Today’s News - Monday, December 16, 2013
• ArcSpace brings us eyefuls of Turrell's first adventure in China at the Beijing Temple of Wisdom, and Kiser considers Zumthor's reconsideration of LACMA.
• Speaking of the Swiss master, Bridger revisits the thermal baths at Vals; was it worth it? Yes: it "achieves something rare: a crystalline moment of human smallness and rapture."
• Kamin's review of the year: "architecture came alive again in 2013" with "bold new buildings" and "rare displays of integrity."
• Moore gives (mostly) thumbs-up to Denton Corker Marshall's "discreet new visitor center" at Stonehenge that is "as light as the old stones are heavy. The design suffers only from nerviness. They should have had the courage to be simpler."
• Baillieu sees a cautionary tale in Stonehenge's 21-year "sorry saga" that the "architects appointed to the Palace of Westminster would do well to heed - it's a "classic case of political indecision" and "one of those scandals that Britain excels at."
• Lubell, on a brighter note, brings us eyefuls of the shortlisted proposals for a major new park in West Hollywood (not without its own saga).
• Showley cheers three winning designs for Balboa Park, San Diego's "crown jewel" - too bad "no funding for actually building any of the proposals has been raised."
• Ditto (i.e., too bad) there are no plans to build any of the three winning Container Vacation House designs in Sydney's Bondi Beach competition.
• Pawson's holiday bungalow in the Welsh countryside for de Botton's Living Architecture collection will be black brick on the outside and white on the inside (Pawson + black?!!?).
• Artangel's plan for a soon-to-be demolished housing estate in London's Elephant and Castle comes under fire, "especially after it emerged that another planned block would have no affordable housing, as the developer argued this would mean having to build a separate entrance and lifts for social tenants" (why not just let them eat cake and walk it off on stairs?).
• Speaking of exercise (sort of), AIA and MIT issue a preliminary report on the impact of design on public health that offers "a path for translating the research into meaningful findings for policy makers and urban planners" + AIA's new interactive infographic "demonstrates design elements in the built environment that directly affect the physical and mental health of its inhabitants."
• The National Academy of Sciences takes an extensive look at "which Hollywood-style climate disasters will strike in our lifetime" ("Waterworld" and "Sharknado" included!).
• Perhaps we should all plan to build our own heated conservatories as the Botanical Gardens in Aarhus, Denmark, has done, which "is like a drop of dew in its green surroundings."
• A good reason to head to Italy in January: the AA Rome Visiting School's "Im/Material" 10-day workshop.
• 2013 Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence winners announced.
• Call for entries/EOI: three-stage competition to design a new Crystal Palace for London's Hyde Park.
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-- "Gathered Sky” by James Turrell, Beijing Temple of Wisdom, China
-- The Presence of the Past: Peter Zumthor Reconsiders LACMA, by Kirsten Kiser |
Back to the Magic Mountain: Peter Zumthor's Thermal Baths at Vals Revisited: Jessica Bridger went to the mountain to pay homage and asks: was it worth it? ...It is...This building is more than the sum of its parts, more than an object: a transcendent experience...The Vals Therme achieves something rare: a crystalline moment of human smallness and rapture... [images]- Uncube magazine (Germany) |
Cityscapes in bloom again: Undoing Wrigley Building mistakes; rare displays of integrity: ...architecture came alive again in 2013. Bold new buildings arrived on the scene while old ones (with the exception of the former Prentice Women's Hospital) got new life. By Blair Kamin -- Fumihiko Maki; Goettsch Partners; Studio Gang Architects; Johnson & Lee; Valerio Dewalt Train Associates/FGM Architects; Denise Scott Brown; Robert Venturi; Arielle Assouline-Lichten; Caroline James; Natalie de Blois/Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Ada Louise Huxtable- Chicago Tribune |
Stonehenge visitor centre: After an age of dithering, a discreet new visitor centre at Britain's most important ancient monument is nearing completion...deliberately, as light as the old stones are heavy, with an undulating parasol of a roof propped on skinny steel sticks...The design suffers only from nerviness...They should have had the courage to be simpler. By Rowan Moore -- Denton Corker Marshall [slide show]- Observer (UK) |
Stonehenge’s 21-year saga shows how little we care: Architects appointed to the Palace of Westminster would do well to heed another heritage tale...A classic case of political indecision, the visitor centre is also one of those scandals that Britain excels at. By Amanda Baillieu -- HOK/Aecom/Deloitte; Ted Cullinan (1992); Denton Corker Marshall- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Civic Studies: West Hollywood reveals finalists' proposals for major new park: All of the proposals focused on the new recreation center and rooftop pool, and tried to encourage interaction between the new building and its adjacent park. By Sam Lubell -- Frederick Fisher and Partners/CMG; LPA/Rios Clementi Hale; Langdon Wilson [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Winning gateways: Bridge Balboa Park's canyon: Architects choose 3 ideas to link park's east, west sides...in...San Diego's crown jewel...No funding for actually building any of the proposals has been raised. By Roger Showley -- AIA San Diego; De Bartolo + Rimanic Design Studio; Domus Studio; N. Looney Architecture [images]- San Diego Union-Tribune |
Shipping container vacation home wins Bondi Beach competition: ...AC-CA competition to design a holiday home...in Sydney using discarded shipping containers. -- Ales Javurek; Eunjin Koh/Jonghyun Kim; Andrew Nicolle/James Moulder [images]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
Living Architecture unveils John Pawson's holiday bungalow: Welsh retreat will be eighth in Alain de Botton’s collection...Called Ty Bywyd or Life House... [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
Heygate pyramid: London estate's evicted residents damn art plan: Artangel proposal to dismantle one of condemned blocks and rebuild it as a sculpture...comes under fire
The redevelopment of the Heygate and the wider Elephant and Castle has proved hugely controversial, especially after it emerged that another planned block would have no affordable housing, as the developer argued this would mean having to build a separate entrance and lifts for social tenants.- Guardian (UK) |
AIA, MIT Center for Advanced Urbanism Issue Initial Report on the Impact of Design on Public Health: "Report on the State of Health + Urbanism"...a path for translating this research into meaningful findings for policy makers and urban planners.- American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
How Architecture Can Save Lives: Beyond meeting the human need for shelter or being visually fascinating, good architecture has the ability to save lives according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA)..."Designing Communities, Shaping Health" demonstrates design elements in the built environment that directly affect the physical and mental health of its inhabitants. [images]- Sourceable |
Which Hollywood-Style Climate Disasters Will Strike in Your Lifetime? National Academy of Sciences has taken an extensive look at the scary side, the dramatic side...the Hollywood side of global warming...The report examines the doomsday scenarios...to determine how likely they are to occur in the real world...even if nothing like the Hollywood version—before the year 2100- Mother Jones |
Heated conservatory at the Botanical Gardens, Aarhus, Denmark: Transparent roofing made of ETFE foil cushions with an interior pneumatic shading system...is like a drop of dew in its green surroundings. Its transparent dome set on an oval base extends the existing greenhouse built in 1969. -- formTL; C.F. Møller Architekten [images]- Australian Design Review |
AA Rome Visiting School: "Im/Material": 10-day workshop will investigate modern materials and their digital fabrication by direct experience; open to architecture, engineering and design students and professionals worldwide; January 16-25, 2014- Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) |
2013 Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence winners announced -- Hariri Pontarini Architects; B+H Architects; MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects; Manon Asselin architecte + Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architectes; office of mcfarlane biggar architects + designers; RDH Architects; Pelletier de Fontenay Architectes; Peter Sampson Architecture Studio/Calnitsky Associates Architects- Canadian Architect |
Call for entries/Expressions of Interest/EOI: three-stage competition to design the new Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London; deadline: January 20, 2014- Colander / ZhongRong International Group |
Nuts + Bolts #7: Leveraging Your Passion: Principals already know what they love to do. It is learning to let go of the other, more mundane tasks that they find difficult. By Steve Whitehorn- ArchNewsNow |
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