parks + public spaces

The Serpentine Gallery, who have learned to master the art of generating buzz about one annual project nearly year round at this point, announcing their pick for who will design the next one just as the one before it is fading from memory, have decided to up the ante even more so this year. They’ve just announced that this year’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, a temporary structure set up in London’s Hyde Park, will be designed by a reunited Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei. The two had previously collaborated on Beijing’s celebrated “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium ahead of the last Olympics in 2008. Weiwei’s gradual coming out against the project over labor and human rights issues was, for those not already in the art world, their first encounter with the artist Weiwei, whose outspoken views and clashes with the Chinese government have made him one of the most well-known and powerful artists today. With the Olympics coming to London in just a few months, and Weiwei now forced to work on projects from his virtual house arrest in Beijing, whatever the two parties come up with is sure to generate some nice press and an increased general interest for the Serpentine. Here’s a bit from the press release about what it’s going to look like:

This year’s Pavilion will take visitors beneath the Serpentine’s lawn to explore the hidden history of its previous Pavilions. Eleven columns characterising each past Pavilion and a twelfth column will support a floating platform roof 1.5 metres above ground. Taking an archaeological approach, the architects have created a design that will inspire visitors to look beneath the surface of the park as well as back in time across the ghosts of the earlier structures.

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London continues to try and ramp up its coolness levels with the impending Olympics being held there this summer now just around the corner. For the latest effort, they’ve gone underground. Launched just yesterday in a number of Tube subway stations is a collaboration between poetry and motion graphics called “Word In Motion.” As part of the Smile for London campaign, the project blends the two, with writing from the likes of Ray Davies and Jarvis Cocker, and design by groups like Why Not Associates and Malcolm Garrett, the short pieces will play on 60 screens during rush hours. The project launched on the 16th and will only last for the next two weeks, so while Olympics visitors won’t be treated to them, they’ll perhaps provide a welcome bit of relief from the locals who have been overwhelmed by construction delays over these past couple of years. Here’s a sampling:

The fight against Frank Gehry‘s Eisenhower Memorial in Washington D.C. continues to grow ever more heated. Already more than slightly contentious, with the Eisenhower family becoming more publicly vocal in their distaste for Gehry’s plans over the past few months, now they’ve taken their feelings directly to the powers that be. This week, the family sent a formal, written objection to the National Capital Planning Commission, stating that “The mandate is to honor Eisenhower, and that is not being done in this current design. Or, shall we say, it is being done in such a small scale in relation to the memorial that it is dwarfed.” Meanwhile, the arts organization, the National Civic Art Society, has joined the fight, launching a website “devoted to stopping Gehry’s Memorial” and preparing a “book-length report” on the flaws they found with the project, which they intend to submit to “Congress and other interested parties.” Here’s a collection of some of the particularly damning claims their report levels against the current Memorial plans:

The Memorial competition was secretive, exclusive, elitist, and undemocratic—if it was a true competition at all. Only 44 entries were solicited. This is hundreds fewer than the number of entries submitted in previous national memorial competitions, which were open to all.

An unknown, unconnected designer could not have won, let alone even entered, the competition. It was thanks to America’s openness to talent that Eisenhower was able to rise to the presidency from a humble background. The Memorial competition should have been equally open.

The design of the boy Eisenhower statue is being advised by an artist whose work sexualizes children and is obscene.

The Memorial design has contained benches spelling out “IXXI,” the Roman numerals for 9 and 11. Whether this reference to the 9/11 attacks is intentional or negligent, the Memorial’s architect, Frank Gehry, can no longer be trusted with its design.

On the other side of the fight, it appears that Gehry and the project’s various partners don’t appear to be bending by these past few months of criticism. ABC News reports that the Eisenhower Memorial Commission is still moving forward in seeking “final approval of the design in March and hope to break ground this year.” What’s more, the project’s executive architect tells the news outlet that “he does not expect to make any major changes to Gehry’s design.”

In a year studded with beautiful new volumes by and about artists and designers ranging from Alexander McQueen to Andrea Zittel, these are the five that we found most inspiring.

Autobiography of a Fashion Designer: Ralph Rucci (Bauer and Dean) by Ralph Rucci, with photographs by Baldomero Fernandez
Fashion designer and artist Ralph Rucci has been betrayed by key members of the fashion press, who should have made him a household name years ago, but critics, curators, and connoisseurs have picked up the slack. This just-published volume is a fascinating follow-up to Ralph Rucci: The Art of Weightlessness (Yale University Press), published in 2007 to accompany the Museum at FIT’s exhibition of the designer’s work. Like Rucci’s exquisite creations, Autobiography of a Fashion Designer rewards patience and close-looking, with pages of lush color photos and descriptions of the couture techniques used (and in some cases pioneered) in the Chado Ralph Rucci atelier. Inspired by Sol LeWitt’s Autobiography (1980), a kind of exhaustive visual index of the artist’s life, this book also tells the stories behind 20 objects Rucci has collected in his lifetime. It’s a fitting tribute to an uncompromising designer with the soul of artist.

Alexander Girard by Todd Oldham and Kiera Coffee (Ammo Books)
Treat yourself to the amazing Alexander Girard mega-monograph by designer Todd Oldham and writer Kiera Coffee. The product of nearly four years of research and, at 672 pages, an innovative scheme of printing and binding, this book is a must for any design lover. Oldham was granted exclusive permission to sift through the fastidiously kept archives of Girard (1907-1993), who is best known for his folk art-infused textiles for Herman Miller but also designed everything from buildings to typography. “I’d estimate that 90 percent of the work in the book hasn’t been seen,” Oldham told us earlier this year. “Wait ‘til you see the stuff from his early design career, in the ‘20s.” And take a closer look at the image credits: many of the archival photos were taken by frequent Girard collaborator Charles Eames.
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It’s now been more than a year since landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh‘s was awarded the project to redevelop the area around St. Louis’ Gateway Arch, and more than ten months since the project suddenly doubled in estimated costs. Now, like with many ambitious building efforts, reality seems to slowly be creeping back in. Despite having just landed a $20 million grant from the government to help the redevelopment, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the organizers have already had to start scaling back the project’s grand scope, as well as starting to consider what they can feasibly have done by 2015, when the Arch celebrates its 50th anniversary. Perhaps most telling is that the paper reports the project has raised just $57 million thus far, which includes that $20 million grant. Given that the effort was expected to cost somewhere in the $600 million range, that’s a lot of ground to make up. The new, scaled back plans are expected to be released sometime in January.

There are plenty of interesting bits and pieces going on outside of architecture as well so far this week, so let’s commence:

After four months of a lockout of unionized art handlers at Sotheby’s, things still don’t seem to be progressing toward stability. According to a report by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the lockout has now cost the auction house $2.4 million in fees ranging from temporary employees to extra security. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that the company just gave its CEO, William Ruprecht, a $3 million raise. Union representatives for the art handlers are quick to point out that their entire contract dispute totals $3.3 million.

In Washington DC, the Smithsonian has reportedly hired Wolff Olins to help in a major rebranding. The main thrust of that effort is set to be the roll out of a new tagline next year: “Seriously Amazing.” The Washington Post reports that the organization has thus far paid $1 million “for research and creation of the slogan.”

Speaking of rebranding efforts, the always great Brand New blog has filed its own year end list, starting with their picks for the very worst identity changes in 2011. Unfortunately, it seems to have been written before State Farm unveiled their new logo.

And finally: so much for the potential of the Tate possible eschewing corporate sponsorship from British Petroleum following a full year of protests (and now likely more to come in 2012). The museum has renewed their contract with BP, telling the BBC, “The fact that they had one major incident in 2010 does not mean we should not be taking support from them.”

Working at the interface of landscape and architecture, nature and culture, public and private, Diana Balmori continues to blur the boundaries with innovative green roofs, floating islands, and temporary landscapes that get people talking in more ways than one. In A Landscape Manifesto (Yale University Press), Balmori described her interest in “shaping spaces…not objects within the landscape,” and her new book, Groundwork: Between Landscape and Architecture (Monacelli), presents 25 projects that mark exciting points of innovation along the building/environment continuum. Co-written with architect Joel Sanders, an associate professor at Yale, Groundwork examines how the likes of Zaha Hadid, Snøhetta, and Aranda/Lasch are linking indoors and outdoors, around the world. “Many books about landscape romanticize nature as a universal palliative and bid designers to consult the ‘genius of place.’ This is not one of them,” write Balmori and Sanders in the book’s preface. “Instead it is an appeal to designers to pursue a new approach that overcomes the false dichotomy between architecture and landscape.”

Have a suggestion for the UnBeige Gift Guide? E-mail us at unbeige@mediabistro.com.
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Yesterday, two things happened surrounding the 2012 London Olympics. First, the organizing committee announced that it has selected the winners of its competition to design two large public spaces for the soon-to-be Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Second, and by extension, its selection of James Corner Field Operations for one half of the project, proves that the powerful name now wielded by the co-designing firm behind New York’s High Line extends well across our own borders. Corner’s firm will handle the south side of the park, and native London-based Erect Architecture will take the lead to the north, combining for a total of more than 50 acres in new landscaping. However, it won’t just be the two working within their own ranks, as this was a large competition and, as such, meant bringing in a handful of top tier other firms to serve under their lead. Here’s a break down of each from the Press Association:

The south park design team is: James Corner Field Operations working with engineers Arup (London), Make Architects (London), identity and graphics by tomato (London), planting and horticulture by Piet Oudolf (Netherlands), lighting designers and consultants L’Observatoire International (New York), events and live activity planning by Groundbreaking, play consultants Playlink (London), quantity surveyors Deloitte (London).

The north park design team is led by Erect Architecture collaborating with structural engineers Tall engineers (London), service engineers Max Fordham (London), landscape consultants Land Use Consultants (London), artist and enabler Ashley McMormick (London), quantity surveyor Huntley Cartwright (Surrey) and play safety experts Children’s Play Advisory Service (Coventry).

Over the summer when Chicago’s Navy Pier announced that it was planning a redesign with the hopes of making the place less of a notorious tourist trap, we were interested, but not entirely enthusiastic, despite some big design and architecture names being thrown around. It was one of those “we’ll see it when we set it deals.” That changed, however, when the shortlist composed of 11 teams was released and was filled to the brim with notables-upon-notables. Now, like so many Agatha Christie novels, that cast of characters has been whittled down to just five (though with far less foul play and mystery than something from Ms. Christie). AECOM, Aadas Architects, Imelk, Xavier Vendrell Studio and James Corner Field Operations have made the cut, each serving as the lead firm behind a veritable army of fellow firms and designers in their respective teams (which include the likes of HOK, Arup, Bruce Mau, and Pentagram, among dozens of others). The Chicago Tribune‘s Blair Kamin has filed this great report about the updated shortlist, including how many starchitects surprisingly didn’t make the cut, and some more info on what the teams and developers have in mind. He’s a little harsh in the beginning on local architecture celebrity Jeanne Gang because her team didn’t wind up making it to round two, but unless you’re Ms. Gang yourself, don’t let that dissuade you from catching up on where the competition is now at.

As any pensive puppet frog will tell you, it’s not easy being green—unless you have access to Diana Balmori. The landscape and urban designer works at the interface of nature and structure (to wit: Groundwork: Between Landscape and Architecture, written with Joel Sanders and freshly published by Monacelli). Her New York-based firm continues to push the boundaries with innovative green roofs, floating islands, and temporary landscapes that get people talking in more ways than one. On Tuesday, November 15, Balmori will be the one doing the talking, as she sits down for a conversation with Peter Reed, MoMA’s senior deputy director of curatorial affairs, at 92nd Street Y. She will show slides of her work, discuss the role of landscape in today’s cities, and explain her vision of life-enhancing design. Tickets are available here, and you can save 25% off by entering discount code UNBEIGE11.