Archinect - News

Gulliver Seeks Rental - The Newfound Fascination With Tiny Dwellings

2013-05-20T20:36:00-04:00

Mr. Tyler’s entire home was only 78 square feet. And while his “Midtown mansion,” as he called it, was a far cry from the lavish town homes and shimmering penthouses that have spawned a thousand lustful television shows, a video tour posted on YouTube of Mr. Tyler’s little room has been viewed nearly 1.7 million times over the past year and a half. A similar video, about a 90-square-foot apartment on the Upper West Side, has been viewed even more times.

An exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, called “Making Room,” brought a 30 percent bump in attendance during its opening week in January, and the museum has maintained an 11 percent increase in foot traffic during the show’s run, compared with the same period last year.

Coming this June: James Turrell Reimagines FLW’s Guggenheim Rotunda

2013-05-20T17:45:00-04:00

In his first solo exhibition in a New York museum since 1980, American artist James Turrell sets out to reimagine the iconic rotunda of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum in a dramatic transformation. The luminous and immersive site-specific work, Aten Reign, will be part of the upcoming exhibition James Turrell at NYC's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum which opens on June 21, 2013.

Security trumps urban planning at WTC site

2013-05-17T13:56:00-04:00

With the blank slate offered by a catastrophic attack, planners, soon joined by the mayor himself, saw a chance to re-establish a great crossroads: Fulton and Greenwich Streets, tying the second World Trade Center into New York — north, south, east and west. Now, however, they see that vision slipping away, as security concerns trump urban planning.

FRANK GEHRY AT WORK on View in New York City

2013-05-15T18:27:00-04:00

Gehry fans in NYC, here's one for you: A selection of over 30 Frank Gehry process models is currently on display at Manhattan's Leslie Feely Fine Art. The exhibition FRANK GEHRY AT WORK opened in April and still runs until June 29. The gallery is located at 33 E 68th Street, 5th Floor.

Fix Penn Station Now; Raze $1 Billion Knicks Garden Later

2013-05-15T12:12:00-04:00

It’s perched atop the depressing, low-ceilinged maze known as Penn Station, daily hive for 600,000 scuttling commuters. The Garden’s presence is one major impediment to the 25-year-old dream of turning the decrepit and overcrowded Penn station into a smoothly operating city gateway.

BRUTALISM + PRESERVATION panel discussion tonight in NYC

2013-05-15T12:09:00-04:00

Following the release of CLOG: Brutalism—the architecture journal's most recent issue—CLOG and DoCoMoMO NY Tristate are pleased to co-sponsor a panel discussion that will focus on the politics, opportunities, and constraints surrounding these structures. The conversation will address common issues faced by Brutalist buildings including their structural potential, aesthetics, and how these factors and more make the question of preserving Brutalist structures difficult and oftentimes contentious.

For those of you who heart brutalism, we still have some t-shirts left.

Oh, and CLOG is hiring, if you haven't heard.

Defending the Former American Folk Art Museum Building

2013-05-13T14:01:00-04:00

It’s a relief on the block, representing the diversity vital to healthy streets — not a perfect building, not even its architects’ best work. But its unembarrassed, luxuriant materiality, its small scale and vulnerability, all qualities that the Modern now seems to reject, belong no less than the glass tower to the messy story of Modernism and city life.

Gaetano Pesce retrospective opens in NYC

2013-05-09T11:28:00-04:00

Pesce hasn’t had a comprehensive solo show in his adopted hometown since a 1999 exhibit tucked away at Columbia University’s School of Architecture. “He’s a legend and a New Yorker, so that tragedy needed to be corrected,” said Steven Learner, the creative director of the new Collective.1 Design Fair, where Pesce’s retrospective opened today.

For more information on the Collective .1 Design Fair, click here.

MoMA’s History of Demolishing Potential Landmarks

2013-05-03T19:50:00-04:00

MoMA’s plan can hardly be a surprise, because its entire history since 1937 is based on demolishing potential landmarks.

Park named after Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch now open in Brooklyn

2013-05-03T16:52:00-04:00

This Brooklyn Heights playground is named for Adam Yauch, an artist, a filmmaker, an activist, and one of Brooklyn’s most influential musicians. Most famous as ‘MCA’ of the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees the Beastie Boys, Yauch grew up playing in this playground, then named State Street Park and later Palmetto Playground, as a child.

“Born and bred in Brooklyn the U.S.A./
They call me Adam Yauch but I’m M.C.A.”
- “No Sleep Til Brooklyn,” The Beastie Boys

NYC Parks & Rec. announced today that Adam Yauch Park, named after the Beastie Boys' late MCA, is now open.

Spire hoisted to top of One World Trade Center

2013-05-02T14:27:00-04:00

Construction crews at the World Trade Center hoisted a flag-bedecked spire to the top of the site's signature One World Trade Center building Thursday. Workers raised the spire to a temporary work platform atop the structure's roof, where ironworkers can later permanently attach it. When fully installed, One World Trade Center will stand a symbolic 1,776 feet high, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The 408-foot spire will serve as a broadcast antenna.

Iwan Baan’s Post-Sandy Manhattan Shot Makes ASME Cover of the Year

2013-05-02T13:51:00-04:00

Congratulations to New York Magazine and Iwan Baan, one of our favorite architectural photographers (and 2012 Golden Lion Winner): The American Society of Magazine Editors has chosen the cover of the November 12, 2012, issue of New York Magazine depicting the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York City as "Cover of the Year" in the seventh annual ASME Best Cover Contest.

Buildings That Lie About Their Age

2013-04-19T20:10:00-04:00

John Hill’s book “A Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture” is filled with examples of the crazy new forms of the last decade, like Frank Gehry’s white wind-filled “sail” on the West Side Highway in Chelsea. [...] And yet, the United States is in the middle of a great revival of traditional architecture — Georgian, neo-Classical, Arts and Crafts and so forth — that is almost absent from Mr. Hill’s stimulating and enjoyable work. So, what isn’t contemporary about traditional design?

Oren Safdie's architecture-themed play "False Solution" opens this June

2013-04-16T14:57:00-04:00

Oren Safdie, son of Moshe Safdie, and writer of plays themed around architecture, will be opening his third play, titled "False Solution", on June 13th. The play deals with an established architect struggling to design a new Holocaust museum in Poland, focusing on the architect's creative process.

FALSE SOLUTION -- a world-premiere play about an architect's struggles to design a Holocaust museum in Poland - written by Oren Safdie (author of the Off-Broadway hit PRIVATE JOKES, PUBLIC PLACES, and THE BILBAO EFFECT) - will be presented Off-Broadway with previews starting June 13 prior to an official press opening night on June 16, 2013 at La MaMa ETC (74A East 4th Street) in Manhattan.

PRIVATE JOKES, PUBLIC PLACES, which also premiered at La MaMa in 2003 before transferring to the Center for Architecture, starred Anthony Rapp. Mr. Safdie's Off-Broadway play THE LAST WORD, also enjoyed critical and popular success in 2007, and starred Emmy Award-winning actor, Daniel J. Travant...

Architectural League of New York Presents 2013 President’s Medal to Renzo Piano

2013-04-11T15:00:00-04:00

Renzo Piano has been awarded the highest honor of the Architectural League of New York, the President's Medal. The prize is bestowed annually on individuals in recognition of extraordinary body of work in architecture, urbanism, or design.

Municipal Art Society Challenges Architects for New Penn Station Vision

2013-04-03T20:38:00-04:00

The four firms — Santiago Calatrava, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, SHoP Architects and SOM — will have until May 29 to propose new designs that will be unveiled to the public that day at the TimesCenter on West 41st Street. “We’re really trying to unlock people’s imaginations about the very real potential of a new arena and of a new Penn Station,” said Vin Cipolla, the society’s president, in an interview.

This Super Local Brooklyn Whole Foods Will Have A 20,000-Square-Foot Rooftop Greenhouse

2013-04-03T16:56:00-04:00

Whole Foods is teaming up with rooftop garden company Gotham Greens for its next New York location. When the lettuce only has to come down a staircase from the roof, that’s about as local as you can get.

'Skyhouse' outfits early NYC skyscraper with giant tubular slide and climbing column

2013-03-22T19:04:00-04:00

The Skyhouse, which occupies four stories of an early skyscraper in Lower Manhattan, shows architect David Hotson manipulating the available space to include features such as a climbing column and tubular metal slide with which inhabitants can move between levels. The living space rises through all four stories and can be accessed with the climbing pole — safety ropes included — while the huge German-constructed slide takes you down from the attic right to the entrance.

Superscraper 432 Park Avenue is Officially On the Market

2013-03-20T13:22:00-04:00

It's the first official day of spring, and that means this year's crop of new developments is about to start hitting the market. They'll have a lot to live up to, because the season is starting off with a big one: 432 Park Avenue! The city's—nay, the western hemisphere's—future tallest residential building is now available. Or at least, two-thirds of the units are.

The Rafael Vinoly-designed superscraper at 432 Park Avenue -- which, when finished, will be the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere -- has officially kicked-off sales. Prices for what's currently available? $20 million to $82.5 million.

Calatrava's Transit Hub adds background to NY's new driver’s licenses

2013-03-18T16:00:00-04:00

While the old-school images might seem odd, the new production method and a barrage of features both seen and unseen will make the licenses, officials say, virtually impossible to forge.

New York has unveiled a new design for their driver’s licenses, showcasing Santiago Calatrava's WTC Transit Hub in the background.

100 Years of Grand Central Terminal

2013-03-18T13:20:00-04:00

and I watch everybody, every move. It's nerve-wracking, your blood pressure goes up ten points going through the door... - Jim Fahey (Assistant Chief in the Operation Control Center)

On March 1st, in celebration of it's centennial, Charlie Rose hosted a discussion on Grand Central Terminal. Gathered for the discussion were: Peter Stangl former president of Metro-North railroad; Kenneth Jackson of Columbia University; Sam Roberts of The New York Times and architect James Sanders.

NYC Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge Entry by FXFOWLE

2013-03-11T19:00:00-04:00

In our last post, we published the six finalists and category winners of New York City's ambitious Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge. Here is now the award winner in the "Creativity" category, the concept "NYC Loop" by New York architects FXFOWLE, in more detail.

Previously: Six Finalists of NYC’s Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge

Six Finalists of NYC’s Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge

2013-03-11T17:27:00-04:00

New York City leaders have announced the winning prototypes from the Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge which launched last December. [...] The competition had invited architects, students, urban designers, planners, technologists, and policy experts to create physical and virtual prototypes that imagine the future of NYC’s approximately 11,000 public pay telephones.

City of New York Announces Reinvent Payphones Finalists

2013-03-06T17:14:00-05:00

The City of New York invited students, urban planners, designers, technologists and creators to build physical and virtual prototypes imagining the payphone of the future. Judges selected the top six designs, now you get to decide which design will receive the Popular Choice Award.

You can participate in the voting for the city's future of payphones on Facebook.

The NY Times on nArchitects' winning scheme for the adAPT micro-unit competition

2013-03-01T00:12:00-05:00

Nick Lembo, the president of Monadnock, recruited nArchitects for the competition. “Some architects shy away from modular construction, and some are intimidated by micro-units,” he said. “But Mimi and Eric were excited by the creative challenges. They created an incredibly space-efficient unit with an open design that will make it feel larger than its square footage.”

Municipal Art Society Releases Framework for a Better Midtown

2013-02-27T19:42:00-05:00

The MAS report, “East Midtown: A Bold Vision for the Future,” provides a plan for how to develop a stronger and more vibrant neighborhood in response to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed major zoning changes, announced last summer, to spur the modernization of East Midtown. MAS fears that in the absence of a careful and comprehensive vision, the City’s proposal will fall short.

View/download the document here.

Herzog & de Meuron-Designed NYC Tower Hits the Market

2013-02-20T17:23:00-05:00

The long-stalled Tribeca building announced its comeback in October, only a week before resuming construction. Now the Herzog & de Meuron-designed tower is officially on the market. Nine listings have popped up on StreetEasy, ranging in price from a 2BR for $3.625 million to a 4BR penthouse for $24 million.

Herzog & de Meuron's glassy Tribeca tower is, after many years, finally on the market, with prices starting at $3.625 million.

Gowanus by Design: WATER_WORKS Competition Winners

2013-02-13T18:09:00-05:00

Winning projects in three categories have been announced in Gowanus by Design's latest competition, WATER_WORKS. The brief called for solutions specific to Brooklyn's Gowanus area that simultaneously explored the role of water in recreation, quotidian uses, and in contaminated urban environments, and demonstrated how a redesigned community center and retention facility represent a more progressive view of the city's infrastructure.

UPDATE: Gowanus by Design: WATER_WORKS Competition Exhibit Opens Tomorrow

Ghostly Condos of New York

2013-02-12T18:49:00-05:00

“I’ve seen Kelly Ripa there. Two little kids were playing with Legos on the treadmill next to her, and there was nobody else.”

If you thought China or Dubai are the only places where you enter a multi million dollar condominium just purchased for that unruly son / daughter or a mistress, or laundering money.., hold on... Why is that all sold out prime luxury condo building in New York only occupied 10% with concierge, room service and all?

NYC Landmarks Commission Debates New Annabelle Selldorf Building

2013-02-12T18:46:00-05:00

"The changes to the plans...were not enough to assuage the doubts the Commission had the first time around (although most of the commissioners did agree that significant improvements had been made). The alternations to the plans included stretching the double hung windows vertically in order to give the building less of a squat look, raising the base by six feet...and moving the tower forward slightly."

New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission met to discuss a proposed Annabelle Selldorf building at 42 Crosby Street for the second time, and sent Selldorf away for the second time.