Today’s News - Wednesday, September 23, 2020
● With the passing of Kamu Iyer, 87, "Mumbai loses one of its last modernist architects" - part of the generation that "sought a design language to express the hopes of a young nation, and saw their practice as part of India's larger social fabric."
● Budds ponders how to "create an RBG memorial that isn't terrible - it could go awry and produce something boring, or obvious or, worse yet, meaningless" - Paul Goldberger, Mabel O. Wilson, Jerry Saltz, Marion Weiss, and others weigh in.
● The Global Designing Cities Initiative has released "Designing Streets for Kids," a guide to redesigning urban streets and public spaces to make them "beautiful, fun - and safe" - a supplement of the "Global Street Design Guide" (with links to both).
● McGuigan reports that LACMA is "now punching back" at "withering criticism" with "new renderings and a fact sheet. Michael Govan maintains the construction 'is on time and on budget'" (doubtful the critics will be satisfied).
● The European Commission announces a "'new European Bauhaus' - part of the €750 billion NextGenerationEU coronavirus recovery plan to kickstart a cultural and sustainable movement" among architects, designers, artists, engineers, and students.
● Ravenscroft reports on SOM's "modular School/House pop-up classrooms in response to coronavirus - for schools in need of additional classroom space" that "can be installed alongside existing schools, in parking lots, or even on available roof space."
● London-based architect Gordon Shrigley considers how an 1862 listed building in Shoreditch "could offer insight" to "help architects creatively tackle homeworking space" for small homes. "Perhaps planning guidelines now need to be amended."
● Keith Schneider delves into how more developers are turning to wood: "With environmental benefits and lower labor costs, mass timber has grown into a market that could rival steel and concrete" - environmentalists are o.k. with CLT, but "one of the biggest critics has been the $43 billion ready-mix concrete industry" (no surprise there).
● Bozikovic cheers Formline Architecture, LGA Architectural Partners, and Public Work's planned Indigenous House at the University of Toronto Scarborough "modeled loosely after a wigwam" that "shows an architecture that goes deep. It promises to be beautiful - with a three-dimensional complexity to its form."
● Artist-activist Chat Travieso examines the overlooked history of race barriers or segregation walls in the U.S.: "The paradoxical effect of such structures is to highlight and to trivialize the historical oppressions they represent, and the injustices they continue to enact" - they "remain, to this day, oppressively normalized."
● Glentzer reports on the new Houston Botanic Garden on a former municipal golf course, designed by West 8, Overland Partners, and Clark Condon Associates, that offers "a new kind of outdoor experience - it is a museum of plants with evolving, curated collections" along with "Curiosity Cabinets" and a children's garden that invites "dirty nature play" - wash area provided (lots of pix!).
● Emma Batha reports on the recently released Smart City Index that puts Singapore, Helsinki, and Zurich at the top of the list - "cities around the world are racing to embrace technology, but researchers said the real test was whether citizens felt the benefits," and "many countries are developing smart secondary cities beyond their capitals."
● The Mies van der Rohe Foundation and Creative Europe announce the 12 finalist vying for the 2020 Young Talent Architecture Award, and the 9 finalists competing to win the Asian Edition of YTAA 2020.
● ICYMI: ANN feature: Turan Duda & Jeffrey Paine: Design's Impact on Mental Health on Campus: Designing for mental health requires architects to prioritize the student experience by providing privacy, community, and comfort in their built environments.
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Obituary: In Kamu Iyer's passing, Mumbai loses one of its last modernist architects: The generation...that came of age around Independence sought a design language to express the hopes of a young nation, and saw their practice as part of the larger social fabric...Iyer, 87, was perhaps the last of that generation...among the first to highlight the value of the city's 20th-century buildings...co-founded Architects Combine, which continues today new generation. An associate of Charles Correa...- Times of India |
Diana Budds: How Do We Create an RBG Memorial That Isn’t Terrible? As Governor Cuomo calls for a Ruth Bader Ginsburg statue in Brooklyn, we asked people with arts-commission experience where the pitfalls lie: Creating public monuments - good ones, anyway - is hard...could go awry and produce something boring, or obvious or, worse yet, meaningless. And RBG deserves something that goes right...getting everyone on the same page about the dull details of procedure turns out to matter..."award scholarships in her name. That would become closer to her ideas than a statue.” -- Paul Farber/Monument Lab; Cecilia Alemani/High Line; Paul Goldberger; Mabel O. Wilson; Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel; Jerry Saltz/New York Magazine; Marion Weiss/Weiss Manfredi- Curbed |
How To Make Streets Kid-Friendly: “Designing Streets for Kids,” released by the Global Designing Cities Initiative, a program of the National Association of City Transportation Officials, offers planning strategies and practical solutions to redesign urban streets and public spaces by focusing on the needs of kids and their caregivers, with the goal of making streets beautiful, fun - and safe...urban design challenges impact all children, but are especially stark for children in low-income and historically under served communities...guide is a supplement of the “Global Street Design Guide.” -- Skye Duncan- Forbes |
Cathleen McGuigan: LACMA Defends Its New Building by Peter Zumthor: The long-planned building for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art...has been an ongoing target of withering criticism. The museum is now punching back, with new renderings and a fact sheet: ...critics have been scratching their heads in noting that the new museum is smaller than first advertised, and have expressed concern that it cannot adequately display [the] permanent collections...fact sheet, stating the future museum will contain 110,000 square feet of galleries (an earlier EIR noted 170,000 square feet)...Michael Govan maintains the construction “is on time and on budget"...there will be [new] outdoor public space of 3.5 acres, including sculpture gardens. -- William Pereira; Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer- Architectural Record |
Cajsa Carlson: European Commission president announces "new European Bauhaus" to help Europe move to a circular economy: ...part of the European Union's €750 billion NextGenerationEU coronavirus recovery plan...to kickstart a cultural and sustainable movement in the European Union...."a co-creation space where architects, artists, students, engineers, designers work together...Ursula Von der Layen highlighted construction as an area that needs to be made more sustainable...set a goal of reducing greenhouse emissions by 55% by 2030.- Dezeen |
Tom Ravenscroft: SOM unveils modular School/House pop-up classrooms in response to coronavirus: ...intended to provide a more healthy alternative to current options available for schools in need of additional classroom space...designed to be healthy indoor learning spaces for 25 students positioned 1.8 metres (six feet) away from each other, or up to 50 students in a regular configuration...interior would be clad in easily sanitised finishes...can be installed alongside existing schools, in parking lots or even on available roof space...designed for schools...in cities and rural areas- Dezeen |
Gordon Shrigley: Could historical design help architects creatively tackle homeworking space? ...how a 19th century listed building could offer insight: ...we need to think of new ways of living under the cloud of Covid-19...Many of us...live in very small homes...How is it possible then to make space for homeworking...A good historic example is the Grade II terrace of artisan houses and workshops [in] Shoreditch, designed in 1862 by...Philip Webb...Worship Street was designed to allow people to live and work in one place...provides a significant example of how homes could be designed to accommodate generous working areas...Perhaps planning guidelines now need to be amended...- Hackney Gazette (UK) |
Keith Schneider: As Concerns Over Climate Change Rise, More Developers Turn to Wood: With environmental benefits and lower labor costs, mass timber has grown into a market that could rival steel and concrete in the construction industry: “We are making huge headway in the U.S. now,” said Michael Green, a leading mass timber architect for Katerra...[a] company devoted to designing, manufacturing and constructing ecologically sensitive buildings...Walmart has turned to mass timber as it replaces its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., with a 350-acre corporate campus...12 cross-laminated timber [CLT] buildings encompassing 2.4 million square feet...One of the biggest critics has been the $43 billion ready-mix concrete industry ..Environmentalists are comfortable with mass timber.- New York Times |
Alex Bozikovic: A new Indigenous House at the University of Toronto Scarborough shows an architecture that goes deep: Modelled loosely after a wigwam...the centre will be a long, loosely triangular building with round social spaces at either end, cradled by earth ramps seeded with medicinal plants. It promises to be beautiful. with...a three-dimensional complexity to its form. -- Alfred Waugh/Formline Architecture; LGA Architectural Partners; Public Work- Globe and Mail (Canada) |
Chat Travieso: A Nation of Walls: The Overlooked History of Race Barriers in the United States: ...in their bluntness and ordinariness, such race barriers or segregation walls tend to hide in plain sight...walls and fences like these have been erected for decades...and sanctioned by the courts...The paradoxical effect of such structures is to highlight and to trivialize the historical oppressions they represent, and the injustices they continue to enact...I have been mapping and researching race barriers across the U.S...municipalities...continue, into the present century, to block streets along Black-white neighborhood borders - and in so doing to further harden racial divisions...remain, to this day, oppressively normalized.- Places Journal |
Molly Glentzer: New Houston Botanic Garden ready to bloom: ...introducing a new kind of outdoor experience that embraces both civilization and wilderness. Unlike an arboretum or nature center,[it] is a museum of plants with evolving, curated collections...About 2.5 miles of walking trails wind through it...132-acre green space has been transformed during the past two years from its previous life as the Glenbrook municipal golf course...first Texas project for...West 8...master plan...calls for many more projects, including an event and education center, a conservatory with a restaurant... -- Overland Partners; Clark Condon Associates- Houston Chronicle |
Emma Batha: Singapore, Helsinki and Zurich top index of world's smartest cities: The new ranking comes amid growing debate over the future of urban design for a post-COVID-19 era: From smart traffic cameras and car sharing apps to pollution monitoring and free wifi for all, cities around the world are racing to embrace technology, but researchers said the real test was whether citizens felt the benefits...Others in the top 10 included Auckland, Oslo, Copenhagen, Geneva, Taipei City, Amsterdam, New York, while Abuja, Nairobi and Lagos ranked bottom...many countries are developing smart secondary cities beyond their capitals. -- Institute for Management Development (IMD)- Thomson Reuters Foundation News |
Finalists Released for 2020 Young Talent Architecture Award: The Fundació Mies van der Rohe and Creative Europe have announced the 12 finalist projects...and the 9 finalist projects competing to win the Asian Edition of YTAA 2020. Winners will be announced on October 5 at the beginning of the online Young Talent Architecture Award Day.- ArchDaily |
ANN feature: Turan Duda, FAIA & Jeffrey Paine, FAIA: INSIGHT: Design's Impact on Mental Health on Campus: A Well State of Mind: Designing for mental health requires architects to prioritize the student experience by providing privacy, community, and comfort in their built environments.- ArchNewsNow.com |
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