Today’s News - Thursday, March 15, 2018
EDITOR'S NOTE: Happy Ides of March (assuming no Roman emperors are at risk today)! Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days. We'll be back Tuesday, March 20.
● Hatherley minces no words re: the "genuinely dystopian" and "grim" development rising around London's Battersea Power Station that "looks increasingly like satire - devoid of planning, intelligence or character - a tangle of superfluous skyscrapers around parodies of public spaces" (ouch!).
● Schneider delves into why L.A. appointed Hawthorne as the city's "design czar": "Inviting critics to become part of the city-building process is the first step; listening to them and giving them real authority has to come next" (just ask Chicago's Lee Bey).
● Zaha Hadid Architects beats out an unnamed shortlist to win the competition to design the new Navi Mumbai International Airport, ZHA's first project in India (no renderings - yet; we can't wait to see them!).
● Lutyens talks to Space Copenhagen, the firm behind the reinvention of the "design masterpiece" that is Arne Jacobsen's 1960 SAS Royal Hotel (now the Radisson Collection Royal Copenhagen): "Over the years, piecemeal alterations have gnawed away at its meticulously coherent design" (great pix!).
● Getlen profiles "the dynamic duo" Anne Marie Lubrano and Lea Ciavarra, who, "when they're not finishing each other's sentences," are taking on projects like transforming Saarinen's 1962 TWA Terminal into the TWA Hotel" at JFK ("it's the sexiest building on the planet") and "a slew of interesting and varied projects."
● Controversy bounces from Albania to Miami to Chicago: BIG's big plans for the National Theatre of Albania in Tirana faces a slew of controversy, "with actors storming" the original, "iconic" 1939 building, demanding renovation rather than demolition, and others accusing "the government of only demolishing the existing theater in order to free up land for luxury developments."
● Another report claims the project "follows the new habit of the government to hand out projects on public property without any form of meaningful public consultation or debate," and giving this prime property to "a private company just in order to build more apartments and another shopping mall" (not part of BIG's theater project).
● Pending final approval, a new (graceful-looking) Norwegian Cruise Line terminal could "change Miami's skyline": the county would be forking over $100 million, but "it is unclear what NCL will itself contribute to the cost" (never mind the "county would have saved $19 million if the original plans had gone through").
● In Chicago, a "wildcat, emotionally charged symposium" re: the planned Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park "brought out many opinions but few solutions - a few objected to the event itself" ("East-coasters butt out").
● Birnbaum was one of those East-coasters; TCLF responds to the "wildcat" report: one "clear message was not to tell people from the east coast to 'butt out,'" but that that South Side residents want a Community Benefits Agreement. "That message was delivered passionately, emphatically and with great clarity."
● Another report from the Obama Center symposium says: "Some residents want a community benefits agreement, others worry the loud demands will jeopardize the center" ("what happens to [Obama's] legacy if we run this project out of the South Side like Friends of the Parks ran the Lucas Museum out?").
● Sorkin, who couldn't make it to Chicago because of Nor'easter #3, had someone else present his "11 theses on the Obama Presidential Center": "Jackson Park wouldn't have been my first choice," but it could "engender happy knock-on effects"; as for Olmsted preservationists: "The OPC is the commemoration of America's first black president, itself an exception many of us never thought we would live to see. This seems an exception worth making, a celebration of rarity."
● A good reason to head to Guangzhou: the 41st China International Furniture Fair, themed "Better Life, Better Work," kicks off on Sunday.
● A good reason to head to Portland, Oregon: the International Mass Timber Conference kicks off on Tuesday, with 19 countries offering "a primer on CLT and other engineered wood, its safety, and its potential in a world dealing with climate change, forest health, and urbanization."
Weekend diversions:
● Vo Trong Nghia's "Green Ladder" kicks off the three-year Barangaroo pavilion program in Sydney.
● "Architect Friedrich Weinwurm: New Path" at the Slovak National Gallery puts the spotlight on "an almost forgotten architect who changed the face of Bratislava."
● "Research Through Making" at Taubman College in Michigan presents faculty/student collaborations on "architecture research and creative projects that are predicated on making."
Page-turners put the spotlight on "The British Mosque: An Architectural and Social History" by Shahed Saleem:
● Moore: "For all their visibility and significance, little has been written about [mosques'] origins, who designs them, and what they are trying to achieve. Saleem's book sets out to put this right" in a "measured and informative" tone.
● Saleem's own words re: "what Britain's beautiful mosques teach us about our shared history": As a researcher, he appreciates that they "are grass-roots, crowd-sourced, community projects," but "as an architect I could also relate to the criticism" that many fail "to engage with [their] contemporary urban and cultural context" (lots of fab photos!).
● More amazing images from "The British Mosque," which "shows, for the first time, how the mosque as a building type in Britain has emerged and developed" with "an engaging narrative" (and a foreword by Jonathan Glancey!).
| |
|
|
|
To subscribe to the free daily newsletter
click here
|
Owen Hatherley: This dire Battersea Power Station development is genuinely dystopian: It follows all the Urban Renaissance precepts, yet this scheme is as grim as the '80s Docklands: What is happening to the Thames looks increasingly like satire...the generic nature...can be garnered from the name...VNEB, short for Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea. The ruthlessly overdeveloped nature of this new district, devoid of planning, intelligence or character, is a genuine nadir...a huge new commuter suburb in the centre of the city, a tangle of superfluous skyscrapers around parodies of public spaces... -- Rogers Stirk Harbour- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Benjamin Schneider: Why L.A. Just Appointed a Design Czar: Christopher Hawthorne has become the city’s first chief design officer, tasked with making sure the development juggernaut doesn’t get ahead of urban-design principles....“[He] has been the inner architectural voice of the city ... so we felt like we needed to bring him in"...Inviting critics to become part of the city-building process is the first step; listening to them and giving them real authority has to come next. -- Lee Bey; Amanda Burden; Janette Sadik-Khan; Teddy Cruz; Anne Stenros- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Zaha Hadid Architects to design Navi Mumbai International Airport: ...will have an annual capacity of 60 million...appointment...follows a 12-week design competition...the first major project that ZHA will complete on the Indian subcontinent.- Dezeen |
Dominic Lutyens: How do you reinvent a design masterpiece? It’s all down to the holistic concept of 'Gesamtkunstwerk'...the architects behind an ambitious renovation project in Copenhagen: Some of Arne Jacobsen's designs can soon be seen under one roof at the Radisson Collection Royal Copenhagen...Originally called SAS Royal Hotel...created by Jacobsen for Scandinavian Airlines System in 1960...undergoing an extensive refurbishment by...Space Copenhagen...Over the years, piecemeal alterations...have gnawed away at its meticulously coherent design... [images]- BBC Designed |
Larry Getlen: Drawn Together: The Dynamic Duo Behind Lubrano Ciavarra Architects: When they're not finishing each other's sentences, Anne Marie Lubrano and Lea Ciavarra are taking on projects like the TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport: ...a massive re-do of the classic space-age terminal designed by Eero Saarinen in 1962..."it’s the sexiest building on the planet. It’s like adding to the Guggenheim"...refusing to be pigeonholed has led them to a slew of interesting and varied projects.- Commercial Observer (NYC) |
Architects unveil plans for Albania’s controversial new National Theatre [in Tirana]: ...amid an ongoing row over the country's artistic heritage...many culture figures remain sceptical of the plans, with actors storming the...[1939] building...to protest government plans to demolish the iconic building...calling on the government to instead renovate the existing venue. [Others] have accused the government of only demolishing the existing theatre in order to free up land for luxury developments. -- BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group [images]- The Calvert Journal (UK) |
A New Theater Demands New Laws: ...the new National Theater, designed...BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group didn’t have to face an architecture competition...follows the new habit of the Rama government to hand out...projects on public property without any form of meaningful public consultation or debate...In order not to renovate a historical building...the government is willing to give away its property in the most expensive and coveted part of Tirana to a private company just in order to build&hellipmore apartments and another shopping mall. [images]- Exit.al (Albania) |
New Norwegian Cruise Line [NCL] terminal to change Miami’s skyline: ...will make an effort to be built with local materials and resources...Miami-Dade county will be investing $100 million...It is unclear what NCL will itself contribute to the cost...Bermello Ajamil & Partners was chosen by NCL after a dispute between NCL and Miami-Dade county over the initial bid-winning design and construction firm chosen by the county. The county would have saved $19 million if the original plans had gone through. [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
"East-coasters butt out" and more from the wildcat Obama Presidential Center debate: An emotionally charged symposium at the University of Chicago brought out many opinions but few solutions: Arguments...covered the full spectrum of opinions, though there may have been something close to consensus on Birnbaum's point that a site near Washington Park would have been preferable [to Jackson Park]...now more focused on fighting for something Obama has repeatedly said he won't grant: a Community Benefits Agreement...a few objected to the event itself... -- Charles Birnbaum/The Cultural Landscape Foundation/TCLF- Chicago Reader |
TCLF responds to the wildcat Obama Presidential Center debate...sent to the editor of the Chicago Reader; a response has yet to be received: ...the second clear message...was not to tell people from the east coast to “butt out”...The message was that South Side residents want the OPC on the South Side, but they have great concerns about physical, economic and cultural displacement, hence the calls for written guarantees such as a Community Benefits Agreement. That message was delivered passionately, emphatically and with great clarity [by] people evidently frustrated that these points haven’t been adequately addressed... -- Charles Birnbaum- The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) |
Obama Presidential Center Symposium shows residents frustrated with each other, institutions: Some residents want a community benefits agreement, others worry the loud demands will jeopardize the center: One thing almost every speaker brought up was the need for a community benefits agreement...“Economic development is a code word for gentrification"..."what happens to [Obama’s] legacy if we run this project out of the South Side like Friends of the Parks ran the Lucas Museum out?” In his final rally for support...Obama asked for the community’s trust.- Curbed Chicago |
Michael Sorkin: Eleven Theses on the Obama Presidential Center: Jackson Park wouldn’t have been my first choice as a location...But the site can still engender happy knock-on effects...The preservationist claim from Olmsted's original intent conflates precedent and exception. The OPC is the project and commemoration of America’s first black president, itself an exception many of us never thought we would live to see...This seems an exception worth making, a celebration of rarity. Moreover, the precedent for the museum exception in parks - including Olmsted’s - is voluminous... -- Terreform- The Dirt/American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
41st China International Furniture Fair (CIFF): “Better Life, Better Work”; Guangzhou, March 18-21 (residential); March 28-31 (commercial)- China International Furniture Fair/CIFF |
International Mass Timber Conference Addresses Innovative Mass Timber Technology and the Seismic Shift It's Sending Through the Building World: The March 20–22 conference in Portland, Oregon, co-produced by Forest Business Network and WoodWorks-Wood Products Council, offers a primer on cross laminated timber [CLT] and other engineered wood, its safety, and its potential in a world dealing with climate change, forest health, and urbanization: ...19 countries represented...- Benzinga |
Vo Trong Nghia’s "Green Ladder" kicks off Barangaroo pavilion program: An architectural pavilion designed by prominent Vietnamese architect...has been installed in Sydney’s Barangaroo...the start of a three-year program of architectural pavilion commissioning by the Barangaroo Delivery Authority and Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas (SCCI), dubbed “Barangaroo Structures.” thru May 2 [images]- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
An almost forgotten architect who changed the face of Bratislava: Friedrich Weinwurm, the most important architect of the Slovak avant-garde, exhibited in the Slovak National Gallery: Weinwurm and Vécsei...designed almost 100 buildings...Most of them are standing today..."Architect Friedrich Weinwurm: New Path"...follows two basic lines - the search for a new architectural form and the solution of the housing issue. thru May 20- The Slovak Spectator (Slovakia) |
"Research Through Making": ...architecture research or creative projects that are predicated on making. Seed funding is competitively awarded annually for up to five projects. Faculty collaborate with students to produce projects; Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, thru March 31- University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (Ann Arbor, MI) |
Rowan Moore: "The British Mosque: An Architectural and Social History" by Shahed Saleem: The architect and academic’s thoughtful survey explains why mosque builders in Britain generally stick to the tried and tested: For all their visibility and significance, little has been written about their origins...who designs them and what they are trying to achieve. Saleem’s book sets out to put this right...The tone is measured and informative...From time to time the cry goes up, including in Jonathan Glancey’s introduction...that a “contemporary” Islamic British style should be developed.- Observer (UK) |
Shahed Saleem: What Britain’s beautiful mosques teach us about our shared history: Mosques in Britain are grass-roots, crowd-sourced, community projects. As a researcher, I understood how and why the mosques around us looked the way they did, and I appreciated that these were self-designed and self-made buildings, and their architecture...was in many ways admirable. But as an architect I could also relate to the criticism...that through its attempt to literally replicate Islamic history, it was failing to engage with the contemporary urban and cultural context in which it was situated. -- "The British Mosque: An architectural and social history" [images]- iNews (U.K.) |
The history and architecture of British mosques celebrated in new book: "The British Mosque: An Architectural and Social History" by Shahed Saleem...encapsulates Britain’s Muslim history as told through its buildings...shows, for the first time, how the mosque as a building type in Britain has emerged and developed over more than a century of rapid social change...an engaging narrative...foreword by...Jonathan Glancey. [images]- Asian Image (UK) |
ANN feature: Jason A. Silva: From the Treetops #3: Is Art Redefining the Architecture of Sacramento? Temporary, multi-disciplinary arts projects are transforming the proverbial "white cube" gallery town by elevating the discourse around what art can be and the potential spaces it could occupy. [images]- ArchNewsNow.com |
|
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window.
External news links are not endorsed by ArchNewsNow.com.
Free registration may be required on some sites.
Some pages may expire after a few days.
© 2018 ArchNewsNow.com