive...a voluptuous show, rich in visually tactile material. But there are trade-offs. By Joseph Giovannini -- Jean-Louis Cohen; Barry Bergdoll [images]- Architect Magazine |
Los Angeles Architecture, As It Might Have Been: “Never Built: Los Angeles"...at the A+D Museum, reveals that for all the architectural gems built in the city, there were plenty of innovative projects...that didn’t make it past the drawing board...Here, the five projects I most wish had been built. By Brooke Hodge -- Sam Lubell; Greg Goldin [slide show]- New York Times |
"Never Built: Los Angeles” is a new show at the A&D Museum about major - sometimes visionary - plans for Southern California that never happened...For the next four weeks, KCRW goes in search of the stories behind four of the most fascinating "Never Built" projects. [images, links]- KCRW (Los Angeles) |
Is DIY design more than a passing fad? From customised trainers to lemon squeezers, "The Future Is Here: A New Industrial Revolution" [at the Design Museum] showcasing...3D-printing and open source design. But do we really need to be able to conjure up bespoke versions of everything? ...a wealth of brilliant ideas, but the overriding sense of wonder is dimmed by the fact that not a lot of the designs are particularly good. By Oliver Wainwright [images]- Guardian (UK) |
"Ice Lab: New Architecture and Science in Antarctica": ...a new international touring exhibition...allowing for visitors to not only examine the architecture, but the life of scientists in these research facilities...will debut at Architecture and Design Scotland, The Lighthouse in Glasgow July 26. -- Hugh Broughton Architects/AECOM; bof Architekten/IMS; Space Group; MAP Architects [images]- ArchDaily |
"Architactics: SAYA - Design for Change" at the ZeZeZe Architecture Gallery in Tel Aviv Port: Most of the international conflicts are of territorial nature...SAYA’s pioneering approach termed...“Resolution Planning”...to reclaim the architectural responsibility in designing peace. Its goal is to redefine the role and responsibility of architects in conflict resolution... [images]- ZeZeZe Architecture Gallery |
"Mutations: The DNA of Twentieth Century Design": Explore the intersections between architecture, interiors, graphics and fashion throughout the 20th century...how evolutions in technology allowed designers to build upon a collective heredity...curated by Roberto L. Ventura with students from Virginia Commonwealth University’s Departments of Graphic, Fashion and Interior Design.- Virginia Center for Architecture |
"Cities Are Good for You: The Genius of the Metropolis" by Leo Hollis: A partisan, clap-happy study of cities fails to reflect reality: ...travels through time, giving a highly partisan and select history of urban theory and town planning; and through space...the end result is that I...feel hectored. By Will Self- Guardian (UK) |
"Cities Are Good for You" by Leo Hollis: A Book About Another Book: I was with Hollis on his premise...before opening the front cover...I kept going back and forth about whether the book is good for us, meaning urbanists...struggling to figure out the precise point...It felt like so much cheerleading that only folks who already agreed with him would read. By Brady Dale- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
The Case for Place-Making, Without the Sprawl: What does it take to not only slow the spread of sprawl...And how do we “unsprawl” communities that have already been built? "Unsprawl: Remixing Spaces and Places" by Simmons B. Buntin with Ken Pirie...proves that there are better ways to build communities.- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Reshaping British Architecture; "Berthold Lubetkin: Architecture and the Tradition of Progress" by John Allan/Avanti Architects...enlarged edition of a book he created 20 years ago...[Lubetkin] introduced conservative Britons to the marvels of modernism...It’s an extraordinary story, compellingly told. By Michael Webb- FORM magazine |
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