| NEUTRA HOUSE NUKED
24.04.02 |
A notable 1962 Richard Neutra house
in the Palm Springs desert was pulled down last month, with no warning.
The new owners recently bought the Maslon House, paying extra for
the Neutra factor. The widow Maslon died last July.
The last news was that the new owners were seeking to restore the
house, but instead they quietly sought a demolition permit and pulled
it down. The LA Times notes that, "getting a demolition permit
is easy in Rancho Mirage; after an asbestos review, a permit can be
issued over the counter."
Rancho Mirage has no preservation legislation. When this is the case,
as the New York Times points out, good architecture suffers in the
end from occupying good real estate.
LINKS
LA
TIMES APRIL 11 2002 : REGISTRATION REQUIRED : HAS PHOTOS
DESERT
SUN NEWS APRIL 13 2002
RICHARD AND DION NEUTRA ARCHITECTURE
NEW
YORK TIMES APRIL 7 2002 : REGISTRATION REQUIRED
SIDELINE
> SOTHEBYS : MASLON MODERN ART COLLECTION
| PONTI'S PIRELLI
TOWER DAMAGED BY PLANE
19.04.02 |
| VITAL STATISTICS
|
|
|
| HEIGHT |
|
127 M
|
| MAX. WIDTH |
|
18.5M
|
| LENGTH |
|
70.4M |
| FLOORS |
|
31 |
| STRUCTURE |
|
REINFORCED CONCRETE
|
| ARCHITECTS |
|
STUDIO PONTI FORNAROLI ROSELLI / STUDIO
VALTOLINA-DELL'ORTO |
| ENGINEERS |
|
ARTURO DANUSSO, PIER-LUIGI NERVI
|
|
|
|
Milan's Pirelli
tower was yesterday hit by a small plane, killing three and injuring
dozens. The impact caused an explosion that blew many windows off
the tower and nearby buildings. Plaza Duca d'Aosta at the base of
the building is littered with broken glass and office stationery.
There is no word yet on how the explosion may have affected the
structure of the building.
Completed in 1956, the building was designed by
Gio Ponti and engineered by Nervi. Every aspect of the building
seemed innovative, from Ponti's cut diamond floorplan to Nervi's
less is best structure.
The building is extremely slender and wind
resistance was an important design factor. Two triangular blocks
of walls at each end of the building work with four coupled shear
walls to resist horizontal loads. These few walls also pick up the
massive 26m spans of ribbed concrete floor, The building is a 'finite
form', meaning that it cannot expand in any direction because the
structure is already at its limit.
From press photos the bulk of the damage
appears to be between the coupled walls on the 25th and 26th floors.
Photos show damage to both sides of the building which suggests
that the lift core has been damaged.
LINKS
REUTERS
PHOTO
REUTERS
ARTICLE 18.04.02
AGE
PHOTO GALLERY 19.04.02
| NEW EDITORIAL
: MURCUTT CUTS IT WITH THE BEST 15.04.02 |
On the occasion of this
Australian Architect's winning of the Pritzker Prize (it's a bit
like the Logies). BUTTERPAPER
EDITORIAL 15.04.02
| 20th CENTURY BUILDINGS
OF SIGNIFICANCE 14.04.02 |
The International Union
of Architects has selected 120 from around the world as having significant
twentieth century architectural value. Seven of these buildings
are in Australia. Included are the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and Sydney
Opera House. For a full list see this article by Joe Rollo in the
Age. THE
AGE 12.04.02
Davenport Campbell and
Architectus have won the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art competition
from a field of 170. Also, the Queensland State Library architects
were announced: Donovan Hill and Peddle Thorp. Article with photo
at the COURIER
MAIL
| OPERA HOUSE WILL START
TO CHANGE 04.04.02 |
NSW premier Bob Carr has approved the first installment of
$24M for the Utzon/Richard Johnson renovations to the Sydney Opera
House. The project was announced in 1998, and Joern and Jan Utzon
were to provide a design statement and specialist museum architect
Richard Johnson was to propose changes based on this statement.
The project floated for a while, but now Joern Utzon, at age 83,
has almost completed the design principles. From his home in Majorca,
Utzon said, "I like to think the Sydney Opera House is a musical
instrument and, like any fine instrument, it needs a little maintenance
and fine tuning from time to time."
Utzon's early departure as architect meant that
functional changes took place in the Opera House that have made
it difficult to mount many types of productions. The opera and concert
halls swapped positions leading to a reduced pit in the former and
less than perfect acoustics in the latter. Utzon's dramatic interior
design ideas also did not come to pass.
INDEPENDENT
UK 31 MARCH 2002
GRAMOPHONE
UK 25 MARCH 2002
GUARDIAN
UK 01 APRIL 2002
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
| ANDRESEN MAKES RAIA
HISTORY 01.04.02 |
Brit Andresen has won
the RAIA gold medal, the first woman to do so. The award was given
to her for her teaching, critical writing, and practice. The institute
has said of the 42 year old Queenslander that she, "brought
up an uplifting and investigative approach to design which has stimulated
the minds of architecture students, many of whom have become established
design leaders in their own right, and illustrates the great contribution
an individual can bring to the discipline and the profession of
architecture."
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD DOMAIN 28.03.02
|
news
archive 2002 (4)