Post-Trauma Urbanism: Julian Worrall, an architect and professor at the University of Waseda (also known as Waseda Daigaku), based in Tokyo, wrote a poignant essay on his experience of the Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear threat aftereffect for Icon Magazine, June 2011, issue 096.
Icon: David Chipperfield's Turner Contemporary by William Wiles, still for Icon Magazine.
Icon (bis): Underwater Worlds by Geoff Manaugh who examines these films, games and architecture reimagined the world beneath the waves. I have not watched Sphere (directed by Barry Levinson) yet. (Icon Magazine, June 2011, issue 096)
I like: Jürgen Mayer H and his atmospheric timber cover, Metropol Parasol, for a Seville square. (Icon Magazine, June 2011, issue 096). Ethel Baraona Pohl wrote an interesting article for Domus Magazine (Domus 947, May 2011). Reviewing Mayer's project, she examines the concept of utopia in the 21st Century…
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| Metropol Parasol, Seville, Spain, © Juergen Mayer H |
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| Metropol Parasol © Juergen Mayer H |
Engineers and the City: Arup Sustainable Buildings is the title of special issue of the Japanese magazine A + U April 2011. This Japanese magazine (English/Japanese) examines through 6 objectives the firm's research on sustainable buildings such as Integrated Urbanism. A+U goes back over Arup's design. The issue is indispensable… in case of you have a strong interest in Ecological resilience.
Latin America, the new eldorado?: Latin America, the research lab for those who work on urbanism and cities. Architectural Design April 2011: Latin America at the Crossroads. invites Peruvian-British architect Mariana Leguia for an interesting guest-edition. Plus some must-read: Patricia Romero-Lankao who opens the doors towards an understanding of Urban Response to Climate Change in Latin America: Reasons, Challenge and Opportunities. Enrique Peñalosa says that we have a lot to learn from the South America. And, of course, Teddy Cruz's Latin America Meander: In Search of a New Civic Imagination, and Saskia Sassen's Organising When Cities become Strategic.
Special Architect: The JA no 81 Spring 2011 is a special issue on the Japanese architect Hiroshi Sambuichi.
The definition-of-the-day: "Ecology is a bit more interesting than sustainability, though it has some problems because ecology and the city sometimes do not have an obvious connection. The city uses resources, people travel and build things, whereas ecology on one level seems to be about preserving things as they are. (…) Ecology gives you a kind of framework about urbanism, a different possibility for thinking about the city. (Mohsen Mostafavi, A+U, February 2011, Issue no 485)
Can we build again?: No… except if you can afford new construction. With an uncertain future (financial crisis, build out of the world in most places with the exception of some emerging countries such as China, India, Middle-East, Russia, and Latin America, one certainly notices a big drive towards retrofitting and renovation of current buildings. I've already reported in several posts written 4 or 5 months ago on Eco-smart grid, retrofitting, etc. According to Jay Bhatt, a Autodesk Senior Vice President of Architecture, Engineering and Construction Solutions, we'll see more retrofitting current buildings than new buildings. The interview is available in the A+U, February 2011, issue no 485)
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