America's "dead zones" are all infrastructure and no people, the need for the architectural profession to prove it's not "slavishly" following the party line and Queens Wharf design entrants lack the "wow factor".
"Our cities are dead zones with small pods of life barricaded between the elements that support the passage, storage and care of cars. In our most densely trafficked sidewalks, it is a hundred feet between businesses whose windows have a chance of being interesting to look in at while walking past. Throw in a bank or two and one has to take a taxi to get between shops where people congregate over a cup of coffee or buy a shirt."
JSOnline
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"It is healthy to question what is being proposed at Copenhagen and whether architects are fully behind a treaty that will give a new governing body powers to limit manufacturing, travel, energy production and anything else that emits carbon, including building. There are no easy answers but opening up the debate to a range of voices would not only help fill the empty seats at RIBA, it would show that the profession can take a lead rather than slavishly follow the party line."
BD Online
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"It's a good bet the only Aucklanders saddened by the decision to pull the plug on the Queens Wharf design contest are the big-name architects who couldn't resist entering the fatally flawed competition. They now have to live with the humiliation of Auckland mayor John Banks declaring their entries were ‘simply not good enough’ and lacked the 'wow factor'."
NZ Herald
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"The USA wants nothing to do with Kyoto or its architecture ... The US was never going to come back into Kyoto after President Bush withdrew from it - such a move would not be accepted by the US Congress - but it is now clear it wants nothing even vaguely resembling the protocol. The US, we may remember, has always had an aversion to subjecting itself to international law."
The Independent
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"Architects bidding for the third runway contract, or any other new runway, can expect to see a lot more of us. We presented them with the 'We don't give a Shit' award both to recognise their contribution to destroying our homes and to say that trying to build a green airport is like trying to polish a turd."
BD Online
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