Dutch Architects Win First Marcus Prize
A trio of iconoclastic Dutch architects who jokingly call themselves "the anti-Calatravas" are the first winners of the Marcus Prize, a $100,000 plum that Milwaukee's Marcus Corporation Foundation established to recognize emerging international stars in architecture. The winning firm, MVRDV, was chosen from a field of 22 nominees from nine countries. The members will travel to Milwaukee in the spring of 2006 to teach a studio class at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and work on an as-yet-unspecified urban design project.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Dodgers Install Video in High-End Seating Areas
Audio/video mount maker Vantage Point is partnering with Sharp and the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team to install mounts for Sharp 45-inch Aquos flat-panel LCD televisions on the walls in luxury seating suites within Dodger Stadium. Vantage Point, which has placed 52 universal flat-panels mounts in these high-tech seating areas, said ease of installing the mounts made the work a “one person” job: “There is no need to pre-connect any wires, since the UFO can be tilted forward far enough to enable access behind the monitor to completely detail the wiring and finalize the installation.”
This Week in Consumer Electronics
ActiveLight Unveils TActive Touch Screen for Digital Signage
ActiveLight and Display Werks will introduce the TActive screen at the Digital Retailing Expo May 18 in Chicago. The 40-inch LCD will be featured in ActiveLight's booth as part of a working digital signage application. TActive supports multiple video inputs, features 1280 x 768 high resolution and high quality video performance, and offers a 170-degree or better viewing angle. With the appropriate software, the display can be used in both portrait and landscape modes and allows the whole screen or just parts to be touch sensitive.
Broadcast Engineering
McDonough to Headline at Global Summit in China
Environmental leader, architect and designer William McDonough will deliver three presentations detailing positive environmental solutions to world problems during the 2005 FORTUNE Global Forum: China and The New Asian Century, May 16-18 in Beijing, China. More than 300 top international business, political and thought leaders will gather to address concerns about issues related to maximizing business opportunities in Asia, fostering business growth and assessing risk. McDonough will head Forum sessions focusing on environmental challenges and opportunities. His plenary address will describe positive design approaches to "Megacities: Urbanization in Asia." His two panels will consider additional strategies of change in "Energy: Finding Fuel for Continued Economic Growth," and "A Looming Environmental Crisis of Design?"
PR Newswire
Arizona’s College of Architecture Expanding
A $9.4 million expansion of the University of Arizona’s Architecture Building, which recently broke ground, will nearly double the square footage, relieving students from cramped studio space and consolidating labs scattered in several temporary locations. The 31,000-square-foot expansion is set for completion in the fall of 2006. Dean Richard A. Eribes said the new facility would bring the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in line with peer institutions.
The Arizona Daily Star
Malaysia May Require Shock-Proof Buildings
Malaysian buildings may all be fitted and equipped with a shockproof system following a series of earth tremors felt in the country in recent months, Works Minister Samy Vellu announced recently. Selected architects and engineers will be asked to come up with a proposal and mechanism to ensure that existing buildings as well as yet-to-be built structures can withstand tremors, he said, adding: "We will be holding a conference to identify the precautionary measures needed for building structures in case the tremors continue to hit the country."
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Greenbuild in Commerce Department Program
The Greenbuild International Conference and Exposition, an annual conference organized by the U.S. Green Building Council, has been accepted into the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Buyer Program, which brings together international buyers and U.S. firms by promoting leading U.S. trade shows in industries with high export potential. The Commerce Department chooses fewer than 40 trade shows each year for participation in the program. The Buyer Program benefits U.S. firms exhibiting at these select events and provides practical, hands-on assistance through export counseling and market analysis to U.S. companies interested in exporting.
PR Newswire
Richland Mall Designer Browder Dies
Raymond Johnson Browder, the project architect who helped create Azalea Mall, Cloverleaf Mall and Regency Square, died on May 2. He was 85. A native of Lawrenceville, Mr. Browder earned a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from Virginia Tech in 1942. Azalea Mall, which opened in 1963 and was demolished in 1999, was the first enclosed shopping center in the Richmond metro area, followed by Cloverleaf Mall in 1972 and Regency Square three years later. Mr. Browder also worked on malls in Florida and Charlottesville, where he helped create Charlottesville Fashion Square. Mr. Browder retired from Carneal and Johnston as a vice president in 1986. In retirement, he designed the John Stewart Bryan Chapel at Boy Scout Camp T.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
