Archinect - News

Michael Maltzan Sinks Underwater Reef Garden Idea for Revised St. Petersburg Pier Design

2012-11-28T12:14:00-05:00

Maltzan and his firm were sent back to the drawing board to revise plans for a pier renovation in St. Petersburg, Florida after scientists disputed the feasibility of the proposal’s main appeal: its underwater reef garden. Today, the firm released details of its revisions – the redesign will add shaded balconies, vehicular transit, and another restaurant — features suggested by the local community — while taking away the quasi-aquarium that helped christen the project “The Lens.”

Scientists propose more realistic vision for Michael Maltzan's pier's underwater garden

2012-08-13T15:06:00-04:00

This week, architects and city staff met with marine scientists for the first time and heard the verdict: Maltzan's dream of a Key West-style reef with corals and easily visible sea life would remain just that in Tampa Bay waters. Now the architect is going back to the drawing board, looking for more realistic ways to present the centerpiece feature of the Lens, as the replacement of the current Pier is known.

'The Lens' Draws Sharp Comments at Town Hall Meeting

2012-02-03T17:07:00-05:00

About three-quarters of the people who spoke favored renovating the existing pier or picking a "Mediterranean-style" design for a replacement. The ultra-modern design of "The Lens" did not draw support from most of the people who spoke. "We are paying for $50 million for a sidewalk over the water," one commenter said. "I wanted Mediterranean style. (I) feel we are being locked into (a design) that doesn't have any local flavor."

Editor's Picks #247

2012-01-22T16:32:00-05:00

Guy wrote “why, when the evidence is out there, were a number of architects so defensive about the “Don’t Major in Architecture” article? Why are they whining? My conclusion, so far, is that this touched a nerve precisely because this isn’t new information to architects.” In response emergency exit wound asked, “And the assumption that 'an informed public makes the space for architecture more possible' is based on what exactly?

In the latest edition of the CONTOURS feature The Divisions that Bind Us, Guy Horton, analyzed the online commentariat’s response to Catherine Rampell, an economics reporter for The New York Times, article “Want a Job? Go to College, and Don’t Major in Architecture”. Guy wrote “why, when the evidence is out there, were a number of architects so defensive about the “Don’t Major in Architecture” article? Why are they whining? My conclusion, so far, is that this touched a nerve precisely because this isn’t new information to architects.”

In response emergency exit wound asked, “And the assumption that 'an informed public makes the space for architecture more possible' is based on what exactly? Is the desire for 'public discourse' really just a euphemism for 'expanded client base'?" Guy replied “Can architects in a professional setting and in the academy enhance the public discourse and challenge it? Or is it a lost cause. This is the binary problem of casting the public as one pole...