Unlike industries such as automotive, which spend big bucks hiring branding and naming experts, architects often name themselves – sometimes on the fly.
There’s the story about ARO (Architecture Research Office) in New York. The name is generic, but what can you expect from the partners who named themselves on the way to a meeting, said Christian Unverzagt, design director at Detroit-based M1/DTW, a multidisciplinary studio specializing in design.
— Crain's Detroit Business
Architects spend years designing a single project, so it may come as a surprise that they sometimes name themselves in only a few minutes. While some firms have chosen a more clever approach to naming—Design, Bitches and BIG (with web address BIG.dk) spring to mind—many firms seem to choose... View full entry
The people of Geneva have narrowly rejected a controversial plan to extend and renovate the city’s Musée d’Art et d’Histoire by the French architect Jean Nouvel. The “non” camp won the public vote on 28 February with 54%.
Ateliers Jean Nouvel in Paris designed the planned extension, which was approved by Geneva’s municipal council last May, in collaboration with the local firms Architectures Jucker and DVK Architectes.[...]
The council must now launch a new competition for the museum.
— theartnewspaper.com
Related Nouvel stories in the Archinect news: Jean Nouvel in NYMag profile: "I create a film in my head."Jean Nouvel's super-tall 53W53 MoMA tower is "still an art"Jean Nouvel loses court case over 'sabotaged' Philharmonie de Paris View full entry
When we finally see this river restored to its natural beauty, it’ll be thanks to the work of thousands of people over decades.
The work that Frank Gehry is doing builds upon this—looking at how we can stitch together these 88 cities of LA County, including the 15 different jurisdictions along the river’s 51 miles—some of the most diverse and interesting communities that we’ve ever known. [...]
people have put aside their differences and said: This is an opportunity to move forward.
— planningreport.com
Get caught up with more news on Gehry's ongoing redevelopment strategy for the LA River:A closer look at reasons why the Los Angeles River revitalization is taking so longDoes Frank Gehry – or his firm – have what it takes to save the LA River?"They should grow up": Frank Gehry to critics of... View full entry
“It’s Drake, "Hotline Bling". It’s what I’m listening to right now. I don’t know why.” — Dame Zaha Hadid, Desert Island Discs
I don't think anyone would have predicted her love of Midnight Cowboy. Hadid and Kirsty Young, host of BBC Radio 4's "Desert Island Discs", discuss the Pritzker Prize-winning architect's childhood in Baghdad and London, how she deals with conflict, and the evolution of her career, pausing... View full entry
Last week Port Authority decided not to hold an opening ceremony for Santiago Calatrava’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub (followed by their sudden flip flop), citing the fact that it was six years delayed and that final construction costs came in around $4 billion in taxpayer dollars, twice what was projected. But it’s hardly the only public project to face delays and skyrocketing costs. In fact, it’s not even close to being the worst of the lot that are draining tax payer dollars. — 6sqft.com
Though I'd lived minimally my whole life, I have a husband and a grown daughter, and they do have stuff. We make dinner and have dinner parties and entertain a lot. But what's stayed the same is that the spaces are really spare. We pay attention to the art that's on the wall and the books that are in the room, something I picked up from my parents. How we're in a room alone and how we're in a room with friends and family both matter. In a way, I want the rooms to be perfect containers for life. — curbed.com
More about Deborah Berke in the Archinect news:The NY Times chats with Deborah Berke about her work on 21c Museum HotelsDeborah Berke named Dean of Yale School of Architecture, will succeed Robert A.M. Stern in 2016Deborah Berke's design for new Cummins distribution HQ is unveiled View full entry
In 1997 two architects set out to rethink Lagos, an African megacity that had been largely abandoned by the state. Amid the apparent chaos and crime, they discovered remarkable patterns of organisation. Two decades later, Rem Koolhaas and Kunlé Adeyemi discuss the past, present and future of the city – and reveal why their own project never saw the light of day — theguardian.com
"...it was the ultimate dysfunctional city – but actually, in terms of all the initiatives and ingenuity, it mobilised an incredibly beautiful, almost utopian landscape of independence and agency." - Rem KoolhaasRelated stories in the Archinect news:Koolhaas guides viewers through bustling Lagos... View full entry
Claude Parent, architect and theoretician of “oblique function”, passed away this past Saturday at the age of 93.Trained at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Parent studied under Le Corbusier and collaborated with the philosopher Paul Virilio to form the idea of “oblique function”. Jean Nouvel... View full entry
Odile Decq has won the Jane Drew Prize and Julia Peyton-Jones has been awarded the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize in the annual Women in Architecture Awards.
The judges described Odile Decq as ‘a creative powerhouse, spirited breaker of rules and advocate of equality’. [...]
The judges celebrated Julia Peyton-Jones’ ‘incredible global impact achieved with limited resources – and as someone who has done so much to nurture architectural vision and make architecture available to many people’.
— architectural-review.com
Related on Archinect: 12 innovative architects (and women) of MarylandZaha Hadid announced as winner of 2016 Royal Gold MedalDiana Agrest gets profiled as one of NPR's "50 Great Teachers"Where are the women? Measuring progress on gender in architectureThe uphill climb to gender equity continues... View full entry
“The combination of the course offerings on a regular basis in subject-area courses, housing studios, design-build, as well as programs for both students and the primary faculty involved—that we feel is unique,” says UO architecture professor Michael Fifield. — Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, American Institute of Architecture
The University of Oregon Department of Architecture was recognized in January as among the finest in the country for its housing design education.UO architecture faculty members Michael Fifield, Peter Keyes, and Rob Thallon, who spearhead the UO Housing Specialization Program, received the... View full entry
Bjarke Ingels' unfurling wall-based pavilion joins four summer houses—designed by Asif Khan, Kunlé Adeyemi, Barkow Leibinger, and Yona Friedman—to create this year's Serpentine Architecture Program. Each of the four summer houses riffs on the adjacent Queen Caroline's Temple designed in... View full entry
The book is devoted to a specific case study of binationalism and its relationship to urbanity: a Turkish community in Germany. However, Bernd’s insights are quite universal. Since the methodology is clearly structured and easily replicable, it can be applied to most countries and to different... View full entry
Deborah Berke’s appointment last year as the first female dean of the Yale School of Architecture might have brought her into the limelight, but the architect and interior designer had already been getting attention for her work on 21c Museum Hotels, a small chain of boutique properties doubling as art galleries. [...]
In old buildings, you’re taking what you find and complementing that with the architecture and design of today.
— nytimes.com
More Deborah Berke stories in the Archinect news:Deborah Berke named Dean of Yale School of Architecture, will succeed Robert A.M. Stern in 2016Deborah Berke's design for new Cummins distribution HQ is unveiledIt's Deborah Berke for downtown Naptown!New York Architect Deborah Berke Selected for... View full entry
Ambition or talent: which matters more to success?
I think it’s probably ambition, because if you have talent without ambition, the talent goes to waste. But if you have talent and want to do something with it, you follow your intuition.
— Financial Times
As a designer, Uesugi created serene landscapes that adapted the elements of a Japanese garden — rock, plants and water — to the climate and lifestyle of Southern California. Among his most significant projects are the restoration of the Japanese Garden at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, Pine Wind Garden at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center and the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego's Balboa Park. — The Los Angeles Times
In memorium, a few photos of Uesugi's landscape work at the Japanese Garden of The Huntington Library: View full entry