The best approach, it seems to me, is to say that the genre of “social practice” art raises questions that it cannot by itself answer. But it would be missing an opportunity not to join the debate, even if the goal is to take it in a completely different direction. — isreview.org
Nuanced critique of an art movement that is increasingly affecting discourse in architecture, design and urban practices. View full entry
Photographer Jennifer Williams' upcoming "The High Line Effect" exhibition at the Robert Mann Gallery in New York presents the recently constructed High Line with a Dada-esque collage aesthetic, adding a twist — so to speak — to architectural photography. This latest exhibition from Williams uniquely critiques construction, while also giving commentary on real estate development, zoning laws, habitation patterns, and other urban-living and architectural issues. — bustler.net
With an interest in the growth of new luxury buildings, other current projects of Williams include Renzo Piano’s new Whitney Museum and Zaha Hadid’s proposed condominium. The opening reception will be on Oct. 24, 6-8 p.m. The exhibition can also be viewed online starting that day. View full entry
In his 12-year tenure, Bloomberg built a gleaming Oz of new parks and plazas, skyscrapers and bike lanes. This didn’t stop plenty of terrible buildings from going up. But a focus on streets and architecture redrew whole swaths of the city: Brownstone Brooklyn boomed, the High Line opened, industrial wastelands became waterfront playgrounds. Urban living became a cause, a public good. Design, down to the curbside and the public bench, was no longer an afterthought... — nytimes.com
Opening last week at the Guggenheim Museum, the "Participatory City: 100 Urban Trends" exhibition by the BMW Guggenheim Lab is the interdisciplinary team's latest project in continuing the global conversation on major urban issues of the world's cities. "Participatory City" delves into key themes... View full entry
[Genie is] a platform with online-based planning applications to help architects and engineers in the design process, especially for skyscrapers and large buildings. The platform includes planning tools of expert architects and engineers and advance analytics and simulation tools. Genie standardizes and automates the design and construction processes with unlimited design options, enabling an architect to preserve the building's uniqueness in the urban environment. — Globes
Photographer Iwan Baan shows how people build homes in unlikely places, touring us through the family apartments of Torre David, a city on the water in Nigeria, and an underground village in China. Glorious images celebrate humanity's ability to survive and make a home -- anywhere. — youtube.com
To celebrate Disney Hall’s tenth anniversary, architect Frank Gehry and Conductor Laureate for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Esa-Pekka Salonen reminisced on the building’s inspiration last night, at a discussion held at the Hammer Museum. Co-hosted by the LA Phil, far from the actual... View full entry
Neiman Marcus, purveyor of luxury goods, now also sells luxuries of the architectural variety. As part of its holiday gift catalog, the high-end retailer is offering one night in Philip Johnson’s 1949 Glass House — for $30,000. — blogs.artinfo.com
Apple's proposed new spaceship-shaped headquarters got a super-charged blast-off Tuesday night when the Cupertino City Council voted unanimously to approve the 2.8-million-square-foot behemoth beside Interstate 280, fulfilling a dream of co-founder Steve Jobs, hatching an iconic landmark for Silicon Valley, and promising more congestion in an already traffic-challenged region for decades to come. — mercurynews.com
It appears that cities of today, and especially big cities, all around the world, are all struggling with similar problems, as they all have developed huge territories - their metropolitan or "greater" areas - during the twentieth century that cannot be properly understood by anyone in terms of their form, but that now need to be recognized as something that truly exists, because it is a form that is in perpetual transformation and without limits. — http://www.monu-magazine.com
It appears that cities of today, and especially big cities, all around the world, are all struggling with similar problems, as they all have developed huge territories - their metropolitan or "greater" areas - during the twentieth century that cannot be properly understood by anyone in terms of... View full entry
Plopped down on a former Marine Corp air station in the geographic middle of Orange County, nineteen solar-powered model homes line the runway to be judged in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon. For its first year held away from the National Mall in Washington D.C., the Solar... View full entry
From the sparsely dotted Chinese walking man to the top-hat-wearing, cane-bearing Dane, almost a hundred “walking men” are displayed life-size on banners that line the sidewalk.
“It’s important to me that they are on human scale because they really represent us,” said Ms. Barkai.
Only rarely are the icons depicted as women, she noted. Of the hundreds of images in her collection, Ms. Barkai has only “about six or seven women, mostly from European countries.”
— blogs.wsj.com
Many people are still stuck in cyclone shelters because they have nowhere to sleep or get food and water, said T. Radha, the relief commissioner for Andhra Pradesh. He said plastic sheets are being distributed to the homeless, along with food and water. He said fishermen, who are unable to venture out to sea, are being given 10 kilograms of rice to help feed their families. — blogs.wsj.com
This week, as Goldberg’s famous work is pulled apart by wreckers, nothing about its loss seems symmetrical or graceful. Within 40 years, the building transitioned from a proud symbol of civic renewal and design innovation to the victim of old-fashioned Chicago politics. The controversy surrounding the demolition of Prentice, however, injected the preservation movement into an urban design discussion with a presence not seen in a long time. — nextcity.org
Related: As Prentice comes down, stakes rise on its replacement View full entry
Creativity was now the most valuable quality of all, ran Florida’s argument, “the decisive source of competitive advantage.” This made creative people into society’s “dominant class” — and companies that wished to harness their power would need to follow them wherever they went...
Every element of Florida’s argument infuriated our future correspondent. Was he suggesting planned bohemias? Built by governments? To attract businesses?
— salon.com