Archinect - News

Diller Scofidio + Renfro/Sheppard Robson's London Centre for Music replacement inches closer after planners grant local approval

2024-04-30T13:45:00-04:00

The revised Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Sheppard Robson-led scheme at the Barbican in Central London reportedly gained planning approvals from the City of London’s planning body. The news came last week (April 17th) after UK Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove remanded an Article 31 order calling on the local committee to pause its process in light of pushbacks against the planned demolition of the existing Bastion House and the former Museum of London that is an integral part of the scheme.

Previously on Archinect: Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveil designs for London Centre for Music replacement

Yahoo! Finance UK quoted a spokesperson from the group Barbican Quarter Actiorn as saying the demolition would be “injurious to the future of people and the planet,” adding, “We continue to believe that this great City can and should do better and that it should retain and adapt these fine buildings in line with its own policies on sustainable development.”

If approved by Gove’s o...

Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger demolish Craig Ellwood's 1950 Zimmerman House, raising ire online

2024-04-22T18:12:00-04:00

Chris Pratt has drawn ire from architecture aficionados after news broke that the actor and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, had razed a historic, mid-century modern home to make way for a sprawling 15,000-sq-ft mansion. Architect Ken Ungar, whose portfolio largely features high-end modern farmhouse-style residences, will design a home for the couple, Architectural Digest reported. The property [...] will also feature a three-car garage and a secondary unit near the pool.

As The Guardian reported, plans for a demolition went mostly under the radar until the Los Angeles Conservancy issued a warning last January. Actor Chris Pratt and his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger purchased the home later with the apparent intention of replacing it with an oft-reviled “modern farmhouse” design and have yet to respond to any other news outlets or critics, who are framing this as a loss tantamount to the destruction of Marcel Breuer's binuclear Geller I house on Long Island in January of 2022.

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Artist Mary Miss files suit to stop demolition of outdoor installation at Des Moines Art Center

2024-04-09T17:42:00-04:00

Artist Mary Miss has filed a lawsuit in an ongoing dispute over the planned demolition of her outdoor installation Greenwood Pond: Double Site (1996) at the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa.

A district court subsequently decided to issue a temporary restraining order against the institution’s plans, which were to be enacted on April 8th of this year.

Greenwood Pond-Double Site, Des Moines, IA, 1996. Photo © Mary Miss courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Miss, who is considered a leading figure of the Land Art movement, filed the legal challenge after The Cultural Landscape Foundation divulged the Art Center’s “secret plans” to deconstruct and remove the installation from its grounds over the deterioration of its materials and presumed adversity of potential repairs.

Greenwood Pond-Double Site, Des Moines, IA, Dec. 2023. Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Miss is alleging a breach of contract as part of the suit, citing a 1994 agreement and seeking damages through a readi...

Demolition work for Lower Manhattan's superjail is making Chinatown residents 'terrified'

2024-04-09T15:16:00-04:00

The demolition of ‘The Tombs’ Manhattan Detention Complex to prepare for the 300-foot ‘Jailscraper’ (aka the ‘Chinatown Jail’) in Lower Manhattan is meting out further headaches for residents around the Columbus Park area, the majority of whom are elderly, ABC7 reported recently.

Cracks and other noticeable damage are now beginning to appear in adjacent structures as the 900-bed behemoth is being taken down in advance of the construction of a controversial new facility that is promoted as being more ‘humane’ than its predecessor and the city’s Rikers Island facility — despite activists’ criticisms.

"We absolutely do not trust Gramercy Group with anything anymore," a member of the group Neighbors United Below Canal told journalists. "They violated the trust of this community. They violated the trust of the building next door. They've cracked their building. There's water seeping into this building as we speak."

In response, Councilmember Christopher Marte has asked the city's Buildin...

Montrealers ask: What to do with the Olympic Stadium?

2024-03-28T13:45:00-04:00

But nostalgia rarely makes for good decision making. Keep the tower and repurpose it as a tourist destination. With the money saved, we can erect a better stadium serving the city’s current and future needs. Not all landmarks are sacred. When fire consumed the Notre-Dame cathedral, they raced to replace the roof; Montreal’s Olympic Stadium is not Notre-Dame.

Quebecers face a vexing choice: Keep the stadium or pursue an even costlier demolition that would erase the landmark, which late architect Roger Taillibert called a “poem in concrete,” owing to its location over two underground metro stations. The new, $870 million replacement roof that is being made transparent to let in natural light for the first time won't be completed by 2028. (The original Kevlar roof partially collapsed in 1999 and has suffered several smaller tears since being constructed in the late-1980s.)

Montreal has been floated as a potential location for a new MLB expansion franchise for the past few years. Our preview of the new BIG and HNTB-designed home of the relocating Oakland A's franchise in Las Vegas (another city that was on the league's expansion list) can be found here.

Another Banksy mural destroyed after the building it was painted on was demolished

2023-12-01T17:41:00-05:00

A mural painted by Banksy which first appeared not long after Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU) has been destroyed after the building it was painted on was knocked down. The artwork, said to have been valued at around £1m, first appeared in the coastal town of Dover in 2017, the year after Britain voted to leave the union in a controversial referendum.

The mural, located on the side of the Castle Amusements building, depicted a worker chipping away at one the 12 stars on the EU flag. In 2019, the mural vanished after it was whitewashed. And, now, despite efforts to potentially restore the work, the building it was painted on has been demolished as part of a regeneration project. Prior to the building’s demolition the Dover City Council (DCC) determined that the Banksy could not have been conserved without major costs to local taxpayers.

Previously on Archinect: Banksy's latest mural on abandoned UK farmhouse has been demolished

That being said, the Council has said that its contractor, DDS Demolition, is exploring ways to preserve the artwork in any way. As reported by CNN, the demolition firm has said that pieces of the Banksy have been retrieved and are currently “being assessed.”

Major demolition plans announced for Thompson Center facade and atrium

2023-10-18T12:04:00-04:00

Significant alterations to the exterior of Helmut Jahn’s aging James R. Thompson Center have been revealed inside of planning documents submitted for Google’s forthcoming $280 million renovation of the landmark former government office building in Chicago.

The building’s glass facade and atrium will now be demolished in its entirety at a cost of $6 million, according to permitting documents issued by the city’s Department of Buildings on October 13th. Lee Bey was first to report the news in the Chicago Sun-Times Tuesday when a spokesperson for the tech giant promised a formal announcement could come “within weeks” as the planning process moves along.

Landmarks Illinois’ President and CEO Bonnie McDonald told Bey the demolition would “add to the waste stream” of the building’s carbon lifecycle, though did admit the reuse plan was a “big win” over previous fears it would either be razed or topped by a new supertall construction.

Added McDonald: “While we realize losing the existing ...

‘Mutant’ London apartment block to be demolished for deviating too far from permitted development

2023-10-17T11:54:00-04:00

The planning authority in London’s Royal Borough of Greenwich has ordered the demolition of a new residential development along the River Thames. In a statement, the authority concluded that the 23-story building, named Mast Quay Phase II, was “so substantially different to the scheme that was originally permitted” that the development’s ultimate construction was unlawful.

In its decision, the authority cited 26 main deviations from the scheme originally granted planning permission, including “visible design changes to the external appearance of the towers,” arguing that the towers looked “more solid and bulky because of the removal of the stepped back top floor and the glazed curtain wall facade” to one of the blocks.

The approved Mast Quay Phase II (left) versus the scheme subsequently constructed (right). Image credit: Royal Borough of Greenwich

The authority also cited visible changes to the materials and windows, a larger than approved footprint, “lower quality residential acco...

Marcel Breuer's Wellfleet Cottage is at the center of a preservation battle on Cape Cod

2023-08-24T12:12:00-04:00

Campaigners seeking to save Marcel Breuer’s 1949 Wellfleet Cottage residence on Cape Cod have launched a $1.4 million fundraising effort aimed at saving the home from an expected demolition that’s likely to come in the next few years.

The Cape Cod Modern House Trust is spearheading the effort and says the home they have agreed to purchase from Breuer’s son is in danger adding to the tally of historic designs in the area they have been unable to save through preservation since 2016.

The house was at one time a haven and meeting place for Bauhaus alumni and intellectuals associated with Breuer and his wife Connie. The architect himself designed a large art studio addition in 1961 before adding another apartment and darkroom for his photographer son Tamas in 1968. The Trust says its sale will include all of the home's original furnishings (including pieces from the Eames' and Eero Saarinen), art collection, and private library, which will all be made available to public view after the ...

London’s landmark Marks & Spencer department store gets a new life after court ruling

2023-07-20T17:26:00-04:00

A number of prominent architects had previously voiced their support for retrofitting the century-old store ahead of the inquiry, which began last October at the bequest of Secretary Michael Gove. Gove cited a concern for neighboring landmarks in the vicinity as part of his decision to strike down the retailer's demolition scheme in addition to its potential "lifetime carbon usage."

According to a report today in Bloomberg CityLab, "Marks & Spencer Group Plc will review its future as a fixture on London’s Oxford Street after losing government backing for a plan to demolish its flagship art deco store and rebuild a modern replacement [...] The case is a major win for the campaign group, which argued the 'handsome' building should be retrofitted rather than demolished, on the grounds that it would have a much lower environmental impact."

Advocates, including SAVE Britain's Heritage, hope the ruling will establish precedents by which the future of two dozen or so other "high street ti...

Banksy's latest mural on abandoned UK farmhouse has been demolished

2023-03-17T14:13:00-04:00

Banksy had just put the finishing touches on his latest artwork on an abandoned farmhouse in in Kent, England, when shortly after completion, a construction crew demolished the building. Entitled Morning is Broken, the work featured a silhouetted cat and a boy with arms outstretched opening two dilapidated sheets of iron, which were shaped like curtains.

News of the demolition spread across media channels and social platforms like Instagram and Twitter. A report from The Guardian explained that the site, owned by Kitewood, was "earmarked for dozens of new homes" as demolition on the site began on Tuesday, March 14. When workers began demolishing the site, one contractor told the local press they felt "gutted" and "sick realizing it was a Banksy."

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A post shared by Banksy (@banksy)

This is the second Banksy piece demolished in Kent after another Valentine’s Day message on domestic violence was taken down and reinstalled at the popular town Dreamland theme park by the town council.

Kenzo Tange's 'Boat Gymnasium' in Japan faces demolition

2023-02-21T14:52:00-05:00

An important Kenzo Tange design is facing an uncertain future in Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture after reports that authorities there are moving forward with the demolition of his 1964 “Boat Gymnasium” over disrepair and an apparent inability to fund seismic structural upgrades.

The Brutalist structure in Takamatsu was first shuttered in 2014 and has since been the subject of preservation pushes that unsuccessfully pressured the government to save the building, which shares many of the same stylistic elements as his masterwork Yoyogi National Gymnasium built the same year for the Olympic games in Tokyo.

The news comes almost a year removed from the final fate of the Kisho Kurokawa-designed Nakagin Capsule Tower, which is now being disbursed piecemeal to private enthusiasts and public collections after a long back-and-forth came to a close with preservationists on the losing end.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons user Bigjap (CC0 1.0)

The local Board of Education, which manages the gymnasi...

Miami's historic Deauville Beach Resort is demolished as a Frank Gehry-designed replacement fails to start

2022-11-15T18:15:00-05:00

The 17-story tower of the historic Deauville Beach Resort in Miami Beach was successfully imploded just after 8 a.m. Sunday. The oceanfront building at 6701 Collins Ave. crumbled to the ground in a matter of seconds after a series of thundering booms, marking the end of the road for a hotel that famously hosted the Beatles in 1964 and fell into disrepair in recent years.

The demolition brought to a close a tumultuous saga that saw local preservationists and the city government sue its owner Alex Meruelo over what they said was a wanton disregard for local heritage standards and other code violations more or less continuously issued since an electrical fire seriously damaged the Melvin Grossman-designed MiMo-style structure in July of 2017.

Previously on Archinect: Frank Gehry's Equinox Towers scheme is one step closer to reality in Miami Beach

Taking its place might be Frank Gehry’s proposed Equinox Towers scheme that is still awaiting approval before construction can begin on what has been labeled as a “passion project” for megadeveloper and Miami Beach native Stephen Ross. The plan was rejected by voters last week, leaving a void likely to be filled with a similar condominium design needed as a stopgap to the expected exodus brought about by the onset of new Surfside-inspired safety laws.

Today we lost the North Beach landmark Deauville Hotel due ...

It's high time for an adaptive reuse revolution, says Oliver Wainwright (and everyone else)

2022-08-23T10:00:00-04:00

The timing couldn’t be more urgent. As Lang notes, 80% of the buildings projected to exist in 2050, the year of the UN’s net zero carbon emissions target, have already been built. The critical onus on architects and developers, therefore, is to retrofit, reuse and reimagine our existing building stock, making use of the “embodied carbon” that has already been expended, rather than contributing to escalating emissions with further demolition and new construction.

Tonkin Liu’s Stephen Lawrence Prize-winning Water Tower project is cited as one of many examples of the growing influence of adaptive reuse in the market as evangelized in Ruth Lang’s new book Building for Change, which is due out in September from the German publisher Gestalten. In a follow-up to his influential op-ed from January 2020, Wainwright takes up the cause for adaptive reuse via the disputed Marks & Spencer department store demolition, turning to last year’s Pritzker Prize winners for validation of an idea which has rapidly gained popularity across the UK.

“Demolishing is a decision of easiness and short-term. It is a waste of many things — a waste of energy, a waste of material and a waste of history,” Anne Lacaton told The Guardian critic. “Moreover, it has a very negative social impact. For us, it is an act of violence.”

The Nakagin Capsule Tower pods… coming soon to a museum near you

2022-05-31T15:28:00-04:00

As reported by The Washington Post and other outlets, some of the 140 surviving capsules will be transformed into rentable apartment units, with others traveling to public collections abroad such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which has expressed interest along with many other international institutions. Digitally archived options are being floated as well.

Last month, we explored reactions from the architectural community following the news of the tower’s final decision, which came as a blow to the hard-fought preservation effort put forth by groups like the Nakagin Capsule Tower Building Conservation and Regeneration Project. (The group currently owns 15 of the capsules.)

Last the Nakagin Capsule Tower pic.twitter.com/TiMy4joiwe
— ringo134 (@ringo134) May 31, 2022

The dismantling of its famed “living cells” began last week, causing quite a stir online as fans and observers reacted to the sight of one of Metabolism’s last vestiges being taken apart piece by piece following years...

The high-priced plan to replace the Royal British Columbia Museum is meeting backlash

2022-05-24T18:04:00-04:00

The momentum behind the proposed new Royal British Columbia Museum project said to be Canada’s most expensive in modern history appears to be slowing after Premier John Horgan’s recent announcement “landed with a thud” in political circles and the news media.

The Art Newspaper is reporting that the government’s updated plans to demolish the existing 1968 structure and replace it with a brand new design has levied a considerable amount of backlash in Victoria, British Columbia, where critics are taking a stand against the enormous costs of the project now five years in the making.

Labeled a “billion-dollar vanity project” by local Liberal Party leader Kevin Falcon, the currently $789 million CAD ($615.8 million USD) would author a full-scale modernization of the 135-year-old institution that would leave its doors closed until the year 2030. Horgan has said he laments the project’s newfound status as a “political football,” pointing desperately to its mass timber construction and new ...

Scaffolding rises at Nakagin Capsule Tower demolition site

2022-04-26T13:43:00-04:00

On April 12, work on the demolition of the iconic Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo began after well over a decade of preservation efforts.

With its disassembly ongoing, an Instagram account dedicated to honoring the famed metabolist structure has posted updated images of scaffolding rising along the tower.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by 中銀カプセルタワービル (@nakagin_capsule_tower)

Stay tuned for further updates on the Nakagin Capsule Tower's demolition.

Previously on Archinect: The Nakagin Capsule Tower: The final goodbye or a chance at a second digital life?

Two landmark Chicago skyscrapers are teetering on the brink of demolition by the GSA

2022-04-14T19:06:00-04:00

Why would the U.S. General Services Administration now raise a hind leg to this legacy by wrecking the Century and Consumers buildings, two early 20th Century skyscrapers at 202 and 220 S. State Street? The buildings’ demolition would create an economic and pedestrian dead zone on State Street, something neither the street nor the city can afford. And it would be a shameful waste of some really good Chicago architecture.

A $141 million adaptive reuse plan was initially approved in 2017 by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, but the city decided to change direction only a few months later after an FBI security assessment determined that the two buildings’ continued existence creates too much risk for the iconic adjacent Chicago Federal Center.

Per the group Preservation Chicago: “The Century Building is historically unique for two important reasons. First, the distinct vertical expression of the building’s exterior elevations portends the transition from the Chicago School buildings of the late 19th century to the early decades of the 20th century. Emphasis of verticality is achieved with strong vertical bands and understated recessed spandrels. Second, the overall design of the façade ornament is a rare example of Neo-Manueline (inspired by the historic Portuguese style) influenced architecture in the Midwest. The proliferation of complex ornament around building openings, such as windows and doors, features s...

The Nakagin Capsule Tower: The final goodbye or a chance at a second digital life?

2022-04-12T10:55:00-04:00

The fate of the Nakagin Capsule Tower, designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, one of the founders of the Metabolist movement, has sustained a strong following since the announcement of its proposed demolition in 2007. At first glance, it checks all the boxes of a futuristic and head-turning project that lures the attention of both architects and the general public.

Since it appeared on the streets of Chuo City, Tokyo in 1972, I can only imagine how many times this structure has been photographed and lauded at by visitors and passersby. The ongoing effort to preserve this building has been going on for fifteen years, yet after crowdfunding efforts, preservation pleas, and petitions, the iconic Tower that's dazzled us for years will be demolished today, on April 12, 2022.

Nakagin Capsule Tower is an example of the Japanese Metabolist Movement - metabolism is a "post-war architectural movement focused on the ideals of perceiving buildings as regenerative structures versus stat...

Gilcrease Museum begins demolition ahead of two-year expansion effort

2022-01-27T13:00:00-05:00

An expected temporary closure for the oldest art museum in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area has many vying for the not-too-distant debut of what promises to be an instant architectural icon.

The Gilcrease Museum began demolition of its existing building Tuesday in order to make room for a new 91,300-square-foot facility designed by SmithGroup. The museum closed to the public on July 5th and will reopen again sometime in late 2024.

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The Gilcrease is undergoing a major expansion project funded by a publicly-supported $65 million capital project called Vision Test. The 73-year-old institution also received an additional gift from a private donor that brought the total to $75 million for the ambitious multi-year effort.

Previously on Archinect: Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum unveils upcoming expansion plans that will connect visitors to the natural world

Tulsa as a city is in the process of addin...

Marcel Breuer's first binuclear house has been demolished in Long Island

2022-01-26T18:23:00-05:00

Marcel Breuer's first binuclear house, Geller I in Lawrence, New York has been demolished in the dead of night. Geller I is largely considered the project that propelled Breuer to private practice in New York and prompted the Museum of Modern Art to commission Breuer to design an exhibition house in the museum’s courtyard entitled The House in the Museum Garden in 1949.

The conservation advocacy organization chalked up the loss to a combination of changing local property dynamics and the inability of the town of Hempstead’s planning laws to prevent the destruction of a structure it says would have claims to both the New York State and National Register of Historic Places.

“Late last year, Docomomo US was alerted to plans to demolish the house for a larger project combing multiple lots. Docomomo US and our colleagues at Docomomo US NY/Tri-State, the Preservation League of New York State, Preservation Long Island and Caroline Rob Zaleski author of Long Island Modernism formed a coalition to work for a better preservation outcome,” the group’s statement explained.

A photo of the demolition underway this morning, January 26. Image courtesy of the Town of Hempstead, Landmarks Preservation Commission.

“In December, an application for local landmark status was submitted to the Town of Hempstead and enthusiastically received and supported by the Hempstead...

39 buildings on a massive Chinese manmade island have been ordered to be demolished

2022-01-04T20:31:00-05:00

Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted developer, was last week ordered to demolish 39 buildings on Ocean Flower Island, a project comprising three man-made islands developed by the company in China’s southern Hainan province, within 10 days.

The developer was recently forced to hand over control of its $1.7B football stadium in Guangzhou after spending much of the past year attempting to stave off creditors looking to collect on the company’s reported $310 billion in liabilities, which has recently led to another round of public protests.

The massive development in Hainan province is one of the world’s largest manmade islands and has been the recipient of over $13 billion in Evergrande funds since breaking ground in 2015. The recent order by the Danzhou municipal government stated that Evergrande had illegally obtained building permits to the 435,000-square-meters of development in question, and follows up on a November promise from the city to sell any properties owned by the overleveraged company, according to a report in The Guardian.

Judge denies petition to preserve Brutalist bank in San Jose, making way for its demolition

2021-11-03T17:07:00-04:00

The development of a huge office campus in downtown San Jose can proceed and an old bank building can be demolished, a Santa Clara County judge has decided in a new ruling on the controversial building. A proposed development that would replace downtown San Jose’s decades-old CityView Plaza with a modern tech campus that could bring 14,000 jobs to the city’s urban core is at the heart of a legal action whose goal was to preserve a bank building designed in a “brutalist” architectural style.

The ruling denies a petition filed by the Preservation Action Council of San Jose filed seeking to preserve the 1973 Bank of California building and alter the construction of the new office campus being developed by real estate company Jay Paul Co. The petition by the preservationist group claimed that the San Jose City Council conducted a flawed environmental review process for the development and that it should be revisited.

The group also suggested that it might be possible to incorporate the brutalist structure within the proposed campus. This and the call to delay the demolition of the bank until another environmental impact report could be conducted were rejected by the judge.

Eight other structures will also be demolished for the redeveloped CityView Plaza, making room for a trio of 19-story, glass office towers designed by Gensler.

AJ, C.F. Møller may be getting new London headquarters after Piercy&Company proposes Telephone House demolition

2021-11-02T20:01:00-04:00

The proposals are for the redevelopment of the site to replace the poor quality, office use building that is set-back from the street behind a perimeter fence, with a high-quality building that will activate all three street frontages and provide multiple functions, including co-working, retail, roof terraces and central gallery atrium.

According to the Architects' Journal whose offices would be affected by the planned demolition along with the London studio of C.F. Møller Architects, the new Piercy&Co-designed building aims to address "the challenges of climate change by creating an ultra-low carbon building and placing sustainability at the heart of the project." The developer promised a 50% reduction in operational carbon emissions when compared to others currently under construction and said an adaptation scheme was explored for a year before being replaced by the plan for new construction.

Telephone House in the current situation (left) and the proposed new building (right). Image courtesy Telephone House public consultation.

"Decisions to replace buildings like this aren’t straightforward and shouldn’t be taken lightly," an architect's brief provided to AJ stated. "We think our proposals are the right move forward for Telephone House and will create an exceptional new workplace for a range of businesses — inc...

Another Tod Williams Billie Tsien building is being demolished to make way for a BIG project in Baltimore

2021-09-25T16:37:00-04:00

Two big name architecture firms are changing places on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

The university has commenced demolition of its Tod Williams and Billie Tsien-designed Mattin Center that was originally completed on its Homewood campus in 2001.

The demolition will make way for a new $250 million student center designed by BIG with help of Rockwell Group and academic design specialist Shepley Bulfinch.

The erstwhile center was designed as a place to “nurture the creative arts in a school where the primary focus has always been science and engineering.”

Featuring a dance studio, black box theater, art studios and a café, the center’s design incorporated clerestory windows focused on producing as much natural light and clear sightlines as possible in order to create a sense of “visual community” amongst the student users.

“I loved walking in and disconnecting from the academic rigor to create something artistic with a group of people, and the building definit...

Grenfell Tower set for demolition due to safety concerns

2021-09-07T18:42:00-04:00

Owners of London's Grenfell Tower are expected to announce later this month that the tower will be demolished due to safety concerns. This decision comes more than four years following the fire that claimed the lives of 72 people. UK housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, has been notified that the building poses a risk to the local community, which includes the Kensington Aldridge Academy, a secondary school near the site.

This decision comes after the release of a report on Grenfell Tower by government-hired engineering consultancy Atkins. The structural engineers behind the report “unambiguously and unanimously” advised that the tower be “carefully taken down.” Government officials are expected to formally announce the fate of the tower block later this month.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), which has assumed ownership of the tower since 2018, issued a letter to former residents with the news. They’ve assured the families that the building will not...

Concrete corrosion and disrepair: Holding on to the Nakagin Capsule Tower

2021-05-11T19:30:00-04:00

The infamous Nakagin Capsule Tower has mesmerized architects, designers, and architecture enthusiasts for decades. Whether you're a fan of Japanese Metabolist architecture or not, many continue to share a fondness and adoration towards the mixed-use residential and office tower designed by Kisho Kurokawa in 1972.

Archinect's brief coverage of the tower and talk of its demolition in 2005 was a glimpse into the now sixteen-year discussion and debate regarding the fate of the Nakagin Capsule Tower. Recently, a report from the Tokyo Reporter shared the latest details regarding what is to come of Tokyo's well-known metabolism tower. According to the Tokyo-based news outlet," the management association for the tower has decided to sell it. The move clouds the future of the structure, which could be headed for demolition [...] A preservation push has been ongoing. But the management association for the building, which consists of capsule owners, voted to sell the building to the landowner ...

Watch Trump Plaza implode in Atlantic City

2021-02-17T15:38:00-05:00

It was not the biggest or the best implosion ever. An auction for the right to detonate the dynamite to begin the implosion of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., fizzled. [...] The tower came down shortly after 9 a.m. amid a huge cloud of dust and an eruption of cheers.

Opened in 1984, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was the first of Donald Trump's three casino ventures in Atlantic City. All three ultimately went out of business, and while the former Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Marina Hotel Casino found new owners, it was the literal end for the Trump Plaza building today.

The auction that was originally announced to blow up the building was later canceled by building owner and billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn. The proceeds would have gone to the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City.

Demolition of Paul Rudolph's Burroughs Wellcome Building underway

2021-01-21T12:48:00-05:00

The dismantling of The Elion-Hitchings Building, near where Cornwallis Road meets the Durham Freeway, has been underway internally for several months. But now the demolition has reached the point where workers are pulling the building apart and hauling away pieces by the truckload. Fans of the building and its architect, Paul Rudolph, had hoped to persuade its owner, United Therapeutics, to save it because of its architectural and historical significance.

Despite repeated calls to preserve and protect the Paul Rudolph-designed Burroughs Wellcome Building in Durham, North Carolina — a change.org petition launched by the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation in September has collected over 5,780 signatures so far — the demolition of this significant piece of 1970s Brutalism has been well underway, reports Richard Stradling for The News & Observer.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by PaulRudolphHeritageFoundation (@paulrudolphfoundation)

"The building stood out in the Triangle when it opened in 1972," Stradling writes. "Perched on a small hill overlooking the Durham Freeway, the A-frame structure had terraced floors and angled walls and windows. Some called it innovative and futuristic; others simply found it ugly."

Demolition is expected to be completed by April.

Uncertain future for the brutalist buildings of northern England

2021-01-06T13:24:00-05:00

Some of the finest examples of brutalist architecture in the north of England are at risk of being torn down, according to a photographer who believes a crucial part of the country’s architectural history could be lost in the process. Simon Phipps [...] said that a mix of mismanagement and a general undervaluing of brutalism was leading to unnecessary demolition.

The Guardian has published a gallery of photographs by Simon Phipps who has been documenting northern England's concrete heritage for his new book Brutal North.