When the tree is more enticing than what's underneath it

We're taking a quick blog break for the holidays, but will leave you with this fun post to tide you over. What if your Christmas tree were more exciting than what lay beneath it?

As reported in the International Herald Tribune, earlier this month, 44 designer Christmas trees when on the auction block in Paris for the annual "Les Sapins de Noël des Créateurs," a charity auction. Among the offerings? A golden metal cone crafted from hundreds of Louis Vuitton emblems, tiers of eco-friendly cardboard disks from Stella McCartney, and designed from Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid. In fact, while Foster brought in about $11,000 for his tree, it was Hadid who took topped the night. Her creation, a white column of circling shapes, fetched 46,000 euros. Now that's one expensive tree!

All funds raised went to the Sol En Si charity, which helps families and children living with AIDS.

"Not Business as Usual"

One last blog post on the dour economy: Recognizing the radical change of landscape over the past few months, yesterday AIA New York held a lunchtime summit dubbed "Not Business as Usual" to explore how the AIA, the Center for Architecture Foundation and architects in general can use the economic downturn as a tool for creative response and support. 

Report Melina Gills, communications coordinator for AIA NY: 

At lunchtime on Wednesday, December 17, the “Not Business as Usual” economic crisis discussion brought 91 architects and other design professionals to the Center for Architecture. In an open discussion led by 2009 AIANY President Sherida E. Paulsen and 2008 Center for Architecture Foundation President Alex Lamis, those attending spoke of the needs of the architectural profession and proposed methods to re-energize the design community. What was very clear is that architects need one another and that the entire building industry should come together. The Center for Architecture can become a place where those needs can be addressed and strategies developed.

AIA New York Board Secretary Abby Suckle organized the event as chair of the Chapter’s Member Services Committee. Many who spoke envisioned the Center for Architecture as a place where architects could convene, take courses in LEED, BIM, or the ARE exam, and “retool,” as one participating architect put it. The Center was called on to be a community center where architects and those affiliated with the profession can come and learn, attending daytime programs or meeting to talk and share. One interior architect tagged it a potential “Starbucks for Architects.”

Many present at the meeting, including representatives from Architecture for Humanity and Arup, offered up additional possibilities for services and education. The Chapter will host other training sessions, from resume building to how to get public work. Starting February 7, AIA New York IDP/ARE Task Force will be holding weekly Architect Registration Examination preparation courses. Other possibilities for unemployed architects include exhibition design at the Center and serving as docents for tour guides.

At the strong urging of those present, AIA New York is making Wednesday’s meeting the first of many other “Not Business as Usual” sessions. The design professions are changing – the Center can help ease the pain of the transition.

Whether you are in New York or some other locale, we want to hear your creative solutions. How can the profession come together in these tougher times?

Wishful thinking?

Let's face it: times are tough for everyone and most industry outlooks don't contain much good news. So it was surprising to hear that last week, Marvin Malecha, the incoming AIA president, offered this prediction as he spoke as the keynote at Ecobuild:

"The profession is going through a hiccup,” he said, according to the Washington Business Journal.  “When the credit industry slowed and stopped, buildings came to a screening halt. Architecture firms are in a reduction mode right now. I’m confident there will be a need for architecture again. I see it happening over the next couple of years, as our president-elect indicated to us he has priority on moving forward on infrastructure.” 

How confident is Malecha? He says the industry will start reving up again in a mere 6-8 months. This is in contrast to general economic forecasts that predict the current recession lasting well into 2010, if not 2011. What do you think - it an architectural rebound probably in late '09 or is it simply wishful thinking?

When pictures come to life

Photo by Lars Klove for the New York Times

Here's something that make its way under a designer tree or two this holiday season. "Modern Architecture Pop-Up," by David Sokol (a contributing writer for Contract) and Anton Radevsky unfolds architectural gems right before your eyes. Among the folds: the Brooklyn Bridge; London's Crystal Palace; the Eiffel Tower; New York's Flatiron Building; FLW's Robie House in Chicago; Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye; Saarinen's TWA terminal; Gehry's Guggenheim Bilbao; Calatrava's Milwaukee Art Museum; and Foster's London "Gherkin" building.

The dead mall problem

The other week, we blogged about the demise of big box retailers and the conundrum of what to do with their increasingly empty homes. On a similar note, CNN's got an interesting article up today on the rise of the dead mall. 

The news isn't good. According to the article, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) predicts that more than 3,100 stores will close in the first half of 2009 and that number doesn't take into account both public and private sector businesses. What's more, the organization predicts that 148,000 (!) retail establishments, public and private, will go out of business this year and another 73,000 stores will close in the first half of next year. 

Old-school shopping malls where a bevy of retailers were clustered under one massive roof already were facing a challenging situation as shoppers gravitated more toward open-air concepts. Could the dismal economy be the final blow for this increasingly-outdated concept? If so, what do we do with all these malls? Repurpose them? Raze them?

The good, the bad and the over-hyped

U.S. News & World Report has released its Best Careers for 2009 outlook and this year, the list not only includes a list of the top 30 careers, but also the best careers to watch and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, the most overrated careers.

The results? Good news for landscape architects, engineers, and urban regional planners, who all make the Best list. Not so good news for architects, one of the most overrated careers. Writer Marty Nemko explains:

The appeal: The public perceives architecture as a career for creative, free spirits who nonetheless ear good money while designing cool new buildings.

The reality: Architecture has many pluses. Indeed, it made it (barely) into the 2007 list of Best Careers. Not it belongs in this category. Not only is the housing decline  souring the job market, but more potential clients are off-shoring architecture jobs, downloading pre-made blueprints developed by top architects, or having lower-cost interior/exterior designers or building contractors design their structures. Two job satisfaction surveys painted a mixed picture: One gave architecture high marks, but the other rated it very low. A major cause of low job satisfaction is that many architects don't get to design buildings but rather must produce detailed drawings of the components of other people's designs, such as the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system.

Just beachy

I came across this tidbit on the way to work this morning in a local paper. It seems another first is on tap for Dubai: Palazzo Versace (of Donatella Versace's empire) is not only going to be Dubai's first five-star hotel, but it also will have the world's first refrigerated beach. Say what?

Seeing that temperatures in the Middle East can reach 125 degrees in the summer, architects behind the new property are installing cooling pipes under the sand, as well as powerful air conditioning turbines on the hotel's private beach.

What do you think: innovative or over the top?

Challenging Congress

From the offices of Architecture 2030: Edward Mazria and The 2030 Challenge visited Washington, D.C., last week and left in their wake The 2030 Challenge Stimulus Plan, an economic stimulus plan that aims to reinvigorate the building sector, as well as the entire U.S. economy, through energy efficiency in buildings. Can it be done?

The plan calls for a two-year, $171.72-billion investment in a structure that integrates a mortgage buy-down program for residential buildings and an accelerated-depreciation program for commercial buildings with the energy efficiency targets of The 2030 Challenge. Architecture 2030 asserts that the plan will save consumers from $142 billion to more than $200 billion in energy costs and mortgage payments over a five-year period while creating more than 8 million new jobs and reducing energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. The organization also asserts that the plan will create the opportunity for a $1.6 trillion renovation market that currently does not exists.

Think it could work? The plan can be read here.

High hopes

Renderings of the High Line from Friends of the High Line

For those New Yorkers following the re-development of the High Line on the west side of Manhattan: Friends of the High Line's end-of-the-year grassroots fundraising campaign just got a boost. To help raise funds for the on-going project, Friends of the High Line board member Edward Norton has announced that he will match year-end operating gifts pledged before December 31 dollar-for-dollar, up to $100,000.

The first section of the High Line (running from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street) is currently on budget and projected to open in Spring 2009. It includes the development of a park with access points from the street. The designs for phases 1 and 2 can be glimpsed here:

Big name, big controversy

 

Santiago Calatrava's bridge at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Photo by Jim Brozek.

It seems there's a battle brewing in Calgary over Santiago Calatrava, who some city officials are hoping to woo with $25 million to build a pedestrian bridge that could become a showpiece. The debate, however, isn't about the merits of Calatrava's design plans, but rather center on the idea of hiring Calatrava at all. An editorial in the Calgary Herald argues that instead of paying such a huge sum for one bridge from one big-name architect, why not spend the money for two bridges from local talent.

Citing Calatrava's work in Venice, which is rumored to have gone four times over budget, editorial writer Paula Arab builds a case against starchitects and in favor of nurturing and supporting local designers and architect. Calgary alderman Druh Farrell is quoted as saying "We don't get an opportunity that often to build a river crossing. All bridges should be beautiful, but river crossing should be extraordinary." But, Arab asks—and rightly so—does this imply that only starchitects are capable of designing extraordinary structures? 

What kind of message does this conundrum send—not only to the A&D community, but to the public at large? Should Calgary continue to court Calatrava? Or should it look locally? Invite Calatrava to submit a design that is then judged, blindly, against local schemes? Leave it up to public opinion?