January 2013 Daniel Libeskind adds to his Jewish Museum Berlin. Something about Berlin brings out the best in Daniel Libeskind. It is here that he had his greatest triumph with the opening, in 2001, of the Jewish Museum Berlin, a building with cuts and slashes that make brutality palpable. On the audio tour, Libeskind says that some people will be nauseated by the museum's angles. But that's OK. If his way of talking about the symbolism of his buildings can seem overwrought (he is happy to offer almost any meaning until he finds one that sticks), in Berlin the architecture
While the crowds at Design Miami sipped oceans of champagne, there was talk of other bubbles, including the real estate mania that has condo developers learning Portuguese. The Design District, itself frothy with Prada and Louis Vuitton, was also home to the Inflatable Villa, an iconic (and possibly Ionic) installation by designer Luis Pons. The blow-up villa made its debut at the 2005 fair, as a symbol of exuberance. This time it appeared on a Design District construction site, seemingly impaled on rusty rebar, where it was deflated and reinflated daily—Pons' commentary on real estate booms and busts. "It's the
Photo courtesy Architecture for Dogs Shigeru Ban's papillion perch. Click here to view more images: Bow-Wow Haus With Design Miami now held in Miami Beach, Craig Robins, the founder of the annual design fair, has had to work harder to keep crowds coming to the Design District across the water in Miami. Largely owned by Robins’ company, the District is preparing to welcome dozens of fashion retailers, some to new buildings—including at least one being designed by Leong Leong. But during Basel week, the attractions include installations by designer Luis Pons, a mural by the graffiti artist Retna on the
The death of starchitecture has been greatly exaggerated, if events in Miami this week are any indication. As Art Basel Miami Beach, Design Miami, and a dozen other art fairs open, Herzog & de Meuron's Perez Art Museum Miami (the recently renamed Miami Art Museum) is nearing completion—Jacques Herzog will be in town to give tours—and sites are being readied for a parking garage by Zaha Hadid and an OMA-designed hotel tower on Collins Avenue. OMA principal Rem Koolhaas is compared, improbably, to Baron Haussmann, the Emperor Hadrian, and Carmen Miranda on billboards promoting the project. Photo by Fred A.
RECORD speaks with exhibition curator Mike Tunkey, founder of Cannon Design's Shanghai office, about UnMade in China. AQSO - Xubeihong Memorial Hall - Beijing, China Sometimes, the biggest architecture firms are also the most courageous. Take Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, with its gutsy SOM Journal (an annual publication in which outside critics evaluate the firm’s designs). Or Perkins + Will, with its revolutionary database of hazardous materials, which can’t help but alienate some manufacturers. And now Cannon Design has curated an exhibition, UnMade In China, about projects for Chinese clients that were never built. The show’s progenitor is Mike Tunkey,
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, New Yorkers watched in horror as residents climbed onto rooftops, stranded, or fled to shelters that provided precious little shelter.
Betting on a win can be a big risk for design firms. Photo courtesy Bercy Chen Studio After dedicating time and money (which the principals value at around $50,000) to an entry, Bercy Chen Studio lost a competition for a Dallas development. Markus Dochantschi is ticking off the costs of entering a competition. “Say they want a model–that can be anywhere from 5 to 15 thousand dollars. If they want high-res renderings, that could be between 5 and 10 thousand. You're up to $20,000 fast.” Photo courtesy of StudioMDA StudioMDA principal Markus Dochantschi attributes winning a competition for a mobility-studies
The Chicago Architecture Foundation and the Chicago Chapter of the American Institute of Architects go on with a show of schemes from the design community, despite the university's recalcitrance.