The architecture of recession | Art and design. The mantra of zealous modern architects in Britain, Europe and the United States during the great depression of the 1930s was "form follows function". They bided their time, nurtured their ideals and came to prominence in the decades following the second world war.
Since then, modern architecture has passed up, down and through many aesthetic – "form follows fashion" – and economic hoops. Today, as architects of the global stature of Frank Gehry, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers lay off staff – half of them, in Gehry's case – the mantra ringing through their minds is very probably "form follows finance". Just look at the extraordinary worldwide construction boom of the past decade. Entire cities – London, Leeds, downtown Los Angeles, Berlin, Beijing and Shanghai – have grown, changed shape and shot up into the sky in a gung-ho manner that makes some of them almost unrecognisable from the way they were such a short while ago.
And, now? A new modesty, then? Les architectes européens ont le blues - Profession - Le Moniteu. La dernière enquête du Conseil des Architectes d’Europe (CAE) montre que l’impact de la crise économique sur la profession d’architecte s’aggrave. Les architectes dépriment. Interrogés dans toute l'Europe sur l'impact de la crise économique sur leur activité entre le 15 et le 29 juin, ils s'avèrent sensiblement plus pessimistes qu'en avril dernier. 62 % des répondants à l'enquête d'opinion lancée par le Conseil des architectes d'Europe (CAE-ACE) déclarent que la situation est "mauvaise" ou "très mauvaise".
Ils étaient 46 % en avril. Et seuls 8 % des répondants indiquent que la situation était "bonne" ou "très bonne", contre 15 % en avril. S'agissant de la situation de l'emploi, le CAE indique que près d'un bureau d'architecture sur trois a vu décroître le nombre de personnes travaillant en son sein depuis le début de la crise en septembre 2008.
Voir les résultats de l'enquête Plus d'informations sur le BTP en Europe avec Le Bulletin européen du Moniteur. China. By Alex Pasternack Despite hopes that the casino business would weather the economic storm, almost all building sites in Macao have gone quiet—a stark reminder that not even China is immune to the impact of a global recession. "We look at this crisis with shock and horror," says Keith Griffiths, Asia and Middle East chairman of Aedas. The firm recently halted work on its projects on Macau's formerly booming Cotai Strip, including the Four Seasons Hotel and new phases of The Venetian mega-casino. Like other foreign firms operating in China, Aedas—which had projects in Macau comprising some 50 million square feet—has laid off 30 of its 800 Hong Kong–based employees and contemplated salary cuts. Other firms with offices in Hong Kong and China have laid off 25 percent of their staff. On the mainland, the economy has slowed down, too, but the nation's GDP is expected to grow 6 percent in 2009.
To keep the economy humming, the government announced in November a $586 billion stimulus package. U.A.E. Chris Jackson/Getty Images By Jenna M. McKnight In recent years, architects descended upon Dubai, eager to capitalize on its feverish building boom. But while the Persian Gulf city's sprawling skyline is still dotted with cranes, the market here has fizzled. As of early February, more than half of Dubai's real estate projects were on hold or canceled, from the 3,281-foot-tall Nakheel Tower designed by Woods Bagot to the Hydropolis, a 220-suite underwater hotel envisioned by designer Joachim Hauser. "Everyone is taking a real wait-and-see approach," says Wayde Tardif, an American designer who in 2007 co-founded POSIT Studio in Dubai.
In the past decade, Dubai, located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has embarked on ever-grander projects at breakneck speed in hopes of becoming a major world metropolis. Initially some thought the desert boomtown could skirt the global financial crisis. Architecture in Recession: United Kingdom Architecture in Recession: Spain. Brazil. By Ruth Verde Zein Brazil Builds was the title of the Museum of Modern Art's famous 1944 exhibition on Brazilian modern architecture, a show that offered a promising design panorama at a dangerous moment in world history.
Today, the world faces a different kind of moment, but one similarly shadowed by economic fear. In Brazil, architects are trying to maintain a steady perspective—neither optimistic nor gloomy. After growing by 5.3 percent in 2008, Brazil's GDP will increase just 2.7 percent this year, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Jorge Konigsberger, a partner at K&V Architects, another prominent São Paulo office, notes that "the cascade effect that will follow this interruption in new projects will reach the market only in the second half of 2009. " Small and midsize firms, which are less involved in commercial projects, are doing okay. Mario Biselli, a partner at Biselli & Katchborian Architects, expresses a contained optimism. Germany. By Michael Dumiak It takes 12 hours to fly from Frankfurt to Hanoi, and Bernhard Franken is getting to know the route very well. Franken has a half-dozen projects in Vietnam. If his struggling Frankfurt practice has an angel looking out for it, she comes from the East.
With startling speed, the German economy has turned sluggish and dyspeptic. Architects from Berlin to Bonn say small practices are shutting down or on life support. Larger ones are shedding staff, and Foster + Partners just closed its Berlin office. "We can't survive by working in Germany alone," Franken says. But at the same time, Franken's bread-and-butter work—interior installations for BMW and Mini at huge auto shows and dealerships—is drying up. These days, even a very young, two-person interior shop like KaiserSchönlein, based in Berlin and Hamburg, is looking to branch out, hoping to break into furniture design. Provided by Architectural Record—The Resource for Architecture and Architects.
India. By Tripti Lahiri In the past five years, as India's hunger for glass-encased IT parks and marble-swathed gated communities appeared insatiable, architects designed supersize projects dreamed up by Indian developers. Then the money disappeared. As the global economic crisis has snowballed, the country's banks have turned skittish. "The first to get hit are large projects," says Mohit Gujral, whose firm, Design Plus, does lots of big projects and has had to lay off a quarter of its 140 employees. Design Plus has worked on some of New Delhi's swankiest mega-malls and with Singapore-based Kerry Hill Architects on the city's first Amanresorts hotel. The Survam Knowledge Park, a 15-acre site in the tech suburb of Gurgaon, is an example of a "new India" project bowing to newer realities. Smaller firms that work directly with users have been less affected. Some major projects are going ahead, but with different customers in mind.
Japan. By Naomi Pollack Architects are feeling the chill of an economic recession and the effects of the U.S. subprime crisis. Despite an estimated 2.2 percent drop in GDP in 2008, a decrease in housing starts, and a reluctance on the part of banks to lend, design firms large and small are hoping to wait out the storm. Due to its dependence on foreign financing, speculative housing has been particularly hard hit, falling 5.8 percent in December from the year before. As a result, developers are going bankrupt and projects are dying. But other sectors have slowed without coming to a complete stop. Large developers who are less dependent on foreign money and are engaged in a wide range of projects are faring better than those focused just on housing. But outside that highly desirable location, clouds are gathering as land values and rents drop. In regional cities, lending and new construction are practically at a standstill.
Spain. By David Cohn The boom in Spanish housing construction, fueled over the past decade by low European Union interest rates, was dealt a fatal blow by the crisis this past fall. According to the Madrid College of Architects, a professional association, permits for new construction virtually came to a halt in 2008. Paloma Sabrini, head of the organization, estimates that at a national level, the market will require three years to absorb the existing overstock of one million units. In Barcelona, Carlos Ferrater, an architect who works in both the private and public sectors, reports that "Most developers have come to a full stop.
We've gone from euphoria to ruin in three months. " Spain's investments in infrastructure over the past 30 years have turned the public sector into a major source of commissions and catapulted the country's architecture into the international limelight. But overspending has stretched local governments to the limit. United Kingdom. By Kerry Capell With its economy expected to shrink nearly 3 percent this year, Britain is facing the most severe recession in the developed world. And with troubled banks unwilling to lend, building projects are at a standstill and architects are hurting. "Every firm, regardless of size, is affected," says John McAslan, chairman of London-based John McAslan & Partners, whose 100-person practice downsized by about 10 percent over the past six months. Projects by some of the biggest names are among the first casualties.
In August, British Land put on hold its 47-story-tall, Richard Rogers–designed Leadenhall Building, known as the Cheesegrater. In November, Dutch bank ING pulled the plug on Frank Gehry's $433 million waterfront development in Brighton. Data from Britain's Office for National Statistics reveals that architects are joining the ranks of the unemployed at a faster rate than any other occupation. In Britain, the main opportunity is in the public sector. Immobilier : La Défense entre réalité et espoir de r. Le premier quartier d'affaires européen a plutôt bien résisté à la crise. Mais le plan lancé par l'État se heurte à une conjoncture difficile. Du haut des gratte-ciel de la Défense, la vue n'est pas si bouchée que cela. Le plus grand quartier d'affaires d'Europe, qui comporte, à l'Ouest de Paris sur 160 hectares, 3,2 millions de m² de bureaux répartis dans une centaine de bâtiments, dont plus de trente tours, a plutôt bien traversé la tempête financière.
«Ce marché aura une grande pérennité dans les vingt prochaines années, estime Christine Sonnier, directrice générale de CBRE Investors, la filiale indépendante d'investissement immobilier de CB Richard Ellis. La variété des profils d'utilisateurs et la qualité de l'offre permettent de résister aux intempéries.» Taux de vacance limité La bonne résistance de l'activité se vérifie dans le taux de vacance, qui reste très contenu à la Défense : entre 3,5 et 6%, selon les sources, contre 7 à 8% en moyenne en Île-de-France. Dubaï, un château de cartes bâti sur du sable... : Journal d'un. 60 Milliards de dollars de dettes non remboursées, quasi-faillite pour Dubaï World - principal conglomérat immobilier du pays - la performance n'est pas négligeable pour ce petit émirat dont la taille est dix fois inférieure à celle de la Suisse ! Il serait facile de faire de la récente déconfiture de Dubaï un dommage collatéral de la crise financière : chute de l'immobilier, baisse du tourisme, arrêt des investissements, la crise a finalement bon dos...
Pourtant, ceux qui ont eu l'occasion d'y voyager (ou tout simplement d'en parler avec les expatriés qui y travaillent) savent depuis longtemps que cette soi-disant Oasis n'est en réalité qu'un gigantesque château de cartes sans fondations, totalement déconnecté de toute réalité économique ! Pour résumer les résultats de ce qu'il faut bien appeler une folie des grandeurs, la population de Dubaï est passée - tenez-vous bien - de 60.000 habitants en 1968 à 1.600.000 aujourd'hui, avec (cela va de soit) 80 % d'étrangers ! Dubaï – une grande pyramide de Ponzi. Jeudi dernier, le conglomérat Dubai World, moteur financier de l'émirat de Dubaï et sous le contrôle de celui-ci, a demandé un moratoire de six mois pour rembourser ses 59 milliards de dollars de dettes (soit près de 40 milliards d'euros), dont le plus gros correspond à des emprunts de sa branche immobilière Nakheel.
La dette totale de la cité-Etat avoisine les 80 milliards de dollars (53 milliards d'euros), le tout pour une économie ne dépassant pas les 35 milliards d'USD et qui s'est probablement énormément contractée ces douze derniers mois. Cela fait déjà plusieurs années que Dubaï est en fait une grande pyramide de Ponzi, un gigantesque « jeu de l'avion », à l'image de l'affaire Madoff. En réalité, la seule et unique chose qui est bizarre dans toute l'affaire est la surprise des marchés devant l'annonce de Dubai World. Tous les observateurs de Dubaï savent depuis longtemps déjà qu'il s'agit d'une bulle. Le marché immobilier local a été poussé à la hausse par une folle spéculation.