Today’s News - Thursday, August 22, 2019
EDITOR'S NOTE: For the last lazy, hazy week of summer, we're taking a lazy, hazy break (maybe the heat wave will, too!). We'll be back after Labor Day (U.S.). See you in September (we feel a song coming on!).
● ANN feature: Nicholas Boys Smith & Roger Scruton: Lesson Plan #3: Beauty and Sustainability in Architectural Education: We were greatly heartened to see architecture students call for a curriculum change to address social, political, and ecological challenges, and we want to say something about how their proposals intersect with the work of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission.
● Saffron has (mostly) high hopes for PAU Studio's towers at Philly's Schuylkill Yards: "A corporate skyscraper is not expected to be fun. It is not supposed to make people think of a tumbling stack of children's blocks. And it is definitely not supposed to be fire-engine red - all the usual expectations have been tossed out the windows."
● Eyefuls of Zaha Hadid Architects' sculptural flood protection barrier, the Niederhafen River Promenade in Hamburg, Germany, that "offers the city a new public space and riverside walkway," with "plenty of space for passersby, street performers and food stalls."
● Brussat explains why InFORM's new pedestrian and bicycle bridge in Providence, RI, has "has nudged me out of my lane. Its design is modernist. I like it. This does not compute" (he admits he likes something modernist - gasp!).
● A look at "old parking behemoths" being "born again - ripe for adaptive reuse. Others are being constructed from scratch in ways that will allow them to be repurposed down the road" (Broadway Autopark in Wichita - wow!).
● Granny flats (a.k.a. accessory dwelling units/ADUs) can create more affordable housing - "but also a denser population and neighborhood change," along with "financial, political, and technical challenges. Perhaps the trickiest problem is cultural and racial."
● Urban planner Gray considers how Amazon "could transform the tiny house movement from a niche fad into a national housing solution. The wave of recent reforms to laws regulating ADUs bodes well for Amazon's awkward first steps into the mail-order housing space."
● A short video explains "why so many suburbs look the same: It was all part of the plan - we still live in a culture shaped by the Federal Housing Administration's ideal suburban design" from the 1930s (worth a watch!).
● Walmart picks an impressive team for its "new massive" HQ in Bentonville, Arkansas, "expected to include more than 15 acres of lakes, bike trails, flexible workspaces and buildings, and landscapes designed to create zero waste and operate with 100% renewable energy."
● Keskeys explains how Utile's "series of seemingly simple improvements have fundamentally changed" Boston City Hall (a.k.a. "the world's ugliest building") - "the original Brutalist vision for the building has become legible again."
● Morgan considers Saarinen's St. Louis Arch to be a monument that "could not be more simple - nor more powerful - a brilliant and many-layered symbol of the heart of America and of the modern age that has become a Walt Whitman-esque song to ourselves."
● Lavin digs deep (really deep!) into "plant architecture - today, plant-thinking may be that which is bringing the attention of contemporary architects to the plant as they begin to realize that the survival of life in its many forms will depend on plants as much as on plans."
● The latest AIA Billings Index "shows how the trade war is hitting commercial real estate - design contracts fell into negative territory for the first time in almost a year."
Weekend diversions:
● Walker watches Alexander Girard's designs "come to life" in a short video (now streaming) that "dips deep into the Herman Miller archives. If you're looking for the ultimate design pilgrimage," head to Santa Fe to see "Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe" (it moves to Palm Springs in November).
● A good reason to head to the Loft Coast: AIA San Francisco and the Center for Architecture + Design's month-long16th Annual Architecture + the City festival: "There's something for everyone."
● In Columbus, Indiana, MASS, So-il, et al.'s "Miller Prize installations lean heavily to landscape architecture - so much so that most of the works could be partly referred to as creative plantings. Or maybe seeds of innovation."
● "Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx" at the New York Botanical Garden presents the 20th-century "artist-designer-preservationist whose work could help cities survive in this century."
● In Berlin, "beyond bauhaus - prototyping the future" exhibition & festival "takes up modernism's central question concerning the world-changing power of design and carries it into the present to confront current social, ecological and global challenge."
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ANN feature: Nicholas Boys Smith & Roger Scruton: Lesson Plan #3: Beauty and Sustainability in Architectural Education: We were greatly heartened to see architecture students call for a curriculum change to address the social, political, and ecological challenges of our time, and we want to say something about how their proposals intersect with the work of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission.- ArchNewsNow.com |
Inga Saffron: Is Philadelphia Ready for a Big Red Skyscraper at Schuylkill Yards? The first new towers to go up...try to escape from the glass straitjacket of today's urban office districts by borrowing elements from the mod '60s: ...a corporate skyscraper...is not expected to be fun. It is not supposed to make people think of a tumbling stack of children’s blocks. And it is definitely not supposed to be fire-engine red. But a quick glance at the two skyscraper designs...makes it clear that all the usual expectations have been tossed out the windows... -- Vishaan Chakrabarti/PAU Studio/Practice for Architecture and Urbanism; SWA/Balsley; HDR- Philadelphia Inquirer |
Zaha Hadid Architects carves out sculptural flood protection barrier in Hamburg: ...the sculptural Niederhafen River Promenade in Hamburg, Germany...replaces one of the city's existing, but dilapidating, flood barriers built in 1964...incorporates amphitheatre-like staircases, a three-storey restaurant and shops...to offer the city a new public space and riverside walkway...there is plenty of space for passersby, street performers and food stalls.- Dezeen |
David Brussat: New bridge in Providence: The new pedestrian and bicycle bridge has nudged me out of my lane. Its design is modernist. I like it. This does not compute...I have every reason to feel disdain for this bridge...A few weeks ago, I saw from a distance its wood flaming in the early evening sun and was smitten...Okay, so my nose is a little out of joint from having to admit I like something modernist. -- InFORM Studio- Architecture Here and There |
The Born-Again Garage: America's old parking behemoths are falling into disrepair. But some of them have a future: Knightley’s Garage [in Wichita, Kansas] today is home to 44 one-bedroom apartments...Historic preservation tax credits...made the project financially feasible...With its 1950s aesthetic intact, [it] is more than a kitschy throwback to the past...repurposed parking facility may actually be an indication of things to come...some are ripe for adaptive reuse. Others are being constructed from scratch in ways that will allow them to be repurposed down the road...Some adaptive reuse cconversions have moved in the opposite direction. -- Mary Smith/Walker Consultants; Peter Merwin/Gensler; Daniel Gensch/Shelden Architecture; Dick Hartwell- Governing Magazine |
‘Granny flats’: More affordable housing. More parked cars, too: The expansion of “granny flats” can produce a political test of clashing values. More apartments can mean lower housing costs - but also a denser population, and neighborhood change: Expansion of ADUs [accessory dwelling units] to accommodate housing demand has proved to be a controversial issue across the United States...a proxy war for opposition to...population “overcrowding” and diversification...retrofitting these communities presents many financial, political, and technical challenges...Perhaps the trickiest problem is cultural and racial- Christian Science Monitor |
Nolan Gray: How Amazon Could Transform the Tiny House Movement: Could the e-commerce giant help turn small-home living from a niche fad into a national housing solution? ...the market is certainly ready: With solo living on the rise and a deepening nationwide housing shortage, demand for smaller, cheaper places to live is sure to grow...The wave of recent reforms to laws regulating accessory dwelling units (ADUs)...has created a legal space for tiny living...bodes well for Amazon’s awkward first steps into the mail-order housing space.- CityLab (formerly The Atlantic Cities) |
Why so many suburbs look the same: It was all part of the plan: ...same curving streets, same culs-de-sac. It’s not an accident. In fact, this appearance of the suburbs was part of the Federal Housing Administration’s plan...Even though the enforcement mechanisms have changed over time, we still live in a culture shaped by the FHA’s ideal suburban design. [video]- Vox.com |
Walmart Reveals Design Team For New Home Office Construction: ...new massive home office complex in Bentonville...expected to include more than 15 acres of lakes, bike trails, flexible workspaces and buildings and landscapes designed to create zero waste and operate with 100% renewable energy. -- Gensler; Miller Boskus Lack Architects; Sasaki; SWA Group- 5NEWS/KFSM-TV (Arkansas) |
Paul Keskeys: Redemption: The “World’s Ugliest Building” Just Won a Major Architecture Award: Boston City Hall has never managed to shake its reputation as an architectural disaster - until now: A new renovation...scooped [an] A+Award...A series of seemingly simple improvements have fundamentally changed not only the aesthetics...but also its atmosphere. By removing unsightly modern additions and applying an astute lighting strategy, the original Brutalist vision for the building has become legible again...after more than 50 years, the public might just learn to love it for the very first time. -- Kallmann, McKinnell and Knowles (1968); Utile, Inc.- Architizer |
William Morgan: Eero Saarinen's St. Louis Arch embodies American ambition: [His] monument to the opening of the American West...could not be more simple - nor more powerful...a brilliant and many-layered symbol of the heart of America and of the modern age...The genius of this 630-foot-high piece of abstract sculpture is that its absolute simplicity allows many varieties of interpretation...has become a Walt Whitman-esque song to ourselves. -- Lily Swann Saarinen; Alexander Girard; Dan Kiley- American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
Sylvia Lavin: Reclaiming Plant Architecture: Architecture was once a plant. By this I do not only refer to the grasslands and savannas...Rather, I...refer to the more limited and specific plants that importantly...structure the modern professional practice of architecture...today, plant-thinking may be that which is bringing the attention of contemporary architects to the plant as they not only seek ideas about how to improve architectural fit, but also as they begin to realize that the survival of life in its many forms will depend on plants as much as on plans.- e-flux |
New architects’ report shows how the trade war is hitting commercial real estate: American Institute of Architects’ architecture billings improved slightly, though barely in positive territory, as demand for design services in July rose slightly. Design contracts, however, fell into negative territory for the first time in almost a year. -- Kermit Baker/AIA- CNBC |
Alissa Walker: Watch Alexander Girard’s designs come to life: The short film made to commemorate his AIGA medal dips deep into the Herman Miller archives: ...tribute that attempted to compress the designer’s voluminous accomplishments into a five-minute film now available to stream online...If you’re looking for the ultimate design pilgrimage "Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe" is on view at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico through October 27...then at the Palm Springs Art Museum from November 23, 2019 to March 1, 2020.- Curbed |
AIA San Francisco and the Center for Architecture + Design present the 16th Annual Architecture + the City festival. September 1-30. There's something for everyone...- AIA San Francisco / Center for Architecture + Design |
The good earth: Columbus Miller Prize installations lean heavily to landscape architecture: ...so much so that most of the works could be partly referred to as creative plantings. Or maybe seeds of innovation...designers mentioned that their installations are still “in process"...actively seeking community input... August 24 - December 1. -- MASS Design Group; SO-IL; Frida Escobedo Studio; Agency Landscape + Planning; Bryony Roberts Studio [images]- The Republic (Columbus, Indiana) |
Evan Nicole Brown: The 20th-century designer whose work could help cities survive in this century: Roberto Burle Marx, a pioneer in garden design, emphasized the importance of working with native plants: "Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx" at the New York Botanical Garden...the first exhibition in the NYBG’s history to feature an entire outdoor garden...enlisted Raymond Jungles...one of Burle Marx’s students, to design the landscape...Though the artist-designer-preservationist died in 1994, his eye for bold patterns and passion for preservation can still be seen today. thru September- Fast Company / Co.Design |
"beyond bauhaus - prototyping the future” Exhibition & Festival: ...presents the winners of the 2019 international design competition organised by “Germany - Land of Ideas”...20 best projects from the fields of architecture, design and technology...takes up modernism’s central question concerning the world-changing power of design and carries it into the present to confront current social, ecological and global challenges. CLB Gallery, Berlin, thru September 1- CLB Gallery (Berlin) |
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