Today’s News - Friday, January 31, 2014
EDITOR'S NOTE: We will not be posting on Monday, but we'll be back Tuesday, February 4. Happy weekend!
• Dittmar would like to see the U.K. have something similar to the AIA 25 Year Award: "a longevity award makes me hopeful that architecture has begun to move away from glorifying the shock of the new."
• In Aguascalientes, Mexico, a 7.5-mile "scar" has become the city's "most prized park": "The park's planners call their strategy 'social acupuncture.'"
• Can Michael Bloomberg's "New York manifesto change the world?" (probably, though the comments section is not so positive).
• Eyefuls of GMP's design for the redevelopment of the Real Madrid stadium that beat out some biggies (we wonder what the nickname will be for this one).
• The mega-monster-mall/entertainment complex American Dream (née Xanadu) that promised to be redeveloped in time for Sunday's Super Bowl remains "a particularly embarrassing neighbor" (and "the ugliest damn building" in New Jersey).
• Registration deadline extended: Moved to Care international competition to design a healthcare facility in Southeast Asia.
• Weekend diversions:
• 40 architectural documentaries to watch in 2014 that "will provoke, intrigue and beguile."
• In Portland, OR, "The Monster-Builder" takes center stage to explore "power, seduction and the ills of big architecture" (an egomaniacal architect and a sex-pot included).
• Q&A with M+ curator Aric Chen re: starting a collection, the mystery of an FLW drawing, and the current "Building M+: The Museum and Architecture Collection" on view in Hong Kong.
• Welton explains why "Frank Lloyd Wright: Density vs. Dispersity" at MoMA "is a sad metaphor for the perennial contradictions between art, architecture and the people who love them both" - the popularity of such shows "is driving MoMA's expansion, even as it destroys modern buildings to accommodate them." + Eyefuls of FLW on view.
• Bernstein bathes in the beauty of 110 years of Mexican architecture on view at the Palacio de Iturbide in Mexico City (great pix).
• Moore finds the Royal Academy's "Sensing Spaces" to be "full of surprises" and "a heroic project - it has its weak and clumsy moments but does a job that badly needs doing."
• Kats says "Sensing Spaces" aspires "to take an altogether different approach" by focusing "on the ingredient most often missing from architecture shows today: buildings."
• As part of "Melbourne Now," ARM sets up shop and invites the public to participate in considering new ideas for contentious sites around the city.
• A most eloquent and enlightened rumination "based upon a distant memory and a recent viewing" of "James Turrell: A Retrospective" at LACMA.
• "Building the Modern Gothic: George Post at CCNY" considers his "rugged, combative Gothic style" that didn't try to "outclassical" McKim, Mead & White buildings nearby.
• Brussat actually gives (mostly) thumbs-up to Rybczynski's "How Architecture Works": his "prose combines concision with geniality. It is a joy to read, but my joy struggled with the undertow of my dissatisfaction at his refusal to take sides."
• Q&A with Postrel re: "The Power of Glamour" and how design can be glamorous: "Cities become glamorous because of what they represent, especially to people who don't live in them."
• One we couldn't resist (old hippies that we are): Footage of the Beatles' last show on its 45th anniversary - on a London rooftop (those were the days...).
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A real test of architecture’s durability: A Test of Time Award would create a public debate about what makes a good building: ...might help to re-establish the enduring power of architecture...and of architects to make a lasting contribution...a longevity award makes me hopeful that architecture has begun to move away from glorifying the shock of the new... By Hank Dittmar- BD/Building Design (UK) |
In Mexico, a city’s scar becomes its most prized park, La Línea Verde - The Green Line [in Aguascalientes]: ...a 7.5 mile linear park..."the common wisdom was that these (low income) communities just needed more police patrols"...The park's planners call their strategy "social acupuncture." By Ana Arana [slide show]- Citiscope |
Can Michael Bloomberg's New York manifesto change the world? ...aims to make cities more livable - and it seems to have plenty of fans: ...believes improving conditions in big urban areas is the best way to make an impact on the largest number of people...Bloomberg Associates, a consultancy that will, free of charge, advise cities on how best to tackle their problems, adapting and applying the approaches he used to make New York greener and more livable.- Guardian (UK) |
GMP Architekten beats Foster & Partners, Herzog and Populous to land Real Madrid stadium: ...£330 million redevelopment...has dragged on a long time. The shortlist was announced in October 2012... -- L35 Arquitectos; Ribas & Ribas; Rafael de la Hoz; Rafael Moneo; Estudio Lamela [images]- BD/Building Design (UK) |
This Year's Super Bowl Has a Particularly Embarrassing Neighbor: Originally known as Xanadu...described it as "the ugliest damn building" in the state, "and maybe America"...problems stretch well beyond aesthetics...renaming it "American Dream"...shows no signs of opening any time soon, despite promises that it would be ready in time for this weekend's Super Bowl. By Mark Byrnes- The Atlantic Cities |
Registration deadline extended: Call for entries: Moved to Care two-stage international competition: design a healthcare facility that is safe, secure and can be relocated with relative ease in Southeast Asia; registration deadline: February 7 (submissions due February 28)- Building Trust International (UK) |
40 Architecture Docs to Watch In 2014: ...a fantastic range of films telling the tales of some of the world’s greatest unsung architectural heroes...looking past the panoply of stars...the best architectural documentaries which will provoke, intrigue and beguile. [videos]- ArchDaily |
"The Monster-Builder" explores power, seduction and the ills of big architecture: ...accessible satire, with humor and wit abound, that explores the seductive nature of power and sex through the lens of an egomaniacal architect. But beneath the story lies a very real warning about the business of buildings that Amy Freed says is worth our attention. [at Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland. OR]- The Oregonian |
Constructing an Architecture Collection: Can a museum collect architecture? In less than a year, M+ has acquired 1,000-odd pieces aimed at widening the conversation around architecture. Almost 100 are in “Building M+: The Museum and Architecture Collection"...Q&A with M+ curator Aric Chen...about starting a collection, the intensity of Hong Kong and the mystery of a drawing by Lloyd Wright.- Wall Street Journal |
Contradictions in Art, Architecture: "Frank Lloyd Wright: Density vs. Dispersity" at the Museum of Modern Art is a sad metaphor for the perennial contradictions between art, architecture and the people who love them both...the popularity of architectural exhibitions like Wright's is driving MoMA's expansion, even as it destroys modern buildings to accommodate them. By J. Michael Welton -- Tod Williams BillieTsien; Diller Scofidio + Renfro [images]- Huffington Post |
"Frank Lloyd Wright and the City: Density vs. Dispersal" will examine Wright’s evolving understanding of the city, from the 1920s on through to the last decade of the architect’s life...at MoMA [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
110 Years of Mexican Architecture: It’s hard to imagine a country with more varied architecture than Mexico, and a show at the Palacio de Iturbide is devoted to the last century of that diversity..."Arquitectura en Mexico 1900-2010: La Construccion de la Modernidad obras, diseno, arte y pensamiento" [Architecture in Mexico 1900–2010: The Construction of Modernity: Works, Design, Art, and Thought]...is educational, but it is also beautiful... By Fred A. Bernstein -- Fernanda Canales [slide show]- Architectural Record |
"Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined ": The Royal Academy's ambitious look beyond the purely visual aspects of architecture is full of surprises...a heroic project...designed by a multi-continental posse of architects...This is not a crowded show, and you are supposed just to wander, explore and draw your own conclusions...has its weak and clumsy moments but does a job that badly needs doing. By Rowan Moore -- Kengo Kuma; Grafton; Pezo von Ellrichshausen; Diébédo Francis Kéré; Li Xiaodong; Álvaro Siza; Eduardo Souto de Moura [slide show]- Observer (UK) |
"Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined": Not Your Average Architecture Show: ...aspires to take an altogether different approach to displaying architecture...Kate Goodwin focused her energies on the ingredient most often missing from architecture shows today: buildings. By Anna Kats -- Álvaro Siza; Eduardo Souto de Moura; Pezo von Ellrichshausen; Kengo Kuma; Grafton Architects; Diébédo Francis Kéré [images, video]- Artinfo |
National Gallery of Victoria wants you to design Melbourne with Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM): NGV has dedicated one-third of "Melbourne Now" to design...Setting up shop within the NGV Studio, the practice will consider the potential of and get new ideas for contentious sites...Hoping in part that this collaborative project would “demystify architecture”... [images]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
Light Happens: Based upon a distant memory and a recent viewing of "James Turrell: A Retrospective" at LACMA: To have a reason to just sit quietly, looking up at the blue of the sky takes me back places that many art forms don’t. Imagination is at play and perception is activated... By John David O'Brien- Los Angeles Review of Books |
The Very Model of a University: In designing his 1907 campus for the City College of New York...George B. Post...didn’t outclassical [McKim, Mead & White], instead designing in a rugged, combative Gothic style in Manhattan schist..."Building the Modern Gothic: George Post at CCNY" at City College...George Ranalli, vigorously contests the original critical reaction: the critics were “clearly incorrect!!!” By Christopher Gray [images]- New York Times |
Architecture critic, heal thyself! Witold Rybczynski’s “How Architecture Works: A Humanist’s Toolkit...offers a tool kit for examining architecture but not for fixing it...[His] prose combines concision with geniality. It is a joy to read, but my joy struggled with the undertow of my dissatisfaction at his refusal to take sides. By David Brussat- Providence Journal (Rhode Island) |
Q&A: Virginia Postrel, on Glamour and Design: The author of "The Power of Glamour: Longing and the Art of Visual Persuasion" discusses how design can be glamorous..."Cities become glamorous because of what they represent, especially to people who don’t live in them." By Shannon Sharpe- Metropolis Magazine |
Footage of the Beatles's Last Show, on Its 45th Anniversary: The 42-minute set took place on the roof of 3 Savile Row... [video]- The Atlantic Cities |
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-- Estudio Entresitio: Villaverde Municipal Health Care Center, Madrid, Spain...certainly one fine result.
-- After the Tsunami, at the 'Women’s River'; ...former residents – and architect initiatives such as Architecture for Humanity – disagree with the hasty reconstruction plans made up by the central government. By Ulf Meyer
-- "A Question of Qualities: Essays in Architecture": Jeffrey Kipnis’ collection of mind-blowing theoretical essays...a remarkable insight into the mind of one of today’s most piercing and playful architectural thinkers. By Martin Søberg |
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