Boots

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This week from Concrete Boots

Golden shots...

Has the Venturi’s quest for Gold Medal stardom found yet another supporter in the form of Rem Koolhaas? Accepting the honorary fellowship for Denise Scott Brown, the Dutch maestro said it was time the RIBA recognised the importance of theory over practice. Meanwhile urbanism guru Jan Gehl, also picking up a honorary fellowship, mentioned the need to recognise those whose impact can be felt across cities. The gold medal should not go to architects that design “perfume bottles” he said. Surely he didn’t mean Herzog & de Meuron’s Prada building in Tokyo, did he ?
... with glitter

Still at the dinner, Nicholas Serota, the Swiss Ambassador (sans socks Boots noted) Rem Koolhass, Deyan Sudjic and Ricky Burdett all turned out for Herzog & de Meuron, but the biggest surprise of all was the appearance of Zaha Hadid. Renowned for failing to turn up to RIBA events where she’s top of the bill, this time La Hadid turned the tables and came to one where she wasn’t expected! Luckily, she gave the harassed organisers five minutes notice — just time to find her a seat but not, alas, at the top table. How did she survive?
Mum’s the word


Touching scenes at the opening of AHMM’s Unity building in Liverpool last night when it was revealed that Paul Monaghan’s mum, Jeanne, is immortalised on the tower’s facade — in morse code. It may be that only amateur radio operators will get it, but as an appreciation it takes some beating. The tone even extended to the evening’s choice of drink — Mumm’s champagne was used to toast the building and its inspiration. How sweet!
Image building

While Nicholas Sarkozy launched his campaign for the French presidency from Foster’s Millau Bridge, far right candidate Jean Marie Le Pen chose Koolhaas’s Grand Palais in Lille. But far from giving the 78-year-old leader some street cred, the building was chosen precisely because it looks like it has seen better days and is a metaphor for the whole region, which faces economic decline and hardship, one of Le Pen’s supporters told le Monde.
Kid R

Cabe chief executive Richard Simmons outed himself as an ageing indie kid when speaking at the Cityscape conference this week on the value of the public realm. Using pictures of a Radiohead gig, he explained that: “I was in the mosh pit at the time”. Boots wonders which of their songs is his favourite. Did 1995’s Street Spirit (Fade Out), with its opening lyrics “Row of houses all bearing down on me…” inspire Cabe’s recent housing audit?

Fonte: BD Online