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Entertainment & Arts

Best of 2008: Architecture

Crowds of tourists visit the National Stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest", on Dec. 10 in Beijing. The Bird's Nest, the main stadium during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, has become the city's most popular scenic spot, with more than 10,000 visitors a day. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne: "Soaring Chinese ambition, its sizzling economy (which has since dramatically cooled), bold use of new engineering and the rise of world-famous starchitects came together to produce a group of buildings — avant-garde and unapologetically monumental at the same time — the likes of which we may never see in China, or elsewhere, again."

Crowds of tourists visit the National Stadium, known as the “Bird’s Nest”, on Dec. 10 in Beijing. The Bird’s Nest, the main stadium during Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, has become the city’s most popular scenic spot, with more than 10,000 visitors a day. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne: “Soaring Chinese ambition, its sizzling economy (which has since dramatically cooled), bold use of new engineering and the rise of world-famous starchitects came together to produce a group of buildings — avant-garde and unapologetically monumental at the same time — the likes of which we may never see in China, or elsewhere, again.”  (Feng Li/Getty Images)

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Architecture Year End Round Up

The pool is seen during the synchronized swimming event held at the National Aquatics Center on Day 15 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on Aug. 23. For Hawthorne’s comments, see Photo No. 1.  (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Architecture Year End Round Up

This aerial photo shows the CCTV headquarters building in Beijing on Aug 2 ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Costing some $800 million to build, the CCTV building reportedly is the most expensive building in the world. See Hawthorne’s comments on Photo No. 1.  (GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Architecture Year End Round Up

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks on Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado on Aug. 28. Hawthorne: “In this country, 2008 was dominated by presidential politics, and the campaign was not without its startling architectural moments. When Obama decided to move his convention speech to 71,000-seat Invesco Field, he stole a page from McKim, Mead and White, emerging onto a stage lined with a colonnade and meant to look like a cross between the Lincoln Memorial and the White House. We’ll never know for sure how many votes the backdrop won or lost for Obama, but the set design likely ranks as the most ambitious use of architectural symbolism in the history of American presidential politics.”  (Max Whittaker/Getty Images)

Architecture Year End Round Up

The election provided a similar boost for Los Angeles, as two transit measures — L.A. County’s Measure R and California’s Proposition 1A — won approval. Hawthorne: “Both promise to have a real influence not just on how we move around the city but also on the vitality and maturation of L.A.’s shared spaces.”  (Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times)

Architecture Year End Round Up

The Huntington Gallery in San Marino is roomier and more visually impressive than ever after a two-year, $20-million restoration. Hawthorne: “The restoration project at the 1911 Huntington Art Gallery had none of the celebrity power or glitz of a Nouvel design, but it was a revelation all the same. Overseen by the Earl Corp. and San Francisco’s Architectural Resources Group, the preservation work has clarified the building’s dual role as a house-turned-museum more effectively than ever.”  (Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times)

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