Archinect - News

Editor's Picks #305

2013-03-05T11:42:00-05:00

vado retro summed up the design "a box within a box and one box the one inside, the inside box is at an angle. oh and there are trees" but Alex Gomez added "Although the facade is superficial, I feel it will succeed in attracting ‘qualitative and quantitative tourist flows in the area,’

News
Over at Bustler.net, Bernard Tschumi Architects unveiled the schematic design for the firm's first work in Italy: ANIMA, a new cultural center in the city of Grottammare. The project has been commissioned by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno and the Municipality of Grottammare and is expected to be completed by 2016.

In the description of the project, it states: “Could one design a facade without resorting to formal composition? Could one design a facade that would be neither abstract nor figurative, but formless, so to speak? Our motivation in raising these questions was both economic and cultural: At a time of economic crisis, to indulge in formal geometries made out of complex volumetric curves did not seem a responsible option. The time of ‘Iconism’ seemed to be over".

vado retro summed up the design "a box within a box and one box the one inside, the inside box is at an angle. oh and there are trees" but Alex Gomez added "Although the facade is s...

EXPO 1: NEW YORK Rockaway Call for Ideas

2013-02-28T14:27:00-05:00

In an effort to foster the creative debate on urban recovery after Hurricane Sandy, MoMA PS1 and MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design are calling out for ideas to create a sustainable waterfront. Artists, architects, designers, and others are welcome to present ideas for alternative housing models, creation of social spaces, urban interventions, new uses of public space, the rebuilding of the boardwalk, protection of the shoreline, and actions to engage local communities.

Sponge Parks, Sand Dunes May Boost Resilience to Storms

2012-11-21T15:11:00-05:00

I looked back on resilience work designed for a Museum of Modern Art exhibition two years ago, called “Rising Currents.” It now seems prophetic. Among the proposals by Susannah Drake of Dlandstudio and Stephen Cassell of Architecture Research Office was the “Sponge Slip,” which would have replaced a Lower Manhattan parking lot with a sunken park. The idea was to guide floodwaters into the park basin and away from the subway tunnels and electrical infrastructure that Sandy crippled.

Home Sweet Shipping Container: NYC Creating Modular Disaster Housing

2012-11-21T14:43:00-05:00

Carved out of shipping containers, these LEGO-like, stackable apartments offer all the amenities of home. Or more, since they are bigger, and brighter, than the typical Manhattan studio. It’s the FEMA trailer of the future, built with the Dwell reader in mind.

Ever since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans six years ago, the Bloomberg administration has been quietly at work on creating a disaster housing that meets the needs of New York City's unique density and geography. They have created a model system using shipping containers, and while it will not be able to help those left homeless by Sandy, it should be ready by next year, for when the next major disaster hits.

New York Architects Re-Plan a City Under Threat [Post Sandy]

2012-11-20T11:13:00-05:00

After the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Sandy, those responsible for our built environment, especially in New York, are facing the dawn of a new environmental clime and industry reality. Designing and delivering to the highest safety standards in what were once thought of as safe areas of the world now holds far greater importance than ever before.

Streets flooded. Please advise.

2012-11-09T10:38:00-05:00

According to the experts — architects, environmentalists and civil engineers — large-scale projects like underwater gates are expensive, cumbersome and difficult to build. More important, they say, such undertakings are binary projects that work just fine until the moment they do not.

In light of the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, Alan Feuer examined three examples of how to protect New York City from future storms. The designs focus on three especially vulnerable New York neighborhoods and plans included: Marshy Edges, Absorptive Streets proposed by Architecture Research Office, and a partner firm, dlandstudio, Oysters to the Rescue proposed by Scape/Landscape Architecture P.L.L.C., and A Bridge in Troubled Waters proposed by Lawrence J. Murphy of global engineering firm CDM Smith.

Meanwhile, over in the Room for Debate blog the NYT hosted a discussion, featuring 6 experts, arguing Should New York Build Sea Gates? I would suggest that the discussion is lacking, since there was not one designer (landscape, architect or urban) involved in the conversation. What do you think?

'Jersey Shore' cast teams up with Architecture for Humanity. Seriously.

2012-11-06T18:13:00-05:00

As the tri-state area continues to recover from Hurricane Sandy's devastation, the cast of the "Jersey Shore" is teaming up with the nonprofit organization Architecture for Humanity for "Restore the Shore," a special benefit set to air live on Thursday, November 15.

For more information about Restore the Shore, go here.

Editor's Picks #288

2012-11-05T23:50:00-05:00

In 2012, the DRX (The Design Research Exchange a non-profit residency program for researchers hosted by HENN Architekten) took place in Berlin from July 16th, 2012 through September 7th, 2012. Participants included four invited DRX Experts and eight invited DRX Researchers all of whom focused on the topic Minimal Surface Highrise Structures. As part of the DRX 2012, three prototypic 500m (1,640ft) tall Highrise Structures were developed as so-called ProtoTowers.

The latest edition of the Working out of the Box series features Skip Schwartz who is currently the CEO of a heath care service/technology company that provides primary healthcare to people mostly on a virtual basis. The two main lessons that he gained from architecture school and the architecture industry were that "Design counts" and "Project management counts".

News
The world lost three very talented architects last week including, Lebbeus Woods dead at 72, John M. Johansen the last surviving member of the Harvard...

Iwan Baan explains how he got that New York magazine cover shot

2012-11-05T15:36:00-05:00

“What really struck me, if you look at the image on the left, you see the Goldman Sachs building and new World Trade Center,” said Baan. “These two buildings are brightly lit. And then the rest of New York looks literally kind of powerless. In a way, it shows also what’s wrong with the country in this moment.”

Iwan Baan shoots amazing aerial of Sandy's NYC impact for New York Magazine cover

2012-11-04T13:08:00-05:00

The easiest part of a harried three days came Friday around noon, when we met to settle on the cover. A photograph taken by Iwan Baan on Wednesday night, showing the Island of Manhattan, half aglow and half in dark, was the clear choice, for the way it fit with the bigger story we have tried to tell here about a powerful city rendered powerless.

Everyone's favorite architecture photographer, Iwan Baan, shows the world his magic with this month's cover of NYMag. Brilliant.

Could Sandy be good for the economy?

2012-11-01T15:24:00-04:00

I realize that Sandy will prob cause billions in damage to the eastern seaboard, and the lost work will not be great for the GDP, but perhaps the resulting building boom will provide the boost the economy needs?

What do you think? Join the discussion.

The AIA Issues Statement On Hurricane Sandy Aftermath & Recovery

2012-11-01T12:36:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects today issued the following statement with regard to the assessment and recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s impact. Please attribute to AIA President Jeff Potter, FAIA:

“To the many communities in Hurricane Sandy's path, members of the AIA and the AIA National Disaster Assistance Committee send our hopes for their safety. The AIA will work closely with our colleagues, as we have following other severe weather events, to assist local communities in their recovery efforts.

“Through our network of chapters, we are beginning to assess the damage to communities in the Northeast region. Now that the storm is passing, we will formulate plans to assist architects there in evaluating the building damage caused by the storm and map a path to recovery.

“Meanwhile, experienced disaster responders with the AIA have resources to help prepare architects for this important role. Visit our web page to get an overview of the AIA Disaster Respo...

New New Amsterdam: Would Some Giant Dutch Sea Gates Have Saved New York?

2012-11-01T11:46:00-04:00

“They really don’t treat the water in this kind of eggshell kind of way that they do in the United States,” Mr. Chakrabarti said. “They reclaim the land, use dredging material, do a whole variety of things to reshape the shoreline, like we first did when we were New Amsterdam. The Dutch have unrivaled experience in dealing with flooding. They really know how to shape the water’s edge, and I think we really have to rethink the way we deal with the water’s edge, given what’s happened with Sandy.”

Architect and planner Vishaan Charkrabarti, director of Columbia's Center for Urban Real Estate and a partner at SHoP, has a novel idea to save New York from the next big one: Build some giant sea gates around the harbor, like they have in Rotterdam. Also, a barrier island or two would be good.

MTA Video Release: Hurricane Sandy - South Ferry and Whitehall St Station Damage

2012-10-30T20:50:00-04:00

MTA Video Release: Hurricane Sandy - South Ferry and Whitehall St Station Damage.

U.S. Nuclear Plants Brace for Hurricane Sandy Impact

2012-10-30T18:32:00-04:00

Oyster Creek, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Atlantic City, generates 630 megawatts (MW), or enough electricity to power 600,000 households. Situated about a mile inland from the brackish inlet of the Atlantic Ocean known as Barnegat Bay, it shares the same design as Japan's tsunami-crippled coastal nuclear plant, Fukushima Daiichi.

Atlantic City boardwalk collapse as Hurricane Sandy slams coast

2012-10-30T13:19:00-04:00

According to police, the famed boardwalk's north end is collapsing.This is happening while wave heights 100 miles off the coast of New Jersey are likely to hit 30 feet or more.

50 feet of Seaside Heights' Funtown Pier collapse from Hurricane Sandy

2012-10-30T13:11:00-04:00

About 50 feet of the Funtown Pier at Seaside Heights Boardwalk has collapsed and washed up on the beach as a pile of wooden beams and twisted fencing. The collapse, which happened within the last hour, caused no injuries, according to Seaside Park Police Chief Frances Larkin.

So The Front Of A Building Blew Off In NYC

2012-10-29T20:29:00-04:00

How does that happen?

Stay safe out there, folks! #Sandy

Manhattan Construction Crane Collapses at One57 Luxury Tower

2012-10-29T17:24:00-04:00

A crane attached to One57, the luxury apartment tower under construction in midtown Manhattan, partially collapsed amid gusts from Hurricane Sandy. [...] One57, poised to be the tallest residential property in Manhattan at 90 stories, is being developed by Extell Development Co. A penthouse at the building went under contract earlier this year for more than $90 million.