Today’s News - Wednesday, January 22, 2014
• Lubell warns that, despite offering some of the best training in the world, the U.S. is suffering a "brain drain" of design talent: "if we don't start focusing on keeping our best talent in our own country, the best buildings in the world will continue to be built elsewhere."
• King x 2: revised proposals for the Presidio's Crissy Field are in - except for one that is "open to alterations...if the team is selected."
• He delves into the changes in the George Lucas proposal that "make the costume drama more appealing - the pomp quotient has been lowered," but "the message is clear: He wants to build what he wants to build...he'll tone down a bit, nothing more."
• After all the sturm und drang re: the OMA/BIG competition for the Miami Beach Convention Center complex, the city decides to pull the plug on the whole shebang (link to local story with much political brouhaha, of course).
• Walker files a wonderful report on her week wandering Las Vegas' Downtown Project: it's a "Burning Man for downtown Vegas" and an exercise in "evangelical urbanism" (non-believers included).
• Borden visits Zaha's new "Beijing bubbles," the Galaxy Soho: while it is stunning, "it already has issues with vacancy, doppelgängers and the heritage lobby. Is this the end of starchitecture as we know it?"
• Ferro, meanwhile, reports on China's largest Internet company's plans for a suburban tech campus, but set in 55-story towers in über-urban Shenzhen that "could become a model for other tech companies."
• Campbell-Dollaghan cheers the AIA 25 Year Award going to Weese's D.C. Metro: "it's a shame there aren't more awards for buildings that are still great, four or five decades out. Architecture is getting more and more disposable."
• So there's reason to also cheer Fort Lauderdale for giving its Gatje/Breuer-designed Brutalist library landmark designation (but why not the interior?).
• Jeers, not cheers, to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission for not granting landmark status to the exquisite Rizzoli Bookstore building on West 57th Street (one of our favorite hang-outs!), "presumably to make way for yet another luxury condo" - please sign the online petition!
• An impressive round-up of "30 of the world's most impressive social housing projects" that "break the mold, undoing negative stereotypes."
• A social housing complex in Rotterdam is "immaculately restored" - but will lower-income tenants be able to afford the rent?
• It's a three-way tie for Building of the Year in AN's first Best of Design Awards (and not the usual suspects!).
• The 2014 SEED Award winners for Excellence in Public Interest Design from around the world are impressive and inspiring.
• Montréal picks a winner to design the Plage de l'Est on the St. Lawrence River.
• Call for entries (lots of 'em): AIA SPP Small Project Competition: The Pop-up Project + FIGMENT 2014 Minigolf Course on Governors Island + Deborah J. Norden Fund 2014 travel and study grants + Architecture Business Plan Competition.
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Editorial> Export Issues: ...in the small segment of “design” architecture, a significant brain drain is taking place here in the U.S...if we don’t start focusing on keeping our best talent in our own country, the best buildings in the world will continue to be built elsewhere. By Sam Lubell- The Architect's Newspaper |
Final proposals for Crissy Field turned in to Presidio Trust: ...signaling a new round in what has become a high-profile tug-of-war...George Lucas has streamlined the design...conservancy's "Presidio Exchange" responds to concerns that...the original concept was all over the map...third contender...said that it would be open to alterations in scale and design that the trust might desire if the team is selected. By John King -- Urban Design Group; Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy; WRNS Studio [images]- San Francisco Chronicle |
George Lucas' Presidio proposal edited, but plot's the same: The alterations...make the costume drama more appealing. But the changes aren't likely to win converts...The difference, a good one, is that the pomp quotient has been lowered...the message is clear: Lucas wants to build what he wants to build...he'll tone down a bit, nothing more. By John King -- Urban Design Group- San Francisco Chronicle |
Rem Koolhaas’ Miami Beach Convention Center Plan Sent Back to Drawing Board: ...questions about the proposed $1 billion cost...opting instead to “issue a new bid for just the renovation of the city-owned convention center.” -- South Beach ACE; OMA; tvsdesign; Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates; Raymond Jungles [images, links]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Evangelical Urbanism: A Review of the Downtown Project's Las Vegas Revival: ...working hard both to recruit new followers and to convert local nonbelievers. It's exciting, energizing, and, I believe, totally earnest in its goals to make the city a better place for all...Burning Man for downtown Vegas...got the sense that this movement is not all that welcoming to outsiders..."You're either part of the Zappos group or you're part of nothing"... By Alissa Walker [images]- Gizmodo |
Pretty, Vacant: Zaha's New Beijing Bubbles: ...new Galaxy Soho building is a masterclass in rendered reality, yet it already has issues with vacancy, doppelgängers and the heritage lobby. Is this the end of starchitecture as we know it? Dan Borden paid a visit -- Zaha Hadid Architects [images]- Uncube magazine (Germany) |
The AOL Of China To Build A Suburban Tech Campus In The Sky: Tencent tapped NBBJ, the architects of Amazon's zany biosphere headquarters, to design a suburban corporate campus inside a set of urban skyscrapers in Shenzhen...could become a model for other tech companies... By Shaunacy Ferro [images]- Fast Company |
Why the AIA Just Gave Its Most Prestigious Award to a Subway System: AIA 25 Year Award
winner is less of a building and more of a whole system of buildings: The D.C. Metro, designed by Harry Weese...it's a shame there aren't more awards for buildings that are still great, four or five decades out. Architecture is getting more and more disposable...It's enough to make you wonder why we celebrate buildings for arriving, but not remaining. By Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan [images]- Gizmodo |
Does Fort Lauderdale library's 'brutal' design make it a landmark? ...Historic Preservation Board unanimously endorsed the landmark designation...The county is only asking for the exterior to be designated. That has raised concern from the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation, which said portions of the interior are just as important historically. Robert Gatje/Marcel Breuer and Associates (1984) [image]- South Florida Sun-Sentinel |
Rizzoli Bookstore Demolition: 57th Street Building Lacks Significance For Landmark Protection, Says NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission: The determination follows reports this week that the charming 109-year-old structure is facing demolition, presumably to make way for yet another luxury condo...an online petition launched... [images]- International Business Times |
30 of the World’s Most Impressive Social Housing Projects: ...break the mold, undoing negative stereotypes and serving as remarkable works of architecture in their own right. -- MVRDV; Roldán + Berengué; Bevk Perovic'; Jakob + Macfarlane; KOZ Architects; Ripoll Tizon; Ripoll Tizon/FAT; OFIS Architects; Arquitecnica; Zigzag Architects; Elemental; CH Architects; ACXT; FRES Architectes; 2+1 Officina Architettura; etc. [images]- Best MSW Programs |
Glory of Spangen Social Housing Complex Immaculately Restored: ...Justus van Effen complex [in Rotterdam] pioneered “street in the sky” deck access, an idea that famously inspired Alison and Peter Smithson...A tax...will result in higher rents for lower-income tenants and is likely to bring building of social housing to a close, a reality that mocks the spirit of collectivity in which Spangen was originally conceived. -- Michiel Brinkman (1`921); Molenaar & Co; Hebly Theunissen; Michael van Gessel [slide show]- Architectural Record |
Best of Design Awards> Building of the Year: Some of the most exciting and innovative American architecture to be completed in 2013 fills out AN's first annual design award program...a three-way tie. -- Marlon Blackwell Architect; Kevin Daly Architects; Steven Holl Architects [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
2014 SEED Award Winners Announced for Excellence in Public Interest Design: six projects selected...will be presented at the 14th annual Structures for Inclusion (SFI) conference, co-hosted by Parsons The New School for Design, in New York on March 22 and 23 [images, links]- Design Corps / Social, Economic, Environmental Design Network (SEED) |
Ruccolo + Faubert Architectes & Ni conception architecture de paysage wins the design competition for the Plage de l’Est: ...one of the first actions stemming from the Plan bleu vert adopted by Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles Borough council in May 2013. [images]- Ville de Montréal |
Call for entries: AIA SPP Small Project Competition: The Pop-up Project (international): re-imagine the standard farmer’s market canopy pop-up booth; deadline: March 21- American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
Call for entries: FIGMENT 2014 Minigolf Course on Governors Island: “New York City Now”; deadline: March 1- FIGMENT |
Call for entries: Deborah J. Norden Fund 2014 travel and study grants; applicants must reside in, but need not be citizens of, the U.S., Canada, or Mexico; deadline: April 17- Architectural League of New York |
Call for entries: Architecture Business Plan Competition: open to registered architects in the U.S. & Canada who are considering starting a firm or whose firm has been in business for 5 years or less; registration deadline: March 28 (submissions due April 25)- Charrette Venture Group |
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-- Sou Fujimoto: Musashino Art University Library, Tokyo, Japan
-- Shigeru Ban: Tamedia Office Building, Zürich, Switzerland |
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