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I think all tall buildings, especially, have a kind of responsibility that goes beyond the program and the site. Because once you emerge into the skyline in a significant way, which this building will, the skyline is almost viewed, I think, by us New Yorkers as public property. If you put up a terrible profile on the skyline, everybody has to look at it from uptown, downtown, Long Island, New Jersey. And it’s very subjective. — The New York Times
The firm's forthcoming 1,002-foot supertall, which we first previewed back in February, is ramping up construction towards completion in 2026. Its language of setbacks and arches is a nod to other towers shaped by the famous 1916 zoning envelope mandate that produced the Chrysler Building and many... View full entry
KPF and Heatherwick Studio’s collaboration on the new Changi Airport Terminal 5 is set for take off in Singapore after officials there announced plans for to break ground on the $10 billion project in the first half of 2025. Once it is ready by the mid-2030s, the terminal will serve around... View full entry
The plan from Kohn Pedersen Fox for a major redevelopment of the 42-story Norman Foster-designed 8 Canada Square tower in London (opened in 2003 and currently leased by HSBC) has gone public for the first time. The project, which commences in 2027, is expected to be realized at 1.1 million... View full entry
Kohn Pedersen Fox has designed a new state-of-the-art research and academic facility that will deliver Columbia Universty’s first purpose-built, all-electric lab building for the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. The project will augment Columbia’s Plan 2030 for achieving campus-wide... View full entry
A new project in Detroit from Kohn Pedersen Fox will deliver the University of Michigan's Center for Innovation (UMCI), a six-story academic research and teaching facility that is expected to open by the spring of 2027. Construction has already commenced for the $250 million development, which... View full entry
Kohn Pedersen Fox has completed Terminal A of the Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Formerly named Abu Dhabi International, the new complex will serve up to 45 million passengers per year, doubling the airport’s previous capacity. Image credit: Victor Romero Image credit: Victor... View full entry
KPF has released new images of a supertall tower currently under construction in Midtown Manhattan. Named 520 Fifth Avenue, the tower rises 1,000 feet to “strike a distinctive presence on the most famous skyline in the world and rub shoulders with distinguished architectural icons,” according... View full entry
The design of KPF’s Tower 36 has been approved by the Miami Urban Development Review Board. Developed in collaboration with architect of record ODP Architecture & Design, the 922,000-square-foot tower will hold both office and retail functions. Image credit: Atchain, courtesy of KPF Externally... View full entry
Following last week’s look at an opening for a Facilities Accessibility planner at Yale University, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an opportunity on Archinect Jobs for a Junior Video Editor-Producer at KPF. The role, based in New York, calls for an... View full entry
Progress on the 5 World Trade Center (5WTC) project by KPF moves forward after a press conference announcement on July 27 from New York Governor Kathy Hochul. In an effort to build more affordable housing in Lower Manhattan, the news reported by The Real Deal states that the... View full entry
It is also the rare skyscraper designed with climate change in mind. It holds a self-contained, catastrophe-resilient power plant capable of generating as much energy as six football fields of solar panels. The building captures every drop of rain that falls on it, and reuses that runoff to heat or cool its 9,000 daily visitors.
But One Vanderbilt is also something else. It is already out of date.
— The New York Times
New York City’s recent ban on fossil fuels is making the green technology built into the merely two-year-old KPF-designed tower obsolete in terms of energy sources, the NYT's Ben Ryder Howe writes. Foster + Partners’ nearby 270 Park project is cited as an example of the forthcoming... View full entry
But joining the fraternity of cities with supertalls can also be a dubious distinction: Real estate is a lagging indicator, and skyscrapers often arrive after the boom is over, looming half-empty as monuments to a bust. Others, however, are convinced that Austin’s high-rise stampede is just getting started.
Given the city’s emerging significance as a next-gen manufacturing hub this building boom could defy the skyscraper effect.
— Bloomberg
With a slate of high-rises and supertalls, including KPF’s Waterline design and the record-setting Wilson Tower from HKS in the works, Bloomberg asks if the pace of development can be sustained amidst tech’s downturn and the annals of urban economic history. The salvation apparently lies... View full entry
The ever-changing skyline of Texas’ eccentric state capital is getting another pair of new additions after Hudson Yards developer Related Companies announced plans this month for two new separate Austin office buildings designed by Gensler and KPF. Related says both projects will be located in... View full entry
KPF and Heatherwick Studio have offered an update on the design of Changi Airport’s Terminal 5 in Singapore. Described by the designers as a “bold re-imagination of the airport paradigm,” the new terminal will increase the airport’s capacity by 50 million annual passengers. KPF and... View full entry
In our 2021 feature titled Meet the Architects Designing Software to Fight Climate Change, we explored the intersection between architecture and web development by speaking to four firms who have internally developed software to support their design process. Among the firms we spoke to was... View full entry