March 27 marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of Maria Ludwig Michael Mies, better known as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Two countries, Germany and the United States, claim to be the person who largely determined the development of modern architecture: he spent half his life in each of them, and it is there that the main anniversary celebrations take place. There, this date received maximum media attention: even the Bild tabloid wrote about the 125th anniversary of the great architect.
Over the past week, there were several high-profile discoveries at once. Seville has officially announced the finished Metropol Parasol complex, designed by J. Mayer H. Architects. Huge "mushrooms" of concrete and wood should make the area in the center of the ancient city more attractive for tourists and townspeople, which we recently wrote about, and now tells the British The Observer.
The Beekman Tower skyscraper, now called New York by Gehry, was also widely published: this 265-meter residential tower (76 floors) was Frank Gehry's first building in New York. Wrapped in sheets of stainless steel, this building has already caused admiration of the architectural community: according to many, New York began to lose its position as a city of skyscrapers, since there are few interesting high-rise buildings there in recent years - so New York by Gehry came in just the right way (not speaking about the opening ceremony, timed to coincide with the 82nd birthday of the author of the project).
Also named after its architect is a new cultural center that opened in the northern Spanish city of Aviles: Centro Niemeyer includes an auditorium for 1000 people, a museum, a multifunctional building and an observation tower, united by a "plaza". Buildings, as is typical of Oscar Niemeyer, are a play with simplified geometric shapes.
Another new structure still remains on paper, but an important step has been taken towards its implementation: the project for the new building of the Glasgow School of the Arts by Stephen Hall was approved by the local council - despite the protests of some critics and architects. Construction of a 5-story building opposite Charles Mackintosh's masterpiece is set to begin this fall, Building Design reports.
Continuing the theme of renovation of monuments, one cannot fail to mention the luxurious neo-Renaissance building of Williamsburg Savings Bank in Brooklyn. According to The Architect's Newspaper, the building from the 1870s, abandoned by bankers, will become a banquet hall with an art gallery and concert hall.
And The Wall Street Journal turns to a monument of modern times - the pavilion of pre-Columbian American art at the Washington research center Dumbarton Oaks - and calls this little-known building of the early 1960s one of the best in the work of Philip Johnson.
We conclude our review with the graphic series "Google's World" by artist Alejo Malia: the author depicted what the Earth would look like - especially cities - if the icons, inscriptions and photos of Google maps were moved from virtual space into our reality.
