A new NFT project aims to help Ukrainian cultural preservation and other news – SURFACE

by James · September 10, 2022

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Table of Contents

A new NFT project aims to contribute concretely to cultural preservation throughout Ukraine.

Conceived by the international content platform Depositphotos, The Revival Project is an initiative consisting of 38 unique charitable NFTs by seven independent Ukrainian creatives. Each depicts an interpretation of a cultural place in Ukraine in the future – from museums and cultural centers to railway stations – with the artists weaving together “their own experiences, memories and imaginations” in the process. Among the reconstructed sites, over 20 have been destroyed in the war. The Revival Project hopes not only to showcase the exceptional cultural value of these sites, but to raise funds to contribute to their recovery, transferred directly to the crypto-wallet of the Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.” [H/T It’s Nice That]

Women in leadership roles may have aided the success of San Francisco’s Tunnel Tops.

“Designed by JCFO for the Partnership for the Presidio, Tunnel Tops is the long-term vision of the late Michael Painter, founder of the landscape architecture firm MPA Design: a series of parks along and atop tunnels built over a regraded section of Highway 101, known as the Presidio Parkway, which runs along the northern edge of a historic former Army base. The number of women in leadership roles at Tunnel Tops, particularly in construction-related positions, is unusual. One theme persisted in conversations about the project: The leaders are good communicators and support cross-team collaboration. Are women inherent better for this? There are mixed opinions about this idea among the women involved; behind the excellent communication skills the team demonstrates is the amount of experience and expertise each leader brings.” [H/T Landscape Architecture]

Architects develop flood control methods to help displaced people in Pakistan.

“Record monsoon rains, partly due to melting glaciers in Pakistan’s northern mountains, have led to devastating floods that have covered over a third of the country’s surface. According to BBC and UN estimates, around 33 million Pakistanis – one in seven people – have been affected by the flooding, as more than 500,000 houses have been destroyed or severely damaged. Sindh province is the hardest hit, receiving 464 percent more rain than the 30-year average. The Heritage Foundation Pakistan, led by Yasmeen Lari, Pakistan’s first female architect, has designed the to build shelters for displaced people. The community is directly involved in building the shelters using local materials such as bamboo and reeds. The organization also helps make trenches to collect and divert rainwater in flooded areas.” [H/T ArchDaily]

After suffering a big fireDonald Judd’s architecture office in Marfa is to be rebuilt.

“A devastating June 2021 fire at Donald Judd’s Marfa architecture office, which was undergoing an extensive renovation project, will be restored, according to the nonprofit Judd Foundation. The news was shared on Instagram by the New York organization, which is dedicated to preserving the legacy and work of the late American artist. Since the fire, the Judd Foundation has continued to work with SCHAUM/SHIEH, an architectural studio with offices in Houston and New York City, and Silman Structural Engineers, who were restoring the 5,000-square-foot brick building at the time of the fire.” [H/T The Architect’s Newspaper]

John K. Rauch, the architect who co-founded Venturi, Rauch & Scott Brown, dies at 91.

“John K. Rauch, who died on August 16 at the age of 91, was one of the unsung heroes of postwar American architecture. As managing partner of Venturi & Rauch (later Venturi, Rauch & Scott Brown) from its founding in 1964 until the late 1980s, Rauch played an integral but often unrecognized role in the design and realization of such landmark buildings as the Guild House (1964) ) and the Institute for Scientific Information Headquarters in Philadelphia (1979), and the Trubek and Wislocki Houses (1971) on Nantucket. Working closely with the late Robert Venturi and later with Denise Scott Brown, Rauch contributed to a watershed change away from the heroic acrobatics of late modernism towards a rich architecture filled with historical references – postmodernism, as it was called.” [H/T Architectural Record]

Subversive pottery by 19th-century enslaved black potters is on display at the Met.

“Dave the Potter inscribed the word ‘concatenation’ and the date, June 12, 1834, in elegant cursive script on the earliest known clay pot he cast. ‘Concatenation’ means things linked together to create an effect, and Dave, an enslaved craftsman, etched into this monumental storage jar around the time South Carolina passed an anti-literacy law aimed at slaves. “Is he reacting to these strict laws being passed?” asks Adrienne Spinozzi, co-curator of the traveling exhibit “Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina,” which opens at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art this month. “Hear Me Now” will include vessels with faces, which likely had spiritual value associated with African traditions. The show will also feature works by artists such as Simone Leigh , The theater gatesand Woody De Othellowho have responded directly to the Edgefield potters.” [H/T The Art Newspaper]