Today’s News - Thursday, July 16, 2020
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tomorrow and Monday will be no-newslettere days - we'll be back Tuesday, July 21. A refreshing change of pace today: no special COVID-19 coverage (the first time since early March!). Stay well. Stay safe. Stay cool…
● CEPT professor A. Srivathsan explains why, in India, the profession "is in deep trouble, but not for the reasons architects attribute" (a court ruling "that architects do not hold a monopoly over architectural services" among them) - "the sooner they take a pragmatic view, the quicker they can focus on the real threats."
● Kennicott waxes poetic (and political!) about Mecanoo's "miraculous" transformation of D.C.'s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library that gives him "hope. Of all the buildings in America - few are more urgently needed than this memorial to the martyred prophet of possibilities it seems we may have irrevocably squandered."
● Lamster parses Preservation Dallas's list of most endangered places - "new development shouldn't have to mean the destruction of cultural heritage."
● And now for some good news: The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Bird-Safe Buildings Act to reduce bird collisions - the "latest evidence of increasing momentum in bird-friendly building trend."
● Itzkowitz parses the 2020 grantees of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, which includes a special gift to Minneapolis's historic preservation office to preserve contemporary history (a first!).
● SoCal NOMA and AIALA launch the Diversity Equity and Inclusivity Challenge, "a new tool" with 10 "actions" to expand inclusion - available to be downloaded (thoughtful comment at the end).
● Former NYCOBA president Pascale Sablan is looking to expand the SAY IT LOUD showcase of portfolios of women and BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and People of Color] architects and designers from around the world - submit by September 1.
● AIA issues a statement strongly supporting the Democracy in Design Act - the "legislation would override an expected Executive Order designating classical architecture as the preferred style for all U.S. federal buildings."
● Just for fun: Download - for free(!) - Taller de Arquitectura Carmelina&Aurelio's second coloring book with illustrations of works by Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Rozana Montiel, BIG, and Eileen Gray.
● ICYMI: ANN feature: Bloszies' Left Coast Reflections #7: Plague 2.0: Architects, for the most part, are idealists but have little power to affect change beyond altering the built environment one building at a time. What does COVID-19 portend when economic growth is driven by "greed-ocracy."
Weekend diversions:
● Hickman offers a handy list of 10 "public landscapes, open-air museums, and multifaceted art spaces," from New York to California, "that have reopened or are reopening soon - with room to spread."
● Steven Holl's 'T' Space in Rhinebeck, NY, presents Ensamble Studio's Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa's "virtual exhibition of their latest project to transform an abandoned quarry in Menorca, Spain" - livestream opening celebration, July 18, includes a tour of the exhibition with the architects, a poetry reading, and music.
● Mortice cheers "Edith Farnsworth Reconsidered," the "multi-part exhibition unfolding across some 60 acres in Plano, Illinois - visitors can "linger in the landscape for the first time" - deer sightings possible "(with complimentary bug spray on hand)."
● You can't walk through "Alan Karchmer, the Architect's Photographer" at the National Building Museum, but you can join Karchmer in his virtual gallery tour with his commentary on photographs featured in the show.
Page-turners:
● A thoughtful excerpt from Leslie Kern's new book "Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-made World" that "calls for reimagining urban infrastructure" to "create spaces that make care work and social reproduction more collective, less exhausting and more equitable."
● Kate Wagner on Daniel Barber's "Modern Architecture and Climate: Design before Air Conditioning": "What makes the book so interesting is not only the meticulous documentation of these climate-control alternatives and their practitioners - but the tension between their goals and their underlying ideologies. The lesson is not to replicate the conditions that begat yesterday's missed opportunities, but to change them for the better."
● Welton talks to Kundig re: "Tom Kundig: Working Title": "Its central theme - that Olson Kundig's residential work informs its larger commercial and cultural projects - is the driver behind this book. That stems from a recent conversation with Glenn Murcutt."
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A. Srivathsan: Ring-fencing won’t rescue architecture: It is a profession in crisis but the solution does not lie in placing restrictions on other professionals: Recently, the Supreme Court...ruled that architects do not hold a monopoly over architectural services and that engineers and others could freely offer them...The profession indeed is in deep trouble, but not for the reasons architects attribute...profession is beset with many problems that are internal...Demand for monopoly is only damagingly distracting architects from real issues...the sooner [they] take a pragmatic view, the quicker they can focus on the real threats...limited constituency for good design [and] the profession’s diminishing appeal to young talents...professional bodies have failed. -- Indian Institute of Architects (IIA); Council of Architecture (CoA)- The Hindu (India) |
Philip Kennicott: America’s libraries are essential now - and this beautifully renovated one in Washington gives us hope: If you want to understand the abject failure of America, look to its libraries...In some cities, libraries have evolved into social service hubs, for the mentally ill, the jobless and the victims of domestic abuse...because our society has failed to meet the basic needs of its people...The transformation [of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library] is miraculous...many of most important changes feel as if they’ve been there all along...Of all the buildings in America...few are more urgently needed than this memorial to the martyred prophet of possibilities it seems we may have irrevocably squandered. -- Mies van der Rohe (1972); Francine Houben/Mecanoo- Washington Post |
Mark Lamster: These are the most endangered places in Dallas right now: Preservation Dallas list...is not comprised of grand works of signature architecture, but more modest works of vernacular design that give the city its distinct identity and character: Atlas Metal Works is directly in the path of development...site is of considerable value. It would be tragic to lose a work of such grace that is an essential part of the city’s industrial heritage...Gentrifying [Deep Ellum] at the expense of its built and cultural history is neither an acceptable nor legitimate means of achieving housing density...new development shouldn’t have to mean the destruction of cultural heritage.- Dallas Morning News |
Legislation to Reduce Bird Collisions Passes the U.S. House of Representatives: The bill’s success is latest evidence of increasing momentum in bird-friendly building trend: ...calling for federal buildings to incorporate bird-safe building materials and design features. As many as 1 billion birds a year die in collisions with buildings in the United States alone...Bird-Safe Buildings Act will soon be introduced in the Senate, and conservationists are optimistic about its passage...In 2019, the New York City Council passed the country's most comprehensive bird-friendly buildings law.- American Bird Conservancy |
Laura Itzkowitz: A Milestone for the National Trust for Historic Preservation: The venerated organization is investing $1.6 million not only in the preservation of Black historic places, but also - for the first time - to preserve contemporary history: African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund...$50,000 special gift...to the city of Minneapolis’s historic preservation office...the first time NTHP is giving a grant to preserve contemporary history...Action Fund has just announced its 2020 grantees...grants also commemorate the loss and destruction of Black heritage... -- Paul R. Williams- Architectural Digest |
SoCal NOMA launches Diversity Equity and Inclusivity Challenge: In a joint statement from the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles Chapter (AIALA) and the Southern California Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCal NOMA), a new tool to expand inclusion has been announced...10 "actions"...each have a scoring threshold... the challenge and its guidelines can be downloaded.- Archinect |
SAY IT LOUD wants to showcase diverse designers across the world: ...to showcase the portfolios of women and BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and People of Color] architects...Pascale Sablan finished her two-year tenure as the president of the New York chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) in 2017, she drew from the well of connections...to arrange the first SAY IT LOUD exhibition...has had to transition her upcoming exhibitions online...she wants to double the number of architects represented to 500...submit to the next SAY IT LOUD [by] September 1. -- NYCOBA- The Architect's Newspaper |
AIA strongly supports “Democracy in Design Act’’: Proposed legislation would override an expected Executive Order designating classical architecture as the preferred style for all U.S. federal courthouses and other buildings: By codifying the General Service Administration’s Design Excellence Program principles into statute, Congress will ensure the federal government maintains its current neutrality on architectural styles...AIA has taken a multi-pronged approach to stopping the Executive Order.- American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
Coloring Architecture: Download Taller de Arquitectura Carmelina&Aurelio's Second Book for Free: Due to the success of the first edition, the studio has just published the second volume of the series, with illustrations of works by Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Rozana Montiel, BIG, and Eileen Gray. The digital book in PDF format is available for free...- ArchDaily |
Matt Hickman: 10 outdoor art spaces, parks, and landscapes that have reopened or are reopening soon: ...public landscapes, open-air museums, and multifaceted art spaces with room to spread out... -- Chicago Riverwalk; Crystal Bridges (Arkansas); Glenstone museum (Maryland); NYC: High Line & Governors Island; Storm King (New York) The Huntington (California); Mass MoCA; St. Pete Pier (Florida); etc.- The Architect's Newspaper |
Ensamble Studio’s Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa: "Ca’n Terra: Architecture of the Earth": a virtual exhibition of their latest project to transform an abandoned quarry in Menorca, Spain, recycling landscape, and quarrying light, July 18 - October 31; Virtual Livestream Opening Celebration, July 18, 3:00 - 4:30pm EDT, includes a tour of the exhibition with the architects, a poetry reading by Marie Howe and ae performance by Fast Forward [click Home Page to register]- 'T' Space (Rhinebeck, New York) |
Zach Mortice: A Second Look at Edith Farnsworth and Her Mies van der Rohe-designed Retreat: A multi-part exhibition ["Edith Farnsworth Reconsidered"] unfolding across some 60 acres in Plano, Illinois, focuses on one of the most famous Modern architecture clients in history: ...the Farnsworth is inviting visitors to linger in the landscape for the first time...(with complimentary bug spray on hand)...one-room house...[is] altogether a warmer and more humane place now than it was under Peter Palumbo’s care...A degree of sadness seems to underpin Edith’s time at the house...It’s bitterly ironic that the sanctuary she founded was not truly for herself, but for legions of Mies devotees in thrall to her insensitive collaborator. -- Dirk Lohan; Alfred Caldwell- Architectural Record |
Virtual Gallery Talk: "Alan Karchmer, the Architect’s Photographer": ...the National Building Museum mounted a retrospective exhibition of architectural photographer Alan Karchmer’s work, but the coronavirus pandemic forced the Washington, D.C., institution to close its doors...In this virtual gallery talk, Karchmer provides commentary on photographs featured in the show.- Architectural Record |
Leslie Kern: How to Rebuild Cities for Caregiving: Decades after critiques on how cities fail caregivers, the same problems remain. The new book “Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-made World" calls for reimagining urban infrastructure: ...think beyond gender mainstreaming...I want cities to enact policies and create spaces that make care work and social reproduction more collective, less exhausting and more equitable...A feminist city must look to the creative tools that women have always used to support one another and find ways to build that support into the very fabric of the urban world.- Places Journal |
Kate Wagner: In "Modern Architecture and Climate: Design before Air Conditioning," climate control takes command: The premise of Daniel Barber’s book is this: The battle for the supremacy of air conditioning above all other solutions for climate mitigation was, in fact, a battle...modernism offered technical solutions to human ills...what we might call “climate modernism,” architects quickly fastened onto shading devices and other climatic solutions...What makes the book so interesting is not only the meticulous documentation of these climate-control alternatives and their practitioners...but the tension between their goals and their underlying ideologies...[He] cautions against casting these early developments in the role of a proto-environmentalism...The lesson...is not to replicate the conditions that begat yesterday’s missed opportunities, but to change them for the better.- The Architect's Newspaper |
J. Michael Welton: 29 Masterworks in "Tom Kundig: Working Title": Kundig’s newest book - his fourth - is split 50/50 between small and large projects. For good reason...its central theme - that Olson Kundig’s residential work informs its larger commercial and cultural projects - is the driver behind this book. That stems from a recent conversation with Glenn Murcutt- Architects + Artisans |
ANN feature: Charles F. Bloszies: Left Coast Reflections #7: Plague 2.0: Architects, for the most part, are idealists but have little power to affect change beyond altering the built environment one building at a time. What does COVID-19 portend when economic growth is driven by "greed-ocracy."- ArchNewsNow.com |
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