Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, who organized Frank Lloyd Wright’s massive archives and wrote or edited more than 50 books about the buildings, ideas and career of the legendary architect, died Sunday in Scottsdale, Ariz., according to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
“He is almost single-handedly the person who organized the archives,” said Barry Bergdoll [of MoMA]
— Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune architectural critic Blair Kamin pens an obituary for Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer. Born in 1930 in South Natick, Massachusetts, Pfeiffer studied as Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice in 1949. He eventually went on to become the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation's director of archives... View full entry
The Bonaventure has become a focal point for the debate on Postmodernism, ever since its discovery as a Postmodern hyperspace by [cultural theorist] Fredric Jameson some years ago…It’s a landscape that’s highly fragmented. It’s a space that de-centers you, makes you feel lost. And in this feeling of being lost and dislocated, you feel that your only recourse is to submit to authority. You’re helpless, you’re made helpless, you’re peripheralized, you’re lost in these spaces. — Ed Soja, eastofborneo.org
In light of John Portman's passing, here is a 6 minute clip with urban theorist Ed Soja discussing the postmodern nature of the infamous architect's Bonaventure Hotel located in downtown Los Angeles. h/t to Orhan from this thread. View full entry
Gavin Stamp, the architectural historian, who has died aged 69, was “Piloti” who wrote the “Nooks and Corners” column in Private Eye magazine; a television presenter of great charm and humour; a conservationist who personally saved one of the finest Arts and Crafts buildings in London; a photographer, draughtsman and writer of prodigious talent. — telegraph.co.uk
The architecture community lost historian, writer and broadcaster Gavin Stamp on December 30 2017 due to prostate cancer. Stamp had an immense impact on British architecture and authored several important architectural history books. He was also a television series presenter, co-founder of... View full entry
The savvy emphasis on escape and disconnectedness and repose has resonated among the millennials Getaway aims to reach. In each of its markets, outside New York, Boston and Washington, Getaway’s houses are booked solid on weekends, and in early 2017, the company, founded by two Harvard graduates, raised $15 million in venture capital funding, which suggests that a tiny house campground may soon be coming to a forest near you. — The Washington Post
Getaway positions its retreats just outside major cities where individuals are encouraged to recharge and reconnect in nature. Tapping into the tiny house phenomena that rapidly gained popularity among millennials after the 2008 housing crisis, Getaway houses can be rented at just over $160 a... View full entry
Mamou-Mani, the French architect chosen to build the 2018 Burning Man Temple, believes that robots can only further the possibilities in his field, and he plans to enlist the help of a number of robotic tools this year in creating Burning Man's most sacred structure. — Reno Gazette Journal
Burning Man is known for its over-the-top installations and structures that pop up in the middle of the the Nevada desert for a week, one of the most important being the Burning Man Temple. Next year, the temporary structure will be built by the French architect Mamou-Mani along with the help of... View full entry
This week, for our last show of the year, Donna, Ken and Paul share highlights from their favorite episodes. It wasn't an easy task, as the year was filled with some brilliant guests and engaging conversations. Let us know, in the comments, what your favorite moments were from this year. We're... View full entry
2017 saw a multitude of new projects from proposal to completion. A floating roof for Apple, San Francisco's tallest building, semi-transparent "Concrete"... Here are the 14 most attention grabbing projects of 2017, in case you missed the headlines. A “hyper-democratic” housing complex in... View full entry
When it comes to large-scale residential buildings, a complex set of economic, urban, and regulatory systems sometimes seem to have left little room for architectural exploration. Architects often struggle to find a point of entry for inserting their creative perspective in a way that would... View full entry
Was the street art covering 5Pointz, a largely empty warehouse in Long Island City, Queens, significant enough to preserve under US federal law? A federal judge in Brooklyn in currently considering the arguments in a case that tests the limits of the Visual Artists Rights Act (Vara), and could soon decide whether a developer Gerald Wolkoff and his companies violated the act when he tore down the graffiti-covered building to construct residential towers and what, if any, damages they will pay. — The Art Newspaper
To many longtime residents, the cookie-cutter constructions stripped Venice of its distinctive architectural character, turning parts of the neighborhood into uniform eyesores.
“Over the last year or two specifically, we’re seeing more chances being taken and more unique developments going up,” Lackey said. “This wave of architecture is great for Venice, which has always been a hub of individuality.”
— Los Angeles Times
Boring boxy developments have taken over Venice, California in the last 15 years, but in this LA Times piece, some architects think it's time for the coastal town to return to its eclectic architectural roots...currently in the form of multimillion-dollar luxury homes. View full entry
Architecture: It's a serious lifestyle — but one that can still make room for some fun and laughs, too. The last 12 months have brought on an entertaining mix of design-themed films, whimsical projects, pop culture crossovers, and even some clever hacks. Have another look at these fun, shareable... View full entry
From job auditions and activism to artificial intelligence and life beyond architecture, 2017 brought upon a very eclectic collection of top features of the year. Looking back, we collected the the most relished and savored; which one did you love?The Architecture of Artificial Intelligence What... View full entry
This year brought forth several new designs involving some key players in and out of the architecture world—from Obama's Presidential Center to the MAD Architect designed George Lucas museum. Check out the most noteworthy 11 projects unveiled in 2017. Stunning construction photos of Zaha Hadid... View full entry
Built along the St. Lawrence river in the city of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, the Amphithéâtre Cogeco is a new performing arts venue by Atelier Paul Laurendeau, who won the competition to design the project in 2011. The project site was once occupied by a paper mill that shut down in the early... View full entry
The Queen has appointed Tim Knox, 55, the director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, to be the new director of the Royal Collection Trust. He has been the museum’s director since 2013 and is an architectural historian and country house curator. [...]
His early career was spent at the Royal Institution of British Architects. He then served as the head curator of the National Trust (2002-05), from which he went on to be the director of the Sir John Soane’s Museum (2005-13).
— The Art Newspaper
"The Royal Collection is one of the world’s greatest, comprising more than a million objects from all aspects of fine and decorative art," The Art Newspaper writes. "It is not the personal property of The Queen, but is held in trust by Her Majesty for her successors and the nation." View full entry