Tonight’s Lecture, Elena Manferdini, is Postponed.
Due to weather, Elena Manferdini’s flight has been cancelled. This lecture will be rescheduled in the future. Please check our webpage & events section of the E-News for updates on this event. Thanks.
The details are still skimpy and there’s no date set for a full unveiling. But Dr. Gus Kious, chief administrative officer of Huron Hospital in East Cleveland, confirmed publicly for the first time Monday that the hospital is planning an expansion along Euclid Avenue aimed at strengthening its ability to treat diabetes and other chronic illnesses.
East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton, who took office Jan. 1 after defeating incumbent Eric Brewer, was elated by Kious’ announcement and portrayed it as an early sign of a potential turnaround for the poverty-stricken Cleveland suburb.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Norton said. “I think it is representative of [parent organization] the Cleveland Clinic’s commitment to chronic health problems in the inner-city core community and inner-ring suburbs. It also will have a catalytic effect on Euclid Avenue.” (go to article)
The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, long a foil to the bigger, richer and more conservative Cleveland Museum of Art, is on the verge of a breakthrough.
After renting less-than-visible space for 20 years in the Cleveland Play House complex in Midtown, it’s nearly ready to build a dramatic black-glass-and-steel building in University Circle.
MOCA has raised $18 million toward the estimated construction cost of $25 million for the project, designed by internationally renowned architect Farshid Moussavi of London. It also needs another $4 million for an endowment, which means it is still $11 million shy of a $29 million total… (go to article)
I recently visited a home on Marvin Avenue off of West 25th Street that was built in 1895 by German immigrants, known as the Hattler House. The current occupants, Bud and Robert, purchased the home in 2000 and are working hard each year to restore it, as well as make it their own. They extensively researched the history of the home and offered to share the information they gathered with me, and I would like to share it with you… (go to article)
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A luxury townhouse development in Little Italy appears to be thriving, despite the rough real estate market and an escalating dispute with neighboring property owners.
Developers of the 27 Coltman project, townhouses on the rim of Cleveland’s University Circle, say they have sold 23 of the 27 homes since early 2009. Property records show that three sales have closed, but developer Andrew Brickman says many other buyers have lender approval and have made significant down payments. He has twice raised prices on the homes, which currently start around $327,000… (go to article)
No doubt, building bridges is an adult endeavor. The nuts and bolts, the girders, the EISs and RFPs, and then the responsibility inherent with carving a form that people will or will not take pride in as they negotiate a city that is or is not sustainably evolving. Yes, building bridges is not for the unserious, the depthless. And so its ironic (yet not unsurprising) that ODOT has reacted to the latest round of Inner Belt discussion with a bit of childish unsophistication; in effect, hijacking the conversation by not allowing one—not unlike the kid refusing the rest of us the game by taking their ball back home with them.
At least that is how it felt when word broke last Thursday that ODOT would in fact not be ready to reply to the Planning Commission’s formal resolution asking ODOT to reconsider the addition of a multipurpose path, then waking up the next morning to see that ODOT was in fact ready to make astatement—in a vacuum, to a reporter. The answer: leave us alone, we have serious work to do that does not involve amending paperwork that could allow for the betterment of the designs we’re paying $3 million to request… (go to article)
Cabin Verdehaugen Fosen Coast, Norway (2008)
Fantastic Norway
Good design isn’t qualified by formal or conceptual purity, yet Architecture can only make so much noise before it alienates its users and environment. This Norwegian cabin effectively plays both actor and stage set (a), while allowing material and detail to develop character (b) rather than form… (go to article)
WASHINGTON — Seventy-nine mph is not high speed.
Yet that’s the fastest that passenger trains between Cleveland and Cincinnati will go when they start running, possibly as soon as 2012. This puzzles and disappoints some Ohioans, especially because President Barack Obama announced new rail lines on Jan. 28 as cogs in a national “high speed” network.
A week later, a number of Ohioans, including lawmakers from both parties, are describing the eventual three-hour trip between Cleveland and Columbus as life in the slow lane. The $400 million-plus Ohio railroad would be slower than car travel, because the 79 mph top speeds cannot be reached consistently on a line that shares rails with freight trains… (go to article)
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, frustrated that the Ohio Department of Transportation has dug in its heels and won’t consider a multipurpose lane on the new Inner Belt Bridge, wrote the administrator of the Federal Highway Administration on Friday, asking him to ensure the lane is included in bids for the span.
In his letter to Victor Mendez, Kucinich wrote that he heard Ohio “cannot veer from its path toward the current plans to exclude bikes and pedestrians. . . . The issue of bike and pedestrian access to this signature bridge must not be swept under the rug due to a bureaucratic snafu.” (go to article)
What could you do with hundreds of professionals in 220 hours? Apparently ODOT thinks between now and March 2, it’s not enough to amend electronic documents that can vastly improve the future for Greater Cleveland’s citizens. The documents, which include ODOT’s environmental impact statement, would allow thousands to choose to ride a bike or walk on the new Innerbelt Bridge and catch views of downtown on the way to an Indians game or to dinner in Tremont.
“When you design a bridge, you don’t design it just for cars you design it for people,” Cleveland Councilman Matt Zone told ODOT Innerbelt Project Manager Craig Hebebrand at today’s Cleveland Planning Commission. “Why should the citizens of Cleveland settle for second class? We should demand (a multi-use path on the bridge) from the design phase. We should demand something better. Let’s see what the prices come in. In Shanghai and in Portland they are designing bridges for people.” (go to article)
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Activists hoping for a bicycle lane on the new Cleveland Inner Belt Bridge had their idea rejected Thursday by the Ohio Department of Transportation.
In a statement released by the department’s attorney, ODOT said no to the request made by several groups that had enlisted the aid of Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative to create a bike lane on the new bridge over the Cuyahoga River.
ODOT has refused for years to consider a bike lane on the bridge, and Thursday reiterated its stance… (go to article)
Cleveland’s small but lately tenacious Critical Mass crew has not yet made the Innerbelt Bridge a part of their monthly bicycle ride (which they note does not block traffic, but shows the motoring world that they are part of traffic). But one wonders what it would take for anyone who is not driving a car or truck to get any consideration from the massive load of bureaucratic inertia that is ODOT.
Cyclists and alternative transportation advocates have for years been attempting to persuade the state transportation agency to include a multipurpose path — separate from the motor vehicle lanes — on the planned new Innerbelt Bridge. Such a path would offer bicycle and foot commuters — and even people who just come to check out what will be stunning views — equal access to what will be one of the most expensive transportation projects in the state… (go to article)
In late breaking news, ODOT will not discuss the multi-use path on the Innerbelt Bridge at tomorrow’s Cleveland Planning Commission meeting, even though they were confirmed on the agenda. ODOT representatives will be at the Planning Commission meeting anyway, presenting plans for the West Shoreway, but will not respond to a resolution approved by the Planning Commission inviting ODOT to address questions and concerns on the possibility of a multi-purpose path on the new Inner Belt Bridge. The local office is waiting as “ODOT Central (Columbus) formulates a response,” writes an ODOT 12 staffer. Bicyclists, joggers, walkers and sustainability advocates are still expecting to have a conversation with ODOT about this at a future Planning Commission meeting. To support a bike/pedestrian path on the Innerbelt Bridge, click here... (go to article)
Kent State University has just posted their 2010 Spring Lecture Series (and the first one is coming right on up!)
Elena Manferdini
Design Is One
February 09, 2010 7:30 pm
Michael Schwartz Auditorium
Mark Foster Gage
Computation, Aesthetics & the Contemporary Baroque
February 23, 2010 7:00 pm
Cartwright Auditorium
Hansey Barraza
Studio Luz
March 10, 2010 7:00 pm
Cartwright Auditorium
Stephen Cassell
Architecture Research Office: Recent & Future Work
March 17, 2010 7:00 pm
Cartwright Auditorium
Andrea Ponsi
Florence: A Map of Perceptions
March 25, 2010 7:30 pm
Michael Schwartz Auditorium… (go to article)
Christopher Marcinkoski, a senior associate with James Corner Field Operations in New York City, recently gave me an overview of several of the firm’s projects. I continue to marvel at their work on the High Line, the abandoned early 20th century elevated train tracks that have been turned into one of New York’s 21st century cultural gems. The project brilliantly weds fields, I’ve argued, that are often seen as adversarial, landscape architecture and landscape preservation. In fact, the work at Field Operations appears to embrace a design ethic I’ve long advocated, involving a shared value system of nature, scenery and culture, and strengthens the need for us to develop professional standards and ethics regarding cultural systems.
The project that caught my eye, and prompted this blog post, is the rehabilitation of a ten-acre public space in the heart of Cleveland (fig. 1, above). The original project is a classic City Beautiful expression, typical of prosperous late 19th/early 20th century cities such as Indianapolis, IN, Kansas City, MO, Syracuse, NY, and elsewhere… (go to article)
The Kent State University College of Architecture and Environmental Design presents the 2010 Spring Design Lecture Series.
All lectures are free and open to the public.
Download the poster here… (go to article)
I never did see Snakes on a Plane, however if you have any interest in advocating for a cycling/pedestrian path on the innerbelt bridge because you are one of the people who live near and go to downtown Cleveland you may want to stop in at this Friday’s Cleveland Planning Commission Meeting and show your support or voice your concern. Friday, February 5th.
Cleveland Planning Commission Meeting
601 Lakeside Avenue East Cleveland, OH 44114-1078
9am – 11.30am… (go to article)
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County commissioners this morning approved a $15 million option to buy a downtown office building and garage to make way for a medical mart.
The deal leaves only the Sportsman’s Restaurant standing in the way of the $425 million, taxpayer-financed project, which also involves building a new convention center… (go to article)
Cleveland residents,
The Great Lakes Urban Exchange is hosing its third annual conference in Cleveland this year.
The group, which aims to share ideas and best practices for revitalizing Great Lakes cities, has a survey about how how the conference can best be used for “ACTION, rather than agendas.”
The group is “issuing this preemptive survey to help us plan conference activities that will be immediately actionable, useful, and effective in answering the needs of the ‘do-ers’ who are making Cleveland a healthier, more sustainable, more equitable and successful city.” (go to article)
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland’s Federal Office Building at East Ninth Street and Lakeside Avenue is getting a $121 million makeover with stimulus money.
In fact, federal courthouses, buildings, border stations and ports of entry across the country are being renovated and retrofitted to become more energy efficient with some $5.55 billion to be spent over the next several years.
The 32-story Anthony J. Celebrezze building in Cleveland will get a new roof. The main change, however, will be a new facade or cladding on the building designed to save energy — likely a curtain wall that will envelope the current building… (go to article)
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