Archinect - News

The Grand Palais debuts its pre-Olympics makeover in Paris

2024-04-24T11:48:00-04:00

As the start of this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics draws closer in Paris, the first images of the Chatillon Architectes-led restoration of the Grand Palais have been made public.

The initial phase of the four-year project that will be completed in 2025 involved expanding its capacity by 60%, creating a new pedestrian linkage to the Seine and Square Jean Perrin, restoring the balconies of the structure’s nave, and removing ad hoc additions that had slowly accrued since its opening 124 years ago.

Image credit: Laurent Kronental for Chatillon Architectes

New public gardens were created around the building, fostering an enhanced connection between it and other historic areas in the 8th arrondissement: the Champs-Élysées, Boulevard Churchill, and Petit Palais. They include more than 250 plant species, fed by rainwater that has been collected from the roofs — the largest made of glass in Europe — of the Grand Palais. The project's total costs will equal about $500 million USD, and the...

Restoration of Saarinen-designed First Christian Church tower completed in Columbus, Indiana

2024-02-23T08:03:00-05:00

The Landmark Columbus Foundation has shared photos of Louis Joyner Architect's completed tower restoration of the landmark First Christian Church in Columbus, Indiana, designed by Eero Saarinen and his father, Eliel, in 1942.

The project took eight months to complete, wrapping up this past December.

The church’s 166-foot-high freestanding clock tower served as the main focus of the restoration work, which took place in four main parts, with repairs also needed to account for significant masonry cracking, rust, and water damage to its interior.

Photo: Hadley Fruits for Landmark Columbus Foundation

Contractors stabilized the 50 uppermost feet of the tower by first removing its east and west walls and then taking the brick veneer off its north and south edifices, removing parapets, and then installing a new concrete block support onto the 166-foot-tall structure.

Photo: Hadley Fruits for Landmark Columbus Foundation

The brick veneer was later re-installed in addition to locally quarr...

Historic civil rights-era church in Memphis to undergo $25 million renovation

2024-02-19T12:02:00-05:00

Memphis’ Clayborn Temple, a historic civil rights landmark, is set to undergo a $25 million renovation. The five-year-long project hopes to “not only preserve its historic significance but also usher in a new era of vitality for this cultural gem and the surrounding community,” as seen in new renderings by Self+Tucker Architects.

Image credit: Self+Tucker Architects

The building was originally constructed in 1892 as Second Presbyterian Church, where it served an all-white congregation. In 1949, the building was sold to an African Methodist Episcopal congregation for $100,000 and renamed Clayborn Temple.

Image credit: Self+Tucker Architects

Throughout the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the church served as an important node for social, cultural, spiritual, and political expressions for the city’s African American communities, ultimately becoming the organizing headquarters for The Sanitation Workers’ Strike of 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last campaign.

Image credit: Self+Tu...

Four edgy California remodelling projects by JENSEN Architects: Your Next Employer?

2024-01-29T12:08:00-05:00

Following last week's visit to San Francisco-based Edmonds + Lee Architects, we are keeping our Meet Your Next Employer series in the Bay Area this week to explore the work of JENSEN Architects.

From their studio in downtown San Francisco, the firm has built a portfolio specializing in cultural, educational, residential, and workplace projects. The studio describes its ethos as “valuing a critical design approach, contemporary culture engagement, and innovative construction techniques for elegant, effective, and environmentally sensitive solutions.”

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for several positions to join their San Francisco office. For candidates interested in applying for a position, or anybody interested in learning about the firm’s output, we have rounded up four intriguing California-based remodel and renovation projects by JENSEN Architects that exemplify the studio’s ethos.

Stanford Residence. Image credit: JENSEN Architects

Stanford Residence, Stanfo...

Explore images of Shubin Donaldson’s completed restoration of Richard Neutra’s Mariners Medical Arts building in Orange County

2024-01-05T09:00:00-05:00

An overlooked design from one of Southern California’s most respected midcentury designers, Richard Neutra’s Mariners Medical Arts building in Newport Beach, California, was restored thanks to Los Angeles-based ShubinDonaldson.

The project for client Burnham-Ward Properties sought to bring the three-pavilion design as close to its original appearance as possible. Key elements include the re-installation of water features that had been removed in the early 1970s.

Image © Benny Chan/fotoworks 2023

ADA accessibility upgrades, new drought-resilient landscaping, LED lighting, and other environmental improvements were equally vital in achieving the developer’s aim to once again establish Neutra’s design as an architectural superlative of the Orange County enclave.

All images: © Benny Chan/fotoworks 2023

“Having admired Mariners Medical Arts for decades, it has been an honor for me to be part of the team trusted to restore the building as originally designed by Neutra,” Shubin Donaldson Pr...

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...

Renovations complete on Einstein Tower, observatory built to represent Einstein's theory of relativity

2023-09-29T18:03:00-04:00

A solar observatory built to substantiate Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity has been reopened near the German capital after a renovation project to preserve it for future generations. [...] “The Einstein Tower might no longer be at the forefront of research, but it’s not a mere museum piece [...] Following its renovation it’s probably now in a better condition than it was when it was inaugurated almost 100 years ago”

Located on Telegraph Hill in Potsdam, 16 miles southwest of Berlin, Einsteinturm (Einstein Tower) underwent a year of renovations to address its many cracks and extensive dampness, and to preserve its domed zinc roof. The restoration cost approximately $1.2 million.

The structure was built between 1920 and 1922 by German-British architect Erich Mendelsohn in collaboration with astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich. The approximately 66-foot tower was designed to represent and verify Einstein’s theory of relativity. It is considered a landmark in expressionist architecture, with its lack of right angles, organic form, and curved wooden staircase. Originally planned in concrete, a lack of materials after the First World War meant it was built using stucco-covered brick.

The tower is still in operation today as a working solar observatory, run by the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics (AIP). In addition, the working telescopes are the original ones installed nearly a century ago.

...

Construction underway on Snøhetta and Park Associati’s 1960s office renovation in Milan

2023-08-29T11:50:00-04:00

Snøhetta and Park Associati have published photographs showing progress on the refurbishment of the 1960s Pirelli 35 office block in Milan. When completed in 2024, the project seeks to “create a generous and publicly accessible building with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.”

Image credit: Tommaso Maserati courtesy of Snøhetta

Building on the existing scale and lines of the neighboring buildings, the Pirelli 35 refurbishment will see works to the existing structure complimented by a rooftop addition and a six-story extension. The rooftop volume will create a new penthouse office floor while the extension “intimately addresses the smaller scale of the surrounding residential buildings while also providing chromatic contrast to the sober and elegant re-cladded facade of the existing building.”

Image credit: Tommaso Maserati courtesy of Snøhetta

The new scheme has been organized in three horizontal “layers.” The ground and 9th floor emphasize transparency to provide a high degree...

Inside the expensive repair of Brutalist landmark Boston City Hall

2023-07-07T11:41:00-04:00

Local Boston news outlet WBUR has offered an insight into the multi-million dollar operation to repair and renew Boston City Hall. The Brutalist icon, now 55 years old, was recently allocated $80 million to address ongoing issues.

The most extensive renewal project to be undertaken in the building is the removal and replacement of the original hot water pipes dating from the 1960s. As WBUR reports, many of the pipes are inaccessible and completely encased in concrete.

"We've actually had to core into that concrete just to be able to repair and actually identify the leak," Boston’s commissioner of property management Eamon Shelton told the outlet. As a result, the city has budgeted $13.5 million for the pipes project alone.

Other repair and renewal projects include the replacement of all lights in the building with energy-efficient LEDs, plans to...

Inside the new BAFTA headquarters by Benedetti Architects

2023-06-20T19:54:00-04:00

Benedetti Architects has offered an insight into the new headquarters for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in London. The Grade II listed building has seen a comprehensive expansion and re-design with a budget of £33 million (USD 42 million).

Photo credit: Jim Stephenson

Photo credit: Rory Mulvey

The resulting 26,500-square-foot revamp includes “state-of-the-art spaces with maximum flexibility, balancing the charity’s educational work with members’ needs and revenue.” The design included accessibility and systems upgrades, including a doubled WC capacity and enhanced fire safety, energy performance, acoustics, thermal comfort, and useability.

Photo credit: Thomas Alexander

Photo credit: Luca Piffaretti

Facilities within the building include two theaters holding 227 and 41 seats, respectively, as well as a banqueting hall, four kitchens, multi-purpose event and exhibition spaces, a members’ bar and restaurant area, a new skylit boardroom containing historic materia...

Iraq's Mosul Cultural Museum partially reopens following yearslong restoration

2023-06-12T18:01:00-04:00

The Mosul Cultural Museum was targeted and almost destroyed by the so-called Islamic State (Isis) when the terrorist group took over the Iraqi city in 2014. Less than a decade later, the partially restored museum has restarted its activities once again.

The museum won’t fully reopen until the reconstruction is completed in 2026 following the plans of its original architect, Mohamed Makiya. It joins a slate of other important restoration projects in the city, led by the somewhat controversial UNESCO-backed reconstructions of Al-Nouri Mosque, Our Lady of the Hour Church, and some 124 historic houses.

Several tens of thousands of buildings in Mosul are believed to have been severely damaged or destroyed during the three-year ISIS occupation.

The Art Newspaper also reports that the World Monuments Fund has signed on to oversee the museum project, which will at least partially undo changes made to the museum in 2008.

Nakagin Capsule Tower capsules see new life following building's demolition in 2022

2023-06-09T15:11:00-04:00

The removal and restoration initiative was led by the Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Restoration Project, which was established in 2014. The landmark building, a beacon for the Metabolism architecture movement, was demolished in April 2022.

According to TokyoArtBeat, "After the demolition, 23 capsules were removed and restored under the supervision of Kisho Kurokawa Architects and Associates, and since March, they have been transported to the new locations."

Previously on Archinect: The fate of Nakagin Capsule Tower's pods is getting a little clearer in Toyko

Two capsules are reportedly heading to a project called "SHUTL" by Japanese entertainment company Shochiku. They will be reimagined as creative spaces where contemporary artists can exhibit work, sell art and crafts, and use them for events.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by 中銀カプセルタワービル保存・再生プロジェクト/Nakagin Capsule Tower (@nakagin_capsule_tower)

Another company, Yodogawa Steel Works, Ltd., ...

Mario Botta details La Scala makeover for the NYT

2023-05-02T19:33:00-04:00

The work has been about creating a dialogue between the 18th century and modernity. This theater was born as a space to create dreams, illusions, adventures. It’s still a place of collective imagination. But to effectively make it work today, it needed to be much more flexible and capable than what existed in the 1700s. It had run out of space to perform effectively. We’ve created a series of elements designed to make the theater function for the 2000s.

The Swiss architect began his two-phase restoration in January 2002. It has been the subject of controversy since that time, owing to its scale and derivation from the city council tender approvals process. The project highlights the delicate line between preservation and the ambits of a figure such as Botta, whose deference to the past has always been expressed in materials such as terra cotta and Botticino marble.

To that score, Botta says his approach to design has evolved to be a sort of commentary on the "confrontation between times [...] A collage of different language," adding we’ve "lost the capacity to express the true value of architecture."

"I find that architecture is always a sacred act, because it transforms nature and it represents our entire world," he states at the end of the NYT interview. "The architecture of sacred spaces is very close to the architecture of theaters or museums. You’re trying to create a type of value and strength. You’re attempting to embody a ...

In a turnaround, French officials say Notre Dame’s restoration will not be ready in time for the Olympics

2023-03-06T17:38:00-05:00

Notre-Dame Cathedral's spire will be back in place by the end of the year, but a full reopening following the devastating fire of 2019 will not happen before next year's Paris Olympic Games. The reconstruction is still on track for completion by the end of 2024, the culture ministry told AFP. But the sharp spire, added by architect Eugene Viollet-Le-Duc during the cathedral's redesign in the 19th century, will be back in place by the end of 2023, the ministry said.

This setback constitutes a major blow to French President Emmanuel Macron’s lofty initial promise to have the restoration work completed in time for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. Spectators had called into question whether or not the goal was feasible or even salutary from the beginning, particularly because of the water retained in the vaulted ceilings and other structural issues related to the composition of the stone.

Previously on Archinect: France’s Culture Ministry says Notre Dame is still on track to reopen in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics

The spire itself was the subject of a debate within the country. Prime Minister Édouard Philippe’s preference for a new version that was “adapted to the techniques and the challenges of our era” eventually got scrapped in favor of a more historically accurate construction made of timber and lead elements in line with the government’s mandate to restore Notre-Dame to its its “last known visual state.”

France 24 reported th...

Howard University begins Myrtilla Miner Building restoration, initiating $785 million campus master plan

2023-02-10T14:35:00-05:00

To kick off February, Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick announced at a groundbreaking ceremony the start of extensive renovations to the school’s historic, 109-year-old Myrtilla Miner Building. This restoration marks the start of Howard University’s $785 million Central Campus Master Plan, the largest campus development project in the school’s history.

As noted by Howard University, preservation and sustainability are at the core of the institution’s real estate development initiatives. When renovations are complete, the Miner Building will serve as a shared space for the university's School of Education and Middle School of Mathematics and Science.

Work will be conducted mainly on the building’s interior. Significant architectural features, such as the building’s two-story arched windows, limestone baseboards in corridors, and two grand staircases that rise from the ground floor to the second floor, are being preserved.

Previously on Archinect: Howard University an...

Glasgow School of Art enters Phase 2 of its Mackintosh Building restoration

2023-01-27T16:49:00-05:00

The first phase of preparation work for the rebuild of the Glasgow School of Art Mackintosh Building has been completed. More than 5,500 tons of fire-damaged material was removed from the site, and a thorough evaluation of the building was undertaken.

Shortly following a devastating fire that caused widespread damage to the historic structure in June of 2018, work began to dismantle parts of the building that were at risk of sudden collapse. At the time of the blaze, the Mackintosh Building had been undergoing extensive restoration due to an earlier fire that damaged the site in 2014.

Previously on Archinect: Work to dismantle the dangerous parts of the Mackintosh Building is underway

Following the completion of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s investigation into the cause of the fire, which was deemed undetermined, the Glasgow School of Art was able to focus on identifying what could be retained and disposed of in the structure. This was done in parallel with undertaking a St...

Brooklyn’s historic Domino Sugar Factory restoration lights up with signs of progress

2022-12-28T13:29:00-05:00

A beloved monument returned to the Brooklyn skyline without pomp or circumstance last night when the Domino Sugar sign was quietly relit atop the Thomas Havemeyer building’s new barrel vaulted glass roof, illuminating the Williamsburg waterfront for the first time in eight years. It also marked one last milestone in 2022 for redevelopment at the former refinery, which was last open to the public in 2014

Meanwhile, PAU’s portion of the $250 million Domino Sugar Factory project is nearing completion with the placement of the structural steelwork required to support the 27,000-square-foot glass addition slotted into its 140-year-old interior.

Image © Wes Tarca

New York YIMBY also reported that construction of the reinforced concrete core is complete as well. The tree-lined and column-free office portion is yet to be fully leased in spite of the space’s considerable marketability. The full restoration is expected to be ready sometime in the next year.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro issues update on historic Frank Lloyd Wright theater revitalization in Dallas

2022-12-12T18:50:00-05:00

Diller Scofidio + Renfro has shared new project details and a flythrough animation for their planned revitalization of the 63-year-old Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas.

The project’s scope revolves around a “faithful reinterpretation of Wright’s original design intent” that calls for the removal of several decades worth of accumulated additions; creation of a new “theater arts complex” outside that includes a new performance venue, two pavilions, and a 100-seat black box theater; demolition of the existing Heldt Building; and further development of the William B. Dean Park with an emphasis on “stitching” the site with the popular nearby Katy Trail and Turtle Creek attractions.

Image courtesy Diller Scofidio + Renfro

According to a press release, the final plans will be submitted to the city no later than December 31st of this year. Chicago-based preservation specialists Harboe Architects is also involved with the planning team, helping to restore the so...

Notre Dame's 'shocking' interior cleaning is sparking a debate about methods used in architectural restoration

2022-11-22T14:19:00-05:00

The current cleaning phase involves the application of a latex paste to the interior stonework. After a few days, the latex can be peeled off, bringing with it accumulated dust and dirt. Speaking to The Times in September Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect of French national historic monuments, said that once completed the cathedral would be “luminous”.

The peel-off material is similar to the Arte Mundit product that was used controversially in a restoration of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London 20 years ago, although The Art Newspaper reported it does not include the EDTA or harmful ammonia that is often mixed in with latex as a stabilizer.

Image: David Bordes, via Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris/Facebook

The “shock” described by the restoration's leader, French Army General Jean-Louis Georgelin, that comes after its removal could prove too much for hardcore originalists, combing with equally derided LED lighting and other new age interior features designed by Father Gilles Drouin to create a Disney-like atmosphere they claim is a distortion of the 850-year-old relic and the Catholic tradition.

Image: David Bordes, via Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris/Facebook

“The really important questions in restoration are not, in essence, technical, they are aesthetic and historic and artistic,” ArtWatch UK director Michael Daly told The Times. “The quest...

Portland State University enlists Australian architect to develop Indigenous Center and surrounding oak savanna

2022-10-13T10:02:00-04:00

Kevin O’Brien, an acclaimed Indigenous architect from Australia, has embarked on a year-long collaboration with Portland State University. His involvement centers on the restoration of a campus oak savanna and the design-build of a facility at the site that will host the school’s Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) program.

O’Brien joins the University’s School of Architecture as its 2022 Distinguished Visiting Professor. He will lead a one-week Indigenous design methods workshop for undergraduate and graduate students. He will also meet with students in PSU’s Indigenous Nations Studies program, engage with architects from local firms, and host a public lecture. As stated on PSU’s website, “O'Brien will challenge students to rethink their assumptions about architecture's relationship to the land, how they imagine the city, and how we learn through doing.”

The Queensland-based architect works as a Principal at Australian practice BVN Architecture. He als...

Peek inside the slick new gallery spaces at the reopened Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp

2022-09-28T13:16:00-04:00

Today, it appears unchanged from the outside. But an entirely new building has been inserted within the existing footprint. Twenty-first century white cube galleries have been incorporated into the original structure, increasing the exhibition space by 40%.

Following a major 11-year-long, $96 million restoration led by Rotterdam-based firm KAAN Architecten, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) finally reopened in Belgium.

Photo: Karin Borghouts

KAAN Architecten’s work combined a renovation of the 19th-century neoclassical museum building, originally designed by Belgian architects Jean-Jacques Winders and Frans Van Dijk, with the addition of a contemporary extension nestled within the original structure. The firm revived the original colors, materials, and routing of the historic space.

Photo: Karin Borghouts

The new interior building is defined by white exhibition halls, long staircases, hidden rooms, and daylight provided through four light wells.

Take a look at interior shots of the new gallery spaces below.

Photo: Karin Borghouts

Brazil has turned a corner in its yearslong National Museum restoration project

2022-09-02T18:34:00-04:00

Four years after a devastating blaze wiped out the majority of its incredible 20 million-object collection, the rebuilding of Brazil’s fire-damaged National Museum has reached an important construction milestone in Rio de Janeiro.

According to The Art Newspaper, local firms Velatura Restaurações and Construtora Biapó have now completed the restoration of the historic facade and expect the building to be completely reopened sometime in 2027. The upgraded facilities will eventually include an extra 2,100 square meters (22,604 square feet) of exhibition space with capacity for the display of up to 10,000 items.

Previously on Archinect: National Museum in Rio De Janeiro suffers massive fire after reported neglect

H+F Architects, the team behind its interior restoration, said of the eventual finished product: “There will be a more contemporary atmosphere, with a mixture of elements conserved and restored.”

They also mentioned that the fire apparently served as a “violent intervention” ...

SCI-Arc founding director Ray Kappe’s first Los Angeles area home hits the market in Glendale

2022-08-26T14:33:00-04:00

A historically significant mid-century modern home designed by SCI-Arc founding director Ray Kappe has hit the market in Glendale, California, for an asking price of just under $2.2 million.

The Pasadena Star is reporting the recent listing of Kappe’s Goetschel House, a 1954 commission that was recently restored to reflect its original design by HabHouse owner Andreas E.G. Larsson. Thanks to an archive of Kappe’s drawings and sketches for the home kept at the Getty Research Institute, Larsson hastened a yearlong renovation that added new elements such as a pergola and an outdoor shower to the property, which had been partly demolished. At the end of the restoration, the home had appreciated in value by nearly seven figures over the original sale price of $1.33 million.

Image: Cameron Carothers courtesy Unique California Property

The residence was the first designed ...

$4.5 million will open Isamu Noguchi’s private studio for the first time

2022-08-23T13:04:00-04:00

A recent $4.5 million capital grant from New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs will open the former studio of legendary sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi to the public for the first time, according to The Art Newspaper.

The 3,200-square-foot, 60-year-old warehouse space is located across the street from the eponymous museum in Long Island City, Queens, and served as his private workshop and pied-à-terre for many years following a move from Manhattan’s Greenwich Village in 1961.

The Museum’s Director, Brett Littman, says it was “the center of his artistic practice in New York for nearly three decades.” The space was eventually retrofitted by Noguchi collaborator Yukio Madokoro to include a living room, sleeping area, and kitchen space separated by concrete blocks and fiberglass Shoji screens. Noguchi used the studio until his death in 1988.

Previously on Archinec...

LA's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House to reopen on August 18th

2022-08-10T12:58:00-04:00

Los Angeles' historic Hollyhock House will reopen to the public on Aug. 18, city officials announced. LA City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell and the Department of Cultural Affairs will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony that day to celebrate the return of in-person, self-guided tours.

The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home closed its doors at the start of the pandemic in early 2020. During this time, LA's Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) embarked on “significant transformations” at the Hollyhock House and Residence A, a guest house (also designed by Wright) located at the same site. The property saw conservation work on its cast stone, art glass windows, woodwork, and landscape. In addition, the home’s prominent fireplace was restored, and two Wright-designed sofas were reinstalled.

Previously on Archinect: Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House to reopen once again in February

The reopening aligns with the centennial of the iconic home, which was constructed between 1919 and 1921. Wright’s first LA project, it is the city’s first and only UNESCO World Heritage Site .

The Hollyhock House has undergone a significant renewal before: From 2005 to 2015, it was subject to an extensive renovation process, which focused on restoring the home and its details to its origi...

Design-versus-reality images show ODA's transformation of historic Rotterdam post office

2022-05-11T11:53:00-04:00

New photographs have been released showing construction progress at POST Rotterdam, documenting the restoration and reinvention of a historic post office in the Dutch city. Designed by ODA with Omnam Group, the project sees the 100-year-old building transformed into a hotel, with accompanying retail, restaurants, two public plazas, and a 155-meter (500-foot) tall residential tower.

Among the architectural features showcased in the new images are the Great Hall, a 22.5-meter (75-foot) high vaulted room dating from 1916. Working with Braaksma & Roos Architectenbureau, the team has preserved and restored the space, whose ultimate role will be to serve as the project’s “public heart.” To make the hall more accessible, a new entrance is being added via a piazza-style courtyard from a former service entrance.

The G...

Albert Frey’s futuristic Aluminaire House is still holed up in desert storage limbo

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

The Albert Frey Aluminaire House that was donated and shipped to the Palm Springs Art Museum about five years ago will remain disassembled in its shipping container for at least another year or longer. Key issues raised by the city may keep visitors from ever walking through the Aluminaire House, even when reconstructed.

Frey’s experimental 1931 house (created in partnership with A. Lawrence Kocher) first came into the museum’s coffers in 2020 after a six-year bout in storage and a $600,000 gift, which was supposed to go towards its permanent installation on a corner plot on the Palm Springs Art Museum’s campus.

The PSAM and its staff are however working closely with DW Johnson to address previously unforeseen mandates for ADA accessibility and temperature control, a process which will involve the refabrication of many of its metal panels and cost upwards of $2 million, according to the director’s statements in The Desert Sun.

Previously on Archinect: Albert Frey's Aluminaire House acquired by the Palm Springs Art Museum

“There’s a big difference between a building that’s installed temporarily for an exhibition and a permanent building,” museum director Adam Lerner explained of his institutional predicament. “[It] is like somebody left a puppy at your doorstep. And you’re like, well, I have other p...

UNESCO's restoration of Iraq's historic Al-Nouri mosque site has been placed on hold

2022-04-18T14:07:00-04:00

The UNESCO-led effort to restore the historic Al-Nouri Mosque in Mosul has come to a halt this week after recent discoveries and feedback from the community have prompted a change of direction from the cultural agency.

The Art Newspaper reports that the restoration was placed on hold after months of highly public criticism leading up to January’s discovery of a 12th-century prayer hall and ritual ablution rooms underneath the mosque’s interior core.

The original plans. Rendering by Salah El Din Samir Hareedy and team

The team of Egyptian architects selected last spring to oversee the overhaul will now redraw its plans for a glass-paneled modern update to the hall. Other major changes are reported to include the scrapping of a car park in favor of a new Institute for Islamic Art and Architecture and the re-installation of original the original brick pattern to form the mosque’s famed “hunchback” minaret. Exterior elements like sun shading will be thrown out as well. The Sunni religio...

Italy launches unprecedented anti-seismic plan to protect churches under threat from earthquakes

2022-03-30T14:51:00-04:00

Cathedrals, churches and basilicas across Italy are at risk of being razed by earthquakes that could strike at any moment. But the government is on a mission to protect some of the country’s most significant and vulnerable religious buildings from disastrous seismic shocks. A new national project backed with €250m from Italy’s multibillion-euro pot of EU Covid-19 recovery funding is unprecedented in Europe for its scale and reach, officials believe.

In one of Europe’s most earthquake-prone countries, the anti-seismic plan will allow the Italian culture ministry’s heritage safety department to distribute resources around the country that will mitigate the impact of future disasters. Straps and chains will be wrapped around bell towers and shock-absorbing blocks will be fixed to foundations. Project grants will be assigned to around 250 of the 840 structures owned by Italy’s Religious Buildings Fund. The ministry will assess buildings based on their historical value, importance for local communities, and vulnerability to damage.

This initiative is backed by Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, a €191.5 billion ($213.7 billion) investment package from the EU focused on addressing judicial, administrative, and energy reform. Funds are being channeled into “macro-projects” aimed at preserving and rejuvenating Italy’s cultural sector....

New video tells the story of a dissolving house saved by a record-breaking metal box

2022-02-10T11:47:00-05:00

In a rainy region of western Scotland, an architectural masterpiece has been given a new lease of life. Built in 1904, the Hill House is regarded as one of the most iconic residential homes to be designed by the famous architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. After over a century, however, the masterpiece mansion is feeling its age.

The Hill House Box, designed by Carmody Groarke, was completed in 2019. Now, a new video by British YouTuber Tom Scott offers new insights into the original building, the issue with its façade, and the architectural intervention undertaken to save it, including interviews with the building's managers.

Due to the wet, windy climate common to Scotland’s west coast, many buildings in the region are clad in a lime coating infused with small stones and pebbles. Once dried, the mixture forms a weatherproof layer to protect the building’s external walls from the elements. However, for the Hill House, Mackintosh departed from convention and replaced the lime coati...