Sunday was supposed to be move-in day for many athletes, but the leader of the Australian Olympic delegation said its athletes would not be checking in because of problems with the gas, electricity and plumbing. [...]
delegations from Britain, New Zealand and other countries were experiencing similar problems in the village, which is in an area of western Rio called Barra da Tijuca.
— nytimes.com
The official start to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will go ahead on August 5, despite ongoing concerns over the spread of the Zika virus, political upheaval, economic distress, polluted competition waters, and now, questionable athlete facilities.More from the New York Times:Olympic... View full entry
Conceived by MacArthur “genius” and architect Jeanne Gang, the simple project is part of her broader proposal to reimagine isolated, fortress-like police precincts as welcoming community centers. In her vision, better police precincts could house a barber shop, a garden, a gym, and lounges with free wi-fi—all designed to draw community members to hang out in stations and eventually build friendlier and more trusting relationships with the cops sworn to protect them. — qz.com
In Gang's project, the West 10th district's police station in North Lawndale, Chicago, includes a basketball half-court right next to it, as an attempt to create shared spaces between police and the community whom they serve. Gang's 'Polis Project' was first exhibited at the 2015 Chicago... View full entry
Newcastle’s degree show, despite being heavily edited for its London venue, manages to present a large range of design that emphasises just how creative the study of architecture can be. The breadth of research is inspiring, with studies covering everything from Walt Disney wonderlands, to the... View full entry
As far as the art world was concerned, his leap into architecture — designs for things like public parks, airport rest areas and a man-made island — was almost as if Mr. Acconci decided to enter the witness protection program. But he disappeared right in the art world’s midst, continuing to teach generations of art students — NYT
On the occasion of Vito Acconci's first retrospective in the United States, in more than three decades, Randy Kennedy held a series of interviews over three months with the artist. See also; in the News: (via The Architect's Newspaper, the J. Crew catalog and a Vice/VBS.TV six part... View full entry
Whatever the outcome, we will learn from their actions. I am confident that those who committed wrongdoing will be held accountable, and that any malfeasance will come to light. I am also confident that the final story will adequately celebrate all the good that AFH did. — medium.com
Garrett Jacobs, executive director of the Open Architecture Collaborative, responded to the $3M lawsuit against AFH via a statement on medium, taking care to make clear as crystal the fact that while OAC grew out of AFH, it is "unequivocally an independent organization, a California LLC and Public... View full entry
Artwashing. What a great new political watchword. As in, watch out that your neighbourhood doesn’t get “artwashed” too. Just look how Tate Modern has wrecked London and how the Guggenheim trashed Bilbao. Get away, ye galleries! Let’s keep urban wastelands as bleak as they already are!
It’s a neat reversal of the thinking that has seen cities all over the world embrace art galleries, museums and biennials in pursuit of regeneration.
— the Guardian
The editorial hones in on struggles by residents of the Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights to push back against a rapid influx of galleries, which they view as the avant-garde of gentrification.For more on the community's efforts to resist becoming the next Silverlake/Echo Park/Culver... View full entry
Howe Dell Primary in Hatfield could well be the UK’s most eco-friendly school. It has toilets that flush using rainwater, sedum roofs made of plants and vegetation, and classroom sink-tops made from recycled yoghurt pots. But the school’s design doesn’t just help protect the environment, it also uses nature to improve children’s academic performance and behaviour. — The Guardian
Howe Dell Primary’s £10 million, eco-friendly design is used by teachers to promote sustainability to a new generation of pupils. Capita Architects were given free reign to push the limits of sustainable design in the project, which was funded by the council, and that was exactly what they did... View full entry
When Indianapolis began demolishing its RCA Dome in 2008, Michael Bricker saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To save the stadium's white, Teflon-coated fiberglass roof from the landfill, Bricker salvaged 13 acres of it, and turned it into shade structures for the city, as well as... View full entry
If you're a designer who works with clients, here's something you're probably familiar with: the project that never ends. The actual designing may take a matter of hours, but presenting the idea to a client, making little tweaks and edits, finding a middle ground between your vision and theirs? That process can take months [...]
For his graduate project, Ingemann Breitenstein spent time in product design studios across London researching the inefficiencies in that designer-client process.
— Fast Co.Design
"The result is an algorithm that takes a basic idea for a product and generates countless variations on its design—as directed by a physical controller. Ingemann Breitenstein calls the machine the Unpaid Intern—a tongue-and-cheek nod to the mindless photoshopping and last... View full entry
More broadly, this reconfiguration would make the games, for the first time, a truly global event. Dozens of countries that could never afford to host the Olympics in their current form – Kenya, Thailand, Chile, to name a few – might easily host a single Olympic sport. Rather than being an occasion for nationalistic displays by a single, powerful host country, the Olympics would become a celebration of human diversity. — Paul Christesen
With overwhelming evidence that hosting the Olympics is a huge burden for several cities, Paul Christesen, a Professor of Classics at Dartmouth, makes a case for the possible advantages of having Olympic sports competitions take place in different cities throughout the globe. He also makes... View full entry
the set is a shotgun marriage of Star Trek and Macbook modern, with perhaps a touch — in the rounded stairs, lighted from below — of Art Deco. [...]
The goal seems to be a series of smooth surfaces to which none of the more direct ad hominem verbal attacks or accusations of plagiarism might stick — a slate that can be wiped clean whenever a change in tone or direction is wanted. Call it Teflon minimalism.
— latimes.com
Hawthorne's Teflon comparison is particularly evocative, given one of the latest incidents last night at the RNC, when Ted Cruz didn't endorse Trump during his primetime address. He was booed off the stage.The Republican National Convention's last day in Cleveland is today, themed "Make America... View full entry
In this New York Times interview with Ginia Bellafante, Jeanne Gang discusses the importance and challenges of designing work that isn't simply aesthetically pleasing, but that influences positive changes in social behavior and policy. In addition to her work on waterways, she discusses her idea... View full entry
**I'm truly impressed that Mr Open Source Ecology & Ms Open Building Institute got married and built a house...Of course it's an open-source house that's all makered-up from straw, wood and brick from their neighborhood - Bruce Sterling — Shareable
Kelly McCartney highlights the work of Marcin Jakubowski and Catarina Mota, who decided to reinvent the home-building wheel a few years back.For more check out the Open Building Institute and/or contribute to their Kickstarterh/t @Bruce Sterling View full entry
The link between psychosis and city living was first noticed by American psychiatrists in the early 1900s who found that asylum patients were more likely to come from built-up areas. This association was sporadically rediscovered throughout the following century until researchers verified the association from the 1990s onwards with systematic and statistically controlled studies that tested people in the community as well as in clinics. — The Atlantic
While the data shows a clear link between city living and schizophrenia, the correlation doesn't hold for other mental health afflictions like depression. This signifies that the city doesn't necessarily have a general detrimental effect on well-being. And there's no conclusive proof... View full entry
Buoyed by increasing levels of demand across all project types, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) was positive in June for the fifth consecutive month. [...] The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the June ABI score was 52.6, down from the mark of 53.1 in the previous month. This score still reflects an increase in design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 58.6, down from a reading of 60.1 the previous month. — AIA
The AIA reports these key ABI highlights for the month of June:Regional averages: South (55.5), West (54.1), Northeast (51.8), Midwest (48.2)Sector index breakdown: multi-family residential (57.9), institutional (52.7), mixed practice (51.0), commercial / industrial (50.3)Project inquiries index... View full entry
