Architect's Journal has reported on an embarrassing - and controversial - fumble from the BBC. Not only has the media outlet been criticized for "largely ignoring women architects in its series The Brits Who Built the Modern World," but it's now come under fire for an image (appearing at the beginning of episode 3) in which Patty Hopkins is photoshopped out of a group that includes her husband Michael Hopkins, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Nicholas Grimshaw, and Terry Farrell.
The six architects are featured in RIBA's tie-in-exhibition; however, as the series chose to focus on the five male architects, the photographer removed Ms. Hopkins from the shot (unbeknownst to the BBC).
Lucy Mori of KL Mori Business Consulting for Architects told Architect's Journal: ‘I am shocked that women’s contribution to architecture has again been “airbrushed” from this populist history programme."
Today, TIME unveiled "Top of America," a multimedia site relaying the gripping story of One World Trade, the David Childs-designed skyscraper that stands 1,776-feet tall within Daniel Libeskind's masterplan. Beyond providing interesting tidbits of information (did you know that both an 18th century boat and an ice-age formation were found while digging out the building's foundations?), the article, written by Josh Sanburn, is a fascinating and often deeply moving account -- one that gets across the sheer force of will and the extraordinary amount of collaboration it took to raise this building into the atmosphere:
"Nine governors, two mayors, multiple architects, a headstrong developer, thousands of victims’ families and tens of thousands of neighborhood residents fought over this tiny patch of real estate…. Almost 13 years later…. America’s brawny, soaring ambition—the drive that sent pioneers west, launched rockets to the moon and led us to build steel-and-glass towers that pierced the clouds—is intact. Reaching 1,776 ft. has ensured it."
TIME's investment into the story was considerable (and, one can speculate, motivated by a desire to rival the fantastic multimedia features of The New York Times). The site is accompanied by a special issue of TIME, a documentary film, an unprecedented 360-degree interactive photograph, and - come April - even a book. Sanburn was not only granted exclusive access to the project for about a year, but photographer Jonathan Woods is the only journalist to have ascended to the skyscraper's top. Woods, start-up Gigapan, and mechanical engineers worked over eight months to design (on AutoCAD no less) a 13-foot long, rotating jib that could sustain a camera in the harsh conditions at the top of the tower’s 408-ft. spire; over 600 images were then digitally stitched together to create the 360-degree interactive photograph (which you can purchase here. A portion of the proceeds go to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum).
You can explore TIME's interactive at TIME.com/wtc . Click after the break to watch some incredible videos from the project & read some particularly moving quotes from Sanburn's article.
Plantation in "12 Years a Slave". Image Courtesy of indienyc.com
"In a career that is still taking shape, the 44-year-old McQueen has already done more to make me rethink the relationship between the built environment and the camera than almost anybody in Hollywood." So says Christopher Hawthorne in his latest for the LA Times, where he examines the body of work of Steve McQueen - the director of Hunger, Shame, and the Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave - and explores how McQueen "takes up architectural symbols in a sustained and strategic way." Read the fascinating article at the LA Times.
Freakonomics has just posted a fascinating new podcast that takes on the question posed by Alastair Townsend in our AD original article: “Why Japan is Crazy About Housing.” The podcast consults with Townsend and economic experts to present a thought-provoking answer to the puzzling question of why Japan builds architecture that is avant-garde and yet, ultimately, disposable. The answer may just surprise you. Listen to the whole podcast here:
d3 has just announced the winners of its annual Housing Tomorrow competition, a competition that urges its participants to "deploy innovative, socially- and environmentally-engaged approaches to residential urbanism, architecture, interiors, and designed objects" in order to determine "new architectonic strategies for living in the future." As always, the results are fantastic, thought-provoking visions of a more sustainable world. See the winners, after the break.
"I have nothing to do with the workers. I think that's an issue the government – if there's a problem – should pick up. Hopefully, these things will be resolved."
The Missing 32% Project has a mission: to understand why in the US women represent about 50% of students enrolled in architecture programs, but fewer than 18% of licensed architects (and fewer in leadership roles). If you too are curious about this unusual discrepancy, you can help find an answer by participating in the Equity in Architecture Survey. The Missing 32% Project (along with AIA San Francisco) will use the results to determine best practices for attracting, promoting, and retaining talent in architecture.For more information about the project and to take the survey, go to http://themissing32percent.com/.
Courtesy of Studio Odile DECQ architectes urbanistes
Odile Decq has announced that she is launching a new kind of architecture school based upon the idea of "Confluence," an educational framework that "erases the predefined limits of the traditional academic structures for the benefit of the collaboration of talents, thoughts and disciplines."
The Confluence Institute for Innovation and Creative Strategies in Architecture, which will be located in in Lyon, France, will bring together "Architects, critics, artists, thinkers, philosophers, film-makers, scientists, engineers and manufacturers" in order to develop an architecture that develops ideas unconstrained by "stylistic prejudice or ideology." More on this new initiative, after the break.
Learn more about this year's winners, and the BOTY Awards in general, by checking out our AD original infographic, presented by ArchDaily and our partners at HP, after the break.
MASS Design Group, the award-winning design group behind the Butaro Hospital and Umubano Primary School in Rwanda as well as other public-interest projects in Haiti, have launched a video series on a great topic that really resonates with us. "Beyond the Building" will look at the ways in which architecture, beyond buildings, impacts lives around the world, giving dignity back to the users. Check out the awesome video above (the first of the series) and join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #beyondthebuilding.
Unfortunately, a few paragraphs later, all that promise falls terribly flat. Smith spends a good amount of time setting up a fabulous argument, and then - disappointingly - falls into the very traps she was hoping to break wide open. By the article's conclusion, I was less satisfied than when I started, wondering: is this even the right question we should be asking?
In case you missed them, we've rounded up our four popular "Material Inspiration" posts, which celebrated the launch of our new US product catalog, ArchDaily Materials. Check them out below!
Courtesy of Citiq Property Developers, via Inhabitat
Inhabitat has just featured an unlikely new student housing project in Johannesburg: Mill Junction, a student complex that consists of two former grain silos topped with shipping containers. According to its developers, Citiq Property Developers, the energy and money-saving project re-directs money towards communal facilities, proving popular with students. As a result, Mill Junction, the second shipping-container housing project built by the Developers, may be the second of many more. More info at Inhabitat.
For twenty-four hours only (until 5:59PM EST February 15th), ArchDaily readers have been given the exclusive opportunity to watch the documentary, MICROTOPIA, in its entirety, for free.
The film is a provocative look at the global trends of micro-housing, downsizing, and living off-grid. As the film-makers put it: "In an age of increasing population and technological gains, today’s mobile society has resulted in a demand, or perhaps a dream, for portable dwellings and dwellings in new settings and situations. Microtopia explores how architects, artists and ordinary problem-solvers are pushing the limits to find answers to their dreams of portability,flexibility – and of creating independence from “the grid.”[...] On the sidewalk, on rooftops, in industrial landscapes and in nature we will see and feel how these abodes meet the dreams set up by their creators."
Miss your 24-hour window? MICROTOPIA is available to rent for $3.99 on Vimeo. You can also check out the trailer after the break.
The New York Times has run a fascinating thought experiment in rendered form: What would it look like if the winter Olympics were held in New York City? From luges through Times Square to ski jumps over Bryant park, the ideas are certainly fantastical - but also fun lessons in scale. See them all here.
An awesome documentary that somehow didn't fall on our radar in time to be included in our "40 Architecture Docs to Watch in 2014," MICROTOPIA is an in-depth look at fascinating, provocative micro-dwellings and the people who design/live in them.
MICROTOPIA is usually available to rent for $3.99 from Vimeo, BUT ArchDaily readers are receiving an exclusive offer to stream the documentary - absolutely free - for 24 hours only. So make sure to tune in from 6pm EST on February 14th to 5:59PM EST February 15th for this one-time opportunity.
For more about MICROTOPIA, check out the awesome trailer above, and read more information on the doc, after the break.
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