Archinect - News

Is architecture notorious for praising bad design without reprimanding others?

2019-09-30T12:10:00-04:00

Where is architecture missing the mark when it comes to awarding praise to "successful" designs? In a recent piece by Charles Rosenblum from the Pittsburgh City Paper, he expresses concern for the lack of outside architectural critique from organizations like the AIA. "If we don't speak up, we are on track to get more."

Other than visual aesthetics, the notable architecture critic from Pittsburgh highlights the issues with specific organizations praising projects and design proposals that poorly execute a good design. Rosenblum points out variables such as affordability, landscape, traffic, and parking are no longer in the discussion when assessing and awarding projects.

"Why are the designers proposing a kind of building that has been discredited nationally when better design approaches are available? Why does the profession praise its achievers, but not self-police its laggards, hacks, and profiteers?" explains Rosenblum. "No one goes to a restaurant run by nice people if it has b...

Sydney's revamped Kensington Street wins Good Design award

2016-06-09T18:27:00-04:00

Juxtaposed by modern architecture on the western side of the street, the circa 1842 working class terrace facades on the eastern side have been retained and restored in line with strict heritage conditions. “Kensington Street’s integration with the Central Park precinct was of great consideration. We wanted to celebrate its difference in vernacular to the rest of the contemporary precinct but wanted to integrate it with quality landscaping and other infrastructure.

Until several architectural firms were charged with restoring and revamping it, Kensington Street in Sydney's Chippendale area was a former bustling industrial zone fallen to ruin. Now the street (or at least, the design firms responsible for its transformation, including Turf Design Studio, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, and Paul Davies & Associates) has won the "Architectural Design" prize in the Good Design awards, which is marking its 58th year.

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Design a Fix for the Housing Market

2012-02-10T11:27:00-05:00

Too often during the bubble, banks and builders shunned thoughtful architecture and urban design in favor of cookie-cutter houses that could be easily repackaged as derivatives to be flipped, while architects snubbed housing to pursue more prestigious projects. But better design is precisely what suburban America needs, particularly when it comes to rethinking the basic residential categories that define it, but can no longer accommodate the realities of domestic life.