2012 National Design Winners. The Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt has announced winners of the 13th annual National Design Awards, a program established to promote excellence and innovation in design.
2012 National Design Award recipients:
- Lifetime Achievement: Richard Saul Wurman
- Design Mind: Janine Benyus
- Corporate and Institutional Achievement: Design that Matters
- Architecture Design: Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects
- Communication Design: Rebeca Mendez
- Fashion Design: Thom Browne
- Interaction Design: Evan Roth
- Interior Design: Clive Wilkinson Architects
- Landscape Architecture: Stoss Landscape Urbanism
- Product Design: Scott Wilson
Via ArtDaily
Lackluster Expo Line. Los Angeles Times’ architecture review says Los Angeles’ Expo Line is a mix of architectural goals that never fully meshes into one unifying concept.
“The stations seemingly want to disappear into the cityscape and at the same time assert a Big Metaphorical Idea about what public transit means for Los Angeles. And in trying to do both, of course, they do neither.” - Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times Architecture Critic
Via LA Times
Straying from Convention. Despite declining attendance and revenue, many cities are expanding convention centers or building new ones.
Dozens of cities have been building new centers or enlarging old ones. In the last year alone, Indianapolis and Philadelphia have opened sprawling new centers, while plans for such facilities are being floated in Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Boston.
BIG Wins in Seoul. Bjarke Ingels Group’s hash-shaped residential block will contribute to the developing skyline of Seoul and become a recognizable marker of the new cultural and commercial center of the city.
“The Cross # Towers constitute a three-dimensional urban community of interlocking horizontal and vertical towers. Three public bridges connect two slender towers at different levels - underground, at the street and in the sky. Catering to the demands and desires of different residents, age groups and cultures the bridges are landscaped and equipped for a variety of activities traditionally restricted to the ground. ” -Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG.
“Invaluable” Guide for A/E. In the ArchNewsNow book review of “Social Media in Action”, Architecture Critic George Calys describes the book as “invaluable for practitioners who realize that social media is not a passing phenomenon and can play a part in their business.”
Via ArchNewsNow