The creation of a public monument is a fraught business these days. That the pristine work of an architect nearly 40 years dead should rise intact, in today’s contentious political, legal and aesthetic climate, is a wonder. And how timely it is that the legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt should be honored in such eloquent fashion at a moment when powerful political forces in this country seek to dismantle it. — Places Journal
Why is the design of memorials so fraught? Belmont Freeman reviews the design and politics of diverse memorials to American presidents, with a focus on Four Freedoms Park in New York City, the memorial to Franklin Roosevelt designed by Louis Kahn that opened last month. View full entry
A delegation from the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea, which inspected the building almost 15 years ago, concluded it was beyond repair and its lift shafts crooked.
But in 2008 an Egyptian company, Orascom Telecom, which operates a mobile network in North Korea, began equipping the building.
Mr Wittwer said the hotel will "partially, probably" open for business next year.
But original plans for 3,000 hotel rooms and three revolving restaurants have been greatly scaled back.
— bbc.co.uk
Richard Meier is managing partner of New York's Richard Meier & Partners Architects. His residential designs, starting with the Smith House in Darien Conn., in 1967, are known for their white surfaces, floor-to-ceiling windows and views of the landscape. He recently spoke to Marc Myers about his East Hampton farmhouse. — The Wall Street Journal
The easiest part of a harried three days came Friday around noon, when we met to settle on the cover. A photograph taken by Iwan Baan on Wednesday night, showing the Island of Manhattan, half aglow and half in dark, was the clear choice, for the way it fit with the bigger story we have tried to tell here about a powerful city rendered powerless. — nymag.com
Everyone's favorite architecture photographer, Iwan Baan, shows the world his magic with this month's cover of NYMag. Brilliant. View full entry
Carlos Acosta's plan to inject life into the island's hidebound ballet scene by refurbishing Havana's crumbling dance school and turning it into an international center for culture and dance has ignited controversy for daring to reimagine the original architect's vision.
Acosta was visibly frustrated by the flap over what he views as a way to give something back as he prepares to retire from London's Royal Ballet after a celebrated career.
— npr.org
Previously on Archinect: Unfinished Spaces premieres tomorrow night on PBS; Archinect talks to the filmmaker View full entry
No, this isn’t a beautiful or ingratiating building, but it’s technologically smart, with an underground turntable for trucks that may sound eye-rollingly dull but makes traffic engineers like the city’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, swoon...SHoP has also spared Brooklyn another retro stadium. — NYT
Michael Kimmelman reviews the new Barclays Center and the surrounding Atlantic Yards project. While he finds the arena by SHoP Architects to be a good start, Kimmelman criticizes the larger plans for Atlantic Yards. He argues that the current plans share the same faults as many other... View full entry
In the terms of the story, we wanted to distill experience to a shape, a volume, instead of a literal space-type (“castle” or “gingerbread house,” etc.) We chose this path in part because the structure of the story wasn’t accessible, the events were scattered, random and untethered to a place. So we had to find the rope, make the place, invent a story-space outside the tale itself. — Places Journal
In the Halloween installment of Places' ongoing series of architectural fairy tales, fabulist Kate Bernheimer and her architect brother, Andrew, investigate the shape of fear itself. Re-imagining a Brothers Grimm fairy tale at the site of a World War II bombing, Andrew Bernheimer and Vera Leung... View full entry
"If exercise and everyday activity is the mantra, how do you, through design, get people to exercise? ... There is a direct relation between the built environment and people's lifestyles."
History has proved it. Architecture played a major role in defeating infectious diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis in the 19th and 20th centuries by designing better buildings, streets, clean-water systems and parks.
— usatoday.com
I realize that Sandy will prob cause billions in damage to the eastern seaboard, and the lost work will not be great for the GDP, but perhaps the resulting building boom will provide the boost the economy needs? — archinect.com
What do you think? Join the discussion. View full entry
One of the most fascinating things we at MONU recently experienced during a trip to Brasilia had nothing to do with its famous Oscar Niemeyer monuments or the city itself, but with the context surrounding the city.
(Bernd Upmeyer, Editor-in-Chief, November 2012)
— http://www.monu-magazine.com/submit.htm
One of the most fascinating things we at MONU recently experienced during a trip to Brasilia had nothing to do with its famous Oscar Niemeyer monuments or the city itself, but with the context surrounding the city. After two tiring days in the city and having read in a guidebook that in certain... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects today issued the following statement with regard to the assessment and recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s impact. Please attribute to AIA President Jeff Potter, FAIA: “To the many communities in Hurricane Sandy's path, members of the... View full entry
On Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel came down on Northwestern University's side in its battle to raze the old Prentice Women's Hospital, a building that preservationists want to save.
Is that the last chapter in the story?
Some architects hope not.
— blogs.suntimes.com
eMotion researches the museum-going experience experimentally.
At the heart of the project is the investigation of the psychogeographical
effect of the museum on the museum visitor.
— NYT
Over the weekend, Dorothy Spears reported on the work of the German Martin Tröndle, whose research into the experience of the museum-goer, has had some surprising results. Using a combination of GPS tracking and sensors which gathered various physiological reactions, the eMotion project came... View full entry
Problems...will continue to plague Mumbai as long as the government continues to pretend to put all its faith into a thoroughly planned city-wide manifesto that is ultimately tossed aside... In rethinking the grandiose nature of the Development Plan, perhaps the government can engage in smaller scale implementations and allow new regulations and ideas to...move beyond its paper urbanity. — The Global Urbanist
Oyster Creek, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Atlantic City, generates 630 megawatts (MW), or enough electricity to power 600,000 households. Situated about a mile inland from the brackish inlet of the Atlantic Ocean known as Barnegat Bay, it shares the same design as Japan's tsunami-crippled coastal nuclear plant, Fukushima Daiichi. — news.nationalgeographic.com