Today’s News - Tuesday, April 28, 2020
● Giovannini parses the 6 leading ideas among the 28 international "scrappy architects" (some impressive names) in the Citizens' Brigade to Save LACMA's "LACMA not LackMA" competition that "bettered" Zumthor's $1 billion design.
● Kamin cheers the (sort of) new Riverview Bridge for pedestrians and bikes over North Branch of the Chicago River - it's "an ingenious piece of urban infrastructure. This is infrastructure the way it should be - serving the needs of both utility and beauty."
● Welton x 2: He cheers HMA2's renovation of the 1980s Westport Library in Connecticut that flipped the library upside down, moving books to a lower level: "It's as much a community center as it is a library now," sayeth Henry Myerberg (or will be when it reopens).
● He talks to Paul Clemence re: his adventure photographing the buildings of Brasilia "that are still as visionary as the day they were designed. 'I was much more in awe than I imagined I would be.' Because this was Oscar Niemeyer, after all."
● Belogolovksy's Q&A with Thom Mayne re: "his fascination with the unfinished" and "an individual's role in architecture and the aesthetic originality of buildings": "What is missing today is the collective discourse; instead, so much energy is spent on criticizing the individual."
● Beam parses the alternatives the National Trust for Historic Preservation considered for flood-mitigation at Mies's Farnsworth House - a hydraulic-lift system won out ("Great architects select great sites. Sometimes great architects make mistakes").
● SOM's David Childs makes the case for preserving Zimmerman's MARABAR sculpture on the SOM-designed (1980s) National Geographic campus: "Washington is noted for its public art, and Marabar is one of its finest examples."
Deadlines & Winners all:
● Call for entries (no fee!): Kaizhou New City International Young Designer Competition open to designers, artists, teachers and students under 40 (cash prizes).
● Call for entries: ISO[NATION]: Home Office competition: "think creatively about work-life habit changes after the worldwide isolation/quarantine" - €5 entry fee "will be donated towards the World Health Organization COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund."
● An impressive shortlist of 8 U.S.- and 4 European-based firms in the running to design the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota.
● Eyefuls of the AJ Small Projects 2020 Award winner, along with the Sustainable Project and People's Choice winners.
● RAIC names Toronto-based Drew Adams as the 2020 Emerging Architect Award winner (formerly Young Architect Award) - he "stands apart for his drive to affect meaningful change through design."
● Kendall College of Art and Design Wege Prize 2020 Design Competition announces 5 international student teams as finalists for their redesigns of "how we produce and consume," and now vie for $30,000 in cash prizes; presentations of proposals will be made online on May 29th.
COVID-19 news continues
● Adele Peters parses Perkins and Will's proposal to "turn out-of-use school buses into low-cost mobile COVID-19 test labs that could travel" to areas where they're most needed. "They're also freely sharing the design. 'It really is all about creating a solution, not owning it,'" sayeth P+W's Rob Goodwin.
● NYC will close 40 miles of streets "to provide more opportunity for recreation and expand space for pedestrians to keep social distance - the ultimate goal calls for 100 miles of 'open streets.' 'The real focus will be on the communities that are hardest hit,"' sayeth the mayor.
● Lithuania's capital Vilnius is handing over "vast open-air" public spaces - for free - to nearby cafes and restaurants that will allow physical distancing for customers during the lock-down (18 so far, more to come).
● Sitz's Q&A with NOMA President Kimberly Dowdell re: "how systemic disparities have exacerbated COVID-19's effect on communities of color - and how the pandemic's economic repercussions might impact the next generation of designers."
● Places Journal presents an impressive "six-part narrative survey of 74 design educators on the massive move to emergency remote instruction" ("Zoom University," mute buttons, establishing boundaries included).
● The first in a 3-part series offering deans and program chairs' "institutional responses to the COVID-19 crisis," and their "specific insight into how each institution is responding to the crisis."
● Fixsen fixes on how students are dealing with lockdown situation: "Students, frustrated by decreased interaction, lack of equipment, and diminished job and internship prospects, feel left in the lurch."
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Joseph Giovannini: Alternatives to Peter Zumthor's LACMA Design Are In: 28 international architects responded to a “Call for Ideas” issued...by the Citizens’ Brigade to Save LACMA...The Brigade feels there are better, less expensive ways to build a new campus than the $1 Billion scheme now proposed...architects were asked to expand it [and] build enough galleries to accommodate the famous existing permanent collections, which the shrunken Zumthor plan now sends into storage...28 scrappy architects...working pro bono to come up with schemes that bettered Zumthor’s design. It took [him] 12 years and more than $10 million...Brigadiers decided on six leading ideas... -- Coop Himmelb(l)au; Paul Murdoch Architects; TheeAe (The Evolved Architectural Eclectic); Reiser + Umemoto; Barkow Leibinger; Kaya Design- Interior Design magazine |
Blair Kamin: Want some good news? This new Riverview Bridge for pedestrians over North Branch of the Chicago River: ...the need for other open spaces is crucial...Fortunately, an ingenious piece of urban infrastructure - a gently curving, ultralong pedestrian and bike bridge...is helping to meet that need...officially opened in late November, but only now, with the advent of spring and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, is it proving its true worth...What makes [it] such a pleasure is...an unconventional design that takes many things into account, including...the trees and vegetation along the river’s banks...This is infrastructure the way it should be...serving the needs of both utility and beauty. -- Andrew Metter; Epstein; Greg Osborne- Chicago Tribune |
J. Michael Welton: A Library Renovation in Westport, Connecticut, by HMA2: Flexibility with a capital “F” was the key...Originally built in the 1980s, it was a relic from another era...when libraries were dedicated only to books and those who loved them...strategy was to flip the library upside down and move its books to a 12,000 square-foot lower level...Public space was expanded on the upper level - with a central area that’s like a browser for all activities...“It’s as much a community center as it is a library now,” he says. “It’s a family room, a living room, a concert hall, an exhibition hall, a café, and a recording studio"... -- Henry Myerberg- Architects + Artisans |
J. Micahel Welton: Brasilia at 60, in Photos by Paul Clemence: Work began on it in 1956...The results are a Le Corbusier-inspired array of International Style buildings of the future..."They were planning with very utopian goals and ideas,” Clemence says...It’s also a photographer’s delight...He was shooting buildings that are still as visionary as the day they were designed...“I was much more in awe than I imagined I would be.” Because this was Oscar Niemeyer, after all. -- Lúcio Costa; Joaquim Cardozo- Architects + Artisans |
Vladimir Belogolovksy: Q&A: Pritzker laureate Thom Mayne on his fascination with the unfinished: ...talks about an individual's role in architecture and the aesthetic originality of buildings: "We all are interested in innovation, but all of us have individual paths. What is missing today is the collective discourse; instead, so much energy is spent on criticising the individual."- STIR (See Think Inspire Reflect) |
Alex Beam: Rising out of the deep: Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House eyes a flood-mitigation idea involving hydraulic lifts: Great architects select great sites for their designs...Sometimes great architects make mistakes...Mies famously elevated the [house]...but it could not save it from the floods...Today, even worse problems bedevil the magnificent [house] and its current owner, the National Trust for Historic Preservation...the Fox River floods more often and more heavily than in years past...NTHP opted for...what it hopes will be a game-saving solution...a hydraulic-lift system...will raise the house 8 feet... -- Robert Silman Associates- ArchitectureBoston magazine (Boston Society of Architects/BSA) |
SOM Chairman Emeritus David Childs Urges Preservation of MARABAR: [He] wrote the following letter to Washington, DC’s Historic Preservation Review Board, asking...to reconsider...plans that would demolish the sculpture:: "When I, as a design partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, was commissioned by the National Geographic in the early 1980s, for an addition on their campus...we recommended the commission of a piece of public art by Elyn Zimmerman...upon the conclusion of her presentation...the chairman of the Geographic’s Board led a standing ovation for Elyn’s design...Washington is noted for its public art, and Marabar is one of its finest examples.”- The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) |
Call for entries (no fee!): Kaizhou New City International Young Designer Competition: take a micro approach and small-scale intervention...propose new perspectives, new stages and new focus to enrich daily life; open to young designers, artists, teachers and students...under 40 years old; cash prizes; registration deadline: July 31 (submissions due August 31)- Kaizhou New City Management Committee of Deyang City / Urban Environment Design (UED) Magazine |
Call for entries: #mOOO3 ISO[NATION]: HOME OFFICE competition (international): think creatively about work-life habit changes after the worldwide isolation/quarantine; €5 donation to enter will be donated towards the World Health Organization COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund; registration deadline: May 22 (submissions due May 24)- mOOO |
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library group considering 12 architecture firms for project: ...before it picks up to three to submit fleshed-out designs for a formal competition...Each [of up to three finalists] will be paid $50,000 and reimbursed for travel to the site. -- Bohlin Cywinski Jackson; Diller Scofidio [DS+R] + Renfro; Ennead; Studio Libeskind; Selldorf Architects; MASS Design Group; Studio Gang; Lake | Flato; Henning Larsen; Renzo Piano Building Workshop; Snøhetta; Wingårdhs- Grand Forks Herald (North Dakota) |
AJ Small Projects 2020 winner revealed: Martin Edwards Architects’ retrofit and extension of a house in North Wales for its wheelchair-using owner has been named winner...Sustainable Project winner to The Cass’ Unit 7 for its CASS Studio prototype...People’s Choice award...was won by BÜF Architecture for Ellis House...- The Architects' Journal (UK) |
RAIC announces 2020 Emerging Architect award winner [formerly Young Architect Award]: Drew Adams, MRAIC, a Toronto-based architect who integrates a passion for sustainability with excellence in built design...An Associate at LGA Architectural Partners, Drew Adams stands apart for his drive to affect meaningful change through design.- Canadian Architect |
International Student Teams Redesign How We Produce and Consume: Five Finalist Teams Announced in Wege Prize 2020 Design Competition from Seven Countries, 13 Academic Institutions: ...lauded for real impact and audacious, transformative ideas that promise a better future...teams of finalists - from Ghana to Costa Rica to Grand Rapids - will present their ideas on May 29th to a global online audience, for a $30,000.00 purse of cash prizes.- Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD) Wege Center for Sustainable Design, Ferris State University (Michigan) |
Adele Peters: We could turn out-of-use school buses into low-cost mobile COVID-19 test labs: Designers have made a simple kit that makes a conversion easy. “It’s almost like the Ikea for COVID testing": ...mobile labs that could travel around cities and rural areas bringing tests where they’re most needed, going beyond what’s currently available...designers are now beginning to talk with potential partners about retrofitting buses for a pilot. They’re also freely sharing the design. “It really is all about creating a solution, not owning it"... -- Mariana Giraldo/Rob Goodwin/Perkins and Will- Fast Company / Co.Design |
NYC to Close 40 Miles of Streets to Give Walkers More Space: ...to provide more opportunity for recreation and expand space for pedestrians to keep social distance...The plan’s ultimate goal calls for 100 miles of “open streets,” largely near parks, as well as widened sidewalks and additional permanent bike lanes...Mayor de Blasio had resisted the proposal, saying it would create challenges for law enforcement...street closures would be monitored by a partnership between police and neighborhood organizations...“The real focus will be on the communities that are hardest hit.”- Bloomberg News |
Lithuanian capital to be turned into vast open-air cafe: Vilnius gives public space to bars and cafes to allow physical distancing during lockdown: “Plazas, squares, streets - nearby cafes will be allowed to set up outdoor tables free of charge this season...measure should help cafes to “open up, work, retain jobs and keep Vilnius alive”...18 public spaces...have been opened up for outdoor cafes and restaurants, city hall said, and more are expected to be added as the summer progresses.- Guardian (UK) |
Miriam Sitz: Interview with NOMA President Kimberly Dowdell: The Chicago-based architect talks about how systemic disparities have exacerbated COVID-19's effect on communities of color - and how the pandemic’s economic repercussions might impact the next generation of designers: "We lost nearly a generation of architects in 2008 and 2009, and we don’t want to see that happen again...we look to our local chapters to rally around the emerging professionals who are most vulnerable...We have to be intentional about investing in young people from under-resourced communities." -- HOK; National Organization of Minority Architects; Maurice Cox- Architectural Record |
Field Notes on Pandemic Teaching: a six-part narrative survey of 74 design educators on the massive move to emergency remote instruction: Some challenges are practical and logistical; others are more conceptual, political, and even philosophical... -- Reinhold Martin/Columbia GSAPP; Susan Piedmont-Palladino/Virgina Tech; Barbara Penner/Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL; Harriet Harriss/Pratt Institute; Hélène Frichot/University of Melbourne, Australia; Richard J. Williams/University of Edinburgh; Marshall Brown/Princeton University; Sarah A. Lappin/Queens University Belfast; Jonathan Massey/Taubman College; Iñaki Alday/Tulane University; eetc.- Places Journal |
School of Architecture Deans Voice Institutional Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis, Part I: ...specific insight into how each institution is responding to the crisis...Part 2 will cover how COVID-19 has impacted traditional end-of-the-year activities like final reviews, thesis exhibitions, and other events. Part 3 will focus on the potential long-term impacts of the crisis on architectural education. -- Iñaki Alday/Tulane University; Lesley Lokko/Spitzer School of Architecture/CCNY; Brian L. McLaren/University of Washington; Rahul Mehrotra/Harvard University Graduate School of Design/GSD; Stephen Philips/Cal Poly LA Metro & San Luis Obispo; Dan Pitera/University of Detroit; Monica Ponce de Leon/Princeton; Heather Roberge/UCLA; Jeff Schnabel/Portland State University; Heather Woofter/Sam Fox School/Washington University in Saint Louis- Archinect |
Anna Fixsen: As Learning Moves Online, Design Students Across the Nation Grapple With Uncertainty: Students, frustrated by decreased interaction, lack of equipment, and diminished job and internship prospects, feel left in the lurch: ...encountering unexpected hurdles, especially in navigating a discipline that straddles digital and physical making...students have implored their schools to reduce their tuition to compensate for what they feel is not the education they paid for...It’s still too soon to assess how COVID-19 will impact the prospects of the next generation...- Architectural Digest |
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