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Marvel proposes new Maritime, Business, Research, and Innovation Center for Puerto Rico

2023-04-25T18:13:00-04:00

Marvel Architects has unveiled their proposal for a new research facility in the rural Puerto Rican community of Ceiba.

The plan for the island’s Maritime, Business, Research, and Innovation Center (MBRIC) calls for the addition of a new landmark building at the site of a former U.S. Coast Guard-operated pier looking out over the Straight of Vieques.

Image courtesy Marvel

The oval building at the center of the proposal is elevated to avoid flooding and will encase an undisclosed research mission, highlighted by improved site access, research decks, and enhanced vegetation.

Marvel says: “In shape as well as in intent, the proposed designs draw inspiration from the reference to atolls as natural restorative responses to nature events of volcanic activity and erosion.”

Image courtesy Marvel

A series of restorative site improvements extends the surrounding mangrove further toward the shoreline in order to protect its status as a natural habitat and increase its ability to serve as a na...

Meet Tribeca all-rounders Marvel: Your Next Employer?

2022-11-14T08:43:00-05:00

Following last week’s visit to Los Angeles-based RIOS, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to New York City this week, where we meet multi-disciplinary studio Marvel.

From their studios in New York City, Richmond, Virginia, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, the firm has produced several projects previously featured on our editorial. Last month, we covered Marvel's $26 million renovation project at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, while in September, we reported on the firm's housing prototypes for hurricane resilience. 2022 has also seen Marvel offer an update on their new Brooklyn Public Library, which was designed in collaboration with Gensler.

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for several positions in their New York City office. For candidates interested in applying for a position, or anybody interested in learning more about life at an architecture studio, we spoke with Marvel associate in urban planning Ishita Gaur for a behind-the-scenes look at the firm....

Marvel reveals $26 million renovation project at The Bronx Museum of the Arts

2022-10-27T17:42:00-04:00

The Bronx Museum of the Arts has just announced a two-year, $26 million overhaul of the museum’s now 50-year-old 165th Street and Grand Concourse location.

Led by Marvel and overseen by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the overhaul will include changes to the original 1962 synagogue structure’s entrance and lobby area to coincide with a rebranding campaign authored by Brooklyn-based independent design studio Team.

Renderings of the proposed upgrades appear to show a unification of the building’s North and South wings through the South Atrium, with a new "reimagined, spacious lobby" that includes street-facing displays for rotating exhibitions, expanded seating areas, and a "community gathering space" similar in concept to the anchoring "living room" David Adjaye is in the process of creating for the new Studio Museum in Harlem nearby.

Image courtesy Marvel

Materials like folded copper bronze panel roofs add tonality and provide a reflection of the Grand Co...

Resilient housing prototypes designed by Marvel Architects utilized a range of self-sustaining strategies to survive Hurricane Fiona

2022-09-23T12:00:00-04:00

After Hurricane Fiona tore through Puerto Rico on Sunday [Sept. 18], roads in the small mountain city of Caguas—hit with more than 20 inches of rain—were underwater. Landslides washed away some streets. As on the rest of the island, the electric grid went down, and it wasn’t clear how many homes had been damaged or destroyed. But in two new prototype homes, the electricity stayed on.

The prototypes are single-family homes completely off-grid with electricity and potable water. They were designed by New York City and Puerto Rico-based Marvel Architects and paid for by nonprofit Acacia Network. The homes utilize hurricane and seismic-resistant components, which include an insulated concrete panel system that has shown to be just as if not more effective against earthquakes than traditional concrete block construction. They also employ passive design strategies, allowing natural cross ventilation, heat extraction, and shade. In addition, the structures are modular so that they can adapt to a variety of locations and square footage.

Jonathan Marvel, the firm's founder, addressed the cost of these resilient homes with Fast Company's Adele Peters stating, "I don't want to say 'affordable,' because the average Puerto Rican income is below the level of poverty in the United States. So this is a housing system that's going to require assistance to build." Marvel added th...

The Bronx's Universal Hip Hop Museum gets a 2024 opening date

2022-08-15T19:35:00-04:00

An opening date has been set for S9 Architecture’s Universal Hip Hop Museum (UHHM) project in the South Bronx.

Located on the site claiming to be the birthplace of hip hop, the new $80 million museum, which is part of a larger $349 million mixed-use residential development called Bronx Point, will open sometime in 2024. According to Hyperallergic, the museum is being developed by Bronx native Rocky Bucano alongside Microsoft and MIT professor D. Fox Harrell to create an immersive and “technologically advanced interactive museum experience.”

May 2022 construction photo of the Bronx Point development. Image courtesy the Universal Hip Hop Museum via Facebook

Phase One of the Bronx Point development is expected to be completed by the end of next year. In total, the 22-story building will include over 1,000 residential units (around 540 of which are considered affordable), the museum (the exhibition spaces of which are designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates with the Hip Hop Architect, Mic...

Gensler and Marvel's new Brooklyn Public Library development creates 'spaces for families not just to read, but to engage'

2022-06-09T15:23:00-04:00

Some big names were on hand last week to celebrate the opening of Gensler and Marvel’s noteworthy new Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) branch in the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights.

The upgrades now make it the second-largest in the BPL’s system and are part of a larger $52 million land-sale funded push that brings with it 114 units of off-site affordable housing at the site and a suite of upgrades and repairs to nine other branches. BPL President and CEO Linda Johnson called it “the most important rebuilding” in the 125-year history of the institution. New York Mayor Eric Adams was present to note the development’s tie-ins with his political vision of rebuilding and housing policy that will go a long way in reshaping America's largest city over the next few years.

Image © Gregg Richards/Courtesy of Brooklyn Public Library.

“With monumental windows on three sides, the double-height reading room is flooded with natural light dur...

Construction of New York City's first borough-based jail underway in Queens

2021-07-16T17:17:00-04:00

Construction on NYC's first borough-based jail is officially underway, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced. Work on the Kew Gardens, Queens facility marks the first major move to build four smaller and "more humane" jails in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. The $8.3 billion effort comes via the Borough-Based Jails Program, a controversial plan passed by the City Council in October 2019, aimed at closing the 10 jails now in operation on Rikers Island.

The new, approximately 105-foot-tall structure will include a 25,000-square-foot, two-level, multi-purpose community space, along with a 600-car public parking garage. The 866-bed facility will replace the current Queens Detention Complex, which is located adjacent to Queens Borough Hall and the Queens Criminal Courthouse.

The parking garage and community space will feature a partially planted green roof, solar panels, and on-site stormwater retention. This portion of the project is expected to qualify for LEED Gold certification for environmental sustainability.

The NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) is managing the overall Borough-Based Jails program citywide. The Queens jail is being created by a design-build team consisting of Hunter Roberts Construction Group and architecture firms Marvel and Urbahn Architects. Work on the project is expected to complete in early 2023.

Procurement and early site preparation activities are ongoing for the other three Borough-Based...

Brooklyn Navy Yard reveals expanded master plan

2018-10-01T18:26:00-04:00

This week, the Navy Yard released new renderings and an expanded master plan that shows a 30-year plan for the complex. Developed with the multidisciplinary design firm WXY, the master plan includes three new buildings totaling 5.1 million square feet [...]. The plan also includes increased public access to the complex, including retail and open space, and improved wayfinding and circulation. The expected cost is $2.5 billion, coming on the heels of a nearly complete $1 billion expansion.

Curbed New York has a lengthy piece up about the recently unveiled new master plan for the 300-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard megadevelopment.

Rendering: bloomimages; Image via BNYDC/WXY architecture + urban design

Members of the public are invited to join a series of tours of new projects (including BLDG 77 & New Lab by Marvel Architects as well as S9 Architecture's newly opened Dock 72) and a presentation of the new master plan by representatives from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and WXY + architecture + design tomorrow, October 2, from 4 – 7:30pm. The event Anchoring Manufacturing: Brooklyn Navy Yard is presented by the Urban Design Forum and requires prior registration.

Rendering: bloomimages; Image via BNYDC/WXY architecture + urban design

Architect of the Tropical, Dies at 80

2015-12-07T04:00:00-05:00

Using local materials whenever possible, including cement mined from local limestone mountains, he designed stylish buildings sensitive to their tropical island settings. He preferred natural ventilation to air-conditioning; he also liked to use natural light and incorporate gardens into his structures.

Thomas S. Marvel, died in early November, at his home in San Juan, P.R. He was 80.

For more read this post by Marvel Architects (his son Jonathan Marvel is a Founding Principal). Also, check out an older article in NYT, which explores the relationship/partnership between father and son.