Updates
Ahoy.
Things have been go go go over at Architecture and Football. Unfortunately for the Architectureandfootballaholics, the go's haven't necessarily been website related. Other exciting things in the pipeline....
But we're here for a reason. And that reason is to be fully saturated with the newest and coolest blips from the parallel worlds of international-rules football, and the practice of designing and building buildings.
So here we go.
* If any of you have actually been living under a rock, take note, because you might not have heard that SIR RICHARD ROGERS is the recipient of this year's Pritzker Architecture Prize. We here at Architecture and Football chaulk this one up to one of those "lifetime achievement award" kind of things, since nothing outstanding has come out of his office in the past twelve months, and nothing is on the boards, except for one of the sister buildings next to the Freedom Tower (Which, by the way, all three sister buildings will be head and shoulders above the actual Freedom Tower in terms of quality, timelessness and architectural merit. See above.)
*Ball-Nogues, a young Los Angeles architecture firm has won the annual competition for ps1 in Queens, New York. PS1 is a small satellite art gallery associated with the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Every year they have a fantastic invited competition for young architects to design and build an exterior installation for their courtyard space. Some great names have been involved in the past, including Bill Massie, SHoP, n Architects and Xefirotarch. (Although only three of the afore-mentioned entries were actually successful...I'll leave that alone at this point in time.) So this year, it's Ball-Nogues. There's a good chance that they got the award strictly on the strangeness of their name. But they just happen to be great designers as well. If anyone happens to be in NY this summer, please take some time to take the G train into Queens and take a look. While you're out there, go to the Noguchi Museum.
*After my last prematurely elated post regarding Newcastle's temporary upper-hand in their UEFA cup round of 16 clash, they traveled to the Netherlands (I think - can't remember through all the sobbing) and squandered the best chance they've had in years at any sort of relatively meaningful silverware. They lost 2-0, not getting the single away goal that they needed to see them through. After that game, they've lost two straight premiership matches, moving them back into the bottom half of the table, and making every person associated with them look towards next season. The attraction I have to "lovable losers" isn't only becoming more and more apparent as my years of sporting support go on, it's getting downright frightening. And here's the kicker - I still truly believe that Glenn Roeder, while seemingly bringing in a successful chunk of talent to the squad, will be the downfall of the next 5 years of the club if he's given another season. And here's why: The influx of European talent into the premiership is obviously the wave of the future. Soon every team will be less English than International, and while some fans dislike that fact, the Premiership is only benefitting in quality because of it. While Glenn was able to bring in Obefemi Martins, who has proved a HUGE boost to the club, and Sibierski, who was pretty good in Europe before we got knocked out, the fact is that he doesn't have the lure of a Benitez or Mourinho to bring international talent. Yes, we've got the purse to lure in international players, but without a big name manager who's got FAMOUS motivational skills or LEGENDARY knowlege of the game, the famed Newcastle purse will only brand players as money-hungry, much as it did to St. Michael Owen. (I REALLY hope he stays at nufc for another couple seasons. We'll have to see on that one.) So until we get a manager who's reputation outshines him (Alan Shearer), we'll be trying to bring in second-rate stars to play against the finest players in the world. Hence, Newcastle will rot in mid-table without any silverware for the next 5-10 years.
Things have been go go go over at Architecture and Football. Unfortunately for the Architectureandfootballaholics, the go's haven't necessarily been website related. Other exciting things in the pipeline....
But we're here for a reason. And that reason is to be fully saturated with the newest and coolest blips from the parallel worlds of international-rules football, and the practice of designing and building buildings.
So here we go.
* If any of you have actually been living under a rock, take note, because you might not have heard that SIR RICHARD ROGERS is the recipient of this year's Pritzker Architecture Prize. We here at Architecture and Football chaulk this one up to one of those "lifetime achievement award" kind of things, since nothing outstanding has come out of his office in the past twelve months, and nothing is on the boards, except for one of the sister buildings next to the Freedom Tower (Which, by the way, all three sister buildings will be head and shoulders above the actual Freedom Tower in terms of quality, timelessness and architectural merit. See above.)
*Ball-Nogues, a young Los Angeles architecture firm has won the annual competition for ps1 in Queens, New York. PS1 is a small satellite art gallery associated with the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Every year they have a fantastic invited competition for young architects to design and build an exterior installation for their courtyard space. Some great names have been involved in the past, including Bill Massie, SHoP, n Architects and Xefirotarch. (Although only three of the afore-mentioned entries were actually successful...I'll leave that alone at this point in time.) So this year, it's Ball-Nogues. There's a good chance that they got the award strictly on the strangeness of their name. But they just happen to be great designers as well. If anyone happens to be in NY this summer, please take some time to take the G train into Queens and take a look. While you're out there, go to the Noguchi Museum.
*After my last prematurely elated post regarding Newcastle's temporary upper-hand in their UEFA cup round of 16 clash, they traveled to the Netherlands (I think - can't remember through all the sobbing) and squandered the best chance they've had in years at any sort of relatively meaningful silverware. They lost 2-0, not getting the single away goal that they needed to see them through. After that game, they've lost two straight premiership matches, moving them back into the bottom half of the table, and making every person associated with them look towards next season. The attraction I have to "lovable losers" isn't only becoming more and more apparent as my years of sporting support go on, it's getting downright frightening. And here's the kicker - I still truly believe that Glenn Roeder, while seemingly bringing in a successful chunk of talent to the squad, will be the downfall of the next 5 years of the club if he's given another season. And here's why: The influx of European talent into the premiership is obviously the wave of the future. Soon every team will be less English than International, and while some fans dislike that fact, the Premiership is only benefitting in quality because of it. While Glenn was able to bring in Obefemi Martins, who has proved a HUGE boost to the club, and Sibierski, who was pretty good in Europe before we got knocked out, the fact is that he doesn't have the lure of a Benitez or Mourinho to bring international talent. Yes, we've got the purse to lure in international players, but without a big name manager who's got FAMOUS motivational skills or LEGENDARY knowlege of the game, the famed Newcastle purse will only brand players as money-hungry, much as it did to St. Michael Owen. (I REALLY hope he stays at nufc for another couple seasons. We'll have to see on that one.) So until we get a manager who's reputation outshines him (Alan Shearer), we'll be trying to bring in second-rate stars to play against the finest players in the world. Hence, Newcastle will rot in mid-table without any silverware for the next 5-10 years.
Labels: Architecture, Football
posted by darkred at 7:14 AM
1 comments
