“Nine enormous and hugely unsophisticated skyscrapers are being mooted by the world’s architectural mega-corps. The London model dictates that, where a skyscraper is built, open space must be left around it, creating dim plazas. Consequently, tall buildings, while they do increase office space, fail to increase the density of the city, instead merely prodding the skyline with primitive architectural fingers, the sole aim of which is to create a recognisable logo. This leaves blank, unnecessary plazas, inevitably filled with the usual coffee shops and chain stores, the city becoming in effect suburbanised.”
Tag: 08.03.05
A New News Network For Scotland?
The Scottish executive has endorsed a controversial BBC plan to form a new news network to cover Scotland. “BBC Scotland’s head of news and current affairs, set out proposals for local news services which involve splitting Scotland into six regions covered by a network of 36 video journalists, who will shoot and edit their own reports.”
Will Actors Unions Stay In AFL-CIO?
The the entertainment industry-friendly Teamsters union pulling out of the AFL-CIO, will small unions like the Screen Actors Guild follow?
Outlook: More Theatre That Engages
“Five years ago, if you had looked at the programme for the Edinburgh Festival, you would have been overwhelmed by the amount of “up-your-bum experimentalism”. Now, though there is still an unconscionable amount of that sort of thing, plus a lot of other general silliness, there are also more plays than I can ever remember that engage with the big issues of the day.”
Why Cuban Ballet Jumps So High
Cuban ballet is at an extraordinarily high level. “The question is how such a small, impoverished country can produce such a huge quota of talent. Acosta claims it’s all due to the national temperament – the music on every street corner, the heat, the vibrancy, the instinct for rhythm. Cubans dance as soon as they can walk. But the primacy of ballet also has everything to do with the vision of Cuba’s prima ballerina, Alicia Alonso, and its president, Fidel Castro.”
South Bank’s New Maestra
Does Jude Kelly know what she’s got herself in for, running South Bank’s artistic offerings? “So anxious were the Board to get her initials on a contract that they have allowed her to carry on directing shows elsewhere, a license that will eat into her time at the desk. Still, look on the bright side: making plays will give her interactive access to the artists she needs to enliven the South Bank, and it will signal that the centre at last has a creative director who can do something more than sign off budgets and dine for England. It will be no small plus if she also feels a sneaking need to outshine Nick Hytner’s rampantly autonomous National across the Waterloo Bridge, giving the South Bank a novel will to win.”
Chrysalis Sheds Staff
The publisher Chrysalis is shrinking. “Chrysalis is to cut a quarter of the staff from its unprofitable books division in an attempt to improve its balance sheet. The media company revealed yesterday that 46 of the 160 jobs in its books arm would go as part of a restructuring exercise. Chrysalis employs a total of 700 staff.”
San Francisco’s New Museum Row
San Francisco is getting three new museums on the doorstep of the SF Museum of Modern Art. “It has been a long road for the Contemporary Jewish and Mexican museums and the Museum of the African Diaspora, struggling to raise funds in the post-Sept. 11 world as well as deal with design and construction challenges that have delayed opening in the Yerba Buena area.”
Thieves Steal Fake Munch Paintings
Thieves broke in to a hotel that has 12 Edvard Munches in its collection. “Two unarmed men burst into Oslo’s Hotel Continental, threatened staff and removed three pictures from the walls. But the hotel had swapped the originals with duplicates after two real Munch works were stolen from the Munch Museum in the city almost a year ago.”
Chicago Tribune Moves Critics
The Chicago Tribune is reassigning some of its critics. “Movie critic Michael Wilmington is scaling back his reviewing duties, at least for now. Theater critic Michael Phillips will shift to reviewing films, and is being eyed as a possible permanent movie critic. Meanwhile, long-time television critic Steve Johnson will switch to writing about the Internet, according to sources at the paper.”