Today’s News - Thursday, February 7, 2019

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days - we'll be back Tuesday, February 12.

●  Holden & Holt call for green buildings to "do more to fix our climate emergency. We know it can be done, but it needs policy, regulation and incentives in order for it to become business as usual. When there are no consequences for failure, we set ourselves up for mediocrity, not progress."

●  Sisson parses Chicago's $6 billion plan for Lincoln Yards, and raises fundamental questions (for other cities, too), such as: "Can we create working neighborhoods out of whole cloth; should the public help fund their construction"; and can they benefit the whole city?

●  Fixsen's Q&A with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel re: "the genesis and impact of the Chicago Architecture Biennial and his wider cultural initiatives": "It's about bringing architects back and doing great civic work" (no mention of Lincoln Yards).

●  Jensen & Thrall parse their study of a Texas economic development program that "shows why New Yorkers should be skeptical" of the Amazon HQ2 deal - they "have good reason to worry. Taxpayers in any American city considering luring a company with cash should take heed."

●  Kyoto's pre-2020 Summer Olympics building boom is keeping archaeologists busy: "Japanese law doesn't require developers to permit archaeological excavations before construction, but many do," though "only 1% of the relics uncovered are being preserved."

●  Betsky, after a preview of Exhibit Columbus and Miller Prize winners, ponders: "When did the fabricators take over the avant-garde? Don't get me wrong, I am fascinated by some of the strange forms these architects have produced, but I enjoy weirdness even more when it has some justification."

●  Stephens cheers Gensler and Jungles' Ford Foundation makeover: "For those concerned that dragging this landmark into the 21st century would ruin it - the building has kept its elegance and stateliness. The sensitive renovation has left the ineffable aura intact."

●  Morgan reflects on the legacy of Saarinen's John Deere HQ in Moline, Illinois, winner of the 1993 AIA Twenty-Five Year Award: It "embodies the idea that Modernism doesn't have to be sparse and plain. Echoes of the Smithsons' 'Mies made gutsy' ethos seems entirely appropriate."

●  Grimley & McLean celebrate Boston City Hall's 50th anniversary with a limited edition bronze lapel pin, a reproduction of the one "given to attendees of the building's opening ceremony in 1969 - they are a tiny but mighty tribute to one of the city's most controversial buildings" - and a portion of sales goes to docomomo US.

Deadlines (most with cash prizes!):

●  Call for entries: Big Ideas for Small Lots NYC Housing Design Competition (international): a two-stage competition for small-scale, urban infill housing on underutilized City-owned land.

●  Call for entries (registration deadline extended - but looms!): 'Missing Middle' Edmonton Infill Design Competition (international): proposals for a multi-unit, medium-density, or 'missing middle', housing development on 5 City of Edmonton lots.

●  Call for entries: Hustle Hub - Youth Housing Design Competition '19 (international): a replicable, affordable co-living housing concept for Moscow.

●  Call for entries (deadline looms): Serpentine Augmented Architecture (international): propose imaginary city spaces and speculations on the built environment to be experienced in augmented reality (AR) at the Serpentine Galleries this summer (Google Arts & Culture and Adjaye involved).

●  Call for entries (deadline extended - but looms!): Good Design Is Good Business 2019 awards (international).

●  Call for entries (deadline extended - but looms!): Architectural Record Design Vanguard 2019 (international - no fee!).

Weekend diversions:

●  Wainwright finds that "David Adjaye: Making Memory" at London's Design Museum shows "the architect has worked on memorials of all kinds - with mixed results. It is frustrating, because an exhibition of contemporary monument and memorial design from around the world would be a fascinating thing. Limiting the scope to the work of one architect makes it less so."

●  Foges, on the other hand, says the Adjaye show "questions the use of architectural objects to shape or articulate collective memory - Adjaye couches his response as a 'provocation' to visitors. His analyses are not offered as a manifesto, but as an invitation to reflect."

●  Mason, likewise, says the "exciting" Adjaye exhibition "is a must-visit. What makes it so special is that it reveals his distinctive talents in forsaking the very notion of one-dimensional steel- and glass-clad towers. In eschewing static structures frozen in time, he serves up complex, dynamic projects."

●  Adams cheers the CCA's "Architecture Itself and Other Postmodernist Myths" that "explores how postmodern architecture was deeply connected to social issues and the day-to-day concerns of its creators - there's a memory trigger from 1965-1990 around every corner," with each gallery "illustrating that postmodernism is not what you thought."

●  O'Neill cheers Harvard's "The Bauhaus and Harvard" that offers more than just iconic objects. It tells the tale of the Bauhaus's "untold Impact on everyday design in America - a distinctive, lesser-known perspective," including highlighting its "gender inclusivity, in a time when such things weren't exactly de rigueur."

●  In Beirut, "Niemeyer in Lebanon: Concept and Development of the Tripoli International Fair Project" hopes to "draw the public attention to the building and the need for maintenance and public use of the space."

●  At his year's "Warming Huts" in Winnipeg, 7 "engaging new installations hit the ice" (until the end of the skating season).

●  Desert X, the art and architecture-focused biennial in Coachella Valley, east of Los Angeles, "will highlight a who's-who of rising international creatives" (and a podcast by Anderton & Artsy).

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To subscribe to the free daily newsletter click here Meg Holden & Rebecca Holt: Green buildings must do more to fix our climate emergency: After more than three decades...we’ve still failed to change the way we design and construct buildings so that the built environment stops being a dominant contributor to runaway climate change...We know it can be done, but it needs policy, regulation and incentives in order for it to become business as usual...When there are no consequences for failure, we set ourselves up for mediocrity, not progress. -- Perkins+Will- The Conversation Patrick Sisson: Can megadevelopments serve the whole city? Chicago’s Lincoln Yards, a $6 billion plan to revitalize an old industrial district, raises question about who benefits from such big projects: The proposal, and requests for public funding, raise fundamental questions...which could be applied to any U.S. city contemplating large-scale re-development. Can we create working neighborhoods out of whole cloth? Should the public help fund their construction? How the city funds these types of developments...and how Chicago and other cities decide to develop their economies, hits at the intersection of inequality and opportunity that is often so stubbornly entrenched. -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); James Corner Field Operations- Curbed Anna Fixsen: Rahm Emanuel’s Plan for Building a Better Chicago: ...the mayor is focused on building sustainable design communities in the city: Q&A re: the genesis and impact of the Chicago Architecture Biennial [and] his wider cultural initiatives..."It’s about bringing architects back and doing great civic work...the architecture community as a whole is busy, but they’re really hungry for this because a civic project has some opportunity." -- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); John Ronan; Perkins+Will; Carol Ross Barney- Architectural Digest Nathan Jensen & Calvin Thrall: Amazon HQ2: Texas experience shows why New Yorkers should be skeptical: New Yorkers are questioning the wisdom of giving Amazon billions in tax breaks on the promise of job creation. A study of a Texas economic development program suggests they have good reason to worry: Taxpayers in any American city considering luring a company with cash should take heed.- The Conversation Ahead Of 2020 Summer Olympics, A Building Boom In Kyoto Is Yielding Ancient Artifacts: ...archaeologists have their hands full as a pre-Olympic building boom has helped reveal centuries-old artifacts...Japanese law doesn't require developers to permit archaeological excavations before construction, but many do...some of the city's majestic temples and traditional wooden machiya town houses are coming down, and hotels and office buildings are springing up...only 1% of the relics uncovered ...are being preserved.- NPR / National Public Radio Aaron Betsky: Robotic Innovation: Nowadays, architects seem to think that only structure and material research are hip and cool: When did the fabricators take over the avant-garde? I had not realized how far the fabricators had gotten in taking over what I always thought was the fun part of architecture until I attended a symposium in Columbus, Indiana...The only Miller Prize-winning firm to escape this formal flailing around was MASS Design Group...Don’t get me wrong, I am fascinated by some of the strange forms these architects have produced, but I enjoy weirdness even more when it has some justification. -- Exhibit Columbus; J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize [images]- Architect Magazine Suzanne Stephens: Renovated Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice by Gensler: ...the building retains its serene identity and seems more translucent and transparent, and less forbidding, than it used to be...for those concerned that dragging this landmark into the 21st century would ruin it...[it] has kept its elegance and stateliness. The sensitive renovation has left the ineffable aura intact. -- Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates; Dan Kiley (1967); Raymond Jungles/Jungles Studio; SiteWorks [images, videos]- Architectural Record William Morgan: Deere & Company Administrative Center Exemplifies "A Quiet Revolution": Eero Saarinen’s modernist headquarters for renowned tractor manufacturer John Deere won AIA’s Twenty-Five Year Award in 1993: ...Administrative Center in Moline, Illinois, embodies the idea that Modernism doesn’t have to be sparse and plain...imparts a monumentality not seen since Beaux-Arts classicism from the turn of the 20th century...Echoes of the Smithsons’ “Mies made gutsy” ethos seems entirely appropriate. -- Sasaki, Walker and Associates- AIArchitect / American Institute of Architects Celebrate Boston City Hall’s 50th Anniversary with This Limited Edition Bronze Lapel Pin: It’s a reproduction of a pin given to attendees of the building’s opening ceremony in 1969: Created by architect Chris Grimley and designer Shannon McLean, the pins are a tiny but mighty tribute to one of the city’s most controversial buildings...Each pin comes with a [card] signed by Michael McKinnell, one of City Hall’s architects...A portion of the pins’ sales will go toward docomomo US. -- Kallmann McKinnell & Wood; OverUnder; pinkcomma gallery,- Boston Magazine Call for entries: Big Ideas for Small Lots NYC Housing Design Competition (international): a two-stage design competition for small-scale, urban infill housing...to address the challenges associated with the design and construction of affordable housing on underutilized City-owned land; cash prizes; deadline: March 24- NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) / American Institute of Architects New York (AIANY) Call for entries: 'Missing Middle' Edmonton Infill Design Competition (international): proposals for a multi-unit, medium-density, or 'missing middle', housing development on 5 City of Edmonton lots; registration deadline (extended!): February 22 (submissions due March 1)- City of Edmonton / Alberta Association of Architects (AAA) (Canada) Call for entries: Hustle Hub - Youth Housing Design Competition ’19 (international): design build a replicable, affordable co-living housing concept for 1. Young 2. Migrant/Local 3. Working population of 20-35 years of age in Moscow; open to students and professionals; cash prizes; earlybird registration (save money!): March 24; standard & late registrations: May 8 & June 22 (submissions due July 2)- UNI / UNIEGIS NETWORK Call for entries: Serpentine Augmented Architecture: A global open-call for new forms of architecture in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture and David Adjaye: propose imaginary city spaces and speculations on the built environment to be developed and experienced in augmented reality (AR) on site at the Serpentine Galleries in Summer 2019; cash prize; deadline: February 25- Serpentine Galleries (UK) Call for entries (deadline extended!): Good Design Is Good Business 2019 awards (international): honors the architects and clients who best utilize design to achieve such strategic objectives; deadline: February 15- Architectural Record Call for entries (deadline extended!): Architectural Record Design Vanguard 2019 (international); no fee; deadline: February 15- Architectural Record Oliver Wainwright: "David Adjaye: Making Memory" - planks for the memories: From Martin Luther King to extinct species, the architect has worked on memorials of all kinds - with mixed results, as this exhibition shows: Although unbuilt, the King memorial is by far the most powerful. It does the most with the least...It is frustrating, because an exhibition of contemporary monument and memorial design from around the world would be a fascinating thing. Limiting the scope to the work of one architect makes it less so. Design Museum, London, thru May 5 [images]- Guardian (UK) Chris Foges: "David Adjaye: Making Memory" Explores Monuments and Memorials: The architect’s second major exhibition at London’s Design Museum questions the use of architectural objects to shape or articulate collective memory: Deyan Sudjic describes staging the exhibition as an invitation to the architect to “think in public,” and Adjaye couches his response as a “provocation” to visitors. His analyses are not offered as a manifesto, but as an invitation to reflect. thru May 5 [images]- Architectural Record Brook Mason: A New London Design Exhibit Celebrates David Adjaye: This exciting exhibition is a must-visit for its ability to encapsulate the creative vision of the talented British-Ghanaian architect: What makes “David Adjaye: Making Memory" so special is that it reveals his distinctive talents in forsaking the very notion of one-dimensional steel- and glass-clad towers. In eschewing static structures frozen in time, he serves up complex, dynamic projects... London Design Museum, thru May 5- Architectural Digest Annmarie Adams: Debunking Postmodernism’s Myths: The CCA's "Architecture Itself and Other Postmodernist Myths" explores how postmodern architecture was deeply connected to social issues and the day-to-day concerns of its creators: ...there’s a memory trigger from 1965-1990 around every corner...this show is big and it includes some big objects...Each gallery has an innovative theme, illustrating that postmodernism is not what you thought. Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, thru April 7 -- Michael Graves; Peter Eisenman; Bertrand Goldberg; Madelon Vriesendorp; Frank Gehry; Sylvia Lavin; Robert Venturi; Denise Scott Brown; James Wines/SITE; Charles Moore; James Stirling; etc. [images]- Canadian Architect Meaghan O'Neill: The Bauhaus’s Untold Impact on Everyday Design in America: At Harvard, a distinctive, lesser-known perspective on the style’s centennial: ...nearly 200 works by 74 artists..."The Bauhaus and Harvard." Almost all come from Harvard's Busch-Reisinger Museum, which houses the largest collection of Bauhaus artifacts outside of Germany...a comprehensive archive of the museums’ 32,000 Bauhaus-related objects can be browsed online...a subtheme...strives to highlight the gender inclusivity that the Bauhaus practiced, in a time when such things weren't exactly de rigueur. thru July 28 [images]- Architectural Digest Lebanon to hold exhibition about Oscar Niemeyer's work: Tripoli International Fair complex...[is] the theme...the goal is to draw the public attention to the building and the need for maintenance and public use of the space. "Niemeyer in Lebanon: Concept and Development of the Tripoli International Fair Project" - Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Center and the Embassy of Brazil, Beirut, thru February 28 -- Wassim Naghi Architects; Niemeyer Heritage Foundation Tripoli- MENAFN / Middle East North Africa Financial Network Warming Huts installations return to Winnipeg this week: Started in 2009, Warming Huts: An Art + Architecture Competition on Ice has been melding world-class design and art with Winnipeg’s famous winters. This year, seven new installations hit the ice. [until the end of the skating season) -- Terje Isunget (Norway); Sputnik Architecture/University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture; NAICE Architecture (Berlin); Jennie O’Keefe + Chris Pancoe; Haemee Han + Jaeyual Lee/JAEMEE Studio (Jersey City, New Jersey); Winnipeg Art Gallery x Michael Maltzan Architecture (Los Angeles) [images]- Canadian Architect Desert X to bring art, a symposium, and a podcast to California’s Coachella Valley: ...art and architecture-focused biennial...east of Los Angeles...festival will highlight a who’s-who of rising international creatives...A podcast hosted by [KCRW's] Frances Anderton is set to “explore the environmental, ecological, and social themes in the 2019 Desert X exhibition"...developed in collaboration with Avishay Artsy...- The Architect's Newspaper

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