Hasta La Ideas

The problem with street artist Banksy is that he leaves most of his valuable street art on the street where terrible things might happen to it. Case in point, after both thefts and numerous incidents of having his very valuable work accidentally removed or painted over, such has happened again, and the cozy confines of his hometown of Bristol no less. This time around, the BBC reports that Saeed Ahmed, the new owner of building that once housed a nightclub, decided to clean up the walls a bit and in the process whitewashed a Banksy that the community had known and loved for the past decade. However, unlike with the other times this has happened, the building’s owner feels terrible about it and is reportedly looking into “options to see if the whitewash can be removed and the painting restored

He added: “I didn’t know it was valuable and that’s why I painted over it. I really am sorry if people are upset.”

We feel badly for the guy, but it’s also just given us a million dollar idea: we’ll create a Banksy look-up index and sell it to local business owners. They can consult it before painting over graffiti, just to make sure they aren’t sitting on a) a beloved piece of artwork by a famous artist, or most important, b) something that could fetch them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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Just when everyone was starting to finally become so used to the U.S. Green Building Council‘s LEED certification that it’s nearly reached the point of ubiquity, up pops a new system that is going to try and provide an alternative. Launched this past fall and starting to make waves is the Society of Environmentally Responsible Facilities, or SERF certification for sure. Crain’s Detroit reports that the program was founded as an alternative to LEED, which founder Joe Maguire says has grown too expensive and time-consuming (you’ll recall that there have been questions about the program’s real world benefits as well). How much quicker and less expensive is SERF? Here’s a bit:

“Our timeline is four to six weeks,” he said. “They take two years. We’re approaching this from the perspective of the property owner and investor. How can the process be more efficient, more accessible?”

Among the differences, he said, is that the application can be filled out by the architect who designed the building rather than LEED’s requirement of hiring another architect to fill out the paperwork. A streamlined application process cuts down on the time it takes consultants — paid by the hour — to complete the work.

So far, the USGBC seems okay with the competition, telling Crain’s that they are okay with other certifications popping up, as anything to promote green building is a positive. Also, it’s fairly easy to say you aren’t too concerned when you have more than a billion square feet under your belt and a certification like SERF has 32 buildings in total to their name.

Update: The USGBC dropped us a line, letting us know about an error: “The quote from Joe Maguire says that LEED Certification takes two years, however, the timeline actually only ranges from 5-15 weeks but depends on the project and their submittals, as well as if the project has make any appeals on LEED credits.”

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With the numbers reported in the American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Billings Index having returned to a monthly signal of gloom and despair, you’d think the AIA wouldn’t want to compound the collective depression with more knowledge of how rough things are right now in the business of building. Unfortunately, if you happened to miss it, last week the AIA announced that it is in the middle of assembling a database of stalled projects across the country, sharing that “almost two-thirds of architects responding to a recent AIA survey reported at least one project that is stalled due to lack of financing, despite record low interest rates.” But before you start crying into your beer (also: the larger problem could be that you’re drinking at 7am), you might perk up to learn that such a database might turn out to be a really good thing, and not some sort of sadistic torture perpetrated by the AIA. Instead, the goal of the database, which is set to be released “in the coming months,” will be made available to potential investors, to perk their interest in “stalled building projects nationwide that make economic sense but which lack the financing to be completed.” So instead of relying on investors to hunt around for new ways to make more money or fuel growth, the AIA’s database will hopefully handle some of that leg work for them. Our fingers are crossed.

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This week will mark another sign that summer is official here for good: the opening of the Serpentine Pavilion in London’s Hyde Park. As you might recall, it was announced much earlier than usual, back in October, that 2009 Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumthor would be designing the 11th annual temporary structure. Unlike Jean Nouvel‘s from last year, “big batch of redness” as we’d come to call it, a sneak preview of architectural renderings back in early April showed a decidedly more reserved pavilion, an open air garden enclosed by concrete, angled walls. As Zumthor put it back in April, “…the concept for this year’s Pavilion is the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden.” Now that the structure is built and nearly ready for public consumption (or rather, public contemplation) when it opens this Friday, the media is beginning to get sneak previews, including the Telegraph, who assembled this video tour to accompany their very positive review of the new space:

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If you’ve spent any time in Washington DC, particularly in the section of DC where everyone visiting will spend the majority of their time, you’ve no doubt realized that the area immediately surrounding the White House isn’t especially inviting. Sure, crossing south from the White House to head over to the center of the National Mall you’ll pass some trees and some various other pieces of greenery, but it’s mostly just grass. Lots and lots of grass. Take that walk in the summer, without nearly a tree in sight and you’ll feel like you’re in a desert (one with lots of humidity and tourists). However, the National Capital Planning Commission is eager to try and remedy that issue, at least out to Constitution Ave and still leaving The Ellipse treeless, so of course not to block the President’s view of the Washington Monument. The organization has picked five finalists for the President’s Park South Design Competition. There’s Roger Marvel Architects, Hood Design Studio, and the firm you’ve likely come to expect whenever it comes to high-profile landscape design competitions, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The five finalists’ plans will be on display at the White House Visitor Center until Monday, followed by a public meeting to address the plans at the NCPC’s headquarters on Tuesday. And as it appears that the government is itching to move forward with this, they’ll announce the winner on Thursday the 30th. For those who can’t make it to DC, you can weigh in on each plan through the competition’s site. Our money is on Van Valkenburgh for the win, considering lately he’s seemed like both a darling of the presidential set, the governmental set, and well, again, high-profile landscape architecture competitions in general.

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