Witold Rybczynski, the architect and emeritus professor of urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, complained recently about “starchitects” who often work in cities they are unfamiliar with, creating buildings that are out of sync with their surroundings. In an interview, he argued in favor of local architectural talent, or “locatecture.”
Are superstar architects ruining city skylines?
— NY Times
In this "Room for Debate" at the New York Times, Allison Arieff, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Beverly Willis, and Angel Borrego Cubero all provide their opinions on the much-used and controversial portmanteau. View full entry
Zaha Hadid's swooping, spaceship-like condo building along the High Line is just about the most exciting of the many buildings on the rise in West Chelsea and the dozens of projects designed by starchitects in New York City. Mind-boggling renderings of the wavy exterior? Check. Some voluptuous floorplans, plus pricing? Check. Here now, the first look inside the West 28th Street condos, with two unreleased renderings snagged by a tipster. — ny.curbed.com
Previously: Zaha Hadid Architects commissioned to design High Line condo, to be first Hadid project in NYC View full entry
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas on Monday will announce an architectural team for his controversial planned museum on Chicago's lakefront: an avant-garde Chinese designer whose credits include Toronto-area skyscrapers dubbed the "Marilyn Monroe Towers" and Chicago's Jeanne Gang, shaper of the undulating Aqua Tower here. — chicagotribune.com
Read our recently published interview with Ma Yansong of MAD View full entry
On Cape Town's waterfront at the southern tip of Africa, the world's biggest museum of contemporary art from across the continent is being carved from a conglomeration of concrete tubes nine storeys high. The $50 million (36.7 million euro) project to transform the grim functionality of 42 disused colonial grain silos into an ultramodern tribute to African creativity is driven by an international team of art experts and architects. — Ahram Online
The project – the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa – will be designed by British architect Thomas Heatherwick. "How do you turn 42 vertical concrete tubes into a place to experience contemporary culture?" the architect said. "We could either fight a building made of concrete tubes... View full entry
Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza this week announced to donate his architectural archive to public architectural institutions in Portugal and Canada. The decision was motivated by Siza's desire of fostering discussion and dialogue in a research-oriented context.One part of the archive will be... View full entry
Gehry Partners has signed on to design a campus for the Children's Institute, Inc. (CII), a social services not-for-profit that provides youth development and education programs, as well as other family support and clinical services. For the project, the firm is collaborating with (fer) studio of Inglewood.
The new campus will occupy a 2-acre lot on East 102nd Street near its intersection with Compton Avenue. It is just a half-dozen block walk to the northwest of the Watts Towers.
— latimes.com
Working simultaneously from the inside out - engaging the functional needs and psychological desires of the program - and the outside in - making connections to the city campus and relating to the Mackintosh building opposite - the design embodies the school's aspirations in the city's fabric. — Steven Holl Architects
Just one month before a disastrous fire broke out at the Glasgow School of Art's historic Mackintosh Library, a brand new addition to the campus opened up across the street. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the new Reid Building is a modernist complement to the Mackintosh, riffing on similar... View full entry
The Royal Institute of British Architects today announced the result of its presidential election: Jane Duncan, director of Jane Duncan Architects, will become President Elect on September 1, 2014 and will take over the two-year elected presidency from Stephen Hodder on September 1, 2015. Jane... View full entry
Modernist houses from Asheville to Wilmington received top honors last week in the third annual George Matsumoto Prize for Modernist residential design across the state, sponsored by the award-winning non-profit organization North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH).The houses submitted had to be... View full entry
New to Archinect, Julia Ingalls penned an essay, titled Material Witness: Insanity in the walls of '"True Detective" and "Twin Peaks". Olaf Design Ninja_ offered a complement "A good visceral read like a true detective watch...This would almost suggest the inert quality of this line between... View full entry
Some obvious reasons are deducible from the graphic elegance of his structures and their seductive saturated “Mexican” colors. Perhaps, though, new generations are also drawn by instinct to the deep humanism expressed in the work of this undervalued genius, a man who cited as his personal pole stars ideals like amazement, enchantment, serenity, silence and intimacy. — NYT
Back in June, Guy Trebay penned a essay 'Finding Mexico City, and Luis Barragán, Again'. Therein, he relates how after a long absence from Mexico City, he was inspired to rediscover both the city and the houses of the great Mexican architect.He also draws attention to the fact that many of these... View full entry
The folks at Black Spectacles have shared with us some pretty insightful intelligence about what software skills and licensure/accreditation are most required to land you a job at the world's Top 50 architecture firms. Compare below if you've got what it takes, and then head over to the Archinect... View full entry
Cummins Inc. hasn't revealed even a back-of-the-napkin sketch of what its regional headquarters in Downtown Indianapolis might look like, but one thing is certain at this point:
It won't be locally designed.
The engine maker said today it's picked three small to mid-sized New York City architectural firms to compete for the contract to design the $30 million multi-story building [...].
The competitors are Deborah Berke Partners, SHoP Architects, and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects.
— indystar.com
Here's some additional information about the Indianapolis office design competition we've received directly from Cummins Inc.:"The design competition engages design and architecture experts to assist in delivering on the Company’s goals to construct a building that enhances the community... View full entry
For the latest edition of The Deans List: Amelia Taylor-Hochberg interviewed Mark Wigley, former Dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.Reflecting on the service-model of architecture he suggested "There will be the financial equivalent of... View full entry
Randall Stout, an environmentally sensitive architect who earned a national reputation for designing dynamically shaped regional museums, mostly in his native South, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 56.
His brother, Steven, said the cause was renal cell cancer.
— nytimes.com
