e x h i b i t i o n s

• Capturing Time: The New York Times Capsule
  American Museum of Natural History; through 26 Mar00
  winner: Santiago Calatrava
  {also ran: Ocean Group (Finland, Norway and Germany); Maya Lin, Jaron Lanier, Antenna Design, The Cooper Union, Caples Jefferson, Wes Jones, Pentagram Design Inc., Morphosis, Greg Lynn and Jeffrey Kipnis (the United States); Droog Design (the Netherlands); Kenji Ekuan (Japan); and Dagmar Richter (Germany).
  and:
  Thomas Balsley , Caples Jefferson, GK Design Group, Zaha Hadid, Ideo, Pentagram, Gaetano Pesce, Lindy Roy, Benjamin Strouse, Ezri Tarazi
  -- Judges: Herbert Muschamp, architecture critic; Julie V Iovine, design reporter; and Pilar Viladas, the magazine's design editor. }
   
  
• The Un-Private House
  MoMA 11W 53rd Street New York City; through 5 Oct99

  
  

• more

d e -   b a i t

• r p i people - rich powerful intelligent

  Um, he says. Um
  "Matsubayashi ... knows some people might be offended by his remarks. That's why he ducked behind the podium several times during his talk Wednesday ... He needn't have worried, though. Most of us probably figured he wasn't talking about us.

  Which is exactly Matsubayashi's point. Most people think they have good taste when it comes to architecture and have strong opinions about it." (Elaine Jarvik, dn_99.11.18)

  
  
   
  

• Dairy Queen   *** [Blanton Museum of Art, UT, Austin]
  • traditional look
    "Since University of Texas regents want a building design that will be familiar to Texans for their $60 million to $70 million Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, why don't they build an art museum that looks like a Dairy Queen?

    ... What could possibly be more traditional in Texas than an art museum that looks like the home of the Hungr-Buster? With 722 DQs, the Lone Star State has more DQs than any other state."(John Kelso, as_99.11.24)

  • Facilities Planning and Construction Committee
    "Besides, DQs are as much a part of Texas culture as football, a bowl of red and the smog drifting in from Houston. Everybody who was raised in a small Texas town has seen the building with the familiar red mansard roof.

    ... And you didn't think I knew anything about architecture. I'll bet Rita Clements, wife of former Gov. Bill Clements; retired Tyler financier Dub Riter; Laredo oilman Tony Sanchez; and Houston businessman Raul Romero didn't know DQs have a mansard roof." (John Kelso, as_99.11.24)

     
    

  • propane resume
    "What do these people know about architecture? On Sanchez's resume, it says he is 'an avid fisherman.' Great. Just what we need. An art museum that looks like Roy Bob's Bait & Tackle.

    Then there's this business of having a man called Dub helping pick out the architectural design. At this rate, UT could become the only university in the country that has an art museum with liquid propane on the side of the building." (John Kelso, as_99.11.24)

  • better still
    "If the regents don't like my DQ suggestion, why not go with a Taco Bell design? Taco Bell has that faux-Alamo facade on the front, which is very Texan. Besides, the university advertises the fast-food chain every football game at Royal-Memorial Stadium with an annoying, loud BONG sound emanating from the JumboTron video display board.

    Better still, the Taco Bell building plan blends in well with the Southwestern architecture of many of the buildings on campus.

    So what if it has a drive-up window? Maybe Jack S. Blanton likes burritos." (John Kelso, as_99.11.24)

  
  
   
  

• design czar     *** [San Jose City Hall]
  • bottled up
    "But the true design czar of the project is a man whose professional background is in personnel and marketing -- oh, yes, and politics -- Mayor Ron Gonzales." (Barry Witt, sjmn_99.12.11)

     
    

  • private cabinet
    "Meier's original design 'looked like a Holiday Inn, nothing more and nothing less,' said Jack Ybarra, president of Transmetrics Engineering and part of a group of mayoral friends giving Gonzales advice. 'We don't need somebody like Richard Meier here trying to reinforce what everybody thinks of San Jose." (Barry Witt, sjmn_99.12.11)     *** the looked-alikes

  • the boomerang
    " 'It's clear to me that we've got a lot more work to do until we have a design that this council is excited about,' Gonzales said after the meeting. 'You don't have to be an architect to have ideas.'" (Barry Witt, sjmn_99.12.11)

  • design by committee
    "Gonzales said he couldn't endorse a design without a consensus and declared he would talk to Meier and Councilman Frank Fiscalini -- the council's leading advocate for a downtown City Hall -- privately and return with new ideas in January.

    'We're not architects,' Fiscalini said. 'That's the hardest thing to remember. We hired a world-famous person to respond to us.' " (Barry Witt, sjmn_99.12.11)

  
  

• more
• current

• more

jacket blurbs

r e_c y c l e
f o r t h c o m i n g

• more

• more

Click BBZ to return home to hEadlines

home URL:   http://www.bbzine.com/archeplus/BBZine.html