Archinect - News

Labor and funding disputes are impelling repair work on the Eiffel Tower

2024-04-18T18:20:00-04:00

To date, only 30% of the tower has been repainted. Adding more than 100 weekly operations to monitor the lead increased annual running costs from €50m to €92m—and may reach a staggering €130m. The unions have also denounced the state of infrastructure, which sees tourists with tickets still queuing for up to three hours.

In February, the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (or SETE), which operates the tower announced losses nearing $2 million as a result of the weeklong strike. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has sparred openly with both France’s culture and tourism ministers about the tower’s lacking historical monument status and security situation on the Champ de Mars. The presence of lead paint and the pandemic have also combined to frustrate repair work efforts. The landmark’s last official full paint job, the nineteenth since it opened, was completed in 2010.

Notre Dame’s plans for contemporary stained-glass windows spark cries of ‘vandalism’ in Paris

2023-12-26T14:53:00-05:00

Plans for the contemporary replacement of some of the stained glass windows inside Notre Dame Cathedral’s damaged interior have sparked a considerable outcry from the public a year before the Parisian landmark is set to begin reopening in the wake of the destructive 2019 fire.

Calls for a new competition to design windows for six of Notre Dame’s seven south aisle side chapels has led to a petition signed by 120,000 people urging the French government to reconsider on grounds that they would distort the originality of architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s 19th-century expansion, according to a report from The Guardian.

The new window designs would replace what emerged from the catastrophe undamaged and are therefore considered important relics of the blaze by heritage experts and other conservation specialists. Nevertheless, the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, requested the French state’s approval of new windows, a solicitation President Emmanuel Macron then threw his office’s suppo...

No more broken windows: Rafael Viñoly’s faulty courthouse building is getting worse by the day

2022-02-22T18:00:00-05:00

When it opened in 2008, the loftily named Bronx Hall of Justice was billed as the crown jewel of New York’s court system — the biggest courthouse in the state, sheathed in glass and housing enough courtrooms to handle dozens of criminal and civil cases each day. All these years later, the verdict is that it’s more like a broken-down jalopy.

Numerous problems including flooding, failed fire alarms, shattered glass windows that appear out of nowhere, and floor collapses stemming from a built-over underground stream have befallen the Rafael Viñoly-designed Bronx Hall of Justice for more than a decade. The courthouse building has still not been granted its official certificate of occupancy by the city’s Department of Buildings, although an official with the agency did make it clear the building was safe and that the process will be completed as soon as five “mostly minor” code violations are addressed.

Until then, the DOB has to continue issuing 90-day temporary certificates, the most recent of which expired on New Year’s Eve. The only thing holding up this end of things is a dispute between the federal Office of Court Administration (OCA), which keeps an office in the building, and the city, on whom the OCA claims the sole responsibility for repairs falls.

“Our history with this building goes back to its opening. While i...

Washington Monument reopens after lengthy renovation

2019-09-20T14:02:00-04:00

The Washington Monument will again welcome visitors up to its observation deck, where, from more than 500 feet in the air, visitors can see national landmarks including the U.S. Capitol, Washington National Cathedral, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. But first, you have to go through security.

After undergoing a 3-year renovation, including elevator upgrades and adding a new glass-and-steel security screening center designed by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, the 555-foot-tall obelisk reopened to the public on Thursday, September 19th.

Notre Dame is falling apart and relying on US donations for major repairs

2018-08-15T14:21:00-04:00

One of Europe’s most visited sites, with about 12 million tourists a year, is in dire need of repairs. Centuries of weather have worn away at the stone. The fumes from decades of gridlock have only worsened the damage. “Pollution is the biggest culprit,” says Philippe Villeneuve, architect in chief of historic monuments in France. “We need to replace the ruined stones. We need to replace the joints with traditional materials. This is going to be extensive.”

Notre Dame faces major repairs as the historic Cathedral's structure decays due largely to pollution. Funding for the repairs needed were difficult to raise as the cathedral is owned by the French government, yet their arrangement allows the Catholic archdiocese of Paris to use it for free. Both claimed the other responsible for raising funds, however the archdiocese stepped up creating Friends of Notre Dam last year.

The organization allows US citizens to make tax deductible contributions to the renovation of this historic landmark. Friends of Notre Dame hope to raise $114 million within the next five to 10 years.

Salk Institute to be refurbished by The Getty Conservation Institute

2016-09-27T14:38:00-04:00

Fungal biofilm and water sealant failure have added a black patina to the Salk Institute's iconic teak paneling, making the material vulnerable to decay. In order to save what is considered to be one of the world's finest architectural projects (and coolest structural alignment of the sunset save for perhaps Manhattanhenge), the Getty Conservation Institute undertook three years of careful study and is now ready to start implementing those improvements.

According to Getty Conservation Institute project specialist Sara Lardinois, “The GCI sought to address issues on a long-term basis while preserving cultural significance and addressing the needs of those managing the site. Our aim was to help the Salk Institute incorporate a conservation approach into its overall site management at a critical point in the building’s history—the 50-year mark often coincides with the need for a first major repair in modern buildings.”

For more on all things Louis Kahn:

Kimbell’s $135 Million Expansion ...

Philly's sidewalks and the fickle space between public and private

2016-04-15T13:18:00-04:00

Legally, sidewalk repair is the responsibility of homeowners, but historically, enforcement of upkeep has been thin. [...] “[sidewalks] should be part of the money we spend on transportation ... because people who walk are transporting themselves on their feet.” [...] The liability is actually two-tiered: The property owner is responsible if someone sues after an injury due to poorly maintained sidewalks, but the city has secondary responsibility because sidewalks are public infrastructure.

Related on Archinect:

Why Los Angeles is struggling to fix thousands of miles of sidewalks

2015-01-02T13:49:00-05:00

The city estimates that some 4,500 of its total 10,750 sidewalk miles are in disrepair. According to a 2007 USC study, the city repaired a grand total of 64 miles of sidewalks, or 1.4 percent of damaged sidewalks, improving the city’s backlog to 72 years. The reasons for this civic embarrassment go back even longer than 72 years. They are twofold. One is political, the other arboreal.

France pledges €200m to restore La Défense's crumbling cube

2014-08-04T13:39:00-04:00

Sited at the heart of France's main business district at La Défense, the enormous and impressive Grande Arche was always more than a monument to the triumph of humanitarian ideals over military glory. [...] A quarter of a century on, however, the crumbling state of La Grande Arche de la Défense might be a metaphor for France's struggling economy. [...] The government has now promised €200m (£160m) worth of "important renovation work" [...] to begin in October and last for two years.

Washington Monument Set to Reopen Today

2014-05-12T13:01:00-04:00

More than 150 cracks have been repaired, rainwater leaks have been sealed, and the 130-year-old Washington Monument is set to reopen Monday for the first time in nearly three years since an earthquake caused widespread damage. The memorial honoring George Washington has been closed for about 33 months for engineers to conduct an extensive analysis and restoration of the 555-foot stone obelisk that was once the tallest structure in the world.

Weak Bolts Have Complicated the Barclays Center’s Early Days

2013-01-02T11:56:00-05:00

The fabricator for the 12,000 steel panels — no two alike — abruptly shut down midway through the job. The panels have occasionally dripped rusty orange blossoms onto the sidewalk. And lately, iron workers have replaced hundreds of bolts that anchor the panels to the building’s structure. Engineers determined that weaker ones were originally installed, raising concerns about the structure’s integrity.

Colosseum in Rome is leaning, officials say

2012-07-30T10:12:00-04:00

The ancient Colosseum in Rome is slanting about 40cm lower on the south side than on the north, and authorities are investigating whether it needs urgent repairs.