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Today’s News - Wednesday, February 6, 2019

● Buday explains why he "wrote a short story about shitty architects" and seeks female collaborators to expand the story: "The #MeToo movement is cooling - and that's a problem. Sexism grows unseen and unchecked in the dark - architecture's #MeToo moment seeing the light of day again shouldn't be left to fate."

● Geographer Dash Nelson explains that, rather than trying to change NIMBYs to YIMBYs, "the part of the NIMBY acronym that deserves the most scrutiny" is the "BY" (back yard) for its "geographic small-mindedness."

● Anderton talks to those involved in the 1.3-mile Destination Crenshaw, a new "public art spectacle" in L.A.:"The project lands at a time of great change for the area - and with it anxiety - could it be a Trojan horse for gentrification?"

● More details about - and images of - Destination Crenshaw - planners say that the "open-air museum will offset the effects of gentrification and revitalize the vibrant heart of black Los Angeles" - it "won't combat gentrification, but it will instill a deep sense of community pride."

● In Toronto, there's rising concern over plans to redevelop Zeidler's 1971 Ontario Place, with an online petition "calling to preserve it with much of its existing structures. The park is one of the most 'striking and culturally significant' works of modernist architecture in the city."

● O'Sullivan, on a brighter note, brings us news that the "famously stringent parks and gardens" of Paris "will finally let you have a little fun - games, picnics, and dogs are finally getting a warmer welcome" (and a "ban of mixing kids and dogs may end up being relaxed, once people see that allowing pooches into parks doesn't end in chaos").

● P+W's Kulig takes a deep dive into the six new stations along the $3.2-billion Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension to see whether the line is "delivering on its promise of dignified mobility for all - the successes and shortfalls of the project offer many lessons for designers and politicians alike."

● Wainwright gets a personal tour of "a surreal replica" of Palladio's Villa La Rotunda built atop a hill in Palestine - an "opulent wonder-world of excess - a world of peacocks and gazelles wandering between the Roman amphitheatre and Andalusian pools" filled with priceless treasures (ya gotta read/see this!).

● Thorpe cheers Foster's Norton Museum expansion in West Palm Beach: "Only 8% is new building - instead of a reinvention, the design enabled the museum to become a much better version of its original self" (lots of pix, too).

● "Rising architect" Farshid Moussavi is tapped to design the first U.S. cultural center for Ismaili Muslims in Houston (beating finalists including Chipperfield, Gang, and Koolhaas). "The building will occupy less space than the landscaping" by Nelson Byrd Woltz (alas, no images - yet).

● Arad and Walker return to Ground Zero to design a Memorial Glade "that will honor those affected by 9/11-related illnesses."

● The U.S. Congress might (finally!) do some good - it "may follow architects' lead in constructing bird-safe buildings" with the bipartisan Bird-Safe Buildings Act (should we hold our breath?!!?).

● Architectural historian Tolbert's "Queens Modern" project "documents the overlooked postwar buildings of Queens - 61% of all buildings constructed in New York City from 1930 to 1943 were in Queens," but have been largely ignored since.

● Dowdy considers Poland's architecture scene that "is evolving from brutalism to brand new - history and politics are played out in architecture - it's all there in the built environment. Many architects bemoan the lack of urban planning and zoning. But among the chaos are gems of good design in Warsaw and beyond."

● Kastner parses J.B. Jackson's 1976 essay "The Domestication of the Garage" that "displays his rare ability to combine deep erudition with eloquent and plainspoken analysis" (both are great essays!).

● The U.K's BDP acquires Toronto-based Quadrangle as "part of a strategy to grow its workload in North America" - the Toronto staff 200 "will continue to operate under the Quadrangle brand."

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Richard Buday: Man Seeking Woman: Why I Wrote a Short Story About Shitty Architects: As #MeToo controversies fall out of the news cycle, he issues a call for collaborators: The movement is cooling...and with it, public pressure to change. It’s back to business as usual...and that’s a problem. Sexism...grows unseen and unchecked in the dark. How to keep the heat on without a spotlight? How to change the parts of architecture culture at fault while leaving intact what isn’t? ...architects become who they are through osmosis, sometimes mimicking stereotypes of toxic male behavior...architecture’s #MeToo moment seeing the light of day again shouldn’t be left to fate. -- Archimage- Common Edge

Garrett Dash Nelson: How NIMBYs Made ‘Back Yard’ Mean ‘Entire Neighborhood’: What part of a city or community makes up somebody’s “back yard”? NIMBY’s think it’s the whole thing: ...the part of the NIMBY acronym that deserves the most scrutiny is the part which represents geographic small-mindedness: the “BY"...how do we know what part of a city makes up someone’s “back yard”? The trick is to figure out how to scale the geographic limits of representation and decision making...the problem is an urgent one.- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities)

DnA/Frances Anderton: Destination Crenshaw: 1.3 miles of "unapologetically black" art: ...artists, curators, architects and landscape designers are busy developing plans for a public art spectacle that will include a new public amphitheater with a raised overlook; pocket parks and parklets...and rotating works of public art by key African American artists...the project lands at a time of great change for the area - big investment - and with it anxiety - that with the train will come rising house prices and demographic change in the District...could Destination Crenshaw be a Trojan horse for gentrification? -- Anton Smith/Studio-MLA; Ron Finley; Zena Howard/Perkins+Will- KCRW

Destination Crenshaw art project aims to reclaim the neighborhood for black L.A.: ...a 1.3-mile open-air museum that planners said will offset the effects of gentrification and revitalize the vibrant heart of black Los Angeles...anchored by two large monuments and...more than 100 rotating and permanent art installations on sidewalks, business facades and public structures...won’t combat gentrification, but it will instill a deep sense of community pride. -- Zena Howar/Perkins+Will; Ron Finley; Anton Smith/Studio-MLA [images]- Los Angeles Times

Redevelopment plans raise concerns for Ontario Place supporters: ...government contemplates redevelopment of the park...to make the space that first opened May 1971 an impressive attraction...Jeff Balmer, a University of North Carolina architecture professor...has created an online petition...calling on the government to preserve [it] with much of its existing structures. The park is one of the most “striking and culturally significant” works of modernist architecture in the city. -- Eberhard Zeidler [images]- Canadian Architect

Feargus O'Sullivan: Paris Will Finally Let You Have a Little Fun in Public Parks: Bikes, games, picnics, and dogs are finally getting a warmer welcome in the French capital’s famously stringent parks and gardens: ...they’ve never been the most easy-going of public spaces...somewhat buttoned-up places...have loosened their rules...locals are now starting to enjoy novelties that are taken for granted in other cities...dogs will still be banned from parks that have children’s playgrounds...this ban of mixing kids and dogs...may end up being relaxed, once people see that allowing pooches into parks doesn’t end in chaos.- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities)

Paul Kulig/Perkins+Will: Riding the Rocket: ...a $3.2-billion infrastructure project, including six new stations...How is the line delivering on its promise of dignified mobility for all...these projects also attract political attention, adding layers of complexity to the design process. Toronto has responded to this challenge variously...standardized elements give way to stations that are each unique expressions of civic infrastructure, bringing a level of dignity to the daily pilgrimage of their users...the successes and shortfalls of the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension offer many lessons for designers and politicians alike. -- Grimshaw; Adamson Associates; Foster + Partners; Alsop (now aLL); IBI Group [images]- Canadian Architect

Oliver Wainwright: House of Palestine: the architectural wonder built by a West Bank oil tycoon: The richest man in the occupied territories has indulged his passion for Palladio - by creating a replica of his Villa La Rotunda and filling it with priceless treasures: Beit Falasteen...a surreal replica...transplanted to a hilltop above the city of Nablus...with a few “improvements” of his own...occupies a hallowed site of biblical legend...the real meaning of the house is found on the floor below...in a dusty series of rooms that have the forlorn air of an abandoned provincial museum, he has created a suite of educational displays. -- Munib al-Masri; Joseph Achkar; Michel Charriere [images]- Guardian (UK)

Harriet Thorpe: Foster + Partners’ Norton Museum expansion rediscovers its West Palm Beach identity: ...only 8% is new building. So what has [the] hard-working team...been up to for the past eight years? "Every space has been touched in some way modified"...instead of a reinvention, the design enabled the museum to become a much better version of its original self...It’s hard to miss the huge 65 ft banyan tree...vast new canopy curves in deference...In an age of an architecture and public that demand new thrills and the next big thing, this deference is perhaps the most daring statement of all. -- Marion Sims Wyeth/Wyeth and King (1940s); -- Michael Wurzel; Spencer de Grey [images]- Wallpaper*

Ismaili Muslims hire rising architect Farshid Moussavi to design first U.S. cultural center in Houston: ...to create an architectural landmark in the heart of the city...she was selected from a star-studded selection list of finalists that included David Chipperfield, Jeanne Gang and Rem Koolhaas...The Aga Khan Foundation purchased the [11-acre] property in 2006...The building will occupy less space than the landscaping...with outdoor spaces that connect visually to the adjacent Buffalo Bayou Park. -- Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects; DLR Group/Westlake Reed Leskosky- Houston Chronicle

New 9/11 Memorial is coming to the World Trade Center site: Michael Arad and Peter Walker designed a Memorial Glade...that will honor those affected by 9/11-related illnesses...will feature a pathway lined with six granite slabs pointing to the sky...the stone pieces have been specially crafted to look worn, but not beaten, and native to the surrounding landscape. [images]- The Architect's Newspaper

Congress may follow architects’ lead in constructing bird-safe buildings: ...studies show that hundreds of millions of migratory birds die each year from fatal window strikes...This week Representatives...reintroduced a bipartisan bill...The Bird-Safe Buildings Act would require all public buildings under construction, as well as those acquired or altered by the General Services Administration, to feature bird-safe building materials and designs when at all possible.- The Architect's Newspaper

This Architecture Historian Wants You to Respect Queens: It’s time to look beyond Manhattan, according to Frampton Tolbert. His new project documents the overlooked postwar buildings of Queens: "Queens Modern"... 61% of all buildings constructed in New York City from 1930 to 1943 were in Queens...In many cases, award-winning buildings from those years had been largely ignored since. “I wondered, why are these buildings here? No one’s talking about them." -- Fellheimer and Wagner; Ulrich Franzen; Brodsky Hopf and Adler; Brodsky Hopf and Adler [images]- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities)

Clare Dowdy: Poland’s architecture scene is evolving from brutalism to brand new: ...history and politics are played out in architecture...it’s all there in the built environment...Warsaw was almost entirely razed during the Second World War, so it’s the brutalist architecture that attracts visitors...While the city is being developed, many architects bemoan the lack of urban planning and zoning. But among the chaos are gems of good design in the capital and beyond... -- Grzegorz Mika; BBGK; Daniel Libeskind.; Foster + Partners/HRA [images]- Wallpaper*

Jeffrey Kastner/Future Archive: The Domestication of the Garage: J.B. Jackson’s 1976 essay on the evolution of the American garage displays his rare ability to combine deep erudition with eloquent and plainspoken analysis: He worked to crack open conventional approaches to urbanism, vernacular architecture, historic preservation, and cultural geography...."The garage as a family center...is a family invention, not the invention of designers...an authentic example of what vernacular means"- Places Journal

BDP acquires Canadian practice: The UK’s second biggest architecture firm has bought Toronto-based practice Quadrangle: ...part of a strategy to grow its workload in North America...over 200 architects, interior designers, technologists and support staff will continue to operate under the Quadrangle brand and under the direction of Quadrangle’s principals.- The Architects' Journal (UK)

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