Today’s News - Tuesday, July 28, 2015
• Groves pays tribute to Harold Williams, a founder of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). "Getting African American architects opportunities was one of his missions."
• Flying high (finally) in NYC: LaGuardia Airport is in for a much-needed and long-overdue make-over - actually, more a total rebuild: the "stunning replacement cannot come soon enough" (for not much more money than Calatrava's WTC transit hub - go figure).
• Dunlap, meanwhile, reports that Saarinen's TWA Terminal at JFK (finally) has a bright future: the "lyrical landmark in search of an everyday purpose" could be reborn as the lobby of a new airport hotel.
• Staying in a New York state of mind, a fascinating profile of the "modern masters of the trade" of NIMBYism and "the playbook they use to drive developers crazy" (they've "turned anti-development into a fine art").
• The NIMBYs are up in arms in Brisbane re: a proposed $2 billion casino/mixed-use project in a historic civic precinct that has "been met with skepticism and alarm": "The city is always more important than individual interests."
• Heathcote ponders whether, "at a time when the authority and influence of architects are being eroded," the Turner Prize-nominated collective Assemble is "the future of progressive architecture."
• Betsky looks at why a 1970s buzzword is finding "new meaning in architectural parlance": if the theory of affordances "lets us create architecture that is more human...then it is a useful design tool."
• Wainwright x 2 (at his cheekiest best!): Melbourne's "Beyoncé tower" is not "the only superstar-shaped building out there" (consider the "pair of buxom towers" near Toronto that look more like "lumpen shafts"): "for creatively challenged architects and their attendant marketing consultants, the world of celebrity-shaped buildings offers endless possibilities."
• He tours the "zombie building boom" of FLW unbuilt projects in Buffalo, and "meets the superfans bringing his designs back from the dead. Wright may be long dead, but the man and his merchandise are still going for the hard sell."
• Holt (mostly) hails JWA/NADAAA's University of Melbourne Faculty of Architecture: it "may seem to reflect the built form as a means of communication or mode of education, but in reality is this more a marketing tool than genuine intent?" (but - oh - that ceiling!).
• Singapore sets higher certification benchmarks with new Universal Design Mark guidelines that will benefit all.
• Meanwhile, some of Australia's leading sustainable design and construction experts are "furious" about "a new lower-bar" National Construction Code: "It's too vague, has no aims, is riddled with loopholes," and so much more.
• Sustainability expert Pears asks the Australian Building Codes Board to confer with more consultants and do more research re: National Construction Code changes - or "create a mess."
• Eyefuls of the 350+ National World War One Memorial Stage I entries - open now for public comment.
• Call for entries: Construction Shed Design Ideas Competition (NYC is trying - again) + Register for Build New York Live! international BIM competition.
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Obituary: Harold Williams, 90; architect designed Compton City Hall: In 1958, he became the ninth African American architect to be licensed in California... In 1994, he was named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He was a founder of the National Organization of Minority Architects [NOMA]. "Getting African American architects opportunities was one of his missions"... By Martha Groves -- Paul R. Williams & Associates- Los Angeles Times |
LaGuardia Airport reveals plans to bring New York air-travel into the 21st century: ...an airport more characteristic of one found in ‘some third world country’...has faced well deserved derision for decades...final design incorporates elements from each of the competition’s three finalists...will cost an estimated $4 billion...stunning replacement cannot come soon enough. -- Dattner Architects; PRESENT Architecture; SHoP Architects [images]- designboom |
Airport Redevelopment Could Mean New Life for a Jet Age Landmark: With the addition of two new wings, Eero Saarinen’s TWA Flight Center at Kennedy Airport - a lyrical landmark in search of an everyday purpose - might finally reopen...would be part of a 505-room hotel...terminal building would serve as the hotel lobby. By David W. Dunlap -- Eero Saarinen (1962); Beyer Blinder Belle; Lubrano Ciavarra Architects; Kevin Roche- New York Times |
Love them or hate them, NIMBYs are shaping the development game in NYC: Behold the masters of derailing projects in the city - and the playbook they use to drive developers crazy: ...modern masters of the trade...have turned anti-development into a fine art. -- Michael Gruen; Simeon Bankoff/Historic Districts Council; Andrew Berman/Greenwich Village Historic Preservation Society- Crain's New York |
‘Birthplace of Brisbane’ to become $2b casino resort: Plans to build a casino on top of a historic civic precinct in Brisbane have been met with scepticism and alarm...demolition of the Neville Bonner Building “is required to provide an attractive market proposition"..."The city is always more important than individual interests.” -- Davenport Campbell & Partners/Donovan Hill /Powell Dods & Thorpe (1998); Cottee Parker Architects [images]- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
Is Assemble the future of progressive architecture? The Turner Prize-nominated collective are changing the way we think about building: ...at a time when the authority and influence of architects are being eroded...part of a broader global trend towards self-initiated architecture...It is an intriguing moment that simultaneously illuminates the insecurities and uncertainties of both architecture and art. By Edwin Heathcote -- EXYZT; Raumlabor; Rural Studio/DK Ruth/Samuel Mockbee/Andrew Freear; Patrick Bouchain- Financial Times (UK) |
The Evolving Landscape of Architectural Affordances: A 1970s buzzword finds new meaning in architectural parlance: What has made the theory of affordances come to the fore in architecture lately has been the advances in computer visualization and simulation...If that theory lets us create architecture that is more human...that opens us up to each other and the world we have made together, then it is a useful design tool. By Aaron Betsky [images]- Architect Magazine |
Body building: welcome to Beyoncé towers: Queen Bey’s curves have inspired a new skyscraper [in Melbourne]. But it’s by no means the only superstar-shaped building out there: A pair of buxom towers on the outskirts of Toronto...nicknamed Marilyn Monroe...The lumpen shafts look more like a couple of crumpled Pringles tubes...for creatively challenged architects and their attendant marketing consultants, the world of celebrity-shaped buildings offers endless possibilities. By Oliver Wainwright -- Elenberg Fraser; MAD Architects; Frank Gehry [images]- Guardian (UK) |
Frank Lloyd Wright and the zombie building boom: FLW spent 30 years revolutionising the architecture of Buffalo, New York. You might think his death would have put an end to it – not at all. Oliver Wainwright meets the superfans bringing his designs back from the dead: “Wright would have gone crazy if he’d seen this stuff"...He may be long dead, but the man and his merchandise are still going for the hard sell. -- Anthony Puttnam [images]- Guardian (UK) |
A degree of success - University of Melbourne’s new Faculty of Architecture: ...aims to give a sensitive response to the institution’s heritage campus...while realising a ‘built pedagogy’: ...may seem to reflect the built form as a means of communication or mode of education, but in reality is this more a marketing tool than genuine intent?...design features are simply the manifestation of concise architectural and construction methods rather than coincidentally representing core institutional values. By Michael Holt -- John Wardle Architects; NADAAA [images]- DesignCurial / Blueprint Magazine (UK) |
New building design guidelines for disabled and elderly: The Building and Construction Authority introduced new measures...There will soon be safer homes and more accessible buildings for the disabled and the elderly, with new design guidelines...will benefit people of all ages and needs, such as mothers with young children...Universal Design Mark criteria, which sets higher certification benchmarks...- Channel NewsAsia (Singapore) |
Furious industry unites to tackle new Building Code failure: It’s too vague, has no aims, is riddled with loopholes and appears to have abandoned any explicit imperative to make a building energy-efficient or sustainable – it’s a new lower-bar National Construction Code of Australia 2016...proposed changes that have brought 17 of Australia’s leading sustainable design and construction experts together to form a united response...- The Fifth Estate (Australia) |
Building sustainability expert Alan Pears: defer National Construction Code changes or “create a mess”: ...has requested the Australian Building Codes Board undertake further expert consultation and research...before implementing proposed changes to the National Construction Code.- The Fifth Estate (Australia) |
National World War One Memorial Stage I of competition ends with over 350 entries; Public invited to view and comment on submissions [images]- World War I Centennial Commission |
Call for entries: Construction Shed Design Ideas Competition; deadline: August 19- New York Building Foundation / New York Building Congress |
Call for entries: Register for Build New York Live! international BIM competition; a 48-hour design collaboration, September 21-23- Build Earth Live / Asite |
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