Today’s News - Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Disturbing/bad/odd kind of news day:
● Harding is more than concerned about "Sydney's public urbanity disappearing behind aggressive, private individualism. There is little use in having planning protocols if you are just going to use them to let the foxes plan the hen house" ("the collective force of individual architectural acts" has a part to play).
● London (finally) issues "tougher guidelines" for skyscrapers "over wind tunnel fears - a first for the U.K. in prioritizing cyclists and pedestrians - towers near the Thames, or near schools, parks or hospitals, will require additional checks."
● Campbell-Dollaghan parses the Architecture Lobby and AIA's approach to architects working on border facilities: "The design community's response to mass detention has varied wildly. Not all architects agree that boycotting work at the border is the ethical way forward."
● Newark has a "lead contamination crisis" that "could be worse than Flint's - the city began offering free bottled water after the EPA found that even filters 'may not be reliably effective' at removing lead from homes" (Only now - after two years of testing?!!?).
● A lawsuit against Paris officials is filed by environmental associations, labor unions, and others for failing to quickly contain the lead contamination resulting from the Notre Dame fire - the "fire melted some 440 tons of lead contained in the roof and spire."
● The International Council of Museums proposes "a new definition of museums that includes language about 'social justice, global equality, and planetary wellbeing.' Critics denounced it as an 'ideological' manifesto" - and "omits specific mention of the museum as an educational space."
On a brighter note:
● Davidson's "inner 5-year-old" finds joy in Holl's new, "subtle" complex that "humanizes" the Kennedy Center: Reach is "more fluid, usable, and versatile than we had any right to expect - it's an example of how long-simmering architecture can seem suddenly urgent when, at last, it's done," and "evokes a time of aspirational optimism."
● A suburb on Australia's Phillip Island "was wiped off the map" to save tiny penguins - a rare example of "of unusual government foresight," and now, TERROIR's new Penguin Parade Visitor Centre is "a gleaming symbol of the success of the restoration efforts."
● Quinn Evans Architects wins the competition to design the Center for Architecture and Design, in the base of a Mies building, that will serve as AIA Baltimore and the Baltimore Architecture Foundation's new HQ, with "collaborative administrative and program space for allied" organizations, including NOMA, ULI, ASLA, and APA.
● Walsh takes a deep dive into why "we need more wheelchair users to become architects" - despite some first steps, "systemic reform is needed to address their continued invisibility and under-representation."
● ASLA publishes a guide to universal design that "highlights innovative landscape designs that make outdoor spaces accessible to all" with "100s of freely-available case studies, research studies, articles, and resources" - as "a living resource," you're invited to submit your own to be included.
● Eyefuls of the 52 projects shortlisted in the 2019 Australian Urban Design Awards.
● Schwab x 2: "Behold" Foster + Partners' Virgin Galactic's spaceport and its "gorgeous lounge full of natural materials and not a piece of technology in sight" (except for "an interactive floor with graphics of constellations that shift when you step on it for ultra-wealthy space tourists").
● She parses 6 of the "wackiest" and "wild concepts" from eVolo's 2019 Skyscraper Competition that "imagine skyscrapers as landfills, forests, data storage towers, and even permanent refugee camps."
● Ten of the most unconventional award-winning Architecture Designs from A' Design Award 2019 + Call for entries: A' Design Awards 2020.
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Laura Harding: Protocol failure: Sydney’s public urbanity is disappearing behind aggressive, private individualism: ...the rules and regulations that govern the development of Sydney have elevated private interests and subjugated the public, putting the city at risk of trading its public landmarks for monuments to gambling and real estate: There is little use in having planning protocols if you are just going to use them to let the foxes plan the hen house...protocols are all in place, and flawless, on paper. But off paper, reality bites...We need to more actively understand the culture of our cities as being framed by the collective force of individual architectural acts. -- Hill Thalis Architecture- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
City of London tightens rules on skyscrapers over wind tunnel fears: Developers will have to modify designs deemed likely to affect cyclists and pedestrians: ... using detailed scale models in wind tunnels and computer simulations...move was a first for the UK in prioritising cyclists and pedestrians...tougher guidelines will require assessment of wind impacts at the very beginning of design development...Exposed spots near the Thames, or near schools, parks or hospitals, will require additional checks.- Guardian (UK) |
Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan: Design is complicit in the border crisis. Some architects are speaking out: Border security is big business, but a group of architects are urging their peers not to work on detention facilities and walls: “It is not the health of buildings that is at stake today, but the health of our society and democracy": The design community’s response to mass detention...has varied wildly...Not all architects agree that boycotting work at the border is the ethical way forward. -- Architecture Lobby; American Institute of Architects/AIA- Fast Company |
Newark's lead contamination crisis could be worse than Flint's. Residents say the city is handling it all wrong: This month, the city began offering free bottled water after the EPA found that even filters "may not be reliably effective" at removing lead from homes.- Business Insider |
Notre Dame Repair Crews Are Back To Work, But Paris' Lead Concerns Remain: New decontamination measures are in place for workers...But environmental associations, labor unions and other groups say authorities should have started the cleanup months ago, and they are worried that health risks may persist in parts of Paris...fire melted some 440 tons of lead contained in the roof and spire...lawsuit...claiming officials failed to quickly contain the contamination...[and downplayed] the severity of the risk...lead contamination...a "health time bomb." -- Jacky Bonnemains/Robin des Bois- NPR / National Public Radio |
A New Definition of “Museum” Sparks International Debate: The International Council of Museums [ICOM] will vote on a new definition of museums in September. The proposed change includes language about “social justice, global equality and planetary wellbeing.” Critics say the text is too political for most museums to employ: ...references have split the consortium’s 40,000 professionals representing 20,000 museums across ideological lines...denounced it as an “ideological” manifesto...omits specific mention of the museum as an educational space.- Hyperallergic |
Justin Davidson: Steven Holl’s Subtle ‘Reach’ Humanizes the Kennedy Center: ...new complex is not just more fluid, usable, and versatile than we had any right to expect - it is also the rare project that improved on its way from concept...to final construction. In two dimensions, it looked worrisomely chilly and abstract; in three, it is warm and subtle...More importantly, it’s an example of how long-simmering architecture can seem suddenly urgent when, at last, it’s done... both an extension and a reproach. Stone’s design was stiff and precious and self-contained, while Holl’s is supple and ready to be roughed up...$175 million...every nickel in the details, which are not so much opulent as artful...evokes a time of aspirational optimism... -- Chris McVoy; Edward Durell Stone (1971); Edmund Hollander- New York Magazine |
To Save Tiny Penguins, This Suburb Was Wiped Off the Map: It’s a magical sight: Just as the light begins to vanish, thousands of tiny penguins waddle out of the surf...and along well-worn paths toward their burrows...The story of the transformation of the Summerland Peninsula from a coastal suburb into a wildlife habitat and world-class tourist spot is one of unusual government foresight...last month, a gleaming symbol of the success of the restoration efforts opened...a $58 million visitor center...on land...where penguins are unlikely to build burrows. -- TERROIR- New York Times |
Plan chosen for new Center for Architecture and Design downtown, future home of AIA Baltimore: ...at the base of the downtown building...designed by...Mies van der Rohe...housing the AIA Baltimore and Baltimore Architecture Foundation headquarters [and] “collaborative administrative and program space for allied” organizations...Among those...Baltimore Heritage...citywide chapters for the National Organization of Minority Architects [NOMA] and the Urban Land Institute [ULI], and statewide chapters for the American Society of Landscape Architects [ASLA] and American Planning Association [APA]. -- Quinn Evans Architects- Baltimore Fishbowl |
Niall Patrick Walsh: We Need More Wheelchair Users to Become Architects: ..[AIA's] “Celebrating Architects who Overcame Disabilities"...Despite these first steps to celebrating and encouraging the participation of wheelchair users and those with physical disabilities into the profession, systemic reform is needed to address their continued invisibility and under-representation...RIBA and the University of the West of England [report] “Disabled Architects: Unlocking the Potential for Practice”...In reality, systemic changes to our educational institutions, outreach operations, and data point records will be needed to ensure that future urban environments are designed for the many, by the many... -- Michael Graves; Ron Mace; Karen Braitmayer; David Gissen- ArchDaily |
ASLA Publishes Guide to Universal Design: The guide highlights innovative landscape designs that make outdoor spaces accessible to all: ...design principles that address the needs of deaf or hard of hearing, blind or low vision, autistic, neurodevelopmentally and/or intellectually disabled, and mobility-disabled adults and children, as well as concerns for older adults...includes hundreds of freely-available case studies, research studies, articles, and resources...Guide sections: Neighborhoods; Streets; Parks and Plazas; Playgrounds; Gardens. This guide is a living resource, so we invite you to submit research, studies, articles, and projects you would like to see included.- American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) |
Shortlist revealed: 2019 Australian Urban Design Awards: ...52 projects have been shortlisted... -- Plan E Landscape Architects/Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects/Lyons Architects; Cox Architecture/Context Landscape Design; Aspect Studios; McGregor Coxall/Chrofi; Urbis/Woods Bagot; etc.- ArchitectureAU (Australia) |
Katharine Schwab: Behold the astronaut lounge at Virgin Galactic’s $250K-per-flight spaceport: It’s part first-class lounge, part office, and part red carpet for the ultra-wealthy customers who will take flight beginning next year: Where will these wealthy space tourists hang out before they get on their spaceship? Inside a gorgeous lounge full of natural materials...and not a piece of technology in sight...The only technology...“astronaut walkway,” which features an interactive floor with graphics of constellations that shift when you step on it...like a high-tech red carpet for the space tourists. -- Foster + Partners- Fast Company / Co.Design |
Katharine Schwab: Vertical landfills and DNA storage towers: 6 wild concepts for tomorrow’s skyscrapers: Supertall buildings don’t just have to be places for people to live and work. Futuristic concepts imagine skyscrapers as landfills, forests, data storage towers, and even permanent refugee camps: [eVolo’s] 2019 Skyscraper Competition...an array of visions that reposition skyscrapers as salves for society’s most pressing problems...6 of the wackiest ideas. -- Marko Dragicevic; Honglin Li; Dattner Architects; Hsieh Tsung-Ying/Huang Hsuan-Ting- Fast Company / Co.Design |
Ten of the most unconventional award-winning Architecture Designs from A’ Design Award 2019: We handpicked some of the most beautiful, most intriguing, most inspirational, and definitely the most unique architectural pieces + Call for entries: A’ Design Awards 2020; deadline: September 30. -- Selvagen; Joaquim Portela; Dante Luna G.; Jaskó+Vági Építész Kft.; Aysan Moosvai/Farzad Saeidi; Beullah Serema; WANDACTI/CCI Architecture Design & Consulting; Beatrice Bonzanigo/IB Studio; Yun Lu/MUDA-Architects; Cheng Tsung Feng- Yanko Design |
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