Archinect - News

Preliminary NIST report on Surfside condo investigation details key flaws that factored into building's collapse

2024-03-12T14:41:00-04:00

Preliminary details from the ongoing National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) investigation into the deadly 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Florida were shared recently, revealing evidence that supports theories about the precise source of its structural failure and other prevailing factors.

Among other findings, the report released last Thursday details the exact moment of the pool deck's collapse preceding the wider structural failure that killed 98 people. The report also outlines several critical lapses in standard design practices and failures to meet building codes that were present from the time of its construction. The findings could provide some clues for those questioning the soundness of its support columns, foundation, site, and steel reinforcements as well.

“It becomes clear that the design and construction did not meet all the safety standards of its day,” local Commissioner Marianne Meischeid told CNN of her concerns. “...

Over 100 Gaza heritage sites damaged or destroyed by Israeli strikes, report says

2023-12-05T13:30:00-05:00

The Spanish NGO Heritage for Peace has published a report on the impact of recent Israeli airstrikes on Gaza’s cultural heritage. The report, released on November 7th, claims that over 100 cultural heritage landmarks have been damaged or destroyed as of publishing. Reports of subsequent damage since November 7th are not yet available.

The Heritage for Peace report lists 104 pieces of built heritage impacted by the latest war, of which 4 have been completely destroyed, 11 have been partially destroyed by direct shelling, and 89 have been partially destroyed by indirect shelling. The list of sites spans mosques, churches, archaeological sites, historical houses, shrines, cemeteries, and museums.

Among the sites completely destroyed by direct shelling is the Omari Mosque, described by NPR as “one of the most important and ancient mosques in historical Palestine.” Meanwhile, the Church of Saint Porphyrius was partially destroyed, described by NPR as “the third oldest church in the entir...

Pulitzer Prize-winning architect Alison Killing to join Financial Times visual investigations unit

2023-10-16T18:41:00-04:00

Alison Killing, the British-born and Netherlands-based designer who in 2021 was named the first-ever architect to win the Pulitzer Prize, has been tapped to lead a new visual investigations unit supported by the Financial Times. The paper announced the appointment on Thursday.

Killing will work under the title Senior Investigations Reporter and expand on a body of work that includes the Putlizer-winning investigation for The New York Times into Muslim detention camps operating in China’s Xinjiang province. The published reporting led the country to withdraw from this year’s Venice Biennale while shedding light on the difficulties journalists and human rights advocates face in performing open-source research in authoritarian regimes across the world.

Killing was educated in the UK and later immigrated to the Netherlands to found her practice Killing Architects in 2010. The financial downturn of the time caused her to venture into curation and researching vacant buildings. She would ...

Architect Stefano Boeri faces bid-rigging allegations in Milan’s BEIC design competition

2023-10-12T19:53:00-04:00

Architect Stefano Boeri has responded to charges of alleged bid-rigging in relation to his role as the jury chair for a 2022 competition to design the new European Library of Information and Culture (BEIC) in Milan.

The 66-year-old Boeri told the Italian news agency ANSA this week, “I am calm and confirm my complete willingness to cooperate with the competent authorities to provide all the information in my possession in order to clarify a situation that I find unbelievable,” before saying he would not provide any further comments at this time.

The allegations were made public as news of an investigation on the part of local tax police broke earlier in the week. Boeri’s role in the investigation remains unclear, however, the “conflict of interest” at the center of the case reportedly includes “false declarations regarding the identity or personal qualities of oneself or others.” The connection architects Angelo Raffaele Lunati and Giancarlo Floridi, whose firm Onsitestudio was awar...

AIA gets involved in the search for the next Architect of the Capitol

2023-05-24T17:16:00-04:00

With disgraced former Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton now facing punishment for his misuse of office, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced their involvement in the Congressional search process to find a new permanent head for the over 2,000-person office.

The Institute says it has representatives working with both Congress and the executive search firm that was hired to aid in the search for the new AOC position, which is currently held on an interim basis by Chere Rexroat.

Blanton was fired by President Biden in mid-February after a three-month investigation into his alleged wrongdoings, which reportedly entailed the use of government-owned vehicles and an incident where he deliberately misrepresented himself as a law enforcement official, among a choice of actions labeled as “fraud, waste, and abuse against not only the AOC but also the taxpayer” by the federal Inspector General.

Other key staffers were let go last month as a product of their involve...

Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton faces questions before Congress amidst calls for resignation

2023-02-10T14:09:00-05:00

Beleaguered Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton shocked members of Congress on Thursday by admitting he was not on Capitol grounds for the tumultuous January 6th attacks during a query into alleged ethics violations while in office.

At a special hearing called by members of the House Administration Committee, Blanton said he was “monitoring developments remotely” during the riots while declining to provide his specific whereabouts in what came as a surprise to committee members of both parties who also took offense to his apparent frequent tardiness from the grounds that continues to this day.

Blanton, who remains the only member of the U.S. Capitol Police Board not to resign in the wake of the incident, also answered questions about his misuse of government-provided SUVs and deliberate misrepresentation of himself as a police officer among other accusations which include giving private tours to “patriots” in the weeks leading up to January 6th, 2021.

Previously on Archinect:...

Congress moves to limit Architect of the Capitol following investigation into misconduct

2023-01-04T15:02:00-05:00

Embattled Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton could be getting one step closer to being forced out of his job after the outgoing 117th Congress finally proposed last-minute legislation that would make it easier for the Trump appointee to be removed from office following an Inspector General’s investigation into the abuse of his title while in office.

CBS News has the latest details on the effort to hold Blanton accountable for his actions, which reportedly included the misrepresentation of himself as a law enforcement official and multiple misuses of his government-provided SUV by him and his family.

Under the proposed new legislation, the formerly term-limited appointment would for the first time be subject to the conditional removal of its office holder via an impeachment or Congressional joint resolution finding either “permanent disability, inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance; or a felony or conduct involving moral turpitude.”

Earlier on Archinect: Trump's Architect...

Trump's Architect of the Capitol is under investigation for ethics violations in D.C.

2022-11-03T12:56:00-04:00

The federal Architect of the Capitol is under scrutiny for ethics violations after apparently using his office to give “patriotic” private tours in the weeks leading up to the contentious elections of November 2020.

The Washington Post is reporting that Trump appointee J. Brett Blanton is now being investigated by the federal Inspector General’s office for allegedly using his office to give family members access to government-owned vehicles and areas of the capitol building that had been restricted due to Covid-19.

The office’s report identified “a significant amount of administrative, ethical, and policy violations as well as evidence of criminal violations throughout the investigation,” including several incidents where Blanton misrepresented himself as a police officer (a class misdemeanor under District of Columbia law) in addition to a campaign of “fraud, waste, and abuse against not only the AOC but also the taxpayer.”

Earlier on Archinect: Architect of the U.S. Capitol detai...

Architecture can be 'an exercise of violence' warns Forensic Architecture founder

2022-10-25T13:38:00-04:00

Forensic Architecture founder Eyal Weizman has used a speech at the Culture Summit Abu Dhabi to set out the group’s position on the relationship between architecture and human rights. Weizman, who is also a professor at Goldsmiths, University of London, offered the summit a series of examples of how the Peabody Award-winning, Turner Prize-nominated organization has used spatial principles to expose human rights abuses.

“Forensic architecture is a way of reading architectural facts, architectural material, architectural situations, in order to see within them evidence for these violations that I'm speaking about,” Weizman said, as reported by The National News. “Perhaps the best way to understand it is, just like a pathologist reads a dead body — looking at the bones — forensic architecture looks for evidence of these crimes in walls, in foundations, in buildings, in plans, in bridges, in roads etc in a way that they're conceived sometimes, in order to survey and control us.”

Related...

The project's ‘architect’ says he had no active role in Hudson Yards tower design

2022-06-13T13:48:00-04:00

But Mr. Schiffman said he had no active role in those projects, a statement that raises questions about whether the buildings were approved for construction without the oversight and involvement of a registered architect — a requirement in New York State to ensure that buildings are properly designed and do not pose a safety risk.

The New York Times has obtained a document showing that the credentials of a retired architect in his mid-80s were used to fake his approval of building designs that he did not review. Warren L. Schiffman has been designated as the architect of record on an under-construction, 642-feet-tall hotel rising in Hudson Yards, along with a hotel near LaGuardia Airport and dual high-rise residences in Queens. Each of these projects fall under developer Marx Development Group.

The document shows a contract Schiffman signed upon his retirement from Marx Development Group in 2016 that details how the company’s design firm, DSM Design Group, could continue to use his seal of approval following his absence. Signed shortly before Marx Development Group embarked on the three aforementioned projects, the contract called for Schiffman to provide his architectural stamp and signature to DSM Design Group when requested. However, Schiffman claims he was never asked to review any building plans.

In addi...

UCL issues an apology and published report on the decades-long investigation of misconduct at the Bartlett School of Architecture

2022-06-09T19:09:00-04:00

A resolution has been provided in the saga at the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture that has made waves in the press since first coming to light last year.

The institution has now issued a formal apology in response to the independent investigation into educational practices and environment that permeated at the school for decades.

UCL says it is also in receipt of the recommendations for improvement put forth in a recent investigative report created by independent consultancy Howlett Brown using a survey of more than 300 former faculty and students. As was expected based on previous reporting of first-hand accounts, the respondents in their survey detailed a frightening and toxic culture of abuse, racism, bullying, and even sexual harassment occurring at every level. Accordingly, the school has announced it will be removing several faculty members from student-facing administrative duties in addition to setting up a new working group that will help further adapt the recommended ...

Forensic Architecture's latest investigation is a dig at one-sided Israeli archaeological pursuits

2022-04-13T12:14:00-04:00

Fresh off its recent Peabody Award win, London-based Forensic Architecture (FA) has returned to one of its most popular research sites with a new project, called “Living Archaeology in Gaza,” examining the fate of an important archaeological site under assault in the Gaza Strip.

The site in question was tentatively added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in 2012 but has since been closed off to further archaeological research and beset by damaging new construction. The group examined ten years' worth of data collected by the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem between 1995 and 2005 to produce 3D renderings of an ancient city called Anthedon that existed for two millennia until about the High Middle Ages.

Image: Forensic Architecture

What they discovered was that Israeli bombing and consolidation, combined with climate change-caused coastal erosion, has placed a considerable strain on the site, which counts among its ruins examples of building from the Byzant...

Forensic Architecture has been named a 2022 Peabody Award winner

2022-03-30T18:30:00-04:00

The activist community can rejoice today on the news that groundbreaking London-based collective Forensic Architecture (FA) has been given an Institutional Peabody Award for its continued public service and contributions to electronic media.

The group was cited for their work documenting the use of Israeli spyware called Pegasus, the ongoing exhibition Cloud Studies, and myriad investigations into police brutality, war crimes, surveillance culture, environmental racism, and the illegal occupation of Palestine.

FA’s use of various forms of data, 3D visualization technology, photogrammetry, lidar, and citizen videos was likewise commended for its innovation and incorporation into what the awards jury deemed “sophisticated architectural techniques.”

The twelve-year-old group founded by Israeli academic Eyal Weizman is coming off of another banner year in which its pursu...

A year after deadly 7.1 quake, an investigation into Mexico City's troubling history with failed building codes

2018-09-19T16:12:00-04:00

Several factors play into the lax code enforcements issue. Mexico City is going through a construction boom, and some local officials have been hesitant to put the brakes on such a profitable sector. Corruption is rampant [...] “There is a whole system that’s been designed to benefit everyone involved: public officials, DROs, developers,” said Gómez Durán. “They all protect each other. The citizens are left unprotected.”

One year after Mexico City's devastating 7.1-magnitude earthquake, this piece by Martha Pskowski explores how, over the last three decades, the city's engineers, politicians, and builders have repeatedly failed to regulate stricter building codes — which often has deadly consequences.

An investigation into the Genoa Bridge Collapse

2018-09-10T16:50:00-04:00

The collapse of the bridge — a signature of the port city, a source of deep civic pride, and an indispensable daily transportation link for thousands — has scarred Genoa and set off a bitter debate in Italy about who bears responsibility for the disaster and precisely what caused it. Those questions remain under investigation by the chief magistrate of the region, Francesco Cozzi, and a team of engineers, security and government officials.

The New York Times retraces in detail what led to last month's tragic collapse of the Genoa Bridge in Italy that killed 43 people.

Biting independent review on Garden Bridge is a reality check for the project's authorities

2017-04-07T20:23:00-04:00

Today, the Greater London Authority released a biting investigative report on the Garden Bridge conducted by senior Member of Parliament Margaret Hodge. Last October, Mayor Sadiq Khan formally appointed Hodge to lead the independent review, as part of Khan's promise to investigate the decisions surrounding the mismanaged project when he first came into office. Based on Hodge's findings, prospects on the controversial project are still looking grim; it would be better to ditch the project than risk wasting more public money.

Rendering courtesy of Arup/Heatherwick Studio.

“This review does not seek to assess whether building a Garden Bridge over the River Thames is a good idea; that is a matter for the Mayor, and I made clear at the start of this review process that I had no view,” Hodge writes in the introduction. The report focuses on examining value for money for public funds. Hodge notes the likelihood of increasing project costs, which she states could rise to over £200 million w...

Seized “Skopje 2014” documents could lead to criminal investigation

2016-10-20T14:36:00-04:00

Documents that Macedonia's Special Prosecution, SJO, seized on Tuesday with a court order from the Culture Ministry refer to a million-euros-worth tender to build the Museum of VMRO and Macedonian Struggle for Independence...The SJO [...] says it will reveal the start of two new investigations. If one refers to "Skopje 2014", it will be the first-ever serious criminal investigation into this costly project which, according to BIRN’s database, has cost 667 million euros already.

Balkan Insight reports that the hefty €667 million+ price tag (approx. $730 million+) of the grandiose revamp “was mainly due to the signing of 123 contracts with firms and individuals for its construction, many of which were annexes to the original contract.”

Balkan Investigative Reporting Network's database: Skopje 2014 Uncovered.

Previously on Archinect:

Macedonians protest to protect modernism

Macedonian Makeover: Europe's Flailing Capital of Kitsch

National council member accuses RIBA of "institutional racism", prompting investigation

2015-12-04T19:40:00-05:00

[Elsie Owusu] alleged that the election [for Riba’s vice-president of practice and profession] was rigged in favour of a rival candidate, and in a complaint to Riba’s president, Jane Duncan, she claimed it was “tantamount to institutionalised racism in my view”. [...] “The banter, discrimination and treating black people worse than other staff goes through architecture like a stick of rock. It’s absolutely disgraceful and it starts at the top with Riba."

In response to Owusu's allegation, RIBA has initiated a formal investigation, and states that a report will be filed in time for discussion at the next national council meeting in March of 2016.

According to the Guardian, the allegations include not only accusations that the election of the Vice President of Practice and Profession was rigged in favor of Owusu's competing candidate, who is not black, but also references "sexist" banter by council members.

Also as quoted in the Guardian, Owusu invokes the Equality Act of 2010 in her claim that being passed over in the election constitutes institutional racism:

And this is an example: when there are two people up for a job, one an elected member, the other not, to use the weight of the institution from the president’s chair to support a white person over a black person, when we are both equally qualified, to me is the institution using its power to support behaviour that is tantamount to racism.

More details on the allegations can be foun...

Labor violations affirmed in latest report of NYU Abu Dhabi construction

2015-04-21T20:26:00-04:00

An independent investigation into the construction of New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus has found that despite the school’s best intentions and efforts, about one third of the workforce at the site — roughly 10,000 workers — was not covered by the school’s labor guidelines, and thus faced unfair and exploitative practices [that were reported in previous allegations].

To add to that, construction of the NYUAD main campus is nearly complete and the workers have already moved on to other jobs.

Apollo theatre collapse due to 'old' materials

2014-03-24T13:54:00-04:00

Seventy-six people were injured when part of the roof came down during a performance of The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time in December. BBC Radio 4's You and Yours has seen a letter from Westminster City Council saying hessian wadding embedded in the ceiling was getting weaker over time. The material's deterioration led to the collapse, the council said.

Previously: London theatre collapse: scores injured at Apollo in West End