The message of the 99% movement is even more fundamental -- that the 99% should have representative voice in the decisions made for this country. I feel aligned with their message and ours. We support their message and their tactics 100%. As designers, we should respect the rights of the 99% to gather in public spaces.
Open Letter by Bryan Bell, founder of Design Corps, sends this open letter in support of #OWS PUBLIC SPACE FOR THE PUBLIC – OR 99% OF IT In a time when the Supreme Court grants the constitutional rights of free speech to corporations, for corporations to have the same rights as individuals... View full entry
The victim, who was 17 at the time, suffered brain damage in the attack, is blind, and can't eat, walk or stand up without help. In the suit filed Nov. 14 in Hillsborough County, her family says the design and construction of the library, built in 2005, contributed to the attack. — www2.tbo.com
Occupy Wall Street Protests is testing Public Spaces not meant as campgrounds. But when the public chooses to use its public space in ways it wasn’t intended to be used, who’s right? The public or the public space? — The Atlantic
Whatever the response [to Occupy Wall Street], the fact that these protests have persisted for weeks and months in parks has put a spotlight on public spaces in general. But that fact has also complicated the response. These spaces are part of our cities so they can be used by the public... View full entry
This survey is not based solely on quality of life, number of trees or the cost of a month’s rent. Instead, we examine some cities that aim to be both smart and well managed, yet have an undeniably hip vibe. Our pick of cities that are, in a phrase, both great and good... — nytimes.com
The NYT selects Auckland, Berlin, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Curitiba, Santiago, Shanghai and Vilnius as the hippest cities for young professionals. View full entry
In a bid to bolster tourism in Moscow, plans are underway to build what could become the tallest observation wheel in the world. The graphic below breaks down the proposed wheel, possible locations and compares it to other giant observation wheels in the world. — blog.thomsonreuters.com
The planned 2012 opening of the Sept. 11 museum at the World Trade Center is in jeopardy amid a dispute over hundreds of millions of dollars in unexpected costs related to redeveloping the site, people familiar with the matter said. — online.wsj.com
Opinion seemed to be divided along generational lines. Simon, FAIA, shared Berman’s sentiment. Simon founded San Francisco-based SMWM, once the region’s most successful woman-owned firm. (SMWM has since joined Perkins + Will where the formidable Simon is now a design principal.) She thinks “Architect Barbie” trivializes the profession and objectifies its female practitioners. — metropolismag.com
The Roman shared gardens, the guerrilla gardening groups, the associations and citizens last weekend took care of the movable edible garden “ORTO ERRANTE” which has moved ("orto errante" in Italian means wandering garden) from Santa Croce in Gerusalemme to a spot near the ancient... View full entry
Some congregants at Crystal Cathedral said they felt blindsided by the church board after it threw its weight behind a bid from the Catholic Church –- an offer that effectively boots them from their landmark site in Garden Grove.
The ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Kwan to allow the sale of Crystal Cathedral to the Diocese of Orange was met with tears.
— latimesblogs.latimes.com
Philip Johnson's iconic church gets purchased by the Catholic church. View full entry
This new MONU issue on the topic of Post-Ideological Urbanism probably touches on one of the most fascinating and biggest issues of our time and in our culture, or what is left of it: the non-ideological - or better post-ideological - conditions of our society when it comes to cities. (Bernd Upmeyer, Editor-in-Chief, November 2011) — monu-magazine.com
This new MONU issue on the topic of Post-Ideological Urbanism probably touches on one of the most fascinating and biggest issues of our time and in our culture, or what is left of it: the non-ideological - or better post-ideological - conditions of our society when it comes to cities. Today... View full entry
The exhibit also has models of grandiose never-built projects, like converting more than 62 acres of what's now Foggy Bottom into "The National Galleries of History and Art".
"Nothing in the built environment is inevitable," commented Moeller, senior vice president of the National Building Museum. "It's very unpredictable. There are some accidents. Often as not, things don't go according to plan."
— examiner.com
...the most gratifying thing about “Eames” is that it shows, in marvelous detail, how their work was an extension of themselves and how their distinct personalities melded into a unique and protean force. The film is also appropriately busy and abundant: full of objects, information, stories and people, organized with hectic elegance. — movies.nytimes.com
Consider for just a moment the modern skyscraper. [...] The Chrysler Building in New York. The World Financial Center in Shanghai. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world. They transform skylines and help define what it means to be a modern metropolis.
But once upon a time, they were just places for people to work. Kate Ascher traces that history in her new book, "The Heights: Anatomy of A Skyscraper."
— marketplace.org
Directly related, this quote from the article's commentator KylgoreTrout: "The Burj in Dubai is a magnificent achievement: Except for the trucks waiting to dispose of the sewage hauled from it every day, in lines that take 24 hours of waiting. The visible structures are splendiferous; the... View full entry
It has been the rallying cry of the Occupy movement for the past two months - but is the US really split 99% v 1%? As poverty and inequality reach record levels, how much richer have the rich got? This animation explains what the key data says about the state of America today — The Guardian
It has been the rallying cry of the Occupy movement for the past two months - but is the US really split 99% v 1%? As poverty and inequality reach record levels, how much richer have the rich got? This animation explains what the key data says about the state of America today View full entry
Last week, the 19th annual CANstruction competition kicked off, with teams of architects and engineers spending a night building sculptures out of canned food, which will be donated to City Harvest. Mixing art and design, the pieces must be visually compelling but also structurally sound. — New York Observer
As always, architects have fashion on their mind, and maybe a certain smartphone app. View full entry