Today’s News - Wednesday, April 19, 2017
• Betsky tackles architects' dilemma re: Trump's border wall: "Where do we draw the line? Down and down the rabbit hole we go."
• Bhatia tackles density and voting behavior: "If you want to predict how someone will vote, ask: How near are your neighbors?" (some amazing drawings, too!)
• Florida explains why "we need a stronger word than 'NIMBY' to describe how destructive 'winner-take-all' urbanism can be" (Luddites involved).
• King parses a draft of a new Bay Area regional plan: "the first time around," the plan "drew opposition. So far, the update seems to be moving forward without fireworks."
• Add to that, an interesting Q&A with San Francisco's planning director re: architects alleging obstruction: "It's not about creating great architecture. It's about preventing really egregious architecture."
• Kamin cheers Detroit's "evolving new ideas for how to revive its stricken neighborhoods" to "make a new kind of city - not with big plans, but with small steps."
• Filion & Keil re: how and why both "growing and shrinking suburbs offer fertile ground for infrastructure experimentation and innovation" (both "hard" and "soft" sorts).
• Pondering the two "movements" advocating for and against glass skyscrapers - they could soon be a thing of the past, or we can "just be more careful with where and how we use glass."
• Feldman cheers an initiative at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture that "wants to disrupt conventional notions of planning" when it comes to diversity (the tale of "Freedom Colonies" is fascinating!).
• Iovine gives RAMSA's Museum of the American Revolution in Philly two thumbs-ups for "how seamlessly it contributes to a historic and proud sense of place. For Stern, classicism remains as genuine a language today as it was in the past."
• Florida (the sate) on our mind to coincide with AIA confab in Orlando next week: Bentley dives into turning the tide when it comes to overhauling the urban landscape to save it from rising seas (and 500% increase in flood insurance premiums!).
• Santa Lucia cheers as Miami, once "equal parts parking lot and low-key laboratory for designers," welcomes a "new species of architectural element."
• Dickinson relates his 12-year journey from being an AIA "outsider" to getting his FAIA: "Is it disingenuous for me to be in the '3%' of AIA architects declared to be a 'Fellow'? Maybe."
• Meanwhile, the AIA tries to clarify who should be dubbed "intern" to make it feel a little less "trivializing."
• Heading Down Under: What is giving Tasmania what appears to be "disproportionate design clout. Is there something in the water? Something unique about the education?"
• Profiles of 7 Australian firms that "should be on your radar" this year (heartening to see so many women!).
• 2017 UDIA National Awards for Excellence celebrate Australia's "skills and innovation in the urban development."
• Congrats to Architizer's Firm of the Year and 5 special honorees in the 2017 A+Awards.
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Aaron Betsky: Architects may, heaven save their mortal souls, have to work on Trump's wall: For most of the chattering class in architecture the choice is pretty simple...I do not know of any instances of theoreticians...suggesting that designing the wall is a good thing...But where do we draw the line? Down and down the rabbit hole we go...- Dezeen |
Neeraj Bhatia: Environment as Politics: If you want to predict how someone will vote, ask: How near are your neighbors? ...Clinton, households are 215 feet apart on average...in Trump territory, they are nearly half a mile distant...Who we are is largely defined by where we are. For architects and urban designers, this is an important reminder that space is and always has been political... -- The Open Workshop [images]- Places Journal |
Richard Florida: Meet the 'New Urban Luddites': We need a stronger word than ‘NIMBY’ to describe how destructive “winner-take-all” urbanism can be: Certainly, there is much that can and should be done...to streamline outdated land use restrictions. But the basic notion...that we can make our cities more affordable, more equal, and more productive simply by getting rid of existing land use restrictions is one of those ideas that is too good to be true. [adapted from "The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class - and What We Can Do About It"]- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
John King: Blueprint for Bay Area aims to ‘change the dynamics’ of housing crisis: The only way...to become a relatively affordable place to live again is...to be more tolerant of different types of housing, according to the draft of a new regional plan...Plan Bay Area 2040...the first time around [the plan] drew opposition...So far, though, the update seems to be moving forward without fireworks.- San Francisco Chronicle |
Interview: SF planning director defends city as more architects allege obstruction: Eight-year City Hall vet John Rahaim says we’d be sorry if planning rules weren’t in place: "It’s not about creating great architecture. It’s about preventing really egregious architecture."- Curbed San Francisco |
Blair Kamin: Detroit's downtown revival is real, but road to recovery remains long: ...evolving new ideas for how to revive its stricken neighborhoods...Make a new kind of city...a must-see laboratory for the reimagining and remaking of a shrinking city. ..not with big plans, but with small steps. -- Maurice Cox; Studio Dwell; SHoP Architects; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)- Chicago Tribune |
Pierre Filion & Roger Keil: Why suburban tensions and inequality will drive infrastructure innovation: In both growing and shrinking suburbs, decisions on infrastructure...have been central...Suburban areas feel infrastructure stress most acutely. Having to deal with severe inadequacies, suburbs offer fertile ground for infrastructure experimentation and innovation.- The Conversation US |
Can we finally say goodbye to glass skyscrapers? ...two movements within the design community have formed...The first aims to improve the performance of glazing...The second advocates...more solidity in façade design...we might have to reassess this dichotomy. -- Mies van der Rohe; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); Ken Shuttleworth; Foster + Partners; David Coley; Alistair Guthrie/Arup; Jean Nouvel/PTW Architects; Bureau Proberts; Stefano Boeri [images]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
Nina Feldman: Confronting Urban Design’s Diversity Crisis With a Return to Black Places: An initiative...at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture wants to disrupt conventional notions of planning: ...to both increase diversity...and facilitate innovative approaches to thinking about race and gender...points to...archaeology and cultural anthropology, whose methods embrace a more complex definition of citizenship and stakeholders. -- Andrea Roberts- Next City (formerly Next American City) |
Julie V. Iovine: A Building With a Sense of Place: Robert A.M. Stern Architects’ design for the Museum of the American Revolution offers a starter course in the elements of traditional style: Few architects can beat Stern...at giving designs pleasing proportions and retaining a sense of human scale...For [him], classicism remains as genuine a language today as it was in the past. -- Healy Kohler Design [images]- Wall Street Journal |
Chris Bentley: Turning the Tide: Facing rising sea levels and greater insurance risk, Southern Florida braces for relocations, new flood design standards, and more: Architects, planners, and developers are just beginning to overhaul the urban landscape...that could save Miami from rising seas...it’s not just coastal communities that are at risk. -- Jean Nouvel; Rene Gonzalez; Anthony Abbate; Reinaldo Borges- The Architect's Newspaper |
Andrew Santa Lucia: Miami embodies challenging stereotypes, but generates new architectural identities in spite of them: Miami has been equal parts parking lot and low-key laboratory for designers...A new species of architectural element has exploded...the mediated facade. -- Arquitectonica; Roney Mateu; Philip Johnson; Enrique Gutierrez; Roberto Burle Marx; Rene Gonzalez- The Architect's Newspaper |
Duo Dickinson: Confessions of a New AIA Fellow, or “Getting the “F”: The architect’s 12-year journey from “outsider” to “insider": Is it disingenuous for me to be in the “3%” of AIA architects declared to be a “Fellow”? Maybe...many of the writings fully cited my problems with the profession...and, to their great credit, even the AIA itself. There is honor and generosity in this recognition, especially for earnest disagreement.- Common Edge |
AIA Pushes for Elimination of “Intern” Title for Young Architects: ...the traditional title of “intern” can feel a little trivializing...[AIA] clarifying “intern” to refer to a student working in an architectural office while still pursuing an architecture degree...those who have already earned a NAAB-accredited degree and are currently working towards licensure...AIA now recommends the use of the titles “architectural associate” or “design professional.”- ArchDaily |
Why some of our most creative architects are coming from Tasmania: Tasmania appears to have...disproportionate design clout...Is there something in the water? Something unique about the education? -- Alex Schweder/Ward Shelley; Heath Drew Architects; Jeremy McLeod/Breathe Architecture; Austin Maynard Architects; Claire Austin/Alysia Bennett/Bernadette Wilson/Cumulus Studio- Domain (Australia) |
Seven Australian architects who should be on your radar in 2017: Australia lays claim to numerous architects responsible for catapulting the nation to the forefront of the international design scene. “For a little country, we take up a good chunk of airspace"... -- Jesse Bennett Studio; Board Grove architects; Wowowa architects; Welsh + Major; Austin Maynard Architects; Aileen Sage architects; Make Architecture- Domain (Australia) |
...2017 UDIA National Awards for Excellence: Celebrating Australia's contemporary knowledge, skills and innovation in the urban development industry... -- Urban Development Institute of Australia; Rothelowman; C4 Architects; Stephen Birrell; Oxigen; Sid Thoo Architect; McCabe Architects; Eugene Marchese [images]- Architecture & Design (Australia) |
Architizer's Firm of the Year and 5 More Special Honorees for the 2017 A+Awards -- Adjaye Associates; Odile Decq; Tatiana Bilbao; Carlo Ratti; Buro Koray Duman; DJI Drones- Architizer |
ArchNewsNow nominated for JDR Industry Blogger Award in Architecture: Vote Today! Voting Closes on April 24.- Jackson Design and Remodeling |
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Jeff Risom/Gehl: Livabilitization - Numbing the Urban Experience: The term livability...what we associate with the welfare of a city...current definitions create a clear hierarchy where architecture and design is at the top...more disciplines need to be involved in the conversation and broader citizen perspectives need to be included...the most important question here is: livable for whom? [images] |
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