UNITED KINGDOM
Despite being called ‘the competition of the year’, none of the doyens of British architecture have been short listed for the new $102 million building for the Glasgow School of Art. The seven-strong shortlist has a Scottish leaning, including, among others, Glasgow-based Elder & Cannon, Nord Architects with John McAslan and Partners, Glasgow’s JM Architects with American Steven Holl Architects and Scots Benson & Forsyth. A raft of Pritzker and Stirling Prize winners, including Rogers, Hadid and Chipperfield were among more than 150 teams to enter the competition.
UNITED KINGDOM
The British architecture community has been criticised for failing to influence government policy at a recent Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) conference. Speakers and delegates at the Dundee event called for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and RIAS to get more involved in politics at a time when the industry is suffering a trying recession. John McAslan, one of the speakers, said: “We’re not effective at engaging at the level that we need to. You have to be ambitious and you have to have something to say. You have to understand how the system works and use it in a proper way.”
UNITED STATES
The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) latest billing index suggests the worst could be over for American architects. The index, seen as an indicator of future construction activity, has been falling for over a year with a score of less than 50 indicating a decline in architects’ billings. But results for April show the decline had slowed, with the index falling less than a full point, to 42.8 marking the second consecutive month that the index has risen above 40. Enquiries for new projects have risen to 56.8, suggesting a burst of activity could spur the American market.
SAUDI ARABIA
A video of Atkins’ proposal to redevelop the Haram Mosque, one of the world’s holiest sites in the city of Mecca, has been leaked. Building Design reports that Atkins is no longer among the practices pitching for the development, which would increase the capacity of the mosque to three million. Early reports suggested that 13 practices were competing for the project, including Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster and Faber Maunsell but Hadid is said to have been kept in the dark about any further project developments. Watch the video.
BAGHDAD
Baghdad is considering cultivating ‘terrorist-proof trees’ in a bid to rid the city of its enormous network of concrete blast walls. The ‘natural defensive weaved hedges’ are basically walls made from tightly bound spiky plants, exported by French company Sinnoveg. The ‘terrorist-proof trees’ could replace the concrete walls that US and Iraqi forces erected around government buildings and embassies when the sectarian fighting was at its worst. Rows of thorny trees and bushes are planted 80 centimetres apart and the branches are woven together. As the plants grow they form a razor-sharp hedge that can reach six metres within three years. More…
