The world’s most-famous architect sailed into a storm of old-fashioned Washington controversy this week.
At a public conversation Wednesday at the National Archives, Frank Gehry encountered hostile questions from audience members about his designs for a memorial to Dwight David Eisenhower planned for a prominent spot on Independence Avenue, just south of the Mall.
— washingtonpost.com
The Holcim Awards is an international competition that recognizes innovative projects and future-oriented concepts on regional and global levels. A total of USD 2 million in prize money is awarded in each three-year cycle. — Holcim Awards
This year's Latin American winners are: Gold Urban remediation and civic infrastructure hub, São Paulo, Brazil Main author: Alfredo Brillembourg, Urban Think Tank, Brazil Further author: Hubert Klumpner, Urban Think Tank, Brazil Silver Sustainable post-tsunami reconstruction master plan... View full entry
He was the ultimate perfectionist and demanded of himself as he demanded of others. We are better as individuals and certainly wiser as architects through the experience of the last two years and more of working for him. His participation was so intense and creative that our memory will be that of working with one of the truly great designers and mentors. — Norman Foster
“HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE FORTY YEARS TOO SOON?” Question of the year from Jeffrey Kipnis to Glen Small at a rooftop bar. — Small at Large
SCI-ARC SCREEN TEST, I SHALL RETURN is a fun to read blog post with behind the scenes imagery. It includes an honest review of SCI Arc 2011 Thesis Projects as told by one of school's founding fathers, a visionary green architect and great critic, Glen Howard Small. View full entry
The architects recognize that the armory as an exhibition space is a far cry from conventional “white cube” galleries, or what Mr. Herzog called “egocentric, architecturally driven museums.” But he said the spaces are likely to inspire artists, not limit them. “Artists have increasingly started to like strange places to put their art,” he said. “The specific conditions are unique and interesting and every artist is challenged to put his paintings or performances in such historic conditions.” — New York Times
Given his stature, the demolition of Terminal 6 arguably ranks as the most significant loss of a transportation building in New York since Pennsylvania Station was razed in the early 1960s.
Mr. Cobb does not think of the two events as analogous, however. “This is not pure greed,” he said. “This is the myopic view of engineers. They just can’t figure out how to reuse it and they don’t put enough value on it to figure out how to reuse it.”
— New York Times
Ryan also described a property as being designed by 'award-winning architect Noel Jessop'. A search of the New Zealand architect's register reveals that Jessop is not an architect, but that he has a certificate in drafting.
Ryan rejected the claim his conduct was misleading, saying members of the public use the words 'architecture', architecturally' and 'architect' interchangeably.
— nzherald.co.nz
The new directors of the school, [AA, DC, MB said (on record and in a recording) that the university was a corporation and their first interest was not education. If education is a business, shouldn’t we know what we are paying for? — Public Intelligence
This document is a copy of the cyclical unit review performed by the University for the SoA in spring of this year. The result of the review may or may not have been the forced resignation of Professor Michael Jemtrud - an visionary individual who was making important and progressive changes... View full entry
Foster + Partners just announced they will be designing the new Kuwait International Airport - and they're aiming to make it the world's first LEED gold certified passenger terminal! The stunning design is sure to be an eye-catcher from both the ground and the sky, and it will raise the environmental bar for airports everywhere with a smart set of green features that will reduce the building's energy use and keep it cool in one of the hottest places on earth. — Inhabitat
The 2011 Curry Stone Design Prize Winners were announced today with an official presentation ceremony to follow on November 7th at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. [...] Hsieh Ying-Chun is the Grand Prize Winner; he will receive $100,000 from the foundation with no strings attached. Hsieh is a leading Taiwanese architect who for over a decade has deployed his talents in rural areas decimated by natural disaster. — bustler.net
Two additional 2011 Winner Prizes, of $10,000 each, will be awarded to Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée (AAA) and FrontlineSMS. View full entry
A dazzling €44 million (£37.7m) arts centre in the northern Spanish city of Avilés is to close after six months amid political squabbling as the country asks itself what to do with a glut of glittering new museums.
The Niemeyer centre, which was designed by the celebrated 103-year-old Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, was intended to have the same impact on the industrial Cantabrian sea port as the Guggenheim museum has had on Bilbao, 150 miles to the east.
— guardian.co.uk
Chyutin Architects is threatening to resign after the Wiesenthal Center withheld a scheduled payment over what center officials say is the architect’s failure to meet certain contractual obligations on the $100-million project, according to Wiesenthal spokesman Lior Chorev in Jerusalem. — latimesblogs.latimes.com
Visitors to the Hungarian pavilion at the 1992 Seville Expo came in from the searing heat to a cavernous, dark space with a great curving roof like a cathedral. At its centre was a tree, brought from the Hungarian plains, stripped bare and set into a glass floor so that its roots, which stretched as far and wide as its branches, were made visible.
It was the work of Hungarian architect Imre Makovecz, who has died aged 75.
— ft.com
Last Saturday, October 1, the Royal Institute of Architects, RIBA, not only awarded the 2011 Stirling Prize to Zaha Hadid Architects for the best new European building built or designed in the United Kingdom—the office's second consecutive Stirling Prize win—but also presented this... View full entry
Two blocks from the stately columns, arches and sculptures of Grand Central Terminal, a rogue band of architects is engaged in a retrograde venture: They're teaching a new generation how to draw and paint the elements of classical architecture—all those columns, arches and sculptures—with nothing more than pencils and paints on paper. No computers. Ever. — online.wsj.com