Archinect - News

Editor's Picks #316

2013-05-22T11:11:00-04:00

Beth Mosenthal penned a thoughtful Op-Ed titled The Ego and the Architect. Therein, she briefly examined "the idea of ‘leadership’ in an architectural office".

News
Celebrating the fact that "the Museum of Modern Art blinked" Michael Kimmelman wrote an article Defending the Former American Folk Art Museum Building. Donna Sink commented "A lovely, calm argument and well- written article. Fingers crossed that MOMA's less egotisticsl and more community-focused board members will listen".

Archinect talked to Ivan Blanco, designer of the competition-winning entry in the LA Film Festival Director's Lounge Design Competition. Ivan heads LA-based multi-disciplinary design studio Blnko Design Labs. Eric Chavkin enjoyed the interview but had a couple of thoughts "The scheme is, well, kind of typical but does address the very important IMHO the after film-aspect of going to a screening. The 'windows frame' metaphor is just weak".

Following the release of CLOG: Brutalism—the NYC-...

Cleveland Institute of Art to break ground on final phase of an eight-year, $63.5 million expansion and renovation

2013-05-20T17:44:00-04:00

The institution launched its consolidation in 2007 by hiring the star architect Winy Maas of the hot Dutch architecture firm of MVRDV to design the project. The effort then hit numerous snags, including the worst recession since the Depression, and the revelation in 2008 that the Maas expansion design... would be too costly. The Philadelphia architecture firm of Burt, Hill, originally hired to help realize the Maas design, became the lead designer.

Gia Wolff wins $100,000 Wheelwright Prize

2013-05-17T18:46:00-04:00

Gia Wolff, Brooklyn-based architect, wins $100,000 travel grant for her proposal Floating City: The Community-Based Architecture of Parade Floats

Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, is pleased to announce that Gia Wolff, an architect based in Brooklyn, New York, is the winner of the inaugural Wheelwright Prize, a $100,000 traveling fellowship dedicated to fostering new forms of architectural research informed by cross-cultural engagement.

The Wheelwright Prize jury—Mostafavi, Yung Ho Chang, Farès el-Dahdah, K. Michael Hays, Farshid Moussavi, Zoe Ryan, and Jorge Silvetti—selected Gia Wolff from among 231 applicants from 45 countries, including Afghanistan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, and Spain. Applicants were asked to submit portfolios along with a research proposal and travel itinerary, outlining an extended field investigation and its anticipated benefits for the field of architecture. “The positive response to the Wheelwright Prize has been extraordinary,” said Mostafavi. “It is inspiring to see so many talented architects with clear agendas...

Lian live-blogs final reviews from Harvard GSD

2013-05-17T14:26:00-04:00

Lian, our resident GSD school blogger is currently live blogging reviews. So far she's covered:

And M.Arch.I thesis reviews...pictures

El Paso, laser scanned in 3D

2013-05-16T14:23:00-04:00

Robert González wants to create a 3D digital replica of Downtown El Paso, using lasers. The director of Texas Tech’s fledgling architecture program in El Paso says the student project would be part of a new historic preservation program he is developing here. The project would create a permanent record, in 3D, of El Paso’s most historic and endangered buildings.

An exhibition of 3D captured border cities from around the world projected onto giant scrims filling an abandoned maquilladora, might be an interesting project.

NEW CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR MONU #19 - GREATER URBANISM

2013-05-15T11:36:00-04:00

Are cities becoming "greater" these days? (Bernd Upmeyer, Editor-in-Chief, May 2013)

Are cities becoming "greater" these days? When two years ago, in our 14th issue of MONU Magazine entitled "Editing Urbanism", we claimed that in the Western world, the need for new buildings and city districts was decreasing or even ceasing to exist altogether due to demographic changes and financially difficult times, we did not believe in all those new, big-scale, and long-term urban development strategies for the metropolitan areas of certain European cities that were being proposed at the time. The growth numbers that plans such as "Greater Helsinki" envisioned for the year 2050, trying to brand the city as one of the most dynamic metropolises in Europe, predicting a population growth from 1.3 million to 2 million, were too exuberant and too vast. However, other European cities, such as Paris, seem to be changing substantially within their metropolitan areas, their "greater" areas. Paris needs to build 70.000 new housing units per year. Mainly because of such requirements, but...

A classroom for the 21st century: where are the best places for learning?

2013-05-14T18:21:00-04:00

... how does using a different physical space have an impact on learning? Bosch argued that changing the environment helps teachers and students to break free from old habits: "One of the things you can do is create an environment where you cannot function the same way as you used to. What happens when you go out of the school into a theatre, you have to improvise. When you improvise, you start learning and developing."

BERLIN SOLIDARITY! FREE COOPER UNION!

2013-05-12T19:51:00-04:00

As alumni living abroad in Berlin, we stand In solidarity with the students occupying the presidents office. We are moved by the actions of the occupying students, enraged by the actions of the Board of Trustees, President Bharucha, and former President Campbell. We are demonstrating outside of John Hejduk's Kreuzberg Tower to symbolize the legacy of Cooper Union and the global reach of free education. Long live Cooper Union, demand free education!

On May 12th Cooper Union alumni in Berlin gathered in front of the Kreuzberg Tower, designed by John Hejduk to show solidarity with Free Cooper Union. This action is in correlation with a student occupation of 50+ students who have currently been occupying the president of Cooper Union, Jamshed Bharuch’s office, since May 8th. The recent string of protests, and petition of no confidence in the president, is in reaction to Cooper’s Board of Trustees decision to charge tuition for the first time in the historically free school, and a variety of other community grievances with the administration and Board of Trustees.

The Kreuzberg Tower was part of the Inernational BauAfstellung Program in 1987, and is one of John Hejduk’s very few built works. The founder and first Dean of Cooper’s Architecture school, John Hejduk viewed the Cooper Union as a spiritual space, “A place that believes one of society's prime social responsibilities is towards learning and education in the deepest se...

Stormcloud, by Oyler Wu Collaborative, for SCI-Arc's 40th Anniversary Pavilion

2013-05-07T20:39:00-04:00

Designed and built by the office of Oyler Wu Collaborative along with students of the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Stormcloud is the third project in a series of installations designed for SCI-ARC. The previous two installations, Netscape and Centerstage were designed for the school's graduation ceremonies in 2011 and 2012 respectively. With SCI-Arc celebrating its 40th anniversary, the school commissioned the new pavilion for the after-party of its April 2013 gala. Tasked with the challenge of revamping the existing Netscape pavilion, Oyler Wu Collaborative saw the project as an opportunity to take a completely different approach to the problem. By removing the ten miles of knitted ropes that once hung between the soaring steel trusses, the project was transformed both volumetrically and materially. Using a minimal amount of new steel elements and cable supports, a spandex fabric was stretched between the elements, giving the pavilion a new life and an une...

Thresholds - Issue 41, now available online

2013-05-07T18:02:00-04:00

What actions are prompted by revolution in the space of the city? Which publics take part in this struggle, and who are the agents that mobilize it? And after a revolution has subsided, how is it remembered, represented and memorialized? thresholds 41: REVOLUTION! turns to the history, design, and cultural production of the public realm as a site of dissensus...

Winner of 2013 Mock Firms International Skyscraper Competition

2013-05-06T16:54:00-04:00

Winners have been announced recently at the fifth annual Mock Firms International Skyscraper Competition, organized by Chicago Architecture Today. [...] The top title of International Skyscraper and Mock Firm Champion (a combination of architectural and marketing efforts) was awarded to the team AZAHAR Architecture composed of five architecture students and one professor from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain.

UC Davis selects SO – IL to design art museum

2013-05-01T18:30:00-04:00

UC Davis today announced that it has selected an emerging New York-based design firm, SO – IL, to design the campus’s planned art museum, envisioned as a regional center of experimentation, participation and learning. The firm will work with team members Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, a prominent architectural firm with offices in San Francisco, Seattle and Pennsylvania, and contractor Whiting-Turner, a national construction firm...

The new museum advances the way museums and architecture are approached in the 21st century.

Designed by SO - IL in partnership with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, and built by Whiting-Turner, the design incorporates a 50,000 square foot steel structure that floats atop a series of interconnected interior and exterior spaces. The gallery space will be 29,000 square feet.

In describing the building, the architects state:

Davis is an ideal setting for a museum that will sow new ways of thinking about the experience of art. The Central Valley breathes a spirit of optimism. Whether one is influenced by the sweeping views over the flat plains beyond to the horizon, or the sense of empowerment one feels when being able to cultivate and grow freely—the spirit of this place is of invention and imagination. It is precisely this spirit we capture in our architectural proposal for the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.

As an overarching move, the design proposes a 50,000 s...

Cooper Union Students React

2013-04-30T15:23:00-04:00

Students in the School Architecture, with support of Art and Engineering students respond to Cooper Union Board of Trustees failure to uphold the mission of their school through a collaborative intervention upon the School of Architecture Lobby, a white space famously designed by John Hejduk. The students pinned two written statements upon the walls after completion(below). Until the recently announced decision Copper Union was the only school of Art, Architecture, and Engineering in the country to offer full tuition scholarships to all admitted students, admittance based solely on merit.

Statement #1

This space, the third floor lobby of Cooper Union's Foundation Building, is a sacred space, the heart of the School of Architecture. This is our citadel, our platform to address the world. This lobby is a place where we engage in a dialogue of critique, debate, and the free exchange of ideas. The spirit of this space, a work forged from the toil of many great individuals, has...

Editor's Picks #313

2013-04-30T11:21:00-04:00

SDR complained "The Saratoga Community Center is ‘traditional’ ? Really ? Brickwork with masonry or ceramic trim is no longer a viable architectural material ? What'll be declared dead, next -- the rectangle ?...I don't defend the example above as a work of architecture. I know nothing about it. But it's a surprising contender for 'traditional'--- isn't it ?)".

News
Christopher Gray reviewed John Hill’s book A Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture, reflected on the current revival of traditional architecture in the United States, and asked Mr. Hill if he has "a bias against the neo-traditional movement?”.

SDR complained "The Saratoga Community Center is ‘traditional’ ? Really ? Brickwork with masonry or ceramic trim is no longer a viable architectural material ? What'll be declared dead, next -- the rectangle ?...I don't defend the example above as a work of architecture. I know nothing about it. But it's a surprising contender for 'traditional'--- isn't it ?)".

observant summarized Mr. Gray’s argument "Ok, so the world is getting tired of peeling Gehry's buildings and the odd cowlicks in Morphosis's buildings, and we're headed back to another swat at post-modern, except that this one is Prairie School revival. I would not have been able to deduce that very easily. It's really watered down. And if the people in the...

Sunflowers, pocket parks and other ideas aim to beautify vacant lots

2013-04-29T14:44:00-04:00

If you live in any large ‘rustbelt’ city in the Midwest, and St. Louis in particular, you’re probably all too familiar with the site of vacant lots. Empty land where homes and businesses used to be present a tough challenge for cities. This weekend, ground will be broken on several projects which aim to change the way neighborhoods and cities deal with vacant property. The Washington University Sustainable Land Lab Competition chose five winning designs from 48 design submissions.

Hitler's Words Into Stone. Can architecture itself be fascist?

2013-04-28T00:06:00-04:00

Rather elegant," intoned the white-haired figure at the podium. He was speaking of Adolf Hitler's Reich Chancellery, designed in 1938 by Albert Speer. Up next on the screen was the Nuremberg Party Rally Grounds where brown-shirted Nazis paraded en masse. "I think it is really great architecture," said the lecturer. "You take off the swastikas, and you can admire it without feeling guilty."

As you might expect, "Audience members shifted awkwardly in their seats, and a few walked out to protest the remarks by Léon Krier, opening a conference on Berlin at the Yale School of Architecture in February." Anyone manage to actually be there for this, or have any follow-up?

PennDesign Student Wins 2013 RAMSA Travel Fellowship

2013-04-24T18:20:00-04:00

Jonathan Dessi-Olive, a Master's candidate at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, has recently been announced as recipient of the 2013 RAMSA Travel Fellowship. The $10,000 prize is awarded annually by the Partners of Robert A.M. Stern Architects for the purpose of travel and research.

Previously: Robert A. M. Stern Architects announces the RAMSA Travel Fellowship

2013 Berkeley Prize Winners Announced

2013-04-24T16:38:00-04:00

Winners of the 15th annual BERKELEY PRIZE competition have been announced. The 2013 prize program focuses on the topic: 'The Architect and the Accessible City.' 152 architecture students from 26 countries responded to this year’s question: "Provide us with an overview of what is being done in your city to make it accessible to people who have physical disabilities. In your opinion as an architect, what more can be done?"

Cooper Union to charge UG tuition beginning next year

2013-04-23T20:23:00-04:00

Officials at New York City's Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art announced today that the school, famously free to students, will begin charging undergraduate tuition next year.

Via thinkgreen in the forum.

MONU #18 ON COMMUNAL URBANISM RELEASED

2013-04-23T16:51:00-04:00

How should we live together? is the central question of this 18th issue of MONU on the topic of "Communal Urbanism", focusing on contemporary communal living in cities. (Bernd Upmeyer, Editor-in-Chief, April 2013)

How should we live together? is the central question of this 18th issue of MONU on the topic of "Communal Urbanism", focusing on contemporary communal living in cities. According to Martin Abbott's contribution "Learning to Live Together", this is a question often discussed among the housemates of Berlin's 40 year old communal "Hausprojekt Walde". Rainer Langhans, one of the early members of the legendary "Kommune 1", founded in Berlin in 1967, is convinced that in the future we will live increasingly communally. He sees a growing demand for, and interest in, communal life and shared experiences as he explains in our interview with him entitled "Privacy and Ecstasy". But in contrast to his own experiences in Kommune 1, where he experienced an uninterrupted, 24/7, spiritual communal ecstasy of love, the communal life of the future will instead be characterized by temporary communities, where people meet and share spaces, facilities and experiences occasionally, similar to his own c...

Editor's Picks #312

2013-04-23T12:37:00-04:00

The LA Times reported that Renzo Piano, Los Angeles architect Zoltan Pali and officials from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled preliminary designs for a $300-million film museum. Eric Chavkin concluded "A toy chest of architectures related only by location. From the Bruce Goff Japanese Pavilion to the black box Mies bookstore to Hugh Hardy's disco streamlined moderne to Luckmans sorry start. Renzo Piano's 'back-to-the-future cinema spheres just continues the trajectory"

In an essay titled UNEXPECTED COSTS ~ Big ticket design software versus alternate methodologies, Ann Lui a designer and freelance writer reflected on the fact that "Not twenty years ago, if you wanted to start your own firm, you could do so on a Mayline drafting board in your basement...Today, my partner and I sit on our couch as we write up a wishlist of basic softwares we might need for a fledgling practice...tally the price tags, and the bottom line drops like an anvil: just over $15,000".

mfischer3387 echoed curtkram, "its much tougher to start an architecture business than most other fields, because yes, the start up costs are enormous, as outlined in the article. I would argue that software package costs are not necessarily always for the benefit of design, but for liability purposes". Other commentator's like Jeremy Miller offered advice "You could get the Revit LT suite for about $1,800...Also, Archicad has a rental model...Be creative" and Steve Sanderson (founding par...

IE Master in Architectural Management and Design program bridges the gap between design and business

2013-04-22T18:03:00-04:00

IE Master in Architectural Management and Design is a 13 month program aimed to bridge the gap that exists between advanced design and the business in the architectural field. The innovative and pioneering content of this master course lies in the combination of IE's well known entrepreneurial spirit and business expertise in conjunction with the design approach of IE School of Architecture.

Its blended format (a combination between online sessions with on-site periods ) allows students to meet their professional obligations while studying.

The Architect's Backstage lecture series will enrich the students experience through direct contact with leaders of top architecture practices, some of whom Pritzker Prize Laureates, will explain key insights to achieve excellence in design.

David Chipperfield Architects. Andrew Phillips
Foster and Partners. Richard Mateu
GENSLER. Duncan Swinhoe
ShoP Architects. Gregg Pasquarelli
Perkins Eastman. Bradford Perkins
...

Why did some Columbia architecture students treat their annual like garbage?

2013-04-16T13:01:00-04:00

Departing with the familiar tradition of producing a hefty physical volume, GSAPP offered its most recent Abstract in the form of an iPad app. In addition to (or on cover-like behalf of) this app, students received an object: It looks like a book, but turns out to be a book-shaped plastic box, and its contents consist of a URL, where the app can be downloaded. This object, as you can see, has not been universally embraced.

Architecture students compete to build largest cardboard structure

2013-04-16T11:32:00-04:00

More than 50 students will attempt to break the nationwide record of 1,655 boxes, currently held by BYU The battle to build the world’s largest cardboard structure has been an ongoing rivalry between three schools: UNLV, Harvard University, and BYU. UNLV students have been preparing for weeks to manipulate the cardboard into realistic architectural concepts, using lessons learned in a fundamentals of design course.

IE Master in Architectural Design lecture series opens with Sou Fujimoto

2013-04-15T18:23:00-04:00

IE Master in Architectural Design opens its 2013 lecture series program, at the Círculo of Bellas Artes in Madrid, with the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.

Sou Fujimoto’s lecture, “Evolving Ideas: Primitive Future”, served as a forum for students to participate in open discussions between scholars, critics, independent professionals, entrepreneurs, curators and cultural activists.

What is the meaning of Architecture? and how does it relate to nature? are the two questions that Sou Fujimoto continues to ponder on.

His projects are a pure reflection of his continuous research of the relationship between:

city and architecture
architecture and landscape
inside and outside
nature and architecture

The Rise of the Darists

2013-04-15T12:09:00-04:00

To be sure, I do not believe that design practices do not involve research, or that these practices do not produce new knowledge. Nothing could be further from the idea. All design draws upon knowledge, either produced by existing research or new research. But critically, design is not synonymous with research. Design cannot base its conclusions on design itself.

Archinect contributor and former editor in chief Javier Arbona's critique of Design as Research, DaR, and what happened to architectural theory. A provocative piece. "the Rise of Darists" @ PLAT 2.5

Archiculture, a documentary film following architecture students, to premiere later this month

2013-04-11T19:42:00-04:00

Archiculture takes a thoughtful, yet critical look at the architectural studio. The film offers a unique glimpse into the world of studio-based, design education through the eyes of a group of students finishing their final design projects. Interviews with leading professionals, historians and educators help create crucial dialog around the key issues faced by this unique teaching methodology.

As some of you might recall, we interviewed the filmmakers back in 2008 (5 years ago!) here on Archinect. Well, it seems that the world will finally see what they've been working on, starting with the world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival on April 29th.

Apply for the ZGF Scholorship Fund for a chance to win $10k

2013-04-11T15:18:00-04:00

In place since 2004, the Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architectural Scholarship Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation is intended to recognize and foster students who have a demonstrated talent and passion for architecture. $10,000 will be awarded to one scholarship recipient; a currently enrolled student entering their final year in a graduate or undergraduate level, NAAB accredited, architecture program in the fall of 2012. In addition to the financial award, a summer 2012 internship in one of the firm's five office locations (Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York or Washington DC) will be offered to the scholarship recipient. The scholarship recipient will be selected in June, with funds awarded for the 2012-2013 academic year. Additional information and an application form are available on the Scholarship page www.zgf.com

Robert Alexander Wins 2013 Rotch Travelling Scholarship

2013-04-10T20:15:00-04:00

Robert K. Alexander of San Pedro, California, an adjunct faculty member of the architecture department at California State Polytechnic Institute University, Pomona’s College of Environmental Design, has been named the 2013 Rotch Travelling Scholarship recipient. Alexander will receive a $37,000 stipend to spend eight months traveling and studying architecture around the world.

Editor's Picks #310

2013-04-09T12:04:00-04:00

For the latest entry in the ShowCase series Archinect published the Shrine of the Virgin of "La Antigua" by Otxotorena Arquitectos. The project is located in Alberite, La Rioja, Spain and the architects main constraint was the need to "incorporate a preexisting stone archway in the design. This archway was rescued from a previous demolition in the town and it was preserved by the locals".

Donna Sink exclaimed "Wow, wow. I love it. Love the multiple arcade forms and multiple striations and similar but different textures...Would love to see a floorplan if there is one?".

News

The LA Times reported that the Watts Towers in South Los Angeles will be the subject of a new study conducted by experts from UCLA to determine the stability of the historic sculptures.

Orhan Ayyüce shared these words "In my opinion it is the most beautiful and meaningful public art in Los Angeles that people neglected for decades" and a photo.

The Plain Dealer /Cleveland.com announced th...