Today’s News - Thursday, August 6, 2015
EDITOR'S NOTE: This being August, we've decided to make tomorrow a second "floating" no-newsletter day this week, and we're taking Monday off as well. We'll be back Tuesday, August 11.
• Eyefuls of the Chicago Architecture Biennial's Lakefront Kiosk competition winners, finalists, and honorable mentions.
• Hosey bemoans that while "celebrity gives architects extraordinary power to address the injustices that intersect their work, too few architects do" (ouch!).
• Bayley ponders whether "architecture would be better off without" global stars, like Hadid, who "do not want to respect their client or his site, but to venerate themselves" (double ouch!).
• Capps considers whether the "first national World War I memorial should be restored before another is added," especially when so many competition entries "treat Pershing Park as if it were a vacant lot."
• Brussat finds it "disappointing but hardly surprising" that so few of the WWI Memorial competition entries are classical or traditional: "Much of this reflects the folly of architectural education today, where learning how to design takes second place to purging design intuition and inculcating the novelty mania."
• A look at how - and why - Tulane's architecture school (once considered "a little stuffy") "became a community builder" after Hurricane Katrina: "After the storm, the school reinvented itself as a destination for students and faculty interested in building in low-income neighborhoods and fragile environments."
• CTBUH 2015 10 Year Award Winner: Calatrava's Turning Torso in Malmö for being "one of those superb examples that went beyond the creation of a signature tower and helped shape an entirely new and invigorating urban fabric."
• Call for entries (lots of 'em!): 2015 Burnham Prize Competition: Currencies of Architecture (deadline looms!) + Contract's 37th Annual Interiors Awards + FIGMENT/ENYA/SEAoNY 2016 City of Dreams Pavilion Competition for Governors Island + Krakow Oxygen Home: a community center for people with lung cancer.
• Weekend diversions:
• Taylor-Hochberg offers a fascinating take on "Frank Gehry," post- Pompidou and pre-LACMA: both shows have "been shaped largely by Gehry himself," which "raises an interesting question: does it compromise an exhibition's critical integrity if the creator of its contents also handles its design?" (in this case, probably not).
• Snoad takes a look at "Vienna, the Pearl of the Reich: Planning for Hitler": the "unflinching exhibition uncovers how the city's architects collaborated in a frenzy of Nazi urban planning." (egos and "dick-swinging" included).
• Shaw has a swell time at Cosmo, this year's MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program pavilion, but with a caveat: the "spectacular water-filtering monstrosity is brilliant in so many ways, but MoMA has turned YAP into a green-washed farce that makes it impossible for young architects to make truly architecturally engaging work."
• Mayne and Yi discuss their "Haiti Now" - "a herculean resource on post-disaster urbanism in Haiti."
• In "Young-Old: Urban Utopias of an Aging Society," Simpson "shares his critical perspectives on aging in place, the history of aging communities, and the future of retirement."
• Fischel "prescribes curbs on excessive local land use regulation" in "Zoning Rules! The Economics of Land Use Regulation," suggesting that "communities should 'make only little plans.'"
• Brussat re-reads de Botton's "The Architecture of Happiness": it "is fun and worth reading," but it's also "a debate with himself that he loses."
• A great excerpt from Cooper Marcus and Sachs' "Therapeutic Landscapes": "While they can be very successful, there are now too many examples of labyrinths that are poorly sited, badly designed, or just shouldn't be there."
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Chicago Architecture Biennial Announces Lakefront Kiosk Winners: BP Prize Winner: "Chicago Horizon" by Ultramoderne...also partnering with local schools...to build three more kiosks... -- Yasmin Vobis/Aaron Forrest/Brett Schneider; Illinois Institute of Technology/Pezo von Ellrichshausen; School of the Art Institute of Chicago/NLÉ Architects/Thornton Tomasetti; University of Illinois at Chicago/Paul Andersen/Paul Preissner [images]- ArchDaily |
The Responsibility of Architects: Celebrity gives both actors and architects extraordinary power to address the injustices that intersect their work, but too few architects do. By Lance Hosey -- Rafael Viñoly; Zaha Hadid; Paul Goldberger; Bob Berkebile- Huffington Post |
Architecture would be better off without Zaha Hadid: She’s added much to the formal language of global architecture, but not to its good sense: Global architects such as Hadid do not want to respect their client or his site, but to venerate themselves. By Stephen Bayley- The Spectator (UK) |
How Many World War I Memorials Does One Park Need? Preservationists think D.C.'s first national World War I memorial should be restored before another is added...a huge majority of the more than 350 designs treat Pershing Park as if it were a vacant lot...any final decision will be a long ways off. All the better reason to restore Pershing Park as the nation’s World War I memorial now. By Kriston Capps -- Charles Birnbaum/The Cultural Landscape Foundation; M. Paul Friedberg; Oehme, van Sweden & Associates- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Justin Shubow on WWI memorials: It is disappointing but hardly surprising that so few are classical or traditional. Our design culture frowns on traditional work as not “of our time”...Much of this reflects the folly of architectural education today, where learning how to design takes second place (if it places at all) to purging design intuition and inculcating the novelty mania. By David Brussat [images]- Architecture Here and There |
After Katrina, Tulane's Architecture School Became A Community Builder: The architecture program...is one of the country's oldest...it was a little stuffy, known, if anything, for historic preservation...After the storm, the school reinvented itself as a destination for students and faculty interested in building in low-income neighborhoods and fragile environments. -- Tulane City Center [images]- NPR / National Public Radio |
CTBUH Announces 10 Year Award Winner for 2015: Malmö’s Turning Torso was the first twisting skyscraper in the world..."one of those superb examples that went beyond the creation of a signature tower and helped shape an entirely new and invigorating urban fabric.” -- Santiago Calatrava [images]- Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) |
Call for entries (deadline reminder): 2015 Burnham Prize Competition: Currencies of Architecture: develop a single image that represents a strong point of view that explores the question: What is the State of the Art of Architecture today? deadline: September 7- Chicago Architectural Club |
Call for entries: 37th Annual Interiors Awards (international); 14 categories of commercial interior architecture and design; deadline: September 14- Contract magazine |
Call for entries: 2016 City of Dreams Pavilion Design Competition: an architectural pavilion on Governors Island, NYC; registration deadline: September 20 (submissions due September 30)- FIGMENT/ENYA/AIANY/SEAoNY |
Call for entries: Krakow Oxygen Home (international): a community centre for the people in Krakow with lung cancer, their friends and families; cash prizes; earlybird registration (save money!): September 2 (submissions due November 18)- HMMD / Homemade Dessert |
Looking to "Frank Gehry", after Paris but before Los Angeles: While the contents...are mostly common to the Pompidou exhibition, LACMA’s show will include a selection of additional, newer models...in both cases, that has been shaped largely by Gehry himself...raises an interesting question: does it compromise an exhibition’s critical integrity if the creator of its contents also handles its design? By Amelia Taylor-Hochberg [images]- Archinect |
"Vienna, the Pearl of the Reich: Planning for Hitler": An unflinching exhibition uncovers how the city’s architects collaborated in a frenzy of Nazi urban planning: Sympathetic to the regime or not, few architects, planners or engineers could resist a politically backed drive for innovation...from conceptual urban reorganisation to drawings for the city’s air-raid defences. By Laura Snoad- Icon (UK) |
Cosmo: ...what it's like to party in this year's MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program pavilion: The spectacular water-filtering monstrosity...The tropical blue and orange character evokes everything from Lapidus to Archigram to Gaudi. The brilliance and execution of its design is...brilliant in so many ways, but MoMA has turned YAP into a green-washed farce that makes it impossible for young architects to make truly architecturally engaging work. By Matt Shaw -- Andres Jaque / Office for Political Innovation [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Now and Then: Thom Mayne and Eui-Sung Yi discuss their recently published book, "Haiti Now" – a herculean resource on post-disaster urbanism in Haiti, published by their urban think tank, the NOW Institute. [podcast]- Archinect |
Retirement Reboot: Based on his book, "Young-Old: Urban Utopias of an Aging Society," architect and urban studies expert Deane Simpson shares his critical perspectives on aging in place, the history of aging communities, and the future of retirement.- Metropolis Magazine |
The past and future of zoning: "Zoning Rules! The Economics of Land Use Regulation" by William Fischel prescribes curbs on excessive local land use regulation...concludes with an inversion of Daniel Burnham’s famous dictum, by suggesting that communities should “make only little plans.” Large plans are often high-profile targets for people who oppose development.- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy |
Alain de Botton cracks abstract: I have long believed that architecture – which above all must be practical – does not have quite as much to say as many of its advocates contend..."The Architecture of Happiness" first struck me as a roller coaster of a reading experience. But he refuses to remove the blinders to reason installed by the ideology he serves. Still, his book is fun and worth reading...[It] is not a roller coaster but a debate with himself that he loses. By David Brussat- Architecture Here and There |
Labyrinths for Healthcare: Approach with Caution: While they can be very successful, there are now too many examples of labyrinths that are poorly sited, badly designed, or just shouldn’t be there. [excerpt from "Therapeutic Landscapes: An Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces" by Clare Cooper Marcus and Naomi A. Sachs- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Nuts + Bolts #12: Hiring Interns? What You Need to Know: Architecture and engineering firms engaging unpaid interns can avoid liability in connection with their internship programs by meeting six specific requirements. By John Balitis- ArchNewsNow.com |
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7 Outstanding Transformations: Society changes but buildings remain firmly in their place...most buildings will at some point inevitably face a conversion of either its original program or structure, or both. -- MVRDV; OMA; Herzog & de Meuron; Atelier Peter Zumthor; Tegnestuen Vandkunsten; Sambuichi Architects; Eduardo Souto de Moura [images] |
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