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Paul Goldberger, writer and architecture critic for the New Yorker, writes on Jeanne Gang's new Aqua tower in Chicago - explaining why it's an even more impressive project than understood at first glace.
.:read the full article->
Which are the world's most beautiful cities? And what are the qualifications? Forbes takes a stab at naming the globe's greatest urban areas.
--01.25.2010-- #The Brookings Institute has graded President Obamas infrastructure spending / plan as an "A-" - but in reading the actual article, I'm not really sure why. Sure, it seems like a good idea - but the fact that it hasn't really been implemented properly / most effectively should be reflected in Obama's grade, shouldn't it?
--01.20.2010-- #Well, no Planning Department - thats the new direction some cities/towns are taking, opting to contract planning work out to private firms rather than staff a full-time planning department.
.:full story->via the Arch's Paper
--01.19.2010-- #The Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi) has developed the first augmented reality architecture software. Check it out.
--01.18.2010-- #Or really, 'Not on my Planet'. The NIMBY movement is possibly being elevated to a global scale, with Pacific Islanders (Micronesia, in particular) taking legal steps to block the Czech Republic from building a coal plant due to the affects said plant would have on the island nation - some 6,000km or so away. Well played, Micronesia! I have no doubt that this won't work directly - but it keeps the effects global warming has on small island nations and their populations in the news, which is a big deal. Also, this shows (in case you weren't aware) that the people of Micronesia are ninjas - using the Czechs' own laws against them.
.:full story->Scientific American
--01.13.2010-- #Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for the New Yorker, sits down to discuss his new books - and the current state of things in the world of architecture - with Charlie Rose.
--01.10.2010-- #Architecture students want more design/build projects in school - which will only make them more effective in the workplace, giving them valuable construction experience.
.:Build it, they will come->via Architect
--01.08.2010-- #How good of a job are architecture schools doing at integrating sustainability into their curricula? Apparently, not so impressive. Check out "Ecological Literacy in Architectural Education".
--01.07.2010-- #Experts say that even though commercial real estate is tanking, that it both won't be as bad as the housing market's collapse and won't cause another recession. Ninjas will not be holding their breath (well not for this, anyways) - and architects will probably still be screwed.
--01.06.2010-- #David Chipperfield has been knighted for services to architecture in the UK and Germany on the 2010 New Year Honours List.
Also knighted, Captain Picard.
--01.05.2010-- #For completely screwing-over the entire planet. Brilliant! A writer for the Guardian, who was in the room for a number of the Copenhagen talks, explains how China blocked all the major iniatives - and how Obama isn't [really] to blame. "I am certain that had the Chinese not been in the room, we would have left Copenhagen with a deal that had environmentalists popping champagne corks in every corner of the world."
--12.23.2009-- #Autodesk, makers of AutoCAD and Revit [among other software] have created an online videogame to build awareness about the importance of green building. My ninjas, PLEASE...
.:full story->via triplepundit
--12.22.2009-- #Are LED traffic signals too efficient for cold climates? Apparently they don't necessarily give off [read: waste] enough heat to melt snow - which can then pile up enough to block the signals from the view of drivers.
--12.17.2009-- #What did the famous architect say about his most recent birthday? "Turning 102 is crap, and there is nothing to commemorate."
--12.16.2009-- #Can abandoned 'big box' retail be converted to suburban farming? It would certainly put these spaces in the 'burbs to good use - and would [I imagine] be more cost efective than vertical farming in our cities. Something to think about...
--12.16.2009-- #Boston-based architecture firm Cubellis Associates, Inc. is closing shop. The 24 year old firm had recently opened a number of offices around the country, and employed roughly 400 people. Clients are being transitioned to start-ups created by employees Cubellis has recently let-go.
.:full story->Boston Business Journal
--12.02.2009-- #What is going on with Gwathmey Siegel & Associates' U.N. Mission project? If they were going for secure, why not put everyone in an actual bunker then?
"The concrete-paneled pillar opens grudgingly as it rises, transitioning from a blank wall to perforations just wide enough for an archer, to vast executive windows near the top. The structure embodies the latest in security doctrine and technology, but it has a stark, medieval look, as if it were meant to defend against catapults and trebuchets. Welcome to your friendly federal government's new diplomatic presence on the Manhattan skyline."
--12.02.2009-- #Minarets are now banned in Switzerland, in a move that is so absurdly ignorant that all I can do is laugh. Consider this: what is a minaret but a different word for something that is essentially the same as a common feature in Christian churches/cathedrals? Bell towers and tall steeples? My ninjas, please - same exact thing. Shit, bell towers even serve the same purpose as a minaret. Why not just build giant signs that read "hey, all you Muslims - we'd prefer it if you got the hell out of here". This is why in a true democracy [so nowhere] you don't have popular votes on these kinds of issues - because people in large groups are all too often biased, small minded, clique-orientated, bigots. Last time I checked popular demand wasn't a solid reason for the government allowing the many to mistreat the few...
[note: a ninja will be dispatched to use anyone who leaves a comment mentioning 'terrorism', 'fundamentalists', etc, as a practice dummy]
--12.01.2009-- #This, I think, is a really cool / interesting story: "It all started when Google's Tom Wyman and Chris Cronin started getting enthusiastic calls and e-mails from architects who had children on the spectrum. Their kids, the parents reported, had discovered the software program and loved it. All they needed was their creativity and a computer mouse and they could design entire neighborhoods."
--11.18.2009-- #TIME reflects on the importance and impact of the Bauhaus, which only lasted 14 years but redefined design for the 20th century.
--11.17.2009-- #Paul Goldberger's new article on Jean Nouvel and the art of the facade, 'Surface Tension'.
--11.17.2009-- #"The Long Island Chapter of the American Institute of Architects awarded Bates Masi + Architects the prestigious Archi Award for the Lakeside residence in Montauk, Long Island. The award was for the category Best Single and Multi-Family Residence."
--11.16.2009-- #"Paul Goldberger wants to remind us of why architecture matters, in shaping lives and cultures. From ancient Rome to the next wave of American - or Asian - building. This hour, On Point: Paul Goldberger, on the power of the built world around us."
.:listen to the show->via WBUR
--11.15.2009-- #Thanks mostly to pro-industry nuts, the climate change / global warming discussion has reached a strange level of apathy - mostly because - quite literally - people don't perceive their environment as 'warmer'. My ninjas, PLEASE. To suggest that climate change isn't happening - contrary to the opinion of the majority of scientists - because you still need to wear a coat in the winter is RETAHDED. Two new comments on the debate are from Amanda Baillieu [editor of bd] - claiming that "scientific evidence has now shifted enough" to suggest climate change isn't an issue to worry about [she doesn't source anyone, of course] - and a response by Hattie Hartman at the Architects' Journal, wondering mostly what the hell Amanda is talking about. An important point I'd like to make: saying that scientists think / support something isn't the same as showing they do. Many of these people claiming that science has debunked climate change are supposed to be journalists - even as a lowly blogger I know you need some sources to back something like that up. Sh!t.
--11.13.2009-- #"Just six weeks ago PLP Architecture was set up following a headline-grabbing fracture within Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects (KPF). Yet the new practice, led by the US giant's London founding member Lee Polisano and partners David Leventhal, Fred Pilbrow, Karen Cook and Ron Bakker, already boasts a 60-strong workforce and an enviable client list."
.:full story-> Architects' Journal
--11.12.2009-- #Zaha Hadid-designed Maxxi, the new museum of contemporary art in Rome, is opening soon - and Nicolai Ouroussoss gives us an overview of Hadid's latest work.
--11.12.2009-- #Thom Mayne spoke at Cornell recently, and dropped some gems: "His design philosophy opposes the "conservative" idea of "architecture as a contextual activity," wherein buildings are simply efficient containers for the prearranged activities that take place inside them. Mayne prefers constructing large-scale "environments" wherein the architecture provokes an active dialogue: the buildings and its surroundings mutually interpret each other. Innovation arises in a matrix of conflicts - rather than necessarily underwriting the given function of a space, Mayne's designs often challenge the idea of spatial coherence."
--11.11.2009-- #Check out SOM's vision for expanding Beijing's Central Business District - a project that could eventually displace up to 10,000 residents. Yay for progress! Wait, what...?
--11.10.2009-- #The New Republic looks into the work of archi-genius Peter Zumthor. Way to be late to the game, TNR.
--11.09.2009-- #