Today’s News - Thursday, July 26, 2018
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days. We'll be back Tuesday, July 31.
● Keskeys parses "a new wave of humanitarian design groups striving to build more equitable cities" in a post-Architecture for Humanity world that "left many architects soul-searching about the state of pro bono design - the Open Architecture Collaborative is leading the way."
● Kamin cheers Studio Gang's "striking" new tower on Chicago's lakefront: Solstice on the Park "turns the important but prosaic task of saving energy into muscular visual poetry - as significant for the ideas behind it as for the building itself."
● Budds spends a night on Governors Island "glamping" in a rather luxurious tent "just 800 yards from the cacophony of lower Manhattan" - it's one of the island's several initiatives "experimenting with and rethinking the future of public space."
● Aberdeen, U.K.-based Covell Matthews tapped to take on its second Trump project: a new "residential community" of 500 homes, 50 hotel cottages, and leisure facilities called Trump Estate (like it would be named something else?) - not everyone is impressed.
● Jessel x 2: She parses the 2018 AJ Student Survey that "reveals how the eye-watering costs of education are fuelling fears of elitism," creating a "shrinking talent pool" that "will have a wider impact on the diversity of the profession."
● She asks students, architects, and academics "whether architectural education was becoming out of reach for all but the rich": "Hell yes."
● Gunts reports that Stephanie Meeks is stepping down as CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and highlights her successes over her eight-year-plus tenure (speculation in one government preservation office about her replacement: Tiffany Trump "may be in line" - gulp!!!).
● Fiction writer Folk mulls dead malls (rather poetically): "Every video tour of an abandoned shopping center is a chance to gaze upon the wreck of our past selves - a once-beloved edifice that, in the span of a few years, has become so worthless no one even cares enough to tear it down."
Weekend diversions:
● Davidson walked through "Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980, MoMA's "hugely ambitious and revelatory" show, " toggling between elation and despair. It's impossible to savor this treasury of high-order designs and earnest architectural experiments without thinking about how the story ended."
● Farago finds "Toward a Concrete Utopia" to be "an outstanding, nimble, continuously surprising show" - though "for all its brilliance it can get a little rose-colored in places."
● Curators Stierli, Kulic, and Kats each select their three favorites from "Towards a Concrete Utopia," and explain their importance.
● Franklin cheers "A Call to Act(ivism): Echoing Whitney Young, 50 Years Later," a "small but powerful show" at NYC's Center for Architecture: "Times are changing in this aging, white male-dominated field."
● Also at the Center for Architecture (opening tonight): "The Fourth Regional Plan: Making the Region Work for All of Us": the Regional Plan Association's "recommendations to promote prosperity, equity, health, and sustainability" is "the product of five years of research and public engagement."
● In Seattle, "Coming Soon" signs that are popping up in several parks may "resemble the airbrushed architectural renderings developers post to promote forthcoming high-rise condos," but they are actually "like something out of Black Panther's Wakanda - Afrofuturistic visions of a dream deferred."
● Schwab parses photographer Gregor Sailer's "The Potemkin Village," on view in Arles, France: Images of "the world's artificial cities built by the military or tech companies provide a glimpse into how architecture reflects the ambitions and shortcomings of countries and companies alike - even if that architecture is fake."
Page-turners:
● Brussat cheers Locktov's "Dream of Venice in Black and White": It's "another of her beautiful works. It's difficult to express in words the photos within" + He can't wait to read Curl's "Making Dystopia: The Strange Rise and Survival of Architectural Barbarism" (sounds like it's right up his alley).
● Costanzo delves into Schwarting's "Rome: Urban Formation and Transformation," which "probes its political and historical roots" in "a rational, detailed examination" that includes "exceptional and very rigorous" graphics.
● Blue Crow Media's founder Lamberton talks about his latest venture, "Moscow Metro Architecture & Design Map," a bilingual, cartographic guide - and what inspired him to publish it (fab photos!).
● Overstreet offers a great round-up of "10 books on architecture you can read online for free" (very cool).
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Paul Keskeys: Can Participatory Design Save the World? A new wave of humanitarian design groups are striving to build more equitable cities - and the Open Architecture Collaborative is leading the way: Architecture for Humanity's closure [in 2015]...left many architects soul-searching about the state of pro bono design...felt like the end of an era for public interest design...marked the beginning of a new story for the industry - the seeds of which had already been sown in more than 20 cities around the world. -- Colloqate; Designing Justice + Designing Spaces; Creative Reaction Lab- Architectural Digest |
Blair Kamin: Made with the shade: A striking Jeanne Gang tower elevates its lakefront setting in Hyde Park: Amid a construction boom characterized by blandness rather than boldness...new apartment tower is a striking exception: a building that turns the important but prosaic task of saving energy into muscular visual poetry...Solstice on the Park...like much of Gang’s work, it’s as significant for the ideas behind it as for the building itself. -- Studio Gang [images]- Chicago Tribune |
Diana Budds: Governors Island teases its future with ‘glamping’: Collective Retreats offers a glimpse of how the Trust for Governors Island is experimenting with and rethinking the future of public space: ...a new luxury camping experience - aka “glamping”...just 800 yards from the cacophony of lower Manhattan...a new way to experience one of the most isolated, yet physically close, public spaces in the city...the slow pace and emptiness...feels indulgent. -- Michael Samuelian [images]- Curbed New York |
Trump’s architects: trad resort expansion will outlive ‘fashionable’ design: Covell Matthews - also behind the multi-million pound clubhouse on the US president’s 1,500-acre Aberdeenshire resort...picked to masterplan the proposals for a new ‘residential community’...to be called the Trump Estate...project includes 500 homes...50 hotel cottages, a sports centre and other leisure facilities...But not everyone was impressed. -- Alan Dunlop [images]- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Ella Jessel: 2018 AJ Student survey: Only the rich need apply to study architecture: ...reveals how the eye-watering costs of education are forcing students to turn to the bank of mum and dad, fuelling fears of elitism: As the price tag of an architectural education stretches beyond £100,000...the traditional route into the profession is becoming increasingly out of reach for many..."Mental health time-bomb"..."The biggest issue to me is whether all of this is worth it"...shrinking talent pool will have a wider impact on the diversity of the profession...- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Ella Jessel: Student survey reaction: ‘Is architecture a middle-class profession? Hell yes’: We asked students, architects and academics for their thoughts on the results of the 2018 AJ student survey and whether architectural education was becoming out of reach for all but the rich: "We need to move forward towards diversity in the industry, yet sadly the educational aspect of architecture seems to be pushing us backwards."- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
Edward Gunts: CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation is stepping down: Stephanie Meeks, the eighth president and first woman chief executive officer of the NTHP...will step down at the end of 2018, after more than eight years in office...set off speculation...about who might take her place. In one government preservation office, there was talk that President Donald Trump’s daughter, Tiffany Trump, may be in line...- The Architect's Newspaper |
Kate Folk: Dead Malls: Every video tour of an abandoned shopping center is a chance to gaze upon the wreck of our past selves: Some will be repurposed - as housing, satellite college campuses, medical centers, megachurches. Others will simply fall into glorious ruin...No other building displays the capriciousness of human desire with such brutal rigor - a once-beloved edifice that, in the span of a few years, has become so worthless no one even cares enough to tear it down...tours of dead and dying shopping malls on YouTube...we can glimpse the traces of our past selves embedded in the modern footage...By watching, perhaps, we can try to reassure ourselves that who we were and how we lived still exist...- New York Times Magazine |
Justin Davidson: MoMA’s Tribute to Yugoslavia’s "Concrete Utopia" Is a Revelation: ...linking the name of a vanished nation to memories of optimism and impassioned building...hugely ambitious..."Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980" portrays an...open postwar society that propelled itself into the industrial age with brio...I went through the show toggling between elation and despair. It’s impossible to savor this treasury of high-order designs and earnest architectural experiments without thinking about how the story ended...At the heart of this gloom-dogged show is an urgent challenge to those of us who believe that architecture gets its meaning from participation in a social program. thru January 13, 2019 -- Martino Stierli; Vladimir Kulic; Anna Kats; Valentin Jeck- New York Magazine |
Jason Farago: The Cement Mixer as Muse: A Socialist state’s postwar buildings burst with ambition and invention at the Museum of Modern Art: “Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980,” an outstanding new exhibition...This nimble, continuously surprising show is exactly how MoMA should be thinking as it prepares to occupy its expanded home...a pleasure to look at, with sketches, blueprints and historical documents, but also newly built models and drone flyover footage...for all its brilliance [the show] can get a little rose-colored in places... thru January 13, 2019 -- Martino Stierli; Vladimir Kulic [images]- New York Times |
MoMA curators select highlights from "Towards a Concrete Utopia: Architecture of Yugoslavia, 1948-1980 ": Each has selected three highlights from over 400 drawing, models, photographs and other archival materials featured in the show...and explained their importance in the following text: thru January 13, 2019 -- Martino Stierli; Vladimir Kulic´ Anna Kats [images]- Dezeen |
Sydney Franklin: AIANY’s Whitney M. Young Jr. exhibit calls architects to action: If we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that time is up for professional industries that ignore inequality and underrepresentation...Times are changing in this aging, white male-dominated field...At the forefront of this heightened awareness is "A Call to Act(ivism): Echoing Whitney Young, 50 Years Later"...small but powerful show suggests...that [Young's] critical words...are just as relevant as ever to the profession...reveals that there’s much more work to be done for architecture to become the inclusive profession that he imagined. Center for Architecture, NYC, thru September 15 -- Danei Cesario/Array Architects [images]- The Architect's Newspaper |
"The Fourth Regional Plan: Making the Region Work for All of Us" opens [today] at the AIA New York Center for Architecture: ...features the Regional Plan Association's long-range strategic plan for the New York Metropolitan Area. Published in 2017...created to help elected officials, policymakers, and advocates plan for the region’s future. Previous plans have been released in the 1920s, 1960s, and 1990s...recommendations to promote prosperity, equity, health, and sustainability...the product of five years of research and public engagement... thru November 3- Archinect |
Imagining Black architecture in Seattle's Central District: “Coming Soon” signs started popping up in several busy parks. In size and shape, they resemble...airbrushed architectural renderings developers post to promote forthcoming high-rise condos and accompanying lifestyles. But closer inspection reveals the new signs as altogether unusual. These look like something out of Black Panther’s Wakanda - Afrofuturistic visions of a dream deferred...part of the larger “Imagine Africatown” community effort to ensure that the massive development...incorporates the history and insight of the African Americans who have long lived in the neighborhood. [images]- Crosscut (Seattle) |
Katharine Schwab: A glimpse inside the world’s artificial cities: The photographer Gregor Sailer negotiated access to 25 of these strange urban facsimiles, which are often built by the military or tech companies: ..."The Potemkin Village" is currently on view at the Arles photography festival in France and...a book published in late 2017...Perhaps the most unsettling images...are those of the military towns designed as backdrops for war exercises...provides a glimpse into how architecture reflects the ambitions and shortcomings of countries and companies alike - even if that architecture is fake. [images]- Fast Company / Co.Design |
David Brussat: "Dream of Venice in Black and White": A lovely book on Venice, plus warning of another book, "Making Dystopia": JoAnn Locktov, the editrix and impresaria of photographic essays of Venice in book form, sends me another of her beautiful works...It’s difficult to express in words the photos within - people, buildings, details, vistas – shot by a host of photographers...I await reading "Making Dystopia: The Strange Rise and Survival of Architectural Barbarism" by James Stevens Curl...whose attitudes toward architecture are, I say with considerable pride, much like my own.- Architecture Here and There |
Jacopo Costanzo: A new book on Rome’s urban formation probes its political and historical roots: In "Rome: Urban Formation and Transformation"...Jon Michael Schwarting...produces a rational, detailed examination of Rome (and other Italian cities) and a method of investigating and understanding architecture and urbanism by searching its rational basis...by using history in a polemical, rather than factual, manner...focuses on the period from the 15th to the 18th century...in which Rome was to be completely transformed into the new center of Christianity...graphics...are exceptional and very rigorous.- The Architect's Newspaper |
A “Palace for the People”: the design of the Moscow metro, in pictures: Blue Crow Media’s latest work is the "Moscow Metro Architecture & Design Map" - a bilingual, cartographic guide curated by architectural historian Nikolai Vassiliev...and an introduction by Nikolai Shumakov, president of the Union of Architects of Russia...We asked founder Derek Lamberton to give us a flavour of the new book – and what inspired him to publish it. [images]- CityMetric (UK) |
Kaley Overstreet: 10 Books on Architecture You Can Read Online For Free: ...cover a broad range of interesting topics - including advice to architecture students from Herman Hertzberger, a look at what sparks the formation and growth of a city, and...an in-depth architectural analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's films. -- William Craft Brumfield; Marilyn R. Chandler; Sam Bass Warner Jr.; Wayne Attoe & Donn Logan; Sang Lee & Ruth Baumeister; Deborah Hauptmann & Warren Neidich; Steven Jacobs; William Lescaze; George Braziller- ArchDaily |
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