The exhibition recalls an earlier era when architects there believed that social challenges should be tackled by design, that humane societies deserved beautiful new forms, and progressive development put faith in art, nature and the resilience of ordinary people. — Michael Kimmelman, New York Times
Michael Kimmelman of The New York Times wrote a review on the recent MoMA exhibit, ‘Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955-1980’. The exhibit highlights the work of Oscar Niemeyer, Lina Bo Bardi, Eladio Dieste, Rogelio Salmona and others who helped define Latin American modern... View full entry
The Pompidou Centre in Paris has hit back at critics who say its Le Corbusier exhibition, which opened to the public yesterday, 29 April, glosses over recent accusations that the Swiss-born French architect was a militant fascist with links to the Vichy regime.
A spokeswoman for the Pompidou says the exhibition does not refer to Le Corbusier’s fascist past because “it’s about the proportions of the human body, which are present in his architecture and painting. [...]”
— The Art Newspaper
Previously: Le Corbusier "militant fascist" claims overshadow 50th death anniversary View full entry
The annual World Architecture Festival Awards, the ‘Oscars of architecture’, is now open for entries. The awards will be celebrated at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Singapore this November, following three days of intensive live presentations and judging.Entries are now invited from... View full entry
Inside the soon-to-be-demolished A+D Museum in Los Angeles, a small group gathered last week for a conversation with Susan S. Szenasy, the Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis Magazine, followed by a signing of her new book of collected writings, Szenasy, Design Advocate. The talk is likely the last the... View full entry
As large housing estates are being demolished and the age of great social democracies recedes, taking with it any notion of an architecture for the public, OMA partner Reinier de Graaf asks if there is any alternative to building capital — The Architectural Review
Mark your calendars for Saturday evening, May 2! Archinect is heading out to the Neutra VDL House in Los Angeles for the "Treatise: Why Write Alone?" West Coast book launch. Archinect, Neutra VDL House, and The Graham Foundation will be co-hosting the event.The Neutra VDL House in Silver Lake, Los... View full entry
May 1st will mark a new era for the Whitney when its brand new home along the High Line swings its doors open to the public for the first time. A project that has been decades in the making, the $422 million structure designed by Renzo Piano is a game changer for a museum that had long outgrown its Upper East Side space. — 6sqft.com
“The Landscape Architecture Legacy of Dan Kiley,” an exhibition at the Center for Architecture, shows how modern landscapes often make a better case for modernism than the architecture itself.
Over a span of 60 years, Kiley (1912-2004), a founding father of modern landscape design, worked for the best architects around, among them Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He was fully versed in architecture’s modernist strategies and overriding focus on form and abstraction.
— wsj.com
This lively effort — mapping — is the subject of a rich exhibition organized by the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) and BRIC [...] that pairs the work of 18 contemporary artists with 23 historical maps dating back as far as 1562. For Mapping Brooklyn, BHS opened its collection to the invited artists [...]. The goal of uniting these two components — map and art — is to uncover the common ground: to render, through judgment and artistic process, the world legible. — urbanomnibus.net
Related: Mapping the City: maps through the eyes of street artists View full entry
France's best-known 20th century architect, Le Corbusier, was a "militant fascist" who was far more anti-Semitic and a fan of Hitler than previously thought, two new books reveal.
[...] the latest, far more damning, revelations have shocked admirers and threaten to cast a shadow over commemorations of the 50th anniversary of his death. [...]
"Hitler can crown his life with a great work: the planned layout of Europe."
— telegraph.co.uk
Our vision is to transform the underutilized land below Miami’s MetroRail, from the Miami River to Dadeland South Station, into an iconic linear park, world-class urban trail and living art destination. — The Underline
The Underline is a proposal to activate the 10 mile space underneath Miami’s elevated metro rail into an urban trail. This initiative was a collaboration between the organizers of The Underline nonprofit, The University of Miami School of Architecture, and Miami Dade County. Recently, James... View full entry
A group of venture capitalists, architects, engineers, and marketing gurus, under the name Los Angeles World's Fair (LAWF), are brewing plans for a two-year fair showing off the technology and culture of the future—including a Hyperloop, “3D-printed gourmet delicacies,” and self-driving cars. Theme: "The Connected City." Right now, they're trying to pull together $100,000 on Indiegogo to support economic and architectural feasibility studies for their plans [...]. — citylab.com
Visit (and support if you're so inclined) the initiative's Indiegogo campaign here. View full entry
The anticipated roster of over 60 architecture firms and artists who will exhibit their work in "The State of the Art of Architecture" -- the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial -- that debuts this October has been revealed. Biennial co-Artistic Directors Joseph Grima and Sarah Herda selected... View full entry
Now visitors will be able to descend from the Hayward gallery’s glass pyramid ceiling to its entrance level on one of two 15-metre slides commissioned for an exhibition opening later this year. Built into the gallery’s exterior wall, the slides will “constitute a graceful sculptural installation” while also being a device for “experiencing an emotional state that is a unique condition somewhere between delight and madness”, [Carsten Höller] said. — The Guardian
Previously, Höller had created a similar installation for the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in 2006. The slides were very popular with the public, although also responsible for several injuries.For his upcoming exhibit at the Hayward Gallery, Höller has also created "Flying Machines," which are... View full entry
The issue of water supply in the context of climate change was the topic for the recent 5KL: Water symposium, organized by The Architectural League and The Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design.
Twelve experts in water resource design and management — from architects to geographers to former government officials — addressed the carbon intensity of providing a clean and adequate water supply and how design and planning can contribute to that goal.
— urbanomnibus.net