Speaking of cities, o,u’s research on the rise of Doha—as one of the Gulf’s most rapid urbanizations—through Carnegie Mellon now has an online presence. (and a great logo).
A great article on In Form by Mimi Zeiger in Domus. It has a great opener:
“The city. The city is arguably the dominant subject of architectural discourse today. Its return came in topical waves over the last decade: landscape urbanism, infrastructural urbanism, networks, shrinking cities, and wholesale metropolises constructed in China and the Middle East. And the 2008 bust, with the almost overnight evaporation of building commissions, by default solidified the city as subject, as the singular project for investigation. New York City’s grid, Detroit’s ruin, and Los Angeles’ heterogeneous sprawl proved enticing topics of research and speculation.”
Orange County Government Center, Goshen, New York, 1971
(Paul Rudolph)
This building is threatened with demolition. Though its loss unfortunately seems inevitable, please let Orange County Executive Edward A Diana know how you feel about his replacing this incredibly inventive Brutalist edifice with a glorified strip mall by contacting his office: http://bit.ly/w8j3Vx
Last week saw o,u install a ‘best of’ show at the new Miami Beach Urban Studios gallery, followed by a lecture at FIU proper. A good trip to see a bit of Miami, including catching a bit of Robert Redford projected onto the new Gehry as part of an ongoing film series.
A while back o,u (and Kubo) were asked to write write reviews for our favorite print magazine Domus, but they now appearing online as well… the first is here.
It’s by far the favorite of our subscriptions at ouhq. We’re still amazed that the team there manages to put out something of that quality monthly.
The posts below are the films we produced for the New/Public portion of In Form at the BSA Space. A growing array of cultural spaces in Boston have increased the range of urban amenities available to residents and visitors. Within the last two years, the transformation of the city’s cultural realm has included museums, public libraries, civic information centers, and community infrastructures for recreation and leisure. New/Public highlights three recent projects that contribute to Boston’s expanding cultural sphere. Information graphics describe the processes involved in making these buildings, based on data collected from surveys of both architects and clients. Three short films open a social and architectural lens onto the everyday life of these spaces and the people they serve. Together, these contrasting representations probe the relationship between the realization of each project and its public performance, between intended and actual use.
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Housing Chicago: Cabrini-Green to Parkside of Old Town -
(Old Town Village West townhomes, a new mixed-income development, ca. 2009; looming in the background is the William Green Homes high-rise, part of Cabrini-Green, demolished 2011. Photo by Lawrence J. Vale)
“In 1929 a treatise by sociologist Harvey Zorbaugh famously depicted the Near North Side of Chicago as divided into The Gold Coast and the Slum. [1] Within a generation the public housing development Cabrini-Green, built in stages from the early 1940s to the early 1960s, would replace that slum — all too literally, as it turned out. For while in its early years the Cabrini project, which consisted of low-rise and high-rise housing, served as a clean and modern alternative to the horrific conditions of the neighborhood known as “Little Hell,” Cabrini-Green itself would suffer a protracted decline — to the point where it became the slum it had been meant to cure. By the early 1990s Cabrini-Green had come to symbolize the systemic failures of postwar public housing, and it was then that city officials and local developers initiated a second cycle of renewal.”
Interesting essay by Lawrence Vale for Design Observer.
“What’s most exciting about In Form is its story about a mode of architectural engagement that Boston has fostered and benefitted from, one that can be particularly instructive to young architects today, and one that many other cities can’t boast. Very few of the projects in the Legible City group came about through typical means – they are the result of opportunism on the part of designers, creative stretching of resources and rules to accommodate a productive conversation with the public.”
Sarah Hirschman files a great first report about In Form at the BSA. Originally for Architizer, we were very pleased to see that it made it’s way to Atlantic Cites.
Yesterday saw the end of install and beginning of a new phase of our work as curators and content creators. For this one we became professional vinyl installers, wrote text, made a newspaper, edited short films, developed an interactive iPad installation, built a 20 foot model, welded frames, hung things from beams with clamps, dug into archives, found original artifacts for each and every piece of the show. We’re pretty chuffed with ourselves.
In Form: Communicating Boston is now open to the public at the BSA Space. A few images from Mark… More to come.
One of our new favorite podcasts. On the Pruitt-Igoe myth. We’re still waiting to check out the film, and might screen it at the new BSA Space. Podcast here, film info and trailer here.
Sometimes the unexpected makes you the happiest. A bit of chevron play from the latest round of Wentworth collateral. More here.
