San Diego: The Latest Architecture and News

Taking place this coming Wednesday, February 20th, Winy Maas, a Netherlands-based architect, urbanist and co-founder of the internationally-recognized firm MVRDV, is scheduled to speak at NewSchool of Architecture and Design (NSAD) at 9:00am PST on the topic of “What’s Next?”. The free lecture includes a discussion on the recent works of MVRDV and the research institute The Why Factory, a think tank directed by Maas in collaboration with Delft University of Technology that develops scenarios and models of the city of the future. For more information, please visit here.

Mexican architect Fernando Romero will be speaking tomorrow evening, January 16, at NewSchool of Architecture and Design in San Diego on the topic of “You are the Context” as part of the school’s lecture series. Free and open to the public, the event focuses on how we must reconsider the definition of context as it pertains to architecture as the global reach of projects increases through digital communication. Named to Fast Company’s Co.Design “Designers Shaping the Future” 2012, his recent Soumaya Museum in Mexico City is described by CNN’s Great Buildings series as “jaw-dropping.” For more information, please visit here.

With produce coming from the Imperial Valley, Central California Valley, neighboring states and other countries the 30,000 plus residents of San Diego’s central urban context consume 21,231,000 pounds of produce each year. Where will we get our food? Transparency in the food industry needs to occur and enlighten blinded consumers. Our city needs to handle this critical issue with an architecture that responds. A new type of residential tower needs to come forth. Utilizing vertical farming, Brandon Martella’s “Live Share Grow’ proposal is a new model of living can be tested and resolved in a dense vertical community. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Who will run the world for the next 100 years? Envision Solar President and CEO Desmond Wheatley argues that it will be whoever has abundant sources of power. That is constructive power, rather than destructive power, which is essential to run the information and technology industries that our world is entirely dependent on. Additionally, Wheatley states that energy equals water. And, with less than 1% of the world’s fresh water available for use, desalination is becoming an increasingly plausible solution. The only problem now is that energy is expensive. But, once cities have the will to switch over to renewables, that will no longer be an issue. Could you imagine San Diego as an net exporter of water? Desmond Wheatley can.

Breadtruck Films shared with us their seven minute documentary on architect Jonathan Segal‘s ‘the charmer’. The project consists of a 19 unit residential complex in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood and recently won a 2012 project of the year award. By building on the tradition of the California courtyard apartments, he shows how architecture can create community and add a little charm to the neighborhood. The outdoor spaces at complex carry just as much importance with Segal as the buildings themselves. He believes that beauty and livability are crucial, and often overlooked, components of environmental design.

Acclaimed architect and designer Joshua Prince-Ramus, whose projects include the Seattle Central Library and the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in Dallas, will deliver a lecture on March 2nd to NewSchool of Architecture and Design (NSAD) students and faculty on the topic of “Slow Architecture” at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. NSAD will also provide a live video stream of the 7:30 p.m. lecture for the general public. His lecture is a remarkable opportunity for students to learn from his unique approaches to the design process and his ability to create inspiring designs that extend the boundaries of what is possible is testimony to the power of architecture’s artistry and science. More information on the event after the break.

If you are in the San Diego area and looking for something to do this weekend, check out the Phenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. It is your last chance to experience the exhibit at the museum’s La Jolla location, as it will be closing this Sunday, January 22. However, the exhibit will remain open to the public at its downtown location in San Diego into spring and summer.

More after the break.

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San Diego Planning Commission has approved Zaha Hadid’s La Jolla Residence. Along with the San Diego firm Public, Hadid will demolish an existing house on a half-acre site at 8490 Whale Watch Way, replacing it with a 12,700 square foot home comprised of four bedrooms, six bathrooms, and an indoor pool. The firm has described the home as an “introverted sculptural structure.”

The San Diego Architectural Foundation (SDAF) wants to know what you think makes San Diego’s architecture and design blossom – or stink, and is again soliciting public nominations through August 31 for projects to be considered for this year’s Orchids & Onions Awards. All San Diegans are encouraged to take a few moments to have their say about what they view as the good, the bad and the ugly in categories including Architecture, Historic Preservation, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Sustainable Design, and Miscellaneous; which covers just about everything in-between. By uploading a few photos on the SDAF’s Orchids and Onions website, along with your rationalization, you can be part of cultivating a more thoughtfully designed San Diego. More competition description after the break.

Architects de bartolo + rimanic design studio in conjunction with McCullough Landscape Architecture have released their design for a new football stadium in San Diego California. Images with embedded descriptions after the break.