Now that Helsinki has decided to reserve a plot in the South Harbour, the Guggenheim Foundation can organize and fund an international architecture competition for a potential Helsinki museum location. — yle.fi
Previously: Another Step Toward a Guggenheim in Helsinki View full entry
Israeli designer Avner Gicelter gives loving homage to Tel Aviv's array of architectural styles in his illustrated "TLV Buildings" project. In the continuing series, Gicelter faithfully represents each building's facade in simple, colorful, almost 8-bit renderings, sometimes retaining small... View full entry
National and local foundations have pledged more than $330 million to a fund to protect city-owned art at the Detroit Institute of Arts from being auctioned off, mediators in Detroit’s bankruptcy announced Monday.
A statement from Chief U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Rosen’s team of mediators called the financial commitments “an extraordinary and unprecedented effort” to preserve the art collection and raise money for Detroit’s underfunded pension funds.
— detroitnews.com
Previously: Detroit’s Venal Art Sale No Fix for Urban Nightmare 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
I foresee that major urban spaces of Pyongyang, such as Kim Il Sung Square, will be used as “public” space with a greater variety of urban activities, such as commercial activities and show events. [...]
The last thing that may happen in North Korea, or the thing that should not happen in some sense, is the Chinese model. Considering the scale of the economy and the potential of the North Korean market compared to China, it is hard to picture radical and massive urban development in Pyongyang.
— NK News
Part two of NK News' interview with Dongwoo Yim pushes the discussion of North Korean urbanism into the future, comparing potential development methods to those seen in China and South Korea. Focusing on capital Pyongyang, Yim proposes a "Bilbao effect" development strategy that is heavy on... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles. (Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)... View full entry
The heat is on in the architectural competition for Vancouver Art Gallery's new downtown home on a site at West Georgia and Cambie Streets. From a pool of 75 applicants, the gallery narrowed down a shortlist of five firms — all of which are no strangers to designing world-class exhibition spaces. — bustler.net
The five finalists are: Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York) Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (New York) Herzog & de Meuron (Basel) KPMB Architects (Toronto) SANAA (Tokyo) Could this be the welcome redemption time for TWBTA after it was announced just yesterday that DS+R's MoMA expansion... View full entry
The winners of the international 2013 Faith & Form/IFRAA Awards Program restored and remodeled religious spaces that can indeed be deemed worthy of praise.
Founded in 1978 and co-sponsored by Faith & Form Magazine and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA), the annual awards program recognizes the best in architecture, liturgical design, and art for religious spaces.
— bustler.net
Here's a selection of the winning submissions: Find more winning submissions and other competition details on Bustler. Images courtesy of 2013 Faith & Form/IFRAA Awards Program. 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
Hundreds of colonial-era structures have been destroyed in recent years to make way for modern ones like the Centrepoint tower. Completed last year, the glassy 25-story skyscraper looms over a historic block that includes the dilapidated 100-year-old Supreme Court building and City Hall, which, with its white paint and intricately tiered roof, draws easy comparisons to a wedding cake.
The condition of many older buildings makes them targets for tear-down.
— latimes.com
Looking at the diagram of a restricted image reminded me of the ubiquitous stock photograph of the NSA, the one reminiscent of the Kaaba and among the few used by news outlets. The photograph’s ubiquity, along with its subject’s resemblance to another opaque monument, serves as shorthand for an institution that seeks to be perceived as beyond human comprehension or accountability.
I made my pilgrimage not to the NSA, however, but to adjacent temples of lesser gods.
— creativetimereports.org
Stand your ground, the U.S. debut of the "Considering the Quake: Seismic Design on the Edge" exhibition will be on Feb. 13, 2014 at the AIA's Center for Architecture in New York.
Based on resilient-design research gathered by the exhibition's curators Professor Ghyslaine McClure and Dr. Effie Bouras, it highlights not only the artistic aspect of seismic design, but also its more hidden — and crucial — scientific side.
— bustler.net
Here are some notable works that will be included in the upcoming exhibition: Find out more on Bustler. 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
The disaster that reduced Christchurch to rubble has given rise to a spirit of art and enterprise, writes Tijana Jaksic. [...]
Nearly three years on from the devastating earthquake that shook the city, it's clear that Christchurch will never be the same. But the city is embracing the chance to not only rebuild, but completely reinvent itself.
— heraldsun.com.au
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
