Today’s News - Thursday, November 30, 2017
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days - we'll be back Tuesday, December 5 (December already?!!?).
● ANN feature: "rise in the city" Update #2: Online Benefit Auction Continues! Just in time for the holidays, a cornucopia of creativity - there's something for everyone (including that difficult-to-shop-for friend, colleague, and relative - or yourself!).
● Morris Dixon remembers Albert C. Ledner: "In the unfolding of any design movement, there are outliers who are seen as too far from the mainstream, too quirky to be celebrated by peers and historians. He was one of those."
● Aslet minces no words ripping RIBA, its 2017 House of the Year, and member architects who "would prefer to design a one-off bespoke project rather than dirty their hands with the less glamorous business of providing homes for ordinary people."
● On that cheery (not!) note, we thought you'd like to see the House of the Year (will it really "influence UK housing for many years to come"?) - and the runners-ups - you decide.
● Betsky ponders when the architecture industry will be "Weinsteined - will it alter how we see the perpetrators' work?" ("Too many male architects see the world as a supine figure waiting for their brilliant erection to bring it to life" - edifice complex, perhaps?).
● An all-male taskforce, made up of some of Australia's most prominent architects, is tackling gender inequity in Australian architecture, and just released its first report: "Architecture was among the most unequal professions in this country."
● A bushel of big-name architects send a letter to the Architectural Association warning that its "planned redundancy drive could prove fatal to the institution" (AA's interim director says otherwise).
● Meanwhile, AA President Porter sends a letter to the AJ, saying its coverage is "clearly unfounded" and "unworthy of the AJ."
● Eyefuls of SHoP and SCAPE's three-story skybridge, 300 feet in the air, connecting the two American Copper Buildings - a 75-foot-long lap pool, juice bar, and climbing wall included (what - no doggie park?).
● Bose walks us through Rogers' freshly made-over 1960s Wimbledon House, now a research and event space for Harvard GSD, "defined by a conscious sense of its own transparency - a characteristic that was and still is unusual" (photos by Baan).
● The air traffic control tower, "all that remains of the long-gone Stapleton International Airport in Denver, has been transformed into an 'eatertainment' venue by OZ Architecture: "elements hark back to the golden age of jet setting in the 1920s and '30s."
Weekend diversions:
● Hawthorne plans an L.A. architecture tour for his mother-in-law's 80th birthday, choosing "one piece of architecture from each decade that she has been alive."
● Ray cheers Furman's "vibrant ceramics" of Rome's architectural wonders in "Roman Singularity" at London's Sir John Soane's Museum: he "seems to celebrate his source material with absolute sincerity, albeit with humor - a refreshing antidote to the aloofness that creates space for dark political agendas to thrive" (closes December 10).
● As you consider "The Landscape Architecture Legacy of Dan Kiley" at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, here a "9 things you might not know about Kiley's enduring Milwaukee legacies."
Page-turners:
● Wainwright takes us on a wonderful romp through "cheeky, cartoonish" PoMo, "the mischievous movement that made its name from injecting youthful wit and fun into architecture is finally coming of age" - cheers to "Postmodern Buildings in Britain" by Harwood and Franklin, and "Revisiting Postmodernism" by Farrell and Furman.
● Tucker says that, with Harwood and Franklin's "Post-Modern Buildings in Britain," PoMo "might finally be overcoming its reputation, and finding new relevance."
● Bernheimer explains "how architecture shapes our cities - and our lives" in "The Shaping of Us: How Everyday Spaces Structure our Lives, Behavior, and Well-being."
● Kamin rounds up new architecture books "with Chicago ties that are food for the eye and mind."
● King's picks for his 2017 holiday books gift guide.
● Lange wonders "why vintage design books are now so radical - and radically expensive."
● A new box set of three playfully designed architectural walking guides to the rich architectural history of Sydney, "from convict architects to radical modernists."
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ANN feature: "rise in the city" UPDATE #2: Online Benefit Auction Continues! Just in time for the holidays (and only until December 15!), a cornucopia of creativity - there's something for everyone (including that difficult-to-shop-for friend, colleague, and relative - or yourself!). [images]- ArchNewsNow.com |
John Morris Dixon: Remembering Albert C. Ledner, pioneering New Orleans modernist: In the unfolding of any design movement, there are outliers who are seen as too far from the mainstream, too quirky to be celebrated by peers and historians...Ledner was one of those. But he recently had the good fortune of winning widespread admiration in the months before his death...[his] relatively unfettered design approach led him to construct spaces of unconventional configuration and detail. [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
Clive Aslet: It’s time architects designed homes people really want: The Riba...has given its house of the year award to a place where no sane person would think of living...Caring Wood...Part of the problem is that [RIBA]...is still in the grip of Modernists, who are deaf to public opinion. Their obsession with peddling their own aesthetic agenda...has been disastrous...members would prefer to design a one-off bespoke project...rather than dirty their hands with the less glamorous business of providing homes for ordinary people. -- James Macdonald Wright/Macdonald Wright Architects; Niall Maxwell/Rural Office for Architecture; Create Streets- The Times (UK) |
"Built for multiple generations": 2017 RIBA House of the Year winner: Caring Wood in Kent - a collaborative project by James Macdonald Wright and Niall Maxwell...1,500m² country home...inspired by traditional oast houses in the south-eastern county, and features a sculpted roof [and] carbon-neutral building..."I’ve no doubt many of the ideas displayed...will influence UK housing for many years to come." -- Macdonald Wright Architects; Rural Office for Architecture; Coffey Architects; Tonkin Liu; Birds Portchmouth Russum; MawsonKerr Architects; Ann Nisbet Studio; Ström Architects [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Aaron Betsky: Waiting to Be Weinsteined: When Will Accusations of Sexual Harassment Arise in Architecture? Betsky re-examines one of his architectural heroes [Louis Kahn] and wonders when the industry’s comeuppance will arrive: How soon until some women start coming forward to describe what they had to go through as they were making their careers in architecture? And when that happens, will it alter how we see the perpetrators’ work? Too many male architects see the world as a supine figure waiting for their brilliant erection to bring it to life.- Architect Magazine |
"Architecture was among the most unequal professions in this country," Institute report reveals: An all-male taskforce tackling gender inequity in Australian architecture has released its first progress report: ...“Male Champions of Change,” composed of the senior architects from some of Australia’s most prominent architecture practices...conducted a series of “listening and learning” workshops... -- Parlour: Women, Equity, Architecture [link to report]- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
Exclusive: Rogers and Koolhaas warn AA cost-cutting could prove fatal: Leading architects including Rem Koolhaas, Richard Rogers, Phyllis Lambert, Toyo Ito and Kengo Kuma have signed a letter saying the Architectural Association’s planned redundancy drive could prove fatal to the institution: AA’s interim director Samantha Hardingham...insisted that the AA Files and other parts of the AA perceived to be under threat would be retained.- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
AA president responds to AJ news coverage: David Porter, president of the Architectural Association: The implication...that while there is no permanent director in place, Council...has taken the opportunity to engage in a bit of ’mindless cultural vandalism’, to close the AA Files and axe the publications and exhibitions departments. These remarks are not true, clearly unfounded, and are unworthy of the AJ.- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
A First Look Inside New York City's First Skybridge in 80 Years: AD tours the three-story amenities skybridge at the new residential American Copper Buildings by SHoP Architects and SCAPE Landscape Architecture: Suspended 300 feet in the air, the three-story connector...houses a full suite of amenities, from fitness to children's play, as well as unites mechanical systems across the east and west residential towers.- Architectural Digest |
Shumi Bose: Richard Rogers’ Wimbledon House Gets a New Lease on Life: 22 Parkside, the experimental London home [he] designed for his parents in the late 1960s, has been converted to a research and event space...for the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD)...[it] is emblematic of the currents in material innovation and production then sweeping architecture...defined by a conscious sense of its own transparency - a characteristic that...was and still is unusual. -- Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP); Gumuchdjian Architects; Todd Longstaffe-Gowan [images by Iwan Baan]- Metropolis Magazine |
Denver airport tower converted to restaurant: ...a neglected air traffic control tower...all that remains of the long-gone Stapleton International airport, has been transformed into an "eatertainment" venue for...Punch Bowl Social....combines diner-style food, bowling, karaoke and stunning views of Denver below...elements hark back to the golden age of jet setting in the 1920s and '30s. -- OZ Architecture [images]- CNN Travel |
Christopher Hawthorne: I told my mother-in-law I'd plan an L.A. architecture tour for her 80th birthday. But what buildings to choose? My own backyard. No excuses for any uninspired choices...I decided to choose one piece of architecture from each decade that [she] has been alive... -- John C. Austin/F.M. Ashley (1935); Charles and Ray Eames (1949); Paul R. Williams (1952); Millard Sheets (1961 - redesigned by wHY, 2017); Cesar Pelli/Victor Gruen Associates (1975); Eric Owen Moss (1986-present); Frank O. Gehry (1978/1991); Thom Mayne/Morphosis Architects (2004); Barbara Bestor/Bestor Architecture, Echo Park (2015) [images]- Los Angeles Times |
Debika Ray: Adam Nathaniel Furman Condenses Rome’s Architectural Wonders into Vibrant Ceramics: The designs are being hosted at the Sir John Soane's Museum: The "Roman Singularity"...Furman seems to celebrate his source material with absolute sincerity, albeit with humor...a more intuitive, inclusive, experiential, and enjoyable architecture is a refreshing antidote to the aloofness that creates space for dark political agendas to thrive...[show] acknowledges that culture has always changed, evolved, and absorbed new influences, and will continue to do so, inviting you to fearlessly look history in the eye; thru December 10 [images]- Metropolis Magazine |
9 Things You Might Not Know About Landscape Architect Dan Kiley’s Enduring Milwaukee Legacies: ...one of the most prolific and influential landscape architects of the 20th century...Kiley’s public spaces continue to resonate, even as societal trends and the landscape architecture profession evolves. Here’s why. "The Landscape Architecture Legacy of Dan Kiley," University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, thru January 12, 2018 -- The Cultural Landscape Foundation/TCLF- Milwaukee Magazine |
Oliver Wainwright: Cheeky, cartoonish ... and under threat: why our postmodern buildings must be saved: PoMo architecture, often derided as gaudy and excessive, is having a revival - just in time to save some of its greatest treasures: ...the mischievous movement that made its name from injecting youthful wit and fun into architecture is finally coming of age. "Postmodern Buildings in Britain" by Elain Harwood and Geraint Franklin; "Revisiting Postmodernism" by Terry Farrell and Adam Nathaniel Furman- Guardian (UK) |
Emma Tucker: Rebel architecture: in praise of Britain’s Postmodern oddities: Is it time to reassess the maligned movement? For decades it’s divided public opinion, but with many PoMo buildings at risk of demolition, the architectural style might finally be overcoming its reputation, and finding new relevance..."Post-Modern Buildings in Britain," by Geraint Franklin and Elain Harwood, is re-assessing PoMo’s merits, tracing its history and celebrating some of its best examples. [images]- The Spaces (UK) |
Lily Bernheimer: How architecture shapes our cities - and our lives: Communities which design their own buildings are more likely to be happy and healthy: ...you need to give people the tools to co-create their own homes, streets and workspaces...[they] feel a greater sense of agency, community and pride - a quality known as “collective efficacy”. And when communities have high rates of collective efficacy, they also tend to have less litter, vandalism and violent crime. "The Shaping of Us: How Everyday Spaces Structure our Lives, Behaviour, and Well-being"- Guardian (UK) |
Blair Kamin: New architecture books with Chicago ties are food for the eye and mind: “How to Build a Skyscraper" by John Hill; “Krueck + Sexton: From There to Here,” introduction by John Morris Dixon; “John Vinci: Life and Landmarks" by Robert Sharoff, new photography by William Zbaren- Chicago Tribune |
John King: 2017 holiday books gift guide: "Architecture Matters" by Aaron Betsky; "Black: Architecture in Monochrome"; "Design for Good: A New Era of Architecture for Everyone" by John Cary; "Motel California: A Pictorial History of the Motel in the Golden State" by Heather M. David; "100 Buildings: 1900-2000" by the Now Institute; "The Strip: Las Vegas and the Architecture of the American Dream" by Stefan Al; "What Is a Museum Now? Snøhetta and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art"; "What’s So Great About the Eiffel Tower? 70 Questions That Will Change the Way You Think About Architecture" by Jonathan Glancey- San Francisco Chronicle |
Alexandra Lange: Judging a book by its cover: Why vintage design books are now so radical - and radically expensive: When you buy an old book you buy not just the content but the total package: the cover facade, the furniture layout, and the conversations to be had...- Curbed |
From convict architects to radical modernists: Footpath Guides’ architectural history of Sydney: ...a new box set of architectural walking guides reveals a city with a rich history and a diverse built environment...comprises three playfully designed books: "Sydney The Rocks," "Sydney Inter-War," and "Sydney Modern" by Jacques Sheard...highlights the importance of protecting architectural heritage. [images]- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
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