Decon Artists: Wigley, Tschumi, Eisenman Reflect on MoMA’s Landmark “Deconstructivist Architecture” Exhibit
Parc de la Villettes. (Lauren Manning / Flickr)
On January 22, Mark Wigley, Bernard Tschumi, and Peter Eisenman took the stage in MoMA’s theater to reflect upon Deconstructivist Architecture, the landmark 1988 exhibit curated by Wigley and Philip Johnson. The press release at the time described the featured architects—including Coop Himmelblau, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, and Daniel Libeskind, along with Tschumi and Eisenman—as “obsessed with diagonals, arcs, and warped plans.”
In a where-are-they-now moment, Wigley said, “It occurred to me that only Daniel Libeskind thought the show was about the future, and he still seems to be designing for the show, and that seems to be not a good idea.” And the sniping didn’t stop there. Eisenman, despite refusing to hold the microphone to his mouth, could be overheard saying what kind of exhibit he would—or rather, wouldn’t—do, if given the chance: “Well, it wouldn’t be like the biennale of last fall, which was sort of a discount supermarket of everything that was going.” “Including you,” zinged Wigley.
AN’s DesignX Workshops To Push Forefront of Digital Design
Since we began ten years ago, The Architect’s Newspaper has been at the forefront of cutting-edge design trends. Over the past several years, we’ve given extensive attention to the growing field of digital design and fabrication. In addition, AN‘s Editor-in-Chief William Menking called for New York City to embrace its architecture and design potential, last year penning two editorials on the subject. This year, AN is partnering with Mode Collective to create designX, which will launch in New York at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair‘s (ICFF) Material Makers‘ workshops. Topics will include parametric design, digital fabrication, and web-based design apps.
Investing in Detroit’s Future: Kresge Puts Up $150 Million For Ambitious Plan
The Detroit Works Project has received the economic boost it needed to put its Detroit Future City plan into action. Detroit Free Press reported that the Troy-based, Kresge Foundation will give $150 million over the next five years to help accomplish the objectives outlined in the 347-page plan, which focuses on creating economic growth and building infrastructure in Detroit. A technical team led by Toni Griffin, a New York-based urban planner, crafted an extensive list of recommendations such as blue and green infrastructures, job creation, and management of vacant land.
Gabriele Basilico, one of the most important European documentary photographers working today, has died. Born in Milan in 1944, Basilico trained as an architect before taking to the camera, documenting the changing landscape of Europe, postwar Beirut, and many other regions. According to the Garlerie Anne Barrault, which represents him, he participated in the Venice Biennale and won a Golden Lion, was exhibited widely in museums and galleries, and won numerous awards for his work capturing contemporary urban conditions. His recent work has focused on urban transformations. He was 69.
Obit>Udo Kultermann, 1927-2013
Udo Kultermann (courtesy Washington University, St. Louis)
Udo Kultermann, who was born in Germany, died in New York City on February 9, 2013 at the age of 85. An internationally-known art historian, scholar, author, and lecturer, Kultermann spent nearly 30 years as a professor of art and architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to his work at Washington University, Kultermann, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Muenster, served as the director of the City Art Museum in Leverkusen, Germany. Kultermann wrote more than 35 books on a wide range of subjects, many of which have been translated into various languages. Read More
Designer Documenting the Windows of New York
Graphic designer José Guizar is documenting the variety of windows to be found across New York City. His project, Windows of New York, adds a distinctive aperture each week rendered in stunning simplicity, reminding us of another ambitious graphic design project James Gulliver Hancock‘s All the Buildings of New York. According to Guizar, Windows of New York “is a collection of windows that somehow have caught my restless eye out from the never-ending buzz of the city. This project is part an ode to architecture and part a self-challenge to never stop looking up.” [Via Swiss Miss.]
Building a Better LAX? Terminal 4 Connector Shortlist Revealed
Los Angeles Airport. (brewbooks / Flickr)
It looks like things at long-maligned LAX are looking up. First AN reported that AECOM is working on a big makeover of the airport’s roadway spaces and that Fentress Architects is completing a new Tom Bradley Satellite Terminal. Now we’ve gotten our hands on a secret shortlist for LAX Terminal 4 Connector, the next component of the airport’s international spaces. And the finalists are… Corgan (with Turner) and Gensler (with Hensel Phelps). Now if only they could get the subway to go there, LAX might actually become a world-class airport!
Cornell Closes in on New Roosevelt Island Campus
Rendering of Cornell’s proposed Roosevelt Island campus. (Courtesy Kilograph)
The stars are aligning for Cornell’s proposed technology campus on Roosevelt Island. The Morphosis-designed proposal has successfully made its way through New York City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedures (ULURP), and recently won the support of Manhattan Community Board 8 and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Two remaining review processes are left, and if all goes well, Cornell will have the green light to start construction by 2014.
2013 SCUP Excellence Awards for Architecture, Planning, or Landscape Architecture
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The 2013 SCUP Excellence Awards for Architecture, Planning, or Landscape Architecture deadline is February 22. These awards recognize and honor institutions and consulting firms whose success and best practices demonstrate achievements through plans, buildings, additions, renovations, restorations, and landscapes. This is a juried program.
The Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), which was established in 1965, is a community of senior, higher education leaders who are responsible for, or are involved in, the integration of planning on their campuses and for the professionals who support them.Award categories include:
• SCUP Excellence in Planning for a New Campus; Existing Campus; District or Campus Component
• SCUP Excellence in Landscape Architecture for General Design; Open Space Planning and Design
• SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture for a New Building; Building Additions, Renovation or Adaptive Reuse; Restoration or Preservation.
Get all the details at www.scup.org/awards or contact Betty Cobb: 734.764.2004, 734.395.0024, or betty.cobb@scup.org
Detroit Light Rail Back On Track With $25 Million Grant
What light rail could look like in Detroit. (Courtesy M1 Rail)
Outgoing U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced recently that Detroit’s M-1 Rail project, aka the Woodward Light Rail Line, will receive $25 million in federal TIGER funding. The plans for this 3-mile long light rail system along Woodward Avenue will include 11 stops running from the city’s downtown to New Center. According to the Detroit Free Press, $100 million has already been raised of the light rail line’s $140 million price tag. Officials said the first trains could be running by the end of 2015.
SCI-Arc’s “Hispanic Steps” Ready For Lectures & Performances
SCI-Arc’s Hispanic Steps. (Courtesy Artplace)
Our favorite new naming triumph: SCI-Arc’s “Hispanic Steps.” The new indoor amphitheater, paid for in part by a recent ArtPlace grant and located in the middle of the SCI-Arc building in Los Angeles, is used for lectures, performances, symposia, film series, and community meetings. At a recent meeting to discuss SCI-Arc’s Arts District plans that are also part of the $400,000 ArtPlace grant, officials posed on the newly completed steps for a photo. Included are SCI-Arc’s Chief Advancement Officer, Sarah Sullivan (front center) and Chief Operating Officer, Jamie Bennett (upper right).
Farewell Ray: LaHood Leaving Post as Transportation Secretary
Ray LaHood. (Courtesy USDOT Fast Lane Blog)
Last month, Ray LaHood made an off-the-cuff remark at a post-inaugural party that he would be “sticking around for a while” as President Obama’s Secretary of Transportation, but last week LaHood made his final decision to step down from the position after four years on the job. The Republican made a name for himself in urbanist circles for his support of High Speed Rail, efficient urban transportation policies, and safety pushes, most notably his efforts to curb distracted driving. Reflecting on his tenure at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), LaHood remarked in a letter to DOT employees across the country,
“Our achievements are significant. We have put safety front and center with the Distracted Driving Initiative and a rule to combat pilot fatigue that was decades in the making. We have made great progress in improving the safety of our transit systems, pipelines, and highways, and in reducing roadway fatalities to historic lows. We have strengthened consumer protections with new regulations on buses, trucks, and airlines.”
In an exit interview with the Huffington Post, LaHood said, “We are behind on high-speed rail,” but remained optimistic that the topic will still maintain a top spot his successor’s agenda: “As long as President Obama is in the White House, whoever sits in this chair will have high-speed rail as one of their top priorities.” LaHood will continue in his role as Secretary until his successor is found.
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