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b l i p s

[South Bank, London]

• Trocadero-on-Thames
  "This does not mean it is timid. It takes some nerve to knock down major arts buildings like the Hayward and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, rebuild them somewhere else, and calmly install a multiplex cinema where they once stood ... reeking of popcorn trodden into fitted carpets, and with all the dismal tat ..." (Moore R, les_98.12.07)

 
[William J Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock]

• atwitter
  "But the architectural world really went atwitter when Mr Gwathmey was seated at the President's table at a White House dinner on June 17 for the presentation of the Pritzker Architecture Prize to Renzo Piano ...

  'It was sort of obvious,' said Mr Gehry, the Los Angeles-based creator of the wavy titanium steel facade ... 'Everybody said, 'Oh, he's doing the library!'" (Purdum TS, nyt_98.08.13)

• empathy
  "... President gave Mr Gehry some reason for hope, too.

  'He came up to me and waved his arms like he was describing Bilbao and said, "I can see it all now in Arkansas," ' Mr Gehry said with a chuckle. 'I think he's probably gone from architect to architect." (Purdum TS, nyt_98.08.13)

n e w   A r r i v a l
new commissions  for mass media consumption

[Zuidas, South Amsterdam]

• storied canals
  "So important is the project ... they are contemplating digging their own canal." (Raghavan A, wsj_98.12.09)

(*****) contested projects in general press

i n   c o n t e s t

d e p a r t u r e   L o u n g e
p r e m a t u r e   l a n d i n g

[Cardiff Bay Opera House, Cardiff]

• patron
  "I have to say my Cardiff experience was very patronizing as a woman. One of the reasons it collapsed is because I'm a woman. There is no question about that at all in my mind." (Zaha Hadid in Ouroussoff N, "Building Around Change," lat_97.12.30)

• sanguine
  "When the project was finally rejected, he [Lord Crickhowell] writes, he felt physically sick. Hadid was more sanguine: 'It's a bummer'" (Ryan R, mm_98.03?)

l o s t   &   f o u n d

[]

[Scottish Parliament House]

• Holyrood star
  "Enric Miralles plays down his responsibilities. 'This isn't the end of the world. We will do a building, open it, and then go somewhere else.'" (Scott RD, ts_98.10.15)

• shambolic
  "... Enric Miralles, the Catalan architect leading the project, has up his sleeve is a novel way of opening each parliamentary session. Using a specially designed basketball emblazoned with the saltire, the speaker will be required to shoot for the hoop installed on the rim of the public gallery. As soon as he gets a basket, parliamentary business can begin." (Scott RD, ts_98.10.15)
  • dunking it
    "It's just that there can't be many world-class architects who used to play professional basketball and for a top European team at that. Miralles played for Barcelona for a season before deciding to pursue architecture (he played guard, if you must know)." (Scott RD, ts_98.10.15)

• take it on trust
  "'El Collapso' was one headline over the story of a roof which had collapsed on one of his previous projects, though it turned out to have been the builders' fault." (Scott RD, ts_98.10.15)
  • airy-fairy
    "... there were nods and winks that Miralles's best work was as much that of his former wife (and partner) as his own." (Scott RD, ts_98.10.15)

  • bario gothico
    "Then there was the worrying unanimity between the architecture pundits that he was the best possible choice." (Scott RD, ts_98.10.15)

  • articles of faith
    "And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse ..." (Scott RD, ts_98.10.15)

• recondite theorising
  "... he wasn't deliberately retreating into Delphic utterances -- 'the best way to be on time is never to finish' was another cracker -- but simply doing his best to talk about things that he barely understood himself ..." (Scott RD, ts_98.10.15)

d e - i c e d ------ F I R S T   P R I Z E
w i n n e r s   under construction

b a g g a g e   c l a i m -- have won & still waiting ...

n o w   s h o w i n g

• X - Cité ;

  v a c a n t  s p a c e -
   mini E-board for your latest & greatest - display your projects here.

  
  

[TBWA/Chiat/Day, Playa del Rey]

• phenomenal shift
  "While it may be striking and lively ... it doesn't quite break the old pecking order. ... And as for staying in touch with the consumer, the new TBWA/Chiat/Day is an interior world. ... ... 'it's a little like a casino.' ... Even the new artwork is self-reflective ..." (Anderton F, nyt_98.12.17)

• right on the edge
  "Meanwhile in New York, the virtual office designed by Gaetano Pesce, however gorgeous, sent some staff members over the edge. Wilkinson says the agency has moved out of its overcrowded and confusing space into new offices that he is designing." (Anderton F, nyt_98.12.17)

 
[Shanghai Grand Theater, China]

• $100 bet
  "... an architectural triumph, at least compared with the slapdash skyscrapers, dripping with heavy chrome and tartly colored glass, that have heralded the economic boom of recent years. With a curved roof that opens toward the sky like a giant offering plate, the opera house has a luminous, sleek design that seems ..."

 
[Federal Courthouse, Fort Channel, Boston]

• hoary trope
  "Cobb, 72, says that 'without any question' the judges are 'the most intelligent and dedicated clients I've ever had in my life.' " (Forgey B, wp_98.10.03)

 
[Lucerne Culture and Convention Center, Lake Lucerne]

• Rodolphe Luscher
  "If I cannot go to the water, the water shall come to me." (Jean Nouvel, in Riding A, nyt_98.08.25)

• Russell Johnson
  "Before construction began, however, Mr Nouvel was joined by the renowned American acoustician Russell Johnson. The connection was fortuitous ... and would prove felicitous. ... 'I am the guardian of the eye,' Mr Nouvel, 51, explained. 'Russ Johnson is the guardian of the ear.'" (Riding A, nyt_98.08.25)

t a k i n g - o f f  -- (un-?-er-markable)
n o t e d   p r o j e c t s
currently under construction/recently completed

(*****) in-prints a n d  being built
(propaganda machine$ at work ...)

i n a u g r a l   s p i n s

arch after the fact / better late than ... / better built than ... / better bad than ...
opening ceremonies / company press releases

[]

• plum of the day

g o n e ________________
s t e a l t h ____________
c o n s p i c u o u s l y   m i s s i n g

[]

• progress report / status info ( ? )___

i.E. famous w o r k i n g d r a w i n g s

• progress report / status info ( ? )___

c o v e r t   c o n s t r u c t i o n s

• undetected others: f l y i n g   low and s l o w ?
  high-profile low-visibility works under construction - ANY tips anyone ?

[]

r e a l   e_s t a t e
i n   a l t e r e d   s t a t e s

(*****)back in the news

(*****) much hyped projects in general press

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