News
Over at Bustler.net, Bernard Tschumi Architects unveiled the schematic design for the firm's first work in Italy: ANIMA, a new cultural center in the city of Grottammare. The project has been commissioned by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno and the Municipality of Grottammare and is expected to be completed by 2016.

In the description of the project, it states: “Could one design a facade without resorting to formal composition? Could one design a facade that would be neither abstract nor figurative, but formless, so to speak? Our motivation in raising these questions was both economic and cultural: At a time of economic crisis, to indulge in formal geometries made out of complex volumetric curves did not seem a responsible option. The time of ‘Iconism’ seemed to be over".

vado retro summed up the design "a box within a box and one box the one inside, the inside box is at an angle. oh and there are trees" but Alex Gomez added "Although the facade is superficial, I feel it will succeed in attracting ‘qualitative and quantitative tourist flows in the area,’ which is the goal of the cultural center. It would be nice to see the inspiration from nature further integrated into the interior design of the building”.

Ben Fractenburg wrote about the story of contractor David Boyle and his architect wife, Michele Bertomen, who built a home at 351 Keap St. in Williamsburg, out of three shipping containers. Given couldn’t help remarking "Middle class NYC residents in their 50s try and build house in new york and end up using discarded technology from the US import/export deficit because a normal house is too expensive. It still costs 400,000 dollars. That's right people, we really are a first world nation".

The Architects’ Journal interviewed Daniel Libeskind who argued "Architects have to take responsibility for their work. I can’t separate the formal geometry from the context of who they were commissioned by and the morality of those states...I’m not interested in building gleaming streets for despots".

Yet as mantaray noted, even though "That is refreshing to hear...The problem becomes when the morals are not easy to see.  There are loads of immoral people hiring architects - and it's not also so obvious as, say, a totalitarian, repressive city-state regime”.                                       

On Places, Alexandra Lange analyzed the writings and influence of Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer (the Founding Mother of Architecture Criticism). As she writes, "Mariana Van Rensselaer worked out the ground rules of the fledgling profession, struggling to be a critic of greater conscientiousness, while calling upon her players — architects, clients, public — to do their jobs properly". Thayer-D agreed "This woman is an amazing writer and architectural critic.  It would be amazing to see her get her due".

Firms/Blogs/Work Updates
Gregory Walker, laid out why 5 years on and it's still about construction... Specifically, even though he has "been beating this drum...since 2009...it's really this simple: get construction spending back to 'normal' levels and everything else will fall into place" he is curious as to "why kermit baker, the aia's chief economist, can't pull this information together, perhaps in collaboration with the AGC or NAHB. because, if we're going to make a collective political case to help unwind what truly ails us, shouldn't we be  demonstrating the economics involved over, and over, and over?".

Prototype *.4a in New York, NY by SOFTlab and Hatria | Cersaie in Bologna, Italy by Paolo Cesaretti Architetto (Photo: Stefano Stagni | Paolo+Stefano) were just two of the projects featured in the latest 'Top Archinect Pinterest Images' post from from the board Details.

Recently Amy Green "found part of the original NYC Plaza hotel for reuse” on an upcoming architectural remodel"

while Michael Villegas worked on Minshara posters #2.

Schools/Blogs

In response to the discussion generated last week, by a post about propose[EXISTING] hsolie’s currently underway thesis project located in the city of Detroit, "and in hopes of clarifying their position and to try to move the discussion into more productive avenues", hsolie posted their working Thesis Statement/Manifesto.

Therein we read "The success of the project will hinge on its ability to reframe current states of decay or ‘signs of distress’ as productive actors within the post-industrial neighborhood.  The goal being not to restore a past state of functionality or occupancy, but instead speculate on alternative forms of ‘being’ which are more adaptable to radically changing conditions...In this sense propose[EXISTING], through its physical manifestations and revisionist history, will  reveal a new architecture not born from the ruins of the post-industrial landscape, but revealed from it”.

In response Michael S Bergin suggested hsolie "Check out Bryan Allen's blog, Post Industrial Latent Space- he traveled the world for a year documenting cities including Detroit in various states of decay/distress".

Still tiorted couldn't help thinking "I'm curious about what the collages are about. They literally show juxtapositions of ruin photos with various objects/structures/materials. Like puzzello said, is this just an aesthetic exercise?...I don't believe Detroit and ruins are fundamentally synonymous, I believe journalism has done that. Needless to say, you are perpetuating it with your photoshops".

CRO Studio, founded by Woodbury School of Architecture professor Marcel Sanchez and his partner Adriana Cuellar, won the 60th annual Progressive Architecture Award (P/A Award) was given to Sanchez and Cuellar for their project Modulo Prep Library in Tijuana, Mexico.

Last week, the students of Virginia Tech’s design/buildLAB loaded up their cars with models, drawings, cardboard stands, and a t-shirt or two and headed to Clifton Forge (stopping at the Belvedere Gardens in Salem on the way) for a weekend of cultural immersion in the town where they will be working this spring. On Sunday, they presented our designs for the Autism School to the townspeople of Clifton Forge.

Over at his Cal Poly Pomona school blog, Alex Gomez wrote about Midterm Review. He wrote "The project this quarter is a museum located in Little Tokyo, on an infill lot between the crossings of 1st street and San Pedro. The dimensions of the lot are 50x100 Ft. so it is rather small project".

BulgarBlogger provided some criticism "Interesting models...but...It looks like you spent 0.5 sec on your sections. Not that your project doesn't have a concept, but none of the material you presented demonstrates any evidence of process...what did your critics say?" as did threadkilla who believed "You also need a lot of stairs and ramps in that thing. Ramps are more in tune with the folding bit. My suggestion is to not sweat the concept stuff too much, and figure out how someone gets in, around, and out of your project. No more Super Mario sections. Figure out your space requirements".

Discussions
tyler hopf started a thread to take Pritzer Bets. Evan Chakroff is rooting "for Steven Holl. For Chengdu, with a posthumous shout-out to Lebbeus Woods" and miesian chimed in "I would like to see Toyo Ito to win it, but I think Steven Holl is pretty much a sure shot this year. I would also put Thomas Phifer and Tom Kundig on the list for Americans. They may need a few more high profile projects under their belt, but I think the quality is there".

Aaron Plewke though disagreed. He recommended that "for pope and pritzker, look to africa".

observant asked "Are there any architectural vocabularies, or periods of time in design, you are glad are no longer with us?” observant isn’t a fan of the brutalist or, post-modern styles. Plus, accesskb opined "Eisenman, whatever style he has” but FRaC countered “he was great on paper...come on, the house series still holds up". Miles Jaffe would be "overjoyed to attend funerals of deconstructionism and post-modernism. And the international style, at least as applied to residential work".          

Finally, BulgarBlogger was looking for advice regarding a reasonable compensation rate to expect (in RBM and $'s) for Jr. Architect Compensation in China. Brittany Winston shared "currently working in Shanghai here is the short answer..4000-8000 rmb a month if you 0-2 years experience...im making about $15,500 USD a year, .. and i also work for a pretty good company...[good benefits, bonuses, paid overtime,paid lunches]...and heres the long answer". Based on what he has heard/seen Evan Chakroff put forward "realistic numbers for Shanghai: 8,000 - 30,000". As for Chen Teng he  has a bachelor about 3 years experience and is "getting around 15k after tax".

Additionally
In an effort to foster the creative debate on urban recovery after Hurricane Sandy, MoMA PS1 and MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design are calling out for ideas to create a sustainable waterfront. Twenty-five selected proposals will be presented publicly in the press and social media and on-site in a series of live presentations and lectures organized by MoMA PS1. Submit your idea by filling out this form.