Archinect - News

Archinect's round-up of the week's architectural critiques

2015-09-16T13:36:00-04:00

What is the role of creative exploration in architecture? From the L.A. Times to The New Republic, this question is very much on critical minds. In a piece entitled "How to Make Architecture Human," Anna Wiener reviews Witold Rybczynski's latest collection of essays, Mysteries of the Mall, which sets out to explore the "mundane" locales of architecture and quickly proclaims a distaste for the avant-garde in favor of lasting value.

Wiener notes that "Rybczynski is right to call out architects who submit designs for cities they have little relationship to, but work that favors experimentation—in aesthetics, in use, in design process—occupies a valuable space in the culture, too. 'Lasting value' is subjective and arbitrary; it serves a culture well to explore its desires and curiosities, however eccentric, and expand beyond the mainstream comfort-zone." Her review delves further into the problems of outdated and out of touch criticism: many of the essays contained in the book were origi...

NY Times Enters the "Starchitect" Debate

2014-07-30T13:58:00-04:00

Witold Rybczynski, the architect and emeritus professor of urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, complained recently about “starchitects” who often work in cities they are unfamiliar with, creating buildings that are out of sync with their surroundings. In an interview, he argued in favor of local architectural talent, or “locatecture.” Are superstar architects ruining city skylines?

In this "Room for Debate" at the New York Times, Allison Arieff, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Beverly Willis, and Angel Borrego Cubero all provide their opinions on the much-used and controversial portmanteau.

The NY Times interviews architecture critic Witold Rybczynski

2014-05-08T18:17:00-04:00

His writing has a patient, deliberate quality that is rare at a moment when the dominant medium of architectural discourse is Twitter. Perhaps this is why Mr. Rybczynski, despite himself, is suddenly all the rage.

Winners of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum 2014 National Design Awards

2014-05-05T21:25:00-04:00

The winners of the 15th annual National Design Awards were recently revealed, as announced by The Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Established in The White House in 2000, the National Design Awards recognizes design excellence, innovation, and public impact in a multitude of disciplines. The awards program also aims to promote the valuable role of design in society.

This year's recipients are:

(Pictured above) Brooks + Scarpa for Architecture Design

Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors for Interior Design

Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture for Landscape Architecture

Office for Communication Design

Narciso Rodriguez for Fashion Design

Aaron Koblin for Interaction Design

LUNAR for Product Design

Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar for Lifetime Achievement

Witold Rybczynski for Design Mind

Etsy for Corporate & Institutional Achievement

For more details, head over to Bustler.

Dispatches from 5468796 Architecture's Table for Twelve | Sydney

2014-02-26T14:44:00-05:00

Archinect is delighted to present 5468796 Architecture's travelogue for their award-winning research project, Table for Twelve. The Winnipeg-based firm received the 2013 Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture from the Canada Council for the Arts, awarded to emerging Canadian architects with outstanding artistic potential. The $50,000 prize is supporting the firm’s worldwide travels to both strengthen their skills and expand their presence within the international architectural community.

5468796’s Table for Twelve is a series of dinner parties held at architectural epicenters around the world, in the hopes that picking the brains of local talent will help them identify the drivers behind a strong design culture. Archinect plays host to their global dispatches through this travel blog, updated upon each city’s dinner.

From 5468796:

IMPRESSIONS

We left Japan with our heads still spinning from the colours, the sounds of gaming lounges, the continuous traffic jams, and the hordes upon ho...

Get Lectured: McGill University Fall '13

2013-10-23T17:25:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2013

Here on Archinect we recently launched "Get Lectured", where we'll feature a school's lecture series--along with their snazzy posters--for the current season. Check back regularly to stay up-to-date and mark your calendars for any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

It's time to change things up a little here in GL. For starters, our first international school is McGill University School of Architecture in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Since 2001, the McGill School of Architecture has featured several notable names--and a colorful collection of posters -- in their seasonal lecture series. A few recent lecturers include Bjarke Ingels of BIG; ARUP Principal David Scott; Shigeru Ban; Jeanne Gang; Luc Courchesne of METALAB, and UPenn Emeritus Professor of Urbanism Witold Rybczynski. Another regular feature to take note of is their lunchtime Brown Bag ASA-sponsored lecture series.

Select lectures are also available as podcasts.

Wa...

Get Lectured: Carnegie Mellon University Fall '13

2013-10-03T12:55:00-04:00

Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture is our featured lectured series for Thursday.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

All lectures begin at 6:30 pm and are free and open to the public. Note each lecture's locations.

SEPTEMBER

September 16
Maria Aiolova / Terreform ONE, New York
"Urbaneering Cities"
at Carnegie Museum of Art Theater: 4400 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh
Alan H. Rider Distinguished Lecture

September 23
Peter Rich / Peter Rich Architects, Johannesburg
"Learnt in Translation"
at Kresge Theatre: located in Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts building
Alan H. Rider ...

Stop complaining... the recession is good for us!

2011-01-13T17:53:00-05:00

Slate's Witold Rybczynski posits an interesting, yet not new, argument. He discusses how the the extravagant architectural approach of the previous decade is resulting in more thoughtful, rational architecture.

What will happen to the anti-rationalists in this new, responsible world? It's not easy for an architect to change his spots—just look at the diminished fortunes of Paul Rudolph in the 1970s, or Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in the 1980s. The big names will coast on their reputations, finding commissions in increasingly obscure corners of the world. Turkmenistan, anyone? The losers will be the current generation of young graduates. Trained in the arcane arts of parametric design and generative architecture, they will find themselves facing a world of chastened clients who demand discipline, restraint, and common sense. Big chill, indeed. - Slate