Today’s News - Thursday, June 13, 2019
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newsletter days. We'll be back Tuesday, June 18.
● Kamin x 2: He cheers a new oval apartment tower: "Something about the oval seems alien to Midwestern pragmatism. So we box ourselves in. Now, though, there's an eye-catching ellipse-shaped high-rise in a prominent place."
● He explains why Tigerman's "Rolls-Royce of parking garages" ("a dash of wit in a sober city") and other buildings, "all less than 50 years old, occupy a netherworld: They're too old to be young and too young to be old. No longer fashionable but not yet venerated. The recent past needs to be on our radar screen - before it disappears."
● Hilburg reports that Arquitectonica's 1982 Babylon apartment block in Miami, and its "distinctive stepped, fire-truck-red façade," is about to bite the dust: "Fears over the now-abandoned building's demolition have swirled for years, but last January, the ziggurat-inspired complex" lost its historic designation.
● On a brighter note, Sasaki has been tapped to remake Pei's Boston City Hall Plaza "into a place people might actually want to be. The city is finally heeding 50 years of recommendations from countless undergrad architecture theses: fix the bricked-up prairie."
● King x 2: He takes a stroll with Dan Parolek looking for "the signals of discreet density" (the "missing middle") - his "fresh way to fit modest, relatively affordable new homes into established communities without stirring up NIMBY opposition is picking up steam."
● He parses the new plan unveiled for San Francisco's waterfront: "Where the vision a generation ago was how to bring a moribund but sumptuous shoreline to life, the task ahead includes responding to high public expectations and the likelihood of sea level rise" (the cost is "daunting").
● Holder reports that "the biggest shared-living-space-cum-mega-dorm-for-emerging-adults ever conceived" (the "Titanic of co-living" an 800-unit "dorm for adults") is coming to San Jose - "maybe it's cynical to conclude that this whole concept is just the most efficient way to warehouse tech workers when they're not coding. But it could also be better than the alternative: isolation and loneliness" (group activities include "weekend outings" and "spill-your-guts bonding sessions").
● It's an Uber kind of day: Ravenscroft offers video fly-throughs of 8 proposals for Uber Air Skyports envisioned for Dallas, Los Angeles, and Melbourne, Australia.
● A closer look at the proposals by 5 Dallas firms for Uber Elevate's skyports.
● Foster + Partners is on the Uber track with a design for a Related Santa Clara "skyport" - the 240-acre development "was 'a logical choice' for Uber Elevate."
● Wachs weighs in on Harvard GSD's launch of the African American Design Nexus platform that "brings together the work of black architects and landscape architects from the past and present to explore their practices and provoke change within design institutions. That change is sorely needed."
● Russell cheers Lesley Lokko being named dean at CCNY's Spitzer School of Architecture, and June Williamson being elected chair of the department: "New leadership cannot come too soon for a school plagued by leadership gaps and budget cuts" (and more women in the upper echelons of education!).
● A good reason to head to the City by the Bay next week: 9-day San Francisco Design Week, themed "CommUNITY": "Here are all the can't-miss events" that "reflect the diversity of design disciplines in the area."
● ICYMI: ANN feature: Bouras talks to Betsky re: experiment and experience at Taliesin - and beyond: Architecture, he says, is everything that is about building or buildings: how we design, represent, and discuss them, what they mean, and how they act in our society.
Weekend diversions:
● Wainwright is wow'd by the Dulwich Pavilion: "Sitting on chubby red legs, the dizzying Colour Palace is mesmerizing," and "shows the joyful power of letting rip" with color; it will give the Serpentine's "moody grey slate canopy" by Ishigami "stiff competition this summer."
● Golenda's Q&A with Aric Chen, the new curatorial director of Design Miami/Basel, re: his "plans to not only to change the operations but also the content of the fair itself - and highlights from this year's gallery program" (up until Sunday).
● The traveling "Now What?! Advocacy, Activism & Alliances in American Architecture since 1968" lands in Buffalo (with link to the show's digital archive).
Page-turners:
● Crosbie's great Q&A with Thomas Fisher re: his new book, "The Architecture of Ethics" that "digs into this topic in great depth and with engaging insight": "The environmental and social justice movements have infused architectural design with ethical considerations. Sometimes, you just have to say no."
● WORKac's Wood cheers Kolson Hurley's "Radical Suburbs: Experimental Living on the Fringes of the American City": "When a book contains a chapter called 'The Anarchists Who Took the Commuter Train,' you know it is going to be an interesting read - it does not disappoint. All of the stories are masterfully told."
● Lindgren considers Goldberger's "Ballpark: Baseball in the American City": "His analyses are done with clarity and wit. He has philosophical, even poetic, criteria for what makes a good shrine to the horsehide."
● An excerpt from historian Giles Tillotson's "Delhi Darshan: The History and Monuments of India's Capital" - and a Q&A with the author.
● Welton dives into Annie Kelly and Tim Street-Porter's "Splash: The Art of the Swimming Pool" - a book "that celebrates the style, design, and beauty that these watery oases bring to life."
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Blair Kamin: A new oval apartment tower breaks out of the box and brightens downtown’s western edge: Something about the oval seems alien to Midwestern pragmatism. So we box ourselves in...Now, though, there’s an eye-catching ellipse-shaped high-rise in a prominent place...It rises to the opportunity presented by its showcase site. Called 727 West Madison...the 45-story apartment tower...[is] more than just big. It stands out not only with its oval shape but also with its striking thinness and a patterned glass exterior that appears to spiral up the building, accentuating its sense of motion...the oval’s economic advantages. It uses 8% less exterior wall than a conventional rectangle. -- FitzGerald Associates Architects; Morgante Wilson Architects- Chicago Tribune |
Blair Kamin: The Rolls-Royce of parking garages and other buildings of the recent past need protection: Stanley Tigerman's death...should serve as a wake-up call: Buildings of the recent past...are at risk of being demolished or altered beyond recognition...These buildings, all less than 50 years old, occupy a netherworld that long has been the bane of much preservationworthy architecture: They’re too old to be young and too young to be old. No longer fashionable but not yet venerated, they are often deemed expendable...The recent past needs to be on our radar screen - before it disappears. -- Helmut Jahn; Philip Johnson; Thomas Beeby- Chicago Tribune |
Jonathan Hilburg: Arquitectonica’s second finished building is being torn down: ...the multifamily Babylon apartment block in Miami, is set to be demolished before July. Fears over the now-abandoned building’s demolition have swirled for years, but last January, the ziggurat-inspired complex had its historic designation overturned...owner...wants to replace the 37-year-old postmodern Babylon...with a 24-story condo tower, a far cry from the existing five-story structure...its distinctive stepped, fire-truck-red facade made an immediate splash when it was completed in 1982...- The Architect's Newspaper |
Sasaki to remake Boston City Hall Plaza into a place people might actually want to be: The [city] is finally heeding 50 years of recommendations from countless undergrad architecture theses: fix the bricked-up prairie...would throw $70 million...over the coming years to spruce up the outdoor space...to create a “front yard” for public gatherings that scales down the 305,000-square-foot terraces into seven softer, more manageable mini-landscapes... -- I.M. Pei & Associates; Kallmann, McKinnell and Knowles (1969)- The Architect's Newspaper |
John King: Avoiding extremes, Berkeley architect extols “missing middle” housing: Dan Parolek looks for side doors with their own address...He coined “missing middle” in 2011 as a way to describe the types of structures that can enlarge the range of housing options without disrupting a neighborhood’s character...[his] effort to broaden the mix...is picking up steam...a fresh way to fit modest, relatively affordable new homes into established communities...to add density to existing communities without stirring up NIMBY opposition....[he] is happy to walk older streets with an eye for the signals of discreet density... -- Opticos Design; Urban Land Institute/ULI- San Francisco Chronicle |
John King: Plan unveiled for San Francisco’s waterfront - includes Ferry Building ‘piazza’: Where the vision a generation ago was how to bring a moribund but sumptuous shoreline to life, the task ahead includes responding to high public expectations and the likelihood of sea level rise...The plan accentuates the positive...the costs involved in adding shoreline parks or restoring historic piers is daunting.- San Francisco Chronicle |
Sarah Holder: The Largest Co-Living Building in the World Is Coming to San Jose: The startup Starcity plans to build an 800-unit, 18-story “dorm for adults” to help affordably house Silicon Valley’s booming workforce: This Titanic of co-living...the biggest shared-living-space-cum-mega-dorm-for-emerging-adults ever conceived...roots, however, lie someplace older and grubbier: the low-budget single room occupancy hotels, or SROs, of the early 20th century...rezoning speaks to how radical these spaces are, but also how much stake the city is putting in this model’s potential for packing in more residents, for less...a lot could still happen to derail the project...maybe it’s cynical to conclude that this whole concept is just the most efficient way to warehouse tech workers when they’re not coding. But it could also be better than the alternative: isolation and loneliness.- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Tom Ravenscroft: SHoP Architects and Gensler reveal designs for Uber Air Skyports: ...among eight practices that have created concept designs...hubs for both ground-based and drone taxi fleets...envisioned for Dallas, Los Angeles and Melbourne...Video flythroughs of all eight Uber proposals... -- Pickard Chilton/Arup; The Beck Group; Boka Powell; Corgan; Humphreys & Partners Architects; Mithun- Dezeen |
5 Dallas Architecture Firms Unveil Futuristic Uber Skyport Designs: Dallas is one of three cities that will be test markets for the air taxi program planned by Uber Elevate to begin in 2023. -- Beck Group, BOKA Powell, Corgan, Gensler, Humphreys & Partners- Dallas Innovates |
Uber’s flying vehicles set to land at Santa Clara’s massive ‘Related’ development: ...Related Santa Clara...is set to be one of the first in the Bay Area to come with a new flying rideshare “skyport”...240-acre development was “a logical choice” for Uber Elevate. -- Foster + Partners- San José Spotlight (California) |
Audrey Wachs: Harvard's GSD launches platform to feature work of black designers: ...Graduate School of Design...new platform to counteract the pervasive and enduring impact of racism that disproportionately affects black designers. The African American Design Nexus brings together the work of black architects and landscape architects from the past and present...to explore their practices and provoke change within design institutions. That change is sorely needed...grew from the leadership of Dana McKinney, president of the GSD’s African American Student Union... -- Walter Hood/Hood Design Studio; Mabel O. Wilson/Studio And; Felecia Davis/FAD Studio; Paul Revere Williams- The Architect's Newspaper |
James S. Russell: Lesley Lokko, Global Architect and Novelist, Appointed Architecture Dean at City College of New York [Spitzer School of Architecture]: She will leave the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Johannesburg, which she established in 2015...June Williamson...has just been elected chair of the department...New leadership cannot come too soon for a school plagued by leadership gaps and budget cuts.- Architectural Record |
San Francisco Design Week Is Coming: Here Are All the Can't-Miss Events: The nine-day design summit announced its programming schedule, and it’s full of design studio tours and interesting talks: ...this year’s theme: CommUNITY. The program will continue to reflect the diversity of design disciplines in the area... Pier 27 Hub, June 20 - 28- Architectural Digest |
Oliver Wainwright: A zinging rainbow stood on drainage pipes: inside the Dulwich Pavilion: Sitting on chubby red legs...dizzying Colour Palace inspired by swirling fabric markets in Lagos: ...spectacular temple of colour for the London festival of architecture...the effect is mesmerising...Architects are usually too reticent to use colour, but this pulsating palace shows the joyful power of letting rip...the perfect foil to John Soane’s sober gallery building...[it] will certainly give the Serpentine Pavilion - set to be a moody grey slate canopy by...Junya Ishigami - stiff competition this summer. thru September 22 -- Yinka Ilori; Pricegore; IF_DO- Guardian (UK) |
Gabrielle Golenda: Basel Beach: The newly appointed Curatorial Director [of Design Miami/Basel], Aric Chen, has plans to not only to change the operations but also the content of the fair itself...“Design at Large" surveys topics related to environmental sustainability, resources and waste, and potential futures. Q&A re: his new role, vision for the fair, and highlights from this year’s gallery program. June 11-16- AN Interior (The Architect’s Newspaper) |
National exhibition on activist history in architecture makes stop in Buffalo: ...will travel across the country over the next two years to reveal the little-known history of architects as activists for social justice...“Now What?! Advocacy, Activism & Alliances in American Architecture since 1968” documents the often-overlooked history of the architecture and design community as part of larger social and political movements over the last 50 years...The exhibition’s digital archive is available... University at Buffalo Hayes Hall Atrium Gallery, thru August 7 -- ArchiteXX- UBNow (University at Buffalo.) |
Michael J. Crosbie: The Ethics of Architecture and Other Contradictions: A talk with educator and author Thomas Fisher about his new book, "The Architecture of Ethics": ...digs into this topic in great depth and with engaging insight...Q&A re: his book and the ethical dimension of designing and building in the context of contemporary practice. "Ethics and aesthetics haven’t been reunited, but the environmental and social justice movements have infused architectural design with ethical considerations...Sometimes, you just have to say no."- Common Edge |
Dan Wood: Amanda Kolson Hurley dives into radical histories of U.S. suburbs: When a book about suburbia contains a chapter called “The Anarchists Who Took the Commuter Train,” you know it is going to be an interesting read. That book is..."Radical Suburbs: Experimental Living on the Fringes of the American City," and it does not disappoint...well-researched and informative - yet fast-paced...introduces us to a tapestry of suburban social experimentation...All of the stories...are masterfully told...the role of design...would make for an interesting next volume. -- WORKac- The Architect's Newspaper |
Michael Lindgren: The hits and the misses: “Ballpark: Baseball in the American City” is both a beautifully illustrated history of North American baseball stadiums and a defense of the simple but enduring idea of a ballpark that fits neatly into the hum and hive of a grid of city streets, accessible primarily by public transit...Paul Goldberger has an easy way with his descriptions, and his analyses...are done with clarity and wit. The book is studded with insightful observations...[He] has philosophical, even poetic, criteria for what makes a good shrine to the horsehide...More important...is the elegant way his narrative echoes the changing tides of the American city.- Cape Cod Times |
Architect and the city: Historian Giles Tillotson traces Delhi’s history in his new book through its architecture. Edited excerpts from "Delhi Darshan: The History and Monuments of India's Capital" and an interview with Antara Raghavan.- India Today |
J. Michael Welton: ''Splash" Is Summer's Perfect Opening Act: Annie Kelly and Tim Street-Porter have a new book called “Splash: The Art of the Swimming Pool” - one that celebrates the style, design and beauty that these watery oases bring to life.- Architects and Artisans |
ANN feature: Effie Bouras: Aaron Betsky: Experiment and Experience at Taliesin - and Beyond: Architecture, according to Betsky, is everything that is about building or buildings: how we design, represent, and discuss them, what they mean, and how they act in our society.- ArchNewsNow.com |
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