ETERNITY IS OVERRATED, THE USES OF TIME IN ARCHITECTURE
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2013 - 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Architecture critic, writer, and curator, ROWAN MOORE addresses how buildings are not fixed objects but exist in time, connecting the thoughts and actions of the people who make them to those of the people who inhabit them. All architects, said Philip Johnson, want to be immortal. Look through standard architectural histories, and you’ll see pyramids, temples, tombs and churches -–buildings dedicated to eternity. Yet architecture is always in a state of change. It weathers, ages, decays, and is renewed. It is adapted and extended; how it is perceived is altered, such that the monstrosities of one generation become the cherished heritage of the next. Rowan Moore describes works that are smart in their use of time, from the High Line in New York to the work of the great Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi. We talk of “buildings”, he says, because they are part of a continuous process – we don’t call them “builts”. Rowan Moore is architecture critic for the Observer (London), and author of Why We Build: Power and Desire in Architecture (2013). Free.
Blarke Ingels will hold a lecture on the architectural works of BIG in Miami Beach that is free and open to the public — space is limited so please RSVP to email: RSVP_SI@edelman.com
March 26, 2013 @ 6:30pm (doors open at 5:30pm)
Colony Theater
1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
Bjarke Ingles founded BIG to develop designs that are programmatically and technically innovative as they are cost and resource conscious. Recently named one of the lead designers for the Smithsonian Masterplan, Bjarke was also named Wall Street Journal’s Innovator of the Year. He is among Fast Company’s Topo 100 Most Creative People in Design and has received the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, as well as two National AIA Awards. In addition to overseeing his New York-based practice, he has taught at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Rice Universities. Bjarke is an honorary professor at the Royal Columbia and Rice Universities and is an honorary professor at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen. He is a frequent public speaker at venues such as TED, WIRED, Google’s Zeitgeist, and the World Economic Forum.
Architects are such babies. Take Frank Gehry, the overrated star-architect of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. The Herald reports that he is very upset about how ‘rude’ the city leaders have been because they don’t want to pay his inflated fee.
To Gehry, the real issue is not his $1.9 million fee, which he said is appropriate for the project’s scope — it’s the city’s $10 million construction budget for the public park, which he said is too small given Miami Beach’s and the symphony’s elaborate goals for the space.
Hmmm…..$1.9 million for a $10 million dollar project….sounds like a 19% architectural fee. I wonder what other services Mr. Gehry will be performing for almost 20%? Sounds like the real issue isn’t the budget, but the fact that Gehry wants a larger fee. Then there is this:
Instead of hiring another architect for the park, Gehry suggested having the parks department install grass, landscaping, sprinklers, and drainage, and talk to the symphony about its ideas for the space. Then he will review it.
“We won’t charge a dime. We’ll do it as a friend to the city. Pay us zero.”
Sounds good to me. Why waste tons of money on expensive lights and fountains - park space doesn’t need to be that complicated. If the urbanism around the park works then there should not be a need to fill the park with silly things to activate it. The city can improve the park over time, and not waste so much money on architects who say things like:
Doing a parking garage in Miami is not something I should be spending time on. I did it out of respect for [Tilson Thomas].
Dude, we don’t need you to do us any favors. Thanks.
The 107,000-square-foot ”campus” is Gehry’s first Florida building. And though its simple, rectilinear design doesn’t offer the daring of the titanium-roofed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, or the audacious sail-like curves of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the yet-to-be-named facility will solve logistical problems faced by the New World Symphony in its two decades on Lincoln Road.
The Lincoln Theatre ”has acoustical deficiencies and technological limitations,” said Howard Herring, New World president and CEO. The new building, he said, will allow significant expansion and outreach “in how we train our fellows and how we bring music to the public.”
To be completed in 2010, the new building will house a 700-seat, state-of-the-art performance space with capacity for recording and webcasts and 360-degree projections. There will be a rooftop music library and conductor’s studio, 26 individual rehearsal rooms and six ensemble rehearsal rooms. Expanded Internet2 technology will allow greater international partnership and interaction with musicians, composers and learning institutions around the world. Of the $200 million cost, $150 million will pay for construction. The rest will go to the orchestra’s endowment. Its interest will cover the increased cost of operating the facility and expanding programs, Herring said.
Images Via: PlaybillArts…
I assume the home is modeled after the famous
The new Freitag flagship store in Zurich’s western developing area, made of seventeen used freight containers stacked together.
This intriguing new structure by Thom Mayne/Morphosis can help to clear up any misgivings about great architecture and limited budgets. The San Francisco Federal building is an 18 story building and was brought in under budget at 144 million dollars, about $249 / square foot. This very reasonable price for such a major structure shows that with careful planning and innovative conscious designers anything is possible.
It seems that once again, the debate on whether or not to restore or destroy the Marine Stadium at Virginia Key, is alive and well. As a big supporter of architectural preservation, it seems to me that the answer is clear. The building is so profoundly unique, all lovers of modernism would insist on it’s restoration. The mind boggling structure, visually defies the laws of physics with its incredible cantilevered roof. While many other such buildings met with the wrecking ball shortly before the resurgence of interest in mid century modern, this outdoor public venue, due in part to its non-central location, has remained in disrepair. It seems to me that if a proper restoration could be executed, this unique setting would be a big draw for a number of varied performances.
With so many amazing 20th century masterpieces, Miami is once again an example of a particular originality not found anywhere else in the U.S. This collection of buildings should be preserved at all costs. There is an active community striving to see to this. The recent declaration of Miami Modern, or MiMo historic districts, both along Biscayne Boulevard in Miami and in North Beach, in the city of Miami Beach, brought a collective sigh of relief..
There are however many worthy historical buildings that do not fall within any of these historic districts. Bay Harbor Islands is home to an extensive collection of such jewels, and it seems as if the city officals will not declare them protected, despite the vocal preservationists doing their best. By virtue of its massive scale and futurist beauty the Marine Stadium of Virginia Key is arguably the most significant of all these buildings. I will continue to keep all who are interested, informed as to how they can contribute to the struggle to honor South Florida’s architectural heritage.





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