Father of modern Iraqi architecture dies of COVID-19

BAGHDAD - Rifat Chadirji, known as the father of modern Iraqi architecture, died late Friday in the United Kingdom after contracting the novel coronavirus, friends and Iraqi officials have said.

The 93-year-old architect and photographer is credited with designing some of Iraq's most well-known structures, including the iconic "Freedom Monument" in the now protest hub of Baghdad's Tahrir Square its name. 

"He was a giant of 20th century Iraq," said Caecilia Pieri, a scholar focusing on Baghdad's modern architecture who knew Chadirji well. 

Top Iraqi officials including President Barham Saleh and caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi mourned him on Saturday.

"With the death of Rifat Chadirji, architecture in Iraq and the world has lost its modern lung," Saleh wrote.

Born in Baghdad in 1926, Chadirji studied in London and returned to Iraq in the 1950s to design his magnum opus -- an elegant arch entitled "The Unknown Soldier" -- as well as the capital's post office and other public buildings.

But when the Baathist regime came to power, it tore down "The Unknown Soldier," replaced it with a statue of Saddam Hussein and tossed Chadirji into the infamous Abu Ghraib prison, where he remained for 20 months.

He wrote about the experience in "The Wall Between Two Darknesses," relating how Saddam had him released from prison to design a conference center.

Chadirji moved to Beirut a few years later and lived abroad during most of the devastating 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, the 1990 Gulf War, a decade of international sanctions and the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam.

When he returned to Iraq in 2009, he was scarred by what he found.

"I cannot believe what has happened to the buildings in Baghdad, everything has been almost completely destroyed," Chadirji said at the time.

In 2019, another one of his famed buildings was torn down: the National Insurance Company in Mosul, a seven-storey building from where the Islamic State group thew men accused of being gay to their deaths. 

The structure was ravaged by the months-long fight to oust IS from Mosul and a municipal committee later decided to demolish what was left of it saying it could not be restored.

The NIC building was seen as a prime example of modern Iraqi design, with rows of slim archways and projected windows reminiscent of Iraq's beloved "shanasheel".

Chadirji had been a longtime advocate of preservation, working even under Saddam to halt the demolition of traditional Iraqi architecture in Baghdad. 

"A people that cannot take care of its creations is a people without a memory," he said in 2009.

Agence France-Presse

Dubai begins building 'world's tallest' tower

DUBAI - Dubai began construction work Monday on a tower that will stand higher than its Burj Khalifa, which is currently the world's tallest skyscraper.

The Gulf emirate's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, marked the groundbreaking of The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbor as construction workers laid foundations for the skyscraper at a vast patch of sand.

The structure "will be the world's tallest tower when completed in 2020," said a statement issued at the ceremony.

Dubai's developer giant Emaar Properties announced plans to build the viewing tower in April, saying it will be "a notch" higher than Burj Khalifa, which stands 828 meters (2,700 feet) high.

Emaar has not revealed the exact final height of the tower.

It said in April that the structure will cost around $1 billion (900 million euros).

Designed by Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava Valls, the tower will have observation decks providing 360-degree views of the coastal city.

Emaar Chairman Mohamed Alabbar said the tower will completed before the Expo 2020 trade fair which Dubai is preparing to host.

In April, Emaar said the tower will be slender, evoking the image of a minaret, and will be anchored to the ground with sturdy cables.

Dubai has established a reputation for building dozens of futuristic skyscrapers, which have transformed its skyline.

Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding is building a tower in Jeddah that is planned to surpass the Burj Khalifa, rising more than a kilometer.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

The $95-million view, and New York's changing skyline

NEW YORK - It's a $95-million view from the tallest residential tower in the Americas. But the newest addition to Manhattan's iconic skyline has attracted a cloud of controversy.

Still under construction and with US flags pinned patriotically to its shell, 432 Park Avenue soars above Midtown, casting a shadow over Central Park and designer boutiques on Madison Avenue.

At 1,396 feet (425.5 meters) the tower by Uruguayan "starchitect" Rafael Vinoly is higher than the 1,250-foot Empire State Building -- but eclipsed by One World Trade Center, which rises to 1,776 feet including a 408-foot antenna.

The Los Angeles-based developers CIM Group have already sold the top penthouse for $95 million and 50 percent of the apartments, which start at $17 million, before opening in Spring 2015.

The view -- marketed as a helicopter view -- offers vistas that stretch from Central Park to the Atlantic Ocean and Connecticut.

And it's not alone.

A string of super-tall, super-luxury buildings have sprung up and are still in development changing the city skyscape forever.

"They appeal to a very specific buyer pool and that buyer pool has proven to be very aggressive and very deep," said Robert Knakal, one of New York's top real estate brokers and chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services.

But not everyone's happy.

A recent op-ed in the New York Observer complained about "hellish experience," "dynamite blasts" and "incessant screeching" endured by residents and office workers from mega projects in development.

'Ghost ships'

Opponents complain that city regulations provide no public review process in Midtown, that historic buildings are being demolished in their wake and that billionaires squeeze everyone else out.

"I think it's very controversial," said Alex Herrera, director of technical services at The New York Landmarks Conservancy. "We have never seen anything like this before."

The 1920s Drake Hotel, where Frank Sinatra, Muhammed Ali, Judy Garland and Jimi Hendrix stayed, was torn down to make way for 432 Park Avenue.

Herrera calls mega towers "ghost ships" -- bought as investments by international billionaires, who visit only a couple of weeks a year and so tall that they cast shadows across Central Park.

In a few years, 432 Park Avenue will be eclipsed as work progresses on a taller tower being built by developers Extell round the corner on West 57th Street.

Extell has already built a 90-storey condo designed by famed French architect Christian de Portzamparc on the same street.

Master piano makers Steinway and Sons are leaving West 57th Street next year after selling their 1925 flagship showroom, where Rachmaninoff practiced, to JDS Development Group for $46 million.

"It's definitely changing our skyline and it's certainly changing the character of 57th Street, which used to be a very quaint street of art galleries and piano stores," said Herrera.

"Now, it's a street of billionaires who don't really live there."

City voters last year elected Democrat mayor Bill de Blasio on a ticket of greater equality after income gaps widened during the 12-year tenure of billionaire-philanthropist Michael Bloomberg.

Fuels local economy

De Blasio has an ambitious affordable housing plan in the wake of middle class professionals leaving Manhattan and while an estimated 21 percent of New York city residents live in poverty.

Neither is New York a capital city and while historic buildings are preserved, it's a business city driven by profits.

Herrera wants 57th Street landmarked to protect the other historic buildings. "What we're looking for is a balance," he said.

But Knakal insists there is a balance and credits the city planning commission with doing an "excellent job" on zoning.

And even if billionaire residents, don't stay all year, they still pay real estate taxes and don't consume public services, he says.

"Folks who are residing in those apartments probably spend more money and inject more dollars into the local economy than the average New Yorker does in the whole year."

But members of the public are at best divided over the expansion. Many say the super rich have earned their right to live and buy whatever they want, seeing the skyscrapers as a status symbol.

Others feel alienated by the overt display of wealth pushing out public sector workers and creative workers on tighter budgets.

"I think it's absolutely ridiculous to spend that kind of money to live there," said wealth advisor Lawrence Bogar, who works in the city but lives across the river in New Jersey.

"You could spend the money on far better properties."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Seoul to unveil futuristic design hub in March

MANILA, Philippines - Seoul will soon unveil a new futuristic-looking landmark building.

The Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park (DDP), designed by world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid, will officially be opened on March 21.

Envisioned as a mecca for the design and creative industry, the DDP is said to be the first and largest building in the world that used three-dimensional digital construction.

Seoul city officials expect the DDP, which cost 484 billion Korean won (around P20 billion), to become a hub for global design trends and innovations.

The 85,000-square-meter structure with 62,692m2 plottage, has three underground floors and four floors. It consists of five spaces (Exhibition and Convention Halls, Information center, Training Center, Design Experience Hall, and Dongdaemun History & Culture Park) and 15 related facilities.

The Prtizker Prize winning Hadid laid out a concept of "Metonymic Landscape" for the DDP, which set out to create a new landscape for the historic Dongdaemun district.

For its opening in March, the DDP will host the "Korea Design Origin Exhibition" showing 80 national treasures including the Explanation Script for Hunminjeonge, the Joseon dynasty-era document explaining the meaning of Hangeul.

Other exhibitions scheduled for 2014 include ‘Sports and Design Exhibition’, ‘Exhibition for Zaha Hadid Works’ ‘Enzo Mari: Art of Design Exhibition’ and ‘Hochschule Fur Gestaltung Exhibition’.

The DDP will also host the 28th Seoul Fashion Week on March 21. The Seoul Fashion Week showcases young Korean designers, as well as rising Asian designers.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Jobs for architects here and abroad are aplenty - DOLE

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is encouraging graduating high school students to consider taking architecture if that is their inclination and if they wish to easily land a job after college.

An architect is a hard-to-fill occupation identified in the DOLE report, Project JobsFit: The DOLE 2020 Vision.

Project JobsFit: The DOLE 2020 Vision, is a nationwide research study aimed at identifying local and global industries that would drive employment growth, including the corresponding skills requirements, for the next ten years. It was conducted by the DOLE through its Bureau of Local Employment.

Based on the findings and recommendations of the study, the BLE developed the 101 Career Guides, a body of relevant and updated information on the basic education requirements of a job, skills competencies, salary, prospect for career advancement, and employment opportunities. The results are meant to be disseminated and shared mainly to students to help them make wise career decisions.

“We, at the department, would like to prepare our students by providing them with information that would help them make better choices for their future,” said Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz of the 101 Career Guides.

The 101 Career Guides describes an architect as a licensed professional trained in the art and science of building design and who provides a wide variety of professional services to individuals and organizations planning a construction project.

An architect is required to have a professional degree in architecture and, prior to taking a licensure examination, a period of practical training, and internship.

However, although graduate education beyond the professional degree is not essential for practicing architecture, it is normally required for research, teaching, and other specialized areas of architectural work.

A degree in architecture normally costs around P30,000 to P45,000 per semester in private schools and universities. However, tuition cost 20 to 40 percent less in public education institutions that offer the same discipline.

“An architect may receive salary that ranges from P18,000 to P40,000 a month depending on the type of employer,” Baldoz said.

“And if they are employed in other countries, such as the Middle East, they could receive a monthly salary of between $1,500 to $3,000,” she added.

“With the recent trend of outsourcing to local architectural firms the drafting of construction plans from foreign countries and the unprecedented growth in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines, demand for this profession will also increase,” Baldoz said.

source: interaksyon.com

822 Pass Architect Licensure Examination

MANILA, Philippines — The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced Friday that 822 out of 1,617 examinees passed the Architect Licensure Examination (ALE) given by the Board of Architecture, headed by its Chairman, Architect Armando N. Alli, with two other members, Architects Angeline T. Chua Chiaco and Marietta Bundalian Segovia. The examination was held in Manila last January 27 and 29.

The results were released in four working days after the last day of examination.

Registration for the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificates of Registration will start on Thursday, February 9, 2012, but not later than Friday, March 2, 2012.

Those who will register are required to bring the following – duly accomplished Oath Form or “Panunumpa ng Propesyonal”, current Community Tax Certificate (cedula), two pieces passport-size pictures (colored with white background and complete name tag), one piece 1”x1” picture (colored with white background and complete name tag), two sets of metered documentary stamps, and one short brown envelope with name and profession, and to pay the Initial Registration Fee of P600 and annual registration Fee of P450 for 2012-2015.

Successful examinees should personally register and sign in the roster of registered professionals.

The successful examinees in the January 2012 Architect Licensure Examination who garnered the 10 highest places are the following: (1.) Sudarshan Varsovia Khadka Jr., University of the Philippines-Diliman – 86.40; Andrew Mulato Wee, University of San Carlos – 86.40; (2.) Maria Francesca Salido Latay, University of the Philippines-Diliman – 86.30; (3.) Kim Patrick Legaspi Pullante, University of the Philippines-Diliman – 85.70; (4.) Marinel Landeta Siega, University of the Philippines-Diliman – 85.50; (5.) Paul Henrick Martinez Letana, University of the Philippines-Diliman – 85.30; (6.) Mark Jeff Macadangdang Tapawan, Pangasinan State University-Urdaneta – 84.40; (7.) Carlo Richfield Bayona Gonzales, University of the Philippines-Diliman – 84.30; Ruelan Calinawan Mira, Cebu Institute of Technology – 84.30; Walfrido Carlos Simbul, University of the Philippines-Diliman – 84.30; (8.) Prime Daryl Calamba Deliman, University of Bohol – 83.60; (9.) Armel Andre Dinulos Bonifacio, University Of Santo Tomas – 83.50; and, (10.) Jeffrey Yebes Ecleo, Mapua Institute of Technology-Manila – 83.40.

source: mb.com.ph