"Sharon's architecture involved not only destruction but also construction. The other major projects he undertook, besides the destruction of the camps, was an attempt to "pacify" the refugees by constructing and forcefully relocating a few thousand of them into Israeli-style social housing blocks next to major Palestinian cities". — Al Jazeera English
With the recent news of Ariel Sharon's passing, Eyal Weizman (architect, professor and director of the Forensic Architecture) reviews the legacy of construction and destruction he left behind. As "Daddy of the Settlement movement" his legacy has decisively shaped the built environment of... View full entry
“We’re not used to seeing this shape in our country...We haven’t anything like this in Algeria. It’s very beautiful. It’s like a bird.” - Mekki Damerdji, an architect and professor in Algiers — NYT Magazine
Julie Bosman highlighted the work of Jason Oddy who has photographed some of the lesser known projects of Oscar Niemeyer. Niemeyer, a Communist who fled to France following the military takeover of Brazil in 1964, designed 12 buildings in Algeria in the late 1960s although only 4 have been built... View full entry
The mural project is part of a renewed attention to the Central Library in Grosse Pointe Farms, which received approval from the Grosse Pointe Library Board in October for more than $241,000 in outside masonry repairs, according to Library Director Vickey Bloom. — Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press
News from the Grosse Pointe library by Marcel Breuer, saved thanks to the efforts of MAPA, a group that came together through Archinect! Grosse Pointe Central Library: Efforts Towards Conservation Virtual Activism View full entry
Yesterday, DS+R announced in their proposal for MoMA's redesign that the American Folk Art Museum would have to be demolished. Backlash from the #folkMoMA community quickly arose: architects and critics called the choice callous and unsustainable, outraged not only by the Folk Art Museum's... View full entry
[Diller] had great respect for the Folk Art Museum, calling it a “bespoke” design tailored to the needs of the museum. She went through several scenarios on how to integrate the museum in the expanded footprint. [...]
Adapting the Folk Art Museum building, however, would basically compromise the building’s interior beyond recognition. [...]
The architects would have had to destroy the Folk Art Museum building in order to save it.
— Architect Magazing
In what looks like the kiss of death for the #folkMoMA movement, Diller Scofidio + Renfro's design for MoMA's expansion will necessitate the destruction of the neighboring American Folk Art Museum, as proposed today in a MoMA press conference. The initial threat to the Folk Museum was made last... View full entry
German taxpayers are expected to spend almost €800 million on the project, which has been criticized by politicians and the media as a waste of public funds. The costs have included €300 on a toilet brush. [...]
Meanwhile, architects Herzog & de Meuron were blamed for the chaos at the Hamburg building site, after failing to stick to the planning schedule.
— thelocal.de
Previously: Hamburg sues over Herzog & de Meuron's pricey, late concert hall Starchitect Trio: The Men Behind Germany's Building Debacles View full entry
Mayor de Blasio, your idea of a mandate for inclusionary zoning begins to address this crisis yet continues to depend on the tender mercies of private developers to actually produce the units. If you are going to tax them, why not collect the money, municipalize the program, and make gorgeous, genuinely affordable housing your greatest legacy, building it where it's most needed? We can do it! -Michael Sorkin — archrecord.construction.com
Dear Mayor Bill de Blasio: Along with many other architects and urbanists, I'm looking forward to your taking office this month as mayor of New York City, and working to implement the theme of your campaign, the elimination of the increasingly radical disparities that underlie that “tale of... View full entry
The Scottish designer, a former colleague of Richard Rogers, is to open what is believed to be the first architect's studio on Tottenham High Road, opposite the police station where protests spilled over into riots in 2011 that spread across English cities.
McAslan's vision is simple: he wants to train local youngsters as architectural apprentices and give them control over their home areas.
— theguardian.com
"In the process, he hopes to help rectify a major imbalance in the make-up of the UK's architectural profession that has hardly improved since the murder two decades ago of Stephen Lawrence, the black teenager who wanted to study architecture." View full entry
flemingr2002 thought a couple of issues were missing "Good list but i am surprised to see gender issues highlighted but the lack of ethnic diversity, especially in design schools, ignored. It would seem that the real issue is white male privilege. -- Also, CO2 has hit 400 parts per million but sustainability is missing from the list. I know its not hip to be into sustainability but at some point, probably too late, architects will finally mobilize to address this very real threat".
It's that time of the year again, so we continued taking a look back at the year 2013 on Archinect by sharing the most trafficked and popular pages in Archinect's diverse online ecosystem, with a list of 13 top 13 lists for '13. News Some of the Top 13 Architectural Issues for '13 included; 3D... View full entry
Associated with both wedding cakes and McMansions, the Spanish Colonial Revival movement that took hold of California's early 20th century architecture left behind many civic structures that have since become classically Californian. Mixing elements from the colonial Spanish missions, the... View full entry
The 2013 edition of The AF’s annual headline event and trans-disciplinary dialogue presented New York-based architect Peter Marino in conversation with fashion designer Marc Jacobs. The event, which took place at Tate Modern’s Starr Auditorium, was chaired by Penny Martin, editor in chief, The Gentlewoman explored the territories of fashion and architecture and the space in which these two art forms interlink.
Santiago Calatrava is facing legal action from his native city as the dazzling City of Arts and Sciences complex begins to fall apart just eight years after inauguration — telegraph.co.uk
"are the skyscrapers that tower over the Corniche, Doha's Waterside Drive, and it's an amazing skyline...There's a building that looks like a great blue cylinder whose top...It looks like Darth Vader helmet at the top of it...a building that looks like a big pickle with a toothpick stuck out of the top and another that's kind of like a vase on a potter's wheel...it looks as if it was a huge architectural competition and everybody won and everybody got to design a building." - Robert Siegel — All Things Considered - NPR
In a piece about Qatar's National Food Security Program, Robert Siegel examines the challenges and opportunities of food and water security in the Gulf nation. While visiting Doha to speak with Fatah al-Attiya, director of the program, Mr. Siegel reflects on the wealth/success/growth for... View full entry
"Starting from small things", motto of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, we begin to grasp the view of a man's goal to "recover the traditional Japanese building." From philosophy of nature and materiality to personal taste in film and music, Kuma travels to San Diego to share his influences and insight on the world of architecture with design students from Woodbury School of Architecture.
Amelia Taylor-Hochberg Editorial Manager for Archinect features BI's inaugural publication, "FREE" in Screen/Print #3. Donna Sink LOVED "the cover of this periodical! So satirical".
For the latest edition of the In Focus series, Archinect talked to London-based photographer Edward Neumann. He describes himself "an aspiring fine art photographer...I like the ‘art for art’s sake’ school of thought".Plus, Amelia Taylor-Hochberg Editorial Manager for Archinect... View full entry
