Today’s News - Tuesday, February 5, 2019
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's the Lunar New Year: Happy Year of the Pig! "A year of fortune and luck - an auspicious year because the Pig attracts success in all the spheres of life" (according to TheChineseZodiac.org).
● Kamin gives us the skinny on the third Chicago Architecture Biennial, launching in September: It "promises to avoid 'Archi-babble.'" Themed "...and other such stories," it "promises something more provocative" (participants to be announced in March).
● Biron parses new research that warns "cities need to grow up - not out - to survive - cities are using land inefficiently."
● Wainwright takes a deep (and we mean deep!) dive into NYC's new "super-tall, super-skinny 'pencil towers'" for the super-rich. "They stand like naked elevator shafts awaiting their floors. Like leggy plants given too much fertilizer, these buildings are a symptom of a city irrigated with too much money."
● Not to be outdone, the latest super-tall tower to rise in Dubai is the Burj Jumeira - its most distinctive feature: the base is "designed in the outline of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid's thumbprint" (according to reports, the architect has not been named, but construction "will commence immediately").
● Reporters went to Seattle to find out how Amazon HQ2 might change Washington, DC - some Seattlites "warn the Amazon effect isn't always a good one."
● A look at how Helsinki's "groundbreaking" program "Housing First" has almost eradicated rough sleeping - "tackling homelessness is not only a moral obligation but may also save money in the long-run."
● Perhaps London should take a page from Helsinki's book, as Bacchi reports: "Rough sleeping falls in England - but 'damning' rise in London. Despite the 2% fall nationwide, rough sleeping was still 165% higher than in 2010" (yikes!).
● Authors of "Making Dystopia" & "Raw Concrete: The Beauty of Brutalism" fame duke it out over the question: "Has modern architecture ruined Britain?" ("monosyllabic grunts" and "unhealthy pleasures of 'Make Architecture Great Again rage" included - h/t to Brussat!).
● Salingaros explains "how beauty, through mathematics, can save the world. Today's architects don't apply mathematical rules for building beauty because there is no market for it" (but he finds hope in smaller firms "being influenced by emotions, empathy, and feelings").
● Campbell cheers Hopkins & Bruner/Cott's transformation of Josep Lluis Sert's Holyoke Center: Harvard "reimagines a prominent Brutalist building to create a public front door. This is architecture in service to social goals. That's something not so often seen today."
● Saffron considers Philly's 1968 International House, a "Brutalist style building designed to promote international understanding. Whatever their flaws - and there are plenty - Brutalist buildings really were part of an effort to change the world."
● Morgan minces no words about what he thinks of two new hotels in Providence, Rhode Island: They are "characterless bits of suburban blandness," that "remind us that creating a livable city requires more than real estate parametrics."
● On a brighter note (for some at least), Dan Kiley's plaza for Weese's Marcus Center for the Performing Arts in Milwaukee gets temporary historic designation as the city's Historic Preservation Commission considers permanent landmark protection.
● On a brighter note (for all of us): a round-up of 8 examples of landscape architecture projects "worth celebrating": "While landscape designers are often overlooked by the media, their work holds as much transformative power as that of architects."
● SO-IL partner Papageorgiou departs to start PILA, an Athens- and New York-based architecture firm.
● Architectural photographer Alan Karchmer is giving his entire photography collection to the National Building Museum (lucky them - lucky us!).
Three we couldn't resist:
● One we couldn't believe: A video of "incredible homes of the future that can self-deploy and build themselves in less than 10 minutes, transforming from a box into a building eight to ten times its original size" (wow!).
● Dickinson is not down with the "Zaha Hadid Activewear" line: It "has nothing to do with who it's inspired by. These things will be part of her legacy (assuming sales are brisk), for good or ill. I think it's called irony. And marketing."
● Bertoli, on the other hand, is left "breathless" by the Zaha Line. "Sporting underwear has never been so fit."
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Blair Kamin: Third Chicago Architecture Biennial promises to explore new stories about Chicago - and avoid 'Archi-babble': ...promises something more provocative: A look at old Chicago stories that have been shoved out of the spotlight and new ones that will emerge through fresh comparisons with...Sao Paulo, Johannesburg and Vancouver, British Columbia...theme and title, "...and other such stories"...initial list of participants will be released in March. -- Yesomi Umolu; Sepake Angiama; Paulo Tavares- Chicago Tribune |
Carey L. Biron: Cities need to grow up - not out - to survive, researchers warn: Poor land records, rampant speculation and weak or corrupt implementation of regulations means that cities are using land inefficiently: ...a new report from the World Resources Institute [Ross Center for Sustainable Cities] and Yale University...vertical growth...ensures that new development takes place where city services are available...some cities do offer strong models for responding to these trends, particularly in Latin America- Place / Thomson Reuters Foundation |
Oliver Wainwright: Super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive: the 'pencil towers' of New York's super-rich: It is rare in the history of architecture for a new type of building to emerge...Now, we are seeing a new type of structure...A heady confluence of engineering prowess, zoning loopholes and an unparalleled concentration of personal wealth have together spawned a new species of super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive spires...They stand like naked elevator shafts awaiting their floors...Like leggy plants given too much fertiliser, these buildings are a symptom of a city irrigated with too much money. -- Raphael Viñoly; Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill; Robert A.M. Stern; Municipal Art Society of New York; Christian de Portzamparc; SHoP Architects; Carol Willis/Skyscraper Museum- Guardian (UK) |
Burj Jumeira: Dubai announces 550-meter supertall tower: ...design is said to be inspired by desert dunes and oases...Perhaps the tower's most distinctive feature is its base, designed in the outline of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid's thumbprint...will join 13 other "supertall"...structures under construction in Dubai... [images]- CNN Style |
How will Amazon change DC? We went to Seattle to find out: ...decision to locate half its new HQ2 in Arlington, Va. - adding at least 25,000 high-paying jobs and more than $2 billion in investments -- will transform the look and feel of the region, according to 9 Seattle residents...Some of them warn the Amazon effect isn't always a good one.- WUSA 9 (Washington, DC) |
The city with no homeless on its streets: The number of people sleeping rough in the UK has multiplied since 2010. But in Finland's capital Helsinki rough sleeping has been almost eradicated thanks to a groundbreaking scheme: Since 2007, their government has built homeless policies on the foundations of the "Housing First" principle...it gives rough sleepers or people who become homeless a stable and permanent home...then provides them with the help and support they need...tackling homelessness and ending rough sleeping is not only a moral obligation but may also save money in the long-run.- BBC News |
Umberto Bacchi: Rough sleeping falls in England - but 'damning' rise in London: Almost 600 people died while homeless last year in England and Wales: Despite the 2% fall nationwide, charities pointed out that rough sleeping was still 165% higher than in 2010...and called for more government action to address the root causes...has experienced a shortage of social housing since the 1980s...Since then, years of underbuilding, rising rents and cuts to social housing benefits have exacerbated the problem.- Place / Thomson Reuters Foundation |
James Stevens Curl & Barnabas Calder: The Duel: Has modern architecture ruined Britain? Our two contributors go head-to-head on the brutality - or not - of brutalism: Curl/Yes: A series of totalitarian doctrinaires reduced the infinitely adaptable languages of real architecture to an impoverished vocabulary of monosyllabic grunts. Calder/No: Appreciating any style requires an open mind; any language sounds like “grunts” until you listen...Don’t surrender yourself to the unhealthy pleasures of “Make Architecture Great Again” rage.- Prospect magazine (UK) |
Nikos A. Salingaros: How Mathematics Will Save the Built World! Perhaps better put: beauty, through mathematics, can save the world: ...this comes from mathematics - supplemented by neuroscience, working with physics...and has nothing to do with “style"...Mathematical notions of “beauty” are favored by our sensory system...Today’s architects don’t apply mathematical rules for building beauty because there is no market for it...Nevertheless, positive trends...are coming from outside the mainstream...the work of some smaller firms is being influenced by emotions, empathy, and feelings...- Common Edge |
Robert Campbell, FAIA: Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center, Harvard University by Hopkins Architects: A university reimagines a prominent Brutalist building to create a public front door: ...a story about concrete and how we love it, hate it, and sometimes restore it...Or...about a university shaping architecture to push a social agenda...“Social engineering” has been a no-no term in architecture for decades. But the Smith has to be understood as the embodiment of such a concept...This is architecture in service to social goals. That’s something not so often seen today. -- Josep Lluis Sert; Bruner/Cott Architects [images]- Architectural Record |
Inga Saffron: A Brutalist style building designed to promote international understanding: For foreign students living in Philadelphia, International House was once one of the few places they could call home: Whatever their flaws - and there are plenty - Brutalist buildings really were part of an effort to change the world...treated the lower floors as public space to entice people into the building. -- Bower & Fradley (1968; later, BLT Architects) [images]- Philadelphia Inquirer |
William Morgan: Two New Downtown Hotels - Is This Providence’s Future? The Society of Architectural Historians will hold their 72nd annual international conference [here] in April....That the SAH has returned...is a tribute to the historical and architectural richness of Providence...Of the many buildings that will be highlighted, we can be certain that they will not include the two...spanking new hotels...characterless bits of suburban blandness...the uninspiring appearance of this pair...reminds us that creating a livable city requires more than real estate parametrics. -- Castelluci, Galli & Planka (1967); Vision 3 Architects; ZDS Architecture & Interior Design [images]- GoLocalProvidence (Rhode Island) |
Historic Preservation Commission gives Marcus Center for the Performing Arts temporary historic designation: ...in hopes of preserving, among other features, the grove of chestnut trees..."Dan Kiley was known for the keen architectonic sense he brought to many projects...matched by the special interest that Harry Weese took in the landscape"...a study report...recommends bestowing the designation on the property. -- Jennifer Current; Mark Debrauske; Jim Shields/HGA- OnMilwaukee.com |
8 Reasons We Should All Care More About Landscape Architecture: While landscape designers are often overlooked by the media, their work holds as much transformative power as that of architects...take inspiration from these eight...examples of natural design worth celebrating. -- Russell Page; Selldorf Architects; Olson Kundig Architects; Feldman Architecture; HMWhite; DLC Architects; Mikyoung Kim Design; Balmori Associates; Tomas Ghisellini Architects; Deca Architecture [images]- Architizer |
Ilias Papageorgiou steps away from SO-IL, starts own firm: ...after having been a partner at the New York–based firm for 11 years...Jing Liu and Florian Idenburg, SO-IL cofounders, will be staying at the firm...[He] is starting PILA, an Athens- and New York-based architecture firm.- The Architect's Newspaper |
Alan Karchmer to Give Entire Photography Collection to National Building Museum: The collection features photos of projects in the United States and abroad, and several will be on display in a yet-to-be-announced exhibition...an exploration into the inner workings of architectural photography. -- Sandra Benedum [images]- Architectural Record |
Will our future homes build themselves? At the touch of a button, these incredible homes of the future can self-deploy and build themselves in less than 10 minutes, transforming from a box into a building eight to ten times its original size. Ten Fold Engineering's David Martyn explains the surprisingly simple design concept that makes this possible. [video + other Homes of the Future videos]- BBC |
Duo Dickinson: Why “Zaha Hadid Activewear” Feels Off-Brand: Or is it the inevitable commercial afterlife of an artistic genius? ...“the ‘Zaha Line"...has nothing to do with who it’s inspired by...But those who value her aesthetic can now shroud themselves in some resonant reflection of her genius at the gym, on the tennis court, running a 5K, efforts that had no place in Hadid’s life. These things will be part of her legacy (assuming sales are brisk), for good or ill. I think it’s called irony. And marketing.- Common Edge |
Rosa Bertoli: Zaha Hadid Design teams up with Swiss brand Odlo to create sleek sportswear collection: Sportswear isn’t always that sexy, but a collaboration...has left us breathless...Sporting underwear has never been so fit.- Wallpaper* |
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