Archinect - News

65,000 new streetlights illuminate Detroit—here's why that's important

2017-01-11T18:29:00-05:00

Michael Kimmelman of the New York Times has published an article about the 65,000 new streetlights now illuminating the streets of Detroit. This seemingly prosaic infrastructural adjustment actually has a lot of import. For a long time, according to the article, Detroit’s decline was symbolically represented in articles about its lights going out. “Like picking up the trash, fixing potholes and responding to emergencies, these efforts signal that no matter where you live in Detroit, you are no longer forgotten — that government here can finally keep its basic promises,” writes Kimmelman.

Rather than staying concentrated in the inner-city, like most capital and growth, the lights spread across Detroit’s entire 139 miles. Costing $185 million in public money, the lights use energy-efficient LED bulbs. And the whole project came together under budget and on time.

SCI-Arc can't seem to find a single female architect to include in its Spring 2017 lecture series

2017-01-11T17:28:00-05:00

SCI-Arc has announced its Spring 2017 lecture series. And not a single female architect was included in the list. Really, SCI-Arc?

Granted, the roster includes historian and theorist Sylvia Lavin as well as the artist Amalia Ulman—but the lack of a single practicing female architect is pretty striking. In recent years, criticism has been waged at institutions for privileging men when it comes to lecture series, as well as panels, faculty, exhibitions, firms, commissions, wages, and interpersonal relations.

It’s not exactly like there’s a paucity of exceptionally talented women in the field. The Feminist Wall of Shame also took note and posted on the omission.

Winners of the Exhibit Columbus Miller Prize announced

2017-01-11T12:33:00-05:00

Exhibit Columbus, an “annual exploration of architecture, art, design, and community created to celebrate Columbus’ extraordinary design heritage”, has announced the winners of its inaugural Miller Prize. Named after J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller, the prize comes with the opportunity to building a temporary installation on one of five sites in the city. The five winners were selected from a large pool that was eventually narrowed down to 10 finalists, each of whom presented their concepts in a public forum at the Columbus City Hall.

The winners are:

studio:indigenous (Chris Cornelius) — First Christian Church by Saarinen and Saarinen (1942)

“Inspired by the dwellings of the Miyaamia people indigenous to Indiana, Cornelius adorns a walkway leading to First Christian Church with a contemporary “wigwam” - wiikiaami in the Miyaamia language - constructed of rebar and copper scales. The swooping conical form is aligned both to the church’s iconic campanile and to mark the autumnal equin...

A Salute to Garbage Fires: moving on from 2016 and predictions for 2017, on Archinect Sessions #93

2016-12-22T18:24:00-05:00

It's that time of the year – for washing away the stench of the past and basking in the sweet, slightly terrifying promise of an uncertain future. This week on the podcast, we dish out our predictions for architecture in 2017, and try to digest the year that was 2016.

This is our final episode for the year – we'll be back in a few weeks with fresh discussions, but in the meantime, if you like the podcast, you can do us a huge solid by rating us on iTunes. Send us thoughts, comments, and suggestions through connect@archinect.com, or find us on Twitter, @archsessions.

Listen to episode 93 of Archinect Sessions, "A Salute to Garbage Fires":

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No Sage on Stage: 'Exhibit Columbus' shines loving light on Indiana's architectural hotspot, on Archinect Sessions #83

2016-09-29T17:15:00-04:00

Beginning today through October 1, Columbus, Indiana will celebrate its architectural history and identity with its very first Exhibit Columbus—an annual event alternating between a symposium and a design exhibition. Known for its rich architectural holdings of work by Eero and Eliel Saarinen, Kevin Roche, I.M. Pei, Deborah Berke, Richard Meier, Robert Venturi and others, Columbus has earned its "Athens of the prairie" tagline, and Exhibit Columbus hopes to honor that proud tradition into the future.

We're joined by key members of Exhibit Columbus, Richard McCoy (director of the symposium's parent company, Landmark Columbus) and Joshua Coggeshall (partner at Shimizu + Coggeshall and co-director of next year's Ball State University installations) to discuss the city's architectural heritage, and what's planned for this year's inaugural symposium.

Listen to episode 83 of Archinect Sessions, "No Sage on Stage":

iTunes: Click here to listen, and click the "Subscribe" button below the logo ...