Category: visual

An organization that helps advise on World Heritage Sites says proposals being considered by the international body would severely weaken protections for the sites. “Among the changes the world heritage committee, which runs the world heritage scheme, will discuss are: Allowing states to veto any criticism of them for damaging or neglecting sites within their borders. Allowing states to prevent the creation of new sites in their borders if they stand in the way of development.”

“Will Alsop, the acclaimed British architect, stormed the gates of Toronto more than two years ago and convinced the Ontario College of Art and Design that he was their man… Today, the fireworks get shut down so that some tough decisions can be made about how to get OCAD built by next January.” The major issue to be discussed is the building’s cladding – what exactly the outher facade will be made of. Cost is an issue, as is durability, and, of course, visual appeal. Lisa Rochon says a decision needs to be made, and soon.

Dallas, Texas, is not the greenest city in America. In fact, Dallas’s downtown is almost completely lacking open space. A proposal for a new, 4.7-acre park aims to change that, but there’s a catch. The plans for the park would require the destruction of a number of old buildings described as “the best block of 1950s architecture in the city.” There is no question that the ‘greening’ proposal is well-intended, says David Dillon, “yet a park proposal that requires the demolition of historic buildings and the closing of major streets, in a downtown that is already one-third vacant land, creates as many problems as it solves– not just for historic preservation but for planning and economic development.”

“Indian archaeologists prepared on Tuesday to start digging in search of a lost temple whose disputed existence lies at the heart of India’s tense and often violent Hindu-Muslim divide. Archaeologists put up tents at three places at the site in the northern holy town of Ayodhya to maintain secrecy as they search for remains of a temple which some Hindus say was buried under a 16th-century mosque. Hindu zealots razed the mosque in 1992, triggering nationwide Hindu-Muslim riots in which some 3,000 people died.”

The story and legacy of Francis Bacon’s £60 million estate are growing murkier and more complicated after the death of his sole beneficiary last week.

After more than 50 years of hiding them away, Russia has decided to reveal the whereabouts of “thousands of paintings, archives and rare books looted by Soviet forces in Germany and Eastern Europe during and after World War II and taken to Russia as so-called trophy art. (Now the preferred term in Russia is ‘displaced cultural treasures.’) Hitler’s forces had previously pillaged many of the works from Jewish owners and other Nazi victims.”

Richard Eurich was a “awfully good painter” writes Richard Dorment. But he was a stubborn independent who went his own way. And though pleasant, he fired off a savage critique of critics in the form of a painting. “The contrast between the foolishness of the impotent critics and the moral clarity of the virile artist is the picture’s unmistakable point. A reproduction of The Critics should hang over the desks of all of us who write about the arts, for it reminds us how easy it is to become focused on emerging artists, while neglecting true but idiosyncratic talent.”

British museum directors have been warned about protecting their collections in case of a flood. “In London, a string of national museums is located along both banks of the Thames. These include Tate Modern and Tate Britain, and the priceless Gilbert precious metal collection at Somerset House, to be joined next month by Charles Saatchi’s new gallery at County Hall, and, in May, by a new museum in Docklands. Many museums, such as the V&A, which stand a safe distance inland, have stores much closer to the river, while others, such as the Wallace Collection, just north of Oxford Street, recently gained space by excavating large basement areas.”

“For centuries, the task of the architect was to build the ideal city, whether the city state of 15th-century Italy, or a Modernist backdrop for car-driving, welfare-state citizens. Naturally, they all failed.” In the 60s, a group of Italians called Superstudio “had the audacity to say that after 400 years of failure we should give it a rest. Utopia? It ain’t coming.” The problem is, they couldn’t come up with an alternative. So “three decades after the Italians exited stage left, architecture, and especially British architecture, has fulfilled all their prophesies. It’s cursed with niceness. It’s dull. Unquestioning. Terminally polite.”