A Soleri amphitheater facing demolition in Santa Fe

soleri_amphitheater

Even as Paolo Soleri’s new bridge in Scottsdale nears completion, another of his works is facing destruction in Santa Fe.

The architect built an amphitheater on the campus of the Santa Fe Indian School in the 1950s; according to this Santa Fe TV news story, the school is planning on demolishing it:

It costs them about $100,000 a year to maintain,“ Indian School Spokesperson Ed Calabaza said.

Calabaza said there are few concerts each year at the amphitheater and the money for the Paolo could better spent on students.

“Whether they be new facilities, giving out scholarships, getting better computers,” he said.

Calabaza said concerts at the Paolo Soleri have also attracted drug use and fights in the past, something the school wants nothing to do with on campus.

The school is on Indian land, so there’s no legal recourse defenders of the structure have.

—Bill Wyman
9:05 AM

Tags: Culture, Architecture, Paolo Soleri Comment(s)

Friday, July 23, 2010

Cronkite School building wins an architecture prize

cronkite_school

The Chicago Athenaeum, an architecture and design museum in Chicago, gives out international design awards each year. The Cronkite School, designed by Southern California’s Steven Erlich and opened in 2007, is one of 100 or so buildings cited for best new global design.

Full list of winners here.

A release from the Cronkite school below.

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY News

Cronkite School Wins International Architecture Award

PHOENIX (July 21, 2010) – The Cronkite School building has been awarded an International Architecture Award, Arizona State University announced.

The International Architecture Awards are conferred on the world’s most significant new buildings and urban or landscape developments by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design in conjunction with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The Cronkite building was one of 95 buildings and urban planning projects from 38 nations, and one of three buildings affiliated with U.S. institutions of higher education, to be recognized in the 2010 awards. The building houses the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Eight/KAET, the ASU-operated PBS station.

The contest honored a range of building types, including corporate offices, cultural sites, universities, industrial facilities and private homes.

Building architect Steven Ehrlich of Ehrlich Architects said it was an honor for the Cronkite building to be among those recognized.

“This is a very prestigious awards program because it’s really global,” Ehrlich said. “It’s always nice to see how a group of international jurors perceives our building.”

Ehrlich said the building fits into the urban fabric of downtown Phoenix.

“It’s not an isolated building on a campus that is sort of its own enclave,” Ehrlich said. “The building actually has a global viewpoint itself.”

Ehrlich said the contemporary, LEED-silver-certified Cronkite School building was designed to reinforce how communication is celebrated, in all its forms.

Inside, the space’s flexible, three-dimensional spatial environment allows connectivity in multiple forms, both through its technology capabilities and in the interpersonal space created by the First Amendment Forum at the building’s core.

“I think that becomes in a way the heart of the building, and it’s where, although there’s all this technological connectivity, there’s still the connectivity of people with each other,” Ehrlich said.

Christopher Callahan, dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said the school was proud to be housed in an exemplar of contemporary urban design and planning.

“Steven Ehrlich is known globally for bold designs that are striking and compelling, but also amazingly functional,” Callahan said. “This is yet another recognition of the magnificent design gifts of Steven, his colleague Mathew Chaney and the entire Ehrlich team. We were so fortunate to have Ehrlich Architects bring our vision of the 21st century digital media complex to life.”

A jury of Mexican architects affiliated with the Colegio de Arquitectos de la Ciudad de Mexico, Sociedad de Arquitectos Mexicanos chose the winners from hundreds of entries.

The awards will be presented and exhibited at The City and The World conference to be held in Spain, Nov. 4-7, 2010. Following that, the awards exhibition will tour Europe and the United States.