It is with great sadness that we report that Australian/British architect and public interest designer Ross Langdon, 32, was among those killed in the terrorist attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in recent days. He was killed alongside his partner, Elif Yavuz, who worked for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Kenya, and was just two weeks from her due date to give birth to their first child. — publicinterestdesign.org
In creating associated descriptive metadata, in tagging building entries to describe their materials, types, and, perhaps most especially, their styles, the author of metadata is practicing the historian’s craft and engaging in the historian’s stock in trade. "Name it, then we’ll know what it is," Reyner Banham suggested at the end of “The Great Gizmo.” We can name it metadata creation, but we already know what it is: architectural history. — Places Journal
For several years Gabrielle Esperdy has been part of a team working on the development of SAH Archipedia — an online encyclopedia of American architecture sponsored by the Society of Architectural Historians. Here she explores the critical challenge of creating structural and descriptive... View full entry
For the sake of argument, let's say that Bashar al-Assad is on the phone. He wants her to build him a prison in Damascus. "Well, I wouldn't mind building in Syria," she shrugs. "I'm an Arab and if it helps people, if it's an opera house or a parliament building, something for the masses, I would do it. But if someone asks me to build a prison, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't build a prison, irrespective of where it is, even if it was very luxurious." — the guardian
She won't build a prison? How many buildings have been designed, and constructed where the intent is one thing, and the ultimate use has been for something quite nefarious? I don't care who she builds for, ultimately she has to live with those decisions, but she can't be this naive, and expect... View full entry
The project identified nine key trends; More globally than city wide connected communities, Neighbourhoods become more important, Collaborative production as well as consumption, Active aging population, Flexible working, Fragile energy supply and environment, Inequality causing skills and housing divides, Increasing collection and use of personal data and Socially divisive access to communication technologies — Future Londoners
Future Londoners is a series of imaginary characters, created by Arup, Social Life, Re.Work, Commonplace, Tim Maughan and Nesta, to explore the possibilities of urban life in the future. h/t Bruce Sterling/Beyond the Beyond View full entry
Archtober–New York City's Architecture and Design Month–is fast approaching. The anticipated festival from Oct. 1-31, 2013 continues to grow with an amazing variety of exhibitions, conferences, films, tours, and other activities to celebrate the importance of architecture and design... View full entry
"Our collaboration has been since 1989, and now it's long-term," Toyota says of Gehry. "With Frank, I learned many, many things."
Chief among them, he says: "Flexibility."
"His thinking is very free and without restrictions. His spirit and creative mind is [open]. And we were able to work together in this way," Toyota says.
During the construction of Disney Hall, Toyota, ... was inspired by Gehry's design and perfected what he sees as his personal style of acoustics.
— latimes.com
Well-designed places can promote health, and design professionals can create them. Health depends... on wholesome places, not just for individuals, but across entire communities, and health professionals can recognize and support them.
Accordingly, two worlds need to come together: the world of design, in which architects, planners and their colleagues create places; and the world of health, in which doctors, public-health officials and their colleagues fight injury, illness and disability.
— seattletimes.com
Howard Frumkin, dean of University of Washington’s School of Public Health, and Daniel Friedman, Ph.D., architect and former dean of the UW College of Built Environments, discuss the importance of architects and health specialists working together to create healthier spaces. View full entry
A decision by a federal judge paves the way for the forfeiture of a 36-story Manhattan building that the U.S. alleges is secretly owned and controlled by the government of Iran.
The court agreed with the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York that the owners are a front for the Iranian government and therefore in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which restricts commerce with Iran.
— npr.org
Nearly eight years after opening, Prada Marfa has been classified by the Texas Department of Transportation as an “illegal outdoor advertising sign” because it displays the Prada logo on land where that is prohibited. This could lead to forced removal of the installation, although the department has not yet decided what action it will take. — nytimes.com
UPDATE: Prada Marfa saved View full entry
Art Critique Of Gramsci Monument: A Work in Public Space by Thomas Hirschhorn at Forest Houses, the Bronx, New York. — newcriterion.com
Thomas Hirschhorn’s Gramsci Monument, a temporary public art work sponsored by the Dia Foundation now on view at Forest Houses in the Bronx, reportedly cost $500,000 to construct.1 If you try accounting for its material costs in plywood, nails, tarps, and packing tape, and still come up... View full entry
“It has long been our goal to ensure that the contemporary artworks in the Broad collections are seen by the broadest possible public,” said Eli Broad. “We believe that free general admission to The Broad will help draw visitors to all of the cultural institutions along Grand Avenue.”
The Broad, Los Angeles’s newest contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, will offer free general admission when it opens in late 2014, founders Eli and Edythe Broad announced today.At a hard hat tour and preview of the museum, the Broads were joined by Los Angeles Mayor... View full entry
After a 5 minute walk from Kawasaki Station (川崎駅) it was easy to spot the amusement complex from its faux rusted exterior sticking out like a sore thumb between standard Japanese tower blocks. Note that it’s over 18′s only! — randomwire.com
After a 5 minute walk from Kawasaki Station (川崎駅) it was easy to spot the amusement complex from its faux rusted exterior sticking out like a sore thumb between standard Japanese tower blocks. Note that it’s over 18′s only! Entering through the sliding doors... View full entry
Failed Architecture is a research platform that aims to open up new perspectives on urban failure – from what it’s perceived to be, what’s actually happening and how it’s represented to the public. Supported by a website, travelling workshops and a series of lectures, the research collective seeks to develop ongoing and open conversations with experts in the field of architecture and planning and the public at large. — failedarchitecture.com
The Architecture & Design Film Festival the largest U.S. film festival devoted to the subject, is returning for its fifth year at Tribeca Cinemas in New York City for five days from Oct. 16-20. This year's schedule is packed with premieres, panel discussions, Q+A sessions, book signings, and... View full entry
The Los Angeles City Council voted [...] to tentatively rescind a decade long ban on murals. [...]
One of the biggest of supporters of the ordinance was muralist Kent Twitchell, he painted the Freeway lady along the 101, the LA Marathon Mural, and giant Los Angeles Conservancy portraits next to the 110 freeway in Downtown LA. Twitchell also co founded the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles.
— scpr.org
