Designing great interiors calls on architecture's best. Architectural Record's annual Interiors issue is a favorite among readers both inside the profession and out. Who doesn't enjoy ogling photographs of a room's rich finishes and furnishings, such as those on display in the pages ahead? Yet frankly, even we acknowledge it's a little weird to consider interiors apart from “architecture.” Clients often divide duties between architect and interior designer, but the essential values should be no different: the artful creation of space and deployment of light; the careful designation of materials and details. Eero Saarinen, who designed chairs, master plans, and
Western architects are beginning to design all over the swiftly urbanizing continent. We all know that American architects are finding work in China, Korea, and Qatar—but Angola, Botswana, and Burundi? Africa is booming: The continent is home to seven of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund. It is also urbanizing at astonishing speed, with rapidly rising education rates and a burgeoning middle class. Yes, in parts of Africa there are tragic clashes of violence, desperate refugees, and entrenched poverty—and growing development may only widen the socioeconomic chasms. But news reports rarely paint the
Justin Shubow, president and chairman of the board at the National Civic Art Society, responds to RECORD editor-in-chief Cathleen McGuigan's July editorial, which criticizes his organization's handling of the Eisenhower Memorial. To the Editor: In the lead editorial in the July 2012 issue of Architectural Record, Cathleen McGuigan writes that the National Civic Art Society opposes Frank Gehry’s ugly deconstructionist design for the national Eisenhower Memorial since we seek to protect “the classical city envisioned by Pierre L’Enfant and our nation’s Founders.” She retorts, “Interpreting our founders’ convictions as extending to 21st-century design is an astonishing exercise in fantasy.” Related Links:
How the 2012 Olympics became the “alibi” for reclaiming a derelict swath of the city. After the gold medals are carried home and the frenzy of each Summer Olympics dies down, what becomes of the much-televised architecture and urban designs created for the Games? Beijing’s Bird’s Nest from 2008—that spectacular blend of artistry and engineering by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei—is mostly visited by tourists these days, who grab a shot of themselves in front of it, but its vast interior is only intermittently filled with shopping stalls or the occasional athletic event or concert. In Sydney, the
The American Enterprise Institute responds to Ben Adler's commentary about a recent forum on memorial designs. Dear Editors: In the recent commentary “Modernism Takes a Beating at Forum on Memorial Design,” Ben Adler casts our panel discussion, “Monumental fights: The Role of Memorials in Civic Life,” co-hosted by the National Civic Art Society, as an attack by conservative “curmudgeons” on architectural Modernism. “The event served as a reminder that certain people will always revile Modernism for both ideological and aesthetic reasons,” Adler writes. Related Links: Modernism Takes a Beating at Forum on Memorial Design Adler is correct that the panel
Architecture isn’t always an equal opportunity profession. Later this month, the Pritzker Architecture Prize will be awarded to the Chinese architect Wang Shu at a ceremony in Beijing. It’s an exciting choice—though it’s worth noting that the prize did not include Lu Wenyu, his wife and architectural partner in the firm they founded together, Amateur Architecture Studio, in Hangzhou.
Can public-interest design become a viable alternative to traditional practice? Last month Salon published an article titled “The Architecture Meltdown.” The piece, by Scott Timberg, detailed the high unemployment rates, the shrinking fees, and the tough climate for fresh architecture grads, weighed down by heavy student debt. It’s so bad, said one architect, Guy Horton (a contributor to architectural record), that architecture has become “the new English major.” The article’s author blamed the poor economy, of course, but he also tore into the profession as the designer of its own demise. While the media has lionized the starchitect—the solo creative