Archinect - News

Holing up in hoity-toity hovels: doomsday architecture for the super-wealthy

2017-01-24T17:25:00-05:00

Trump is President, the climate is chaos, and the wealth gap is starting to qualify as its own national canyon. So if you've got vats of money and are afraid of all the people who don't, what do you do? Build doomsday architecture to survive the collapse of society! In this piece for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos investigates the luxury bunkers of folks who realize that they'll probably need to plan to take the family of the pilot of their private jet with them, for, you know, maintenance issues (sigh):

Hall led me through the garage, down a ramp, and into a lounge, with a stone fireplace, a dining area, and a kitchen to one side. It had the feel of a ski condo without windows: pool table, stainless-steel appliances, leather couches. To maximize space, Hall took ideas from cruise-ship design. We were accompanied by Mark Menosky, an engineer who manages day-to-day operations. While they fixed dinner—steak, baked potatoes, and salad—Hall said that the hardest part of the project was susta...

Is Shigeru Ban "Goodwashing" in Aspen?

2014-09-02T17:12:00-04:00

[Shigeru] Ban in Aspen represents a high-culture culmination of this goodwashing force. His museum, a beautiful structure faced with a woven screen and featuring a timber truss, uses his signature paper tubes non-structurally, as decoration in the corporate board room and the gift shop—all the style of his humanitarian work with none of the substance. -Dana Goodyear

The Best New Yorker Articles on Buildings, Cities, and Landscapes

2014-07-29T18:45:00-04:00

Cities that are growing and cities that are shrinking, climate change, environmental health and equity, resource scarcity, technological change — all demand that we rethink how we plan, design, construct, and maintain the built environment. These challenges also demand that serious design journalism and scholarship move from the margins to the center of the larger cultural discussion.

Last week The New Yorker opened up part of its archive, setting off a mad dash through the corridors in search of great summer reading.

The editors at Places Journal have rounded up some of the best articles on architecture and urbanism, including profiles of David Adjaye and Bjarke Ingels, interviews with window-washers and elevator testers, reviews of the Google car and the Oslo Opera House, and searing reports from Elizabeth Kolbert and George Packer.

Places also announces a major transition: "After five valuable years in partnership with Design Observer, we're deepening our commitment to public scholarship and critical journalism by launching a new, independent website at www.placesjournal.org."

Paul Goldberger Leaves New Yorker for Vanity Fair, Will Not Be Replaced

2012-04-02T12:33:00-04:00

But like so many landmarks, from the Parthenon to Penn Station, few endure. Starting today, Mr. Goldberger will board the notorious Condé Nast elevator, but instead of getting off on the 20th floor, he will report to work two floors up, where Graydon Carter has finally poached Mr. Goldberger for Vanity Fair.

Paul Goldberger leaves The New Yorker, partly to have more time to work on a biography of Frank Gehry, partly because he was not given enough chances to write for the magazine anymore. At Vanity Fair, he won't just be writing on architecture, but also "design-related" stories, too.