Archinect - News

Mellon Foundation bestows $1.5 million to Storefront for Art and Architecture

2024-03-20T14:18:00-04:00

A new grant worth a total of $1.5 million has been awarded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to New York’s Storefront for Art and Architecture. The 42-year-old space in Manhattan's Nolita district will use the funding to expand its programming over three years while supporting the organization's pursuit of new hires.

Speaking in a press release, Storefront's Chief Curator José Esparza Chong Cuy stated: "Storefront has been devoted to public life and to chronicling the changes in diverse built environments through critical artistic practice for over forty years, and this funding will enable us to expand its grassroots legacy by creating even more opportunities for engagement and collaboration on many scales."

Esparza Chong Cuy has been serving in the role since the departure of Eva Franch i Gilabert in October 2018.

Storefront has recently unveiled Swamplands, a three-artist exhibition and research series focused on the politics of water use and the Gulf of Mexico. The premiere exh...

Tizziana Baldenebro will lead the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation as its next executive director

2024-02-29T17:35:00-05:00

The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF)’s search for a new organizational leader has culminated in the appointment of Tizziana Baldenebro as its next executive director following a national search that began this fall.

Baldenebro, who replaces the long-tenured and well-admired Cynthia Phifer Kracauer, has past experience as the director of SPACES, a 45-year-old nonprofit that was founded to encourage community engagement with the arts in northeast Ohio.

Baldenebro was, along with other members of SPACES, most recently a co-curator of last year’s U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale and comes to the position informed by her childhood in Los Angeles and subsequent experiences in cities like Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago.

"We are thrilled to welcome Tizziana to our organization as she takes the helm in guiding us through our next phase of growth and advancement in championing women in architecture, engineering, construction, and related fields," Angelica T. Ba...

Eames Institute unveils new Eames Archives space in the Bay Area

2024-02-01T18:24:00-05:00

The nearly two-year-old Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity has shared news of its arrival in a new permanent home in the San Francisco Bay Area that will consolidate its archival collection under one roof for the first time.

The new location helps the Institute engage with the collection, which had until now been warehoused at the Eames Office global headquarters in Venice, California. The new Eames Archives will now be housed and exhibited in a gallery space located in Richmond, California, about 15 minutes north of Oakland.

Ray & Charles Eames. Image courtesy Eames Office

Plans had been originally to have the archive located at the Eames Institute’s ranch complex in nearby Sonoma County. Now, the nonprofit's first public space includes a Gallery, Collections Center, and Archives Study Center for its more than 40,000 artifacts overseen by dedicated on-site preservation specialists. A small gift shop bookends the experience. The Eames Institute says this is all vital to making it...

Philadelphia’s Center for Architecture and Design rebrands as DesignPhiladelphia

2024-01-31T19:51:00-05:00

Philadelphia’s Center for Architecture and Design has revealed its rebranding as DesignPhiladelphia, according to an announcement the educational nonprofit made public recently.

The name change heralds an expansion of services as an organization, which has been open to the public since 2002. AIA Philadelphia will continue as an anchor tenant, joined by the Community Design Collaborative, PhilaNOMA, Design Advocacy Group, Creative Mornings PHL, and eight new design associations as Residence Partners.

“The new name, DesignPhiladelphia, represents our commitment to inclusivity and collaboration across all design fields, including graphics, interiors, and more. Our programming: Design Education, the Festival, the Edmund N. Bacon Urban Design Awards, and the Louis I. Kahn Lecture will all continue underneath the new DesignPhiladelphia brand,” an FAQ on the Center’s website reads.

Former K-12 Architecture and Design Education programming will now be called simply Design Education progra...

Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation opens multi-use 'The Bev' HQ in Manhattan

2024-01-11T13:52:00-05:00

The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF) has opened a new headquarters space called The Bev in Manhattan it says will act as a “beacon for gender equity and innovation” just a few months removed from the passing of its trailblazing founder Beverly Willis at the age of 95.

The new, 2,000-square-foot multi-use space is meant to augment BWAF’s noted professional development, advocacy, and educational programs as well as provide space for its executive and support staff.

Located adjacent to the High Line and Hudson River Park in the SOM-designed Manhattan West development, the space was designed by SHoP Principal Angelica Baccon and overseen by Brookfield Properties Vice President of Design and Construction Sabrina Kanne. The space will also be used to host the BWAF's production of the award-winning New Angle: Voice podcast and special exhibitions, the first of which, the Yay Brigade-designed Pioneering Women of American Architecture, was launched recently.

Photo: Lucas Blair ...

Better Block Foundation, a nonprofit for open-source neighborhood design and ‘wikiblock’ urbanism, is hiring

2023-12-07T12:42:00-05:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for an Architect/Designer at Build Block, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Landscape Designer at the Better Block Foundation.

The role, based in Dallas, TX, “goes beyond the conventional office setting, requiring a genuine commitment to hands-on, physical work in the field,” according to the company. Among the responsibilities will be delivering site design and presentation materials, material sourcing and ordering, construction documents, and potential public speaking and development roles. “The Landscape Designer should be passionate about new urbanism and willing to swing a hammer, get paint on his/her clothing, answer volunteers’ questions, etc.,” the company adds. “This position is very hands-on.”

Before/After: Collaborative neighborhood placemaking. Image credit: The Better Block Foundation

Why the role interests us

The role at the Better Block Foundation offer...

The Mellon Foundation's Monuments Project expands with $500 million commitment

2023-11-28T14:27:00-05:00

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s influential Monuments Project is about to expand its reach thanks to a newly-announced commitment of $500 million to the now three-year-old initiative that has to date provided 80 projects worth a total of $170 million nationwide.

The amount effectively doubles the available resources from the original $250 million pool that was established at the outset. Reformers targeting America’s “commemorative landscape” have to date provided superlative examples of how to best repair the nation’s psychic wounds, including the forthcoming Memorial to the 1871 Chinese Massacre in Los Angeles and the recent Beyond Granite exhibition for the National Mall in Washington.

The money represents the Mellon Foundation’s largest-ever financial commitment and will be put towards further recognition of the contributions different marginalized groups have made to the United States from the Colonial era on.

Related on Archinect: The Mellon Foundation's Monuments Project aw...

Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation searches for new Executive Director after Cynthia Phifer Kracauer steps down

2023-11-15T11:37:00-05:00

Cynthia Phifer Kracauer, the well-respected longtime head of the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF), has announced she will be retiring from the organization at the end of December after serving as its executive director for more than seven years.

The announcement was made just a month after the passing of the organization’s pioneering namesake at the age of 95. Following this transition, the BWAF has initiated a search for a new Executive Director, a role that offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of architecture and design. Interested candidates can find more details and apply through Archinect Jobs.

Kracauer joined the organization in 2016 after serving as the Managing Director of AIA New York | Center for Architecture for ten years. There, she became a leader in many senses, helping to spearhead a number of award-winning initiatives while guiding the BWAF through the straits of the #MeToo movement and COVID-19. Kracauer has also taught at the University of ...

UW-Milwaukee SARUP appoints Krisann Rehbein as director of Community Design Solutions

2023-08-08T18:02:00-04:00

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s newly-formed College of the Arts and Architecture has announced its appointment of Chicago-based artist and nonprofit leader Krisann Rehbein as the new director of Community Design Solutions (CDS).

The position, which is organized within the School of Architecture and Urban Planning (SARUP), will engage with local community organizations to ensure the continued delivery of pro bono planning services such as the Turnkey Housing initiative and Green Schoolyards project that have, in addition to nearly 230 others, helped to garner praise for the institution over the past decade.

Mo Zell, the new ASCA President and Interim Dean of the College of the Arts and Architecture, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Krisann as the new director of CDS. Her vision for the future of the organization, which includes expanding the role that faculty will play in projects, and her expertise in design and community engagement will help advance the work of CDS and u...

Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation adds to leadership team in Chicago

2023-07-21T14:24:00-04:00

The celebrated ongoing restoration of Chicago’s St. Laurence elementary school by the Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation has added new leadership to support the $10.35 million project, which broke ground on the city’s South Side in May 2022.

The Foundation shares that Nonprofit Operations Strategist Racheal Allen, Special Collections Librarian Heather Hummons, and Director of Finance Mileak Harper have all been hired in support of the initiative, which seeks to “[support] artists of color and their livelihoods, while bringing new cultural resources into the South Side community.”

Once completed the project will deliver a total of 40,000-square-feet 40,000 square feet of artist studios, co-working floors, a research archive, classrooms, and spaces dedicated to various objects from the Foundation's own collection.

Previously on Archinect: Theaster Gates' newest community arts incubator breaks ground on Chicago's South Side

In a statement, Gates said: “Central to the redemption of St. L...

Michael Hsu Office of Architecture offers $20,000 pro-bono Design for All Partnership to south Texas nonprofits

2023-04-20T16:50:00-04:00

A unique new philanthropic initiative from Michael Hsu Office of Architecture (MHOA) is offering nonprofits in the Austin, Texas area the chance to win a $20,000 pro-bono consultation in the interests of providing much-needed space to organizations affected by the city’s rapid transformation into a new capital for America’s high-tech industries.

The firm recently announced it will be accepting design proposals for what is now its second iteration of the Design for All Partnership "seed program" that last year afforded the organization Austin Angels the chance to construct a new foster care facility at a vacant former church lot in the Buda neighborhood.

"A lot of these nonprofits are having a hard time finding affordable space," MHOA founder Hsu told the Austin Chronicle of his firm’s endeavor. "And there's all sorts of challenges in trying to build something even if they do find a space because it's so time-intensive. There's a lot of hidden costs, and part of this [partnership] i...

Rosalie Genevro steps down as The Arch League's Executive Director after 37 years

2022-09-23T14:35:00-04:00

A change has come to one of the industry’s oldest professional associations after The Architectural League of New York's Executive Director Rosalie Genevro announced on September 22 that she will be stepping down from the organization after more than 37 years in her post.

Genevro says she will depart next year to focus on a slate of issues connected to climate change and the construction industry. Since beginning her tenure in 1985, the League has vastly expanded its influential program to account for the onset of the digital age and radical changes in the broader currents of architecture as a professional enterprise, social endeavor, and field of academic study.

Among the initiatives she is credited with developing are the League’s award-winning Urban Omnibus publication, the Emerging Voices and Prize for Young Architects + Designers competitions, the ...

Grimshaw announces new foundation aimed at inclusivity, youth engagement

2022-07-12T06:00:00-04:00

The new charitable arm of Grimshaw Architects has been announced by its founder at an event held last week at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

The newly-formed Grimshaw Foundation is aimed at promoting inclusivity and will serve a broader purpose to “engage and encourage young people to discover the value of creativity and the inspiration of art.”

Its genesis is the product of more than a year’s worth of coordination between Grimshaw founder Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, the firm’s leadership, and an advisory committee that includes Bartlett honorary professor Neil Pinder.

Grimshaw Foundation board of trustees. Image courtesy Grimshaw Foundation

Speaking in a press release last week, the 82-year-old Grimshaw outlined his goals for the new entity, saying “what the Foundation will do is enable young people, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, to experience the art of making and the making of art and introduce more opportunities and different career paths — opening up th...

Maya Bird-Murphy and the Chicago Mobile Makers deepen their roots in community change with the opening of their new headquarters

2022-07-01T17:54:00-04:00

When reading through architectural media, it's easy for larger architecture firms or "prominent" names to rule headlines. However, many design practitioners and groups are making impactful changes in the industry and their communities beyond the media clout. This is the case for architectural designer, maker, and educator Maya Bird-Murphy, Founder and Executive Director of the Chicago Mobile Makers.

If you're familiar with the Oak Park, Illinois native, it's due to her work with Chicago's local youth and her team of designers and educators leading workshops in their hard-to-miss repainted UPS trucks.

What started as a thesis project for Bird-Murphy during her time at Boston Architectural College soon grew into the award-winning non-profit it is today. After reflecting on her own experiences as a Black female architecture student and designer working in firms, she saw the need to increase diversity within the industry. The architect/non-profit founder soon realized this change in re...

New Gehry-designed Children's Institute campus to officially open later this month in Watts

2022-06-09T19:15:00-04:00

The new 20,000-square-foot Children’s Institute (CII) campus in Los Angeles designed by Frank Gehry is set to open later this month. This is the non-profit’s first-ever purpose-built home in the community of Watts.

Located at Success Avenue and East 102nd Street in South Los Angeles, the $25.79 million campus functions to centralize CII’s operations in the area. It will provide space for 150 CII staff members and will house a range of therapeutic programs and free services for children and families, including toddler socialization, individual and group counseling, youth development activities, parenting workshops, workforce development/employment support, and Project Fatherhood sessions. The facility will also be home to community-based organizations Watts Gang Task Force and the LAPD Community Safety Partnership.

Children’s Institute Watts Campus, aerial view. Photo by Oltmans Construction Co. Courtesy of Children’s Institute

One of the primary goals of the project was to help stre...

Metallica and Carharrt team up in initiative to attract new generation of workers in skilled trades

2021-09-07T15:22:00-04:00

Workwear brand Carhartt has teamed up with heavy metal band Metallica’s nonprofit All Within My Hands foundation in an effort to attract a new generation of workers in the skilled trades.

Carhartt announced that it is donating all online sales made this past Labor Day to the foundation’s Metallica Scholars program, an initiative dedicated to providing skills and services to students who are looking to enter a traditional trade or other applied learning program. It also provides direct support to 23 schools through the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to enhance their career and technical education programs.

The Labor Day campaign recreates a 1981 “Musicians Wanted” ad that was placed in a Los Angeles newspaper by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, which ultimately led to the formation of the band.

“To build the workforce of the future, we need to connect more people to the training and education that helps fill essential jobs,” said Janet Ries, Vice President of Marke...

Airbnb responds to need for emergency housing with the launch of their new non-profit arm

2020-12-16T18:27:00-05:00

After Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012 an Airbnb host reached out to the billion-dollar online vacation rental company to propose an idea. The host asked if she could offer her home to people who had been evacuated to stay free of charge. Since then the team from Airbnb has evolved the host's selfless act and transformed it into a new method for "sharing space."

Fast forward to 2020 Airbnb has collaborated with hosts from across the globe to help provide shelter during natural disasters. During the Australian brushfires, hosts offered assistance to close to 1,000 people impacted by the fire. June led to the launch of the Open Homes initiative where the company "doubled down on its housing efforts" to assist those impacted by disaster or conflict. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit healthcare workers and first responders were provided housing while the donation component of Airbnb's Open Homes initiative continued to grow.

This month the company established Airbnb.org, a non-profit extensio...

Private funding for repairs and improvements could come to America's senior housing for the first time under new HUD rule

2019-08-01T19:09:00-04:00

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is close to finalizing a major reform of its extensive senior housing portfolio, allowing nonprofit owners of 125,000 apartments to tap private sources of financing for the first time. HUD built nearly 2,900 of these properties over the past three decades. Though owned by nonprofits, the federal government funded their construction and subsidized tenant rents.

The nation's recent crop of senior housing projects could see much-needed improvements come to reality as the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) loosens rules dictating where nonprofit building owners can draw funds from to make building repairs.

Tom Davis, director of the Office of Recapitalization at HUD told The Wall Street Journal, “Fundamentally what we’re trying to do is avoid the kind of capital backlog problem that other parts of the affordable housing portfolio have, like public housing."

Deborah Marton will lead the Van Alen Institute

2019-06-15T15:52:00-04:00

Deborah brings extensive experience to Van Alen in successfully mobilizing professionals across various sectors —architecture, urban design, ecology, public health--—to take an interdisciplinary approach that effects positive change, particularly among underserved communities.

Deborah Marton has been selected to lead the New York City-based Van Alen Institute as the group's new executive director. Marton will replace David van der Leer, who announced plans to step down in October 2018.

Marton is currently the executive director of the New York Restoration Project (NYRP), an environmental and social justice initiative founded by actress Bette Midler. Under Marton's tenure, NYRP completed its MillionTressNYC Program and secured the necessary resources to renovate all of its 52 community gardens, among other accomplishments.

In a press release announcing Marton's selection, Jared Della Valle, board chair of Van Alen, said, "[Marton] has clearly shown an ability to build on Van Alen’s multiple roles as instigator, convener, thought partner and catalyst, and communicated a strong desire to ensure we create demonstrable outcomes that will usher in our next 125 years.”

The Van Alen institute is currently celebrating its 125th anniversary. Marton is due to assum...

Finalists named for Portland's Broadway Corridor site

2018-03-15T18:22:00-04:00

Portland's urban renewal agency has named three finalists to shape the redevelopment of the soon-to-be-vacated downtown post office blocks. Not among them: a headline-grabbing but unlikely proposal for two massive skyscrapers, the taller of which would be nearly twice the height of any existing building in Portland.

Prosper Portland has selected 3 finalists for the 14 acre post office site located in the heart of the city: McWhinney, Related Cos., and Continuum Partners. It comes as no surprise that William Kaven's two tower proposal was not selected.

Broadway Corridor total development site of 32 acres in Portland. Image: Prosper Portland.

The redevelopment effort will include approximately 500 units of public housing developed by the Portland Housing Bureau and about 2,000 units of privately developed housing—of which 10 percent will include rent restrictions for low-income households.

The Colorado developer McWhinney has proposed a partnership with the James Beard Public Market, a food culture concept which would include 100 to 120 vendor stalls as well as full service restaurants. The New York developer Related Cos. has partnered with local real estate firm Melvin Mark Cos. and the homelessness nonprofit Central City Concern.

Australian architects mourn the loss of Paul Pholeros, renowned housing equality advocate for Aboriginal communities

2016-02-03T21:05:00-05:00

[Healthabitat, the non-profit Paul Pholeros co-founded,] developed a model called Housing for Health...working with Aboriginal communities, conducting a survey of all housing and completing urgent repairs using mainly local Indigenous contractors, and adding whatever upgrades or repairs they can afford until the money runs out. The organisation has improved more than 8,000 houses – a third of Australia’s Indigenous-controlled housing stock – and with them the lives of 55,000 people.

Anatomy of a non-profit: dissecting Architecture for Humanity's "death" and future

2016-01-12T17:38:00-05:00

This case study looks at the origins of, and factors that led to, the “death” of the best-known humanitarian architecture organization in the world. However, it will also reveal that AFH is regenerating via its worldwide network of chapters, which it had begun developing around 2004, and which gathered more formally under the name Architecture for Humanity Chapter Network upon AFH’s closure.

To get caught up on Architecture for Humanity's history as a non-profit:

Architecture for Humanity begins crowdsourced rebranding campaign

2015-09-04T15:33:00-04:00

Nine months after abruptly shutting down and filing for bankruptcy, Architecture for Humanity has begun a campaign in efforts to rebrand itself as a "collectively defined, collaboratively run, and inclusive" non-profit. Launched Tuesday, the AFH Chapter Network is gathering opinions and ideas worldwide in the form of video responses in a short survey until September 8. Participants will answer questions on how the new AFH should restructure its mission, value, and goals.

Once the responses are collected, the AFH Network will search for key findings alongside brand strategists at Skyrocket Digital and then work towards finding a new name for the organization.

The AFH Network posted their reasons for rebranding in a generalized list on WordPress:

A few reasons why we’re looking for a new name: We are a new organization: While the mission remains similar, we are focused on consensus building, professional development, and support for local groups to develop innovative business models w...

Lessons from the Front Lines of Social Design

2012-01-16T15:56:00-05:00

In the last decade, much has been written about architecture for the greater good, and it would seem that the field, as a whole, is invested in bringing design to underserved communities. Yet all of this talk — at conferences, in the press, at universities — has focused hardly at all on how to put together a career in social design.

On Places, Virginia Tech graduate Will Holman gives an honest report of his experiences volunteering, studying and working at Arcosanti, Rural Studio, and Youth Build. Does the architecture profession need to do more to support young architects who take this path?