Archinect - News

Bjarke Ingels talks Bhutan smart city development with CBS' '60 Minutes'

2024-11-18T14:09:00-05:00

"If we succeed, we can show that you can create a city that does not displace nature, that is anchored and rooted in the local heritage and culture, and that still allows for prosperity and growth to happen."

The ever-popular Ingels sat down with Lesley Stahl to go over his team's vision for the project they first unveiled with Arup almost a year ago. The 386-square-mile master plan's design features many public buildings and other important infrastructure that double as bridges, unfolding in the shape of a Mandala flower, which hosts 11 neighborhood-scale developments rendered with increased density as they cascade in ribbons down to a low-lying southern terminus.

Bhutan, a nation of under 800,000 people, is struggling to retain skilled young professionals. A public bond campaign worth $100 million USD has just been launched for the project. According to the South China Morning Post and other outlets, the new 'Gelephu Mindfulness City' will be developed in phases over 21 years.

Bjarke Ingels reiterates interest in 3D printing lunar architecture

2024-11-15T18:15:00-05:00

Bjarke Ingels recently divulged his intentions to build on the moon by 2032. In a new interview with Fortune, Ingels talked about his firm’s involvement with ICON on the NASA-funded Project Olympus, saying "solar-powered lasers" will be used to "essentially melt moon dust into a sort of lunar obsidian" for later use as a 3D printed building material.

This is seemingly in reference to the next generation of 3D printers made by ICON, which Ingels discussed as part of our in-depth conversation on the topic in March. (He also said: "Technologies that are developed for the difficulty of building on the Moon and Mars actually end up necessitating innovations that are useful here on Earth.")

BIG is using a similar process for the astronaut base in the Mars Dune Alpha—another project partner Jakob Lange talked about with Archinect in detail in December of 2021.

Take a look inside BIG’s brand new concrete HQ office in Copenhagen

2024-10-28T14:04:00-04:00

Images of BIG’s newly opened waterfront headquarters in Copenhagen have been made public after the relocation was completed earlier this spring.

The office known for its familial atmosphere and daily team meals worked on the project collaboratively through its proprietary integrated LEAPP approach (short for internal Landscape, Engineering, Architecture, Planning, and Product Design).

Image copyright Laurian Ghinitoiu

BIG founder Bjarke Ingels shared: "The idea behind LEAPP is an architecture practice as a renaissance, interdisciplinary body of people and knowledge. [...] Every single aspect of LEAPP has been involved in our HQ, including the planning, the product design, the very complex stacking of the concrete elements."

Image copyright Laurian Ghinitoiu

Inside the Piranesian-inspired minimal concrete structure that's located at the tip of a pier in Nordhavn, a sole rotated totem pole-like column made from six types of stone supports a stacked pastiche of open and solid architectu...

BIG updates KING Toronto construction progress

2024-10-23T18:00:00-04:00

Here’s a brief construction update on the BIG-led new KING Toronto development with Diamond Schmitt Architects. The design pays homage to the definitive modularity of Moshe Safdie’s seminal Habitat 67, with 514 units rotated on a 45-degree angle and arranged as through a canyon overlooking the nightlife-centric King Street West corridor. Ingels says it will top out soon at 16 stories after beginning construction in mid-2020. This "experimental" addition will be the Danish firm’s third project for developer Westbank, following Vancouver House and the Telus Sky tower in Calgary.

SCAPE teams with BIG for Manresa Island power plant redevelopment on Long Island Sound

2024-10-02T11:27:00-04:00

Landscape and planning studio SCAPE has announced the addition of architects BIG to a new adaptive reuse project in southern Fairfield County, Connecticut, called Manresa Island.

The project, which is set to reimagine a decommissioned coal-fired power plant into a new 125-acre public park in the city of Norwalk, intends to elevate the site’s endemic wetlands and biodiversity while creating a range of opportunities for dining and recreation.

Image courtesy SCAPE and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

Three buildings — the two 22,000-square-foot boiler and turbine towers and a 8,200-square-foot office component — will be redeveloped through the effort, added to by SCAPE’s master planning and landscape contribution, and connected via a newly unearthed scenic waterway.

Image courtesy SCAPE and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

The project's features include an expansive green lawn and meadow with a public beach. A 1.75-mile tract of waterfront access will be created, offering residents an alternative t...

Bjarke Ingels and Robert de Niro preview Wildflower Studios project in Queens

2024-09-26T11:11:00-04:00

“Cinema is probably the art form most similar to architecture,” [Ingels] says, in that both require “armies of people” to bring singular visions to life.

BIG’s 765,000-square-foot design is equipped with 11 sound stages is one of a pair the firm has designed in the New York area. De Niro is one of several celebrity clients to have worked with the mainstream media darling, including fellow Dane Lars von Trier.

Adam Gordon is the developer behind the Wildflower Studios project. He says: "Some of the most talented creative artists have been spending large parts of their career working in completely dehumanizing spaces. And I thought, 'van Gogh painted in Arles, right? Picasso lived in the South of France.' And that’s the spirit of the creative process [...] It’s having beautiful circumstances that make you feel like making art."

BIG's new adaptive reuse paper arts museum to unfold in northern Denmark

2024-09-24T18:56:00-04:00

A new museum dedicated to paper arts will launch in the North Jutland region of Denmark in the coming years with an adaptive reuse design from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). The concept renderings for the reimagined new home of the six-year-old Museum for Paper Art were unveiled today along with an endorsement from its founder, the psaligrapher Bit Vejle.

Image courtesy BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group

The project converts a former supermarket building by extending its footprint to almost 25,000 square feet and adding a roof canopy resembling a single sheet of folded paper that sweeps down to cover glass-enclosed public areas lining the perimeter.

Image courtesy BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group

Paper and its source combine to drape the structure's interior surfaces and Ingels’ team has said the exterior of the market building also will be covered by a new acoustics-regulating origami-inspired paper art commissioned from local Danish artists in deference to the medium’s importance to the history of the ...

BIG and ICON break ground on Liz Lambert's 3D printed El Cosmico resort in Marfa

2024-09-12T13:17:00-04:00

What could be the world’s first 3D printed hotel development has just broken ground near art and design-rich Marfa, Texas. The vision of a Texas native, the noted Austin area hotelier Liz Lambert, will come together with design and logistical support from BIG and ICON. Both entities announced the project in March of 2023, at the time promising a concept defined by a high desert vernacular that equally purports a "primordial architectural language."

All images courtesy ICON and Bjarke Ingels Group

Their design for the expanded El Cosmico resort calls for multiple structures comprised of different organic forms to be 3D printed on a plot totaling more than 60 acres. Private residences and affordable housing units connect to a hotel with a new amphitheater for the Austin-based Long Center for the Performing Arts included.

All images courtesy ICON and Bjarke Ingels Group

Individually, the homes are to be realized at between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet. The project expands the process and ...

BIG updates status of one of EU’s largest mass timber projects in Luxembourg

2024-09-03T17:48:00-04:00

BIG has provided an update on its Skypark Business Center at the Luxembourg Airport in Luxembourg. What will be one of Europe’s largest hybrid mass timber designs is now almost fully enclosed and stands as the first completed structure included in the Airport City grounds expansion. Metaform Architects is collaborating with BIG locally on the project, which was won after a 2018 international competition. Construction will yield approximately 840,000 square feet for offices and other commercial activities.

Bjarke Ingels recently spoke with our Niall Patrick Walsh in an interview about their noteworthy 3D printing innovations.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kai-Uwe Bergmann (@kaiuwebergmann)

BIG's garden-like Suzhou 'art oasis' tops out

2024-08-09T13:45:00-04:00

Another museum project in China from BIG, the 646,000-square-foot Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, topped out recently ahead of its scheduled 2025 opening. The project, a "tribute to the rich garden heritage of Suzhou," includes 12 separate small pavilions, which are united by walkways covered by a sheltering envelope of ribboned roof eaves to form a village-like concept. It stands as the centerpiece of the ongoing Jinji Lake redevelopment.

"The result is a manmade maze of plants and artworks to get lost within," Bjarke Ingels commented on the design scheme created in collaboration with ARTS Group and Front Inc. "Its nodular logic only becomes distinctly discernible when viewed from the gondolas above."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group (@big_builds)

ICON's first 3D printed CODEX homes come to market in Texas

2024-07-16T11:24:00-04:00

The first eight 3D printed homes from construction tech company ICON’s new CODEX architectural catalog are coming to Wimberley, Texas, as part of an initial release intended for the Austin area market.

The single-story homes, currently under construction, belong to the TexNext and AlphaBeta collections and range from four to five bedrooms and 2,800 to 4,000 square feet, featuring a mix of luxury and sensibilities to the state's unique history and architectural heritage.

ALPHABETA S. Image: courtesy of ICON

Residences from the TexNext line are designed in partnership with Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). According to the company, each of the homes included in the new release is designed to optimize thermal performance and energy efficiency, rating between 45 and 60% more efficient than typical homes of their size in the latter category.

RANCH MESA. Image courtesy ICON

These will feature ICON's proprietary CarbonX concrete, which, when paired with the company's 3D printed wall system and robot...

BIG’s new LA office tops out science center at Claremont McKenna College

2024-05-30T11:45:00-04:00

A topping-out ceremony was held recently for the new BIG-designed 135,000-square-foot Robert Day Sciences Center at Claremont McKenna College in California. The new campus gateway — one of the first projects of BIG's new Los Angeles office — seeks to enhance the college's research aims into neurology, genealogical studies, and climate change in preparation for an institutional turn towards its "next chapter."

Classrooms, lab spaces, and an open, column-free auditorium space are contained in each rotated rectangular block volume, complemented on the outside by rooftop terraces and public plaza areas "The Mall," "Art Square," and "Sciences Garden." BIG expects their design to be completed in 2025. It offers a worthy comparison to their previous Business Innovation Hub design at UMass Amherst and is on track for a LEED Gold certification.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group (@big_builds)

BIG marks progress on Habitat 67-inspired KING Toronto development

2024-05-23T18:52:00-04:00

BIG Partner Kai-Uwe Bergmann has posted an update to the firm's new contribution to the Toronto skyline, KING Toronto. The scheme is being developed at over 600,000 square feet alongside Diamond Schmitt Architects for clients Westbank Corp and Allied Properties. The project, which began construction in mid-2020, is inspired by Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 design and will culminate at 16 stories while adding an “experimental” touch to the nightlife-rich King Street West corridor.

This is the firm’s third project for Westbank, following the new Vancouver House and Telus Sky development in Calgary.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kai-Uwe Bergmann (@kaiuwebergmann)

BIG's NOT A HOTEL Setouchi weds Danish and Japanese design

2024-05-17T12:59:00-04:00

BIG has designed a new remote hotel concept on Sagi Island, Japan, for the NOT A HOTEL brand, its sixth property overall. The new Setouchi project follows other hospitality designs from the firm, including the new Hôtel des Horlogers in Switzerland and Vollebak Island in Canada.

Rendering: MIR

Rendering: LIT design

A ribbon-like footpath stitches together the mossy archipelago’s natural landscape with the residential portion of the design. Three villas (‘360,’ ‘270,’ and ‘180’) form a sequence staggered at different elevations on the approximately 323,000-square-foot site overlooking the southwestern cape of Sagi Island. Each features its own unique characteristics and corresponding panoramic views of the sea and inner harbor area, with accommodations that vary between three and four bedrooms.

Rendering: MIR

BIG’s founder, Bjarke Ingels, says: "Our design approach for NOT A HOTEL Setouchi wasn’t about imposing our ideas on the site; instead, it...

BIG creates mirrored installation for Audi at Milan Design Week

2024-04-25T11:46:00-04:00

Bjarke Ingels Group has designed an installation for the car brand Audi, installed at Milan Design Week. Titled ‘Reflaction,’ a play on the words “reflection” and “action,” the installation seeks to convey how “our actions in the world reflect the very essence of our existence,” according to Audi.

Image credit: Audi House of Progress

The installation is configured as a ‘plus’ symbol when viewed from above, dividing the site into four spaces constructed from a minimal selection of materials. The walls of the installation are formed of 33 x 28-foot mirrors, which, according to Audi, “creates an immersive spatial illusion, highlighting the brand's continuous effort to overcome the limits of innovation.”

Image credit: Audi House of Progress

Each space is grounded in a particular theme, namely Community, Knowledge, Performance, and Digital. The Community section features a ‘circular forest’ of Japanese maples to provid...

BIG teams up with University of Kansas students and faculty to deliver the new Makers’ KUbe design

2024-04-22T15:24:00-04:00

BIG in partnership with BNIM and the University of Kansas have unveiled plans for a new six-story creative academic space that will help consolidate formerly separate learning environments for students in the School of Architecture & Design. Comprising a diagrid frame, the Makers’ KUbe is a 50,000-square-foot mass timber cube structure connecting the school’s renovated Marvin Hall and Chalmers Hall buildings from 1908 and 1978, respectively.

Mahbub Rashid, the new Dean of the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design, said: "BIG’s willingness to both listen to us and push us has conceived a project that celebrates our history and embodies the ambitious optimism that animates our academic mission."

Image by Kilograph

As Rashid mentioned, the design is the product of a collaborative effort that brought together students, faculty, and board members in order to create a hub-like embodiment of KU’s four primary principles: "to become an emblem of creativity; to create a connec...

Is the architectural design causing serious Wi-Fi issues at Google's new Bay View headquarters?

2024-03-26T17:28:00-04:00

Google has not publicly disclosed the reasons for the Wi-Fi problems, but workers say the 600,000-square-foot building’s swooping, wave-like rooftop swallows broadband like the Bermuda Triangle. [...] But, a Google spokeswoman acknowledged, "we’ve had Wi-Fi connectivity issues in Bay View." She said Google "made several improvements to address the issue," and the company hoped to have a fix in coming weeks.

The roof of the BIG and Heatherwick Studio-designed Bay View headquarters, which opened in 2022, is a key component of the building’s circular design strategy and features 90,000 "dragonscale" solar panels. Some believe they could be causing the interference.

Related on Archinect: Google's BIG + Heatherwick-designed Bay View HQ campus opens. Photo: Iwan Baan, courtesy of Google

The other culprit would be the building’s internal layout and configuration and the density of routers within it (H/t various Reddiors). Google would not publically address the source of the connectivity issues.

Operations at the company's other new headquarters inside the St. John’s Terminal in Manhattan, which opened in February, however, appear to be running a bit more smoothly.

BIG unveils mass timber transit hub design for Toulouse

2024-03-26T12:38:00-04:00

BIG has unveiled renderings for its new Marengo Multimodal Transport Hub project in Toulouse, France’s fourth largest city. The 129,000-square-foot building connects the city center to the UNESCO-listed Canal du Midi and the Périole neighborhood and will be realized adjacent to the existing Gare Matabiau, which was first built in 1905.

The local studio A+ Architecture is also contributing to the project. The design is for a mass timber structure topped with a rose-colored folded roof replete with photovoltaics and finished in the same tone by a low-carbon concrete floor. Both of these reference the vernacular use of "foraine" brick architecture that is endemic to the southern departmental capital.

Rendering courtesy BIG

Rising exponentially to a height of seven stories, users will access the building on one end and be greeted by shops and a subterranean connector to the metro station underneath. Further on, floors one through six include 71,000 square feet of offices for the region...

AI designer and multi-story 3D printer among ICON technologies unveiled at SXSW

2024-03-12T16:00:00-04:00

Construction technologies company ICON has unveiled a suite of new technologies at SXSW, including a multi-story robotic construction system and an AI-powered design system.

At a SXSW event dubbed ‘Domus Ex Machina,’ the company also presented a new low-carbon building material for 3D printing alongside a digital catalog for residential 3D printed architecture containing more than 60 designs.

Phoenix multi-story printer. Image credit: ICON

“In the future, I believe nearly all construction will be done by robots, and nearly all construction-related information will be processed and managed by AI systems,” said Jason Ballard, ICON Co-Founder and CEO, announcing the new systems. “It is clear to me that this is the way to cut the cost and time of construction in half while making homes that are twice as good and more faithfully express the values and hopes of the people who live in them.”

Phoenix multi-story printer. Image credit: ICON

Among the new technologies unveiled is Phoenix, ICON...

Skanska and BIG complete curving terracotta-colored tower in Houston

2024-02-21T11:43:00-05:00

A team led by Skanska and Bjarke Ingels Group has completed a major new office tower in Houston, Texas. Named 1550 on the Green, the 28-story tower is part of a three-block master plan by Skanska, designed by BIG, with interiors by Michael Hsu.

Image credit: Skanska USA Commercial Development, Inc.

The 375,000-square-foot tower is primarily devoted to office accommodation, with ground floor space dedicated to hospitality. Other amenities in the scheme, per the project’s official website, include a 7,000-square-foot fitness center and a 9,400-square-foot tenant-exclusive rooftop event space.

Image credit: Skanska USA Commercial Development, Inc.

Externally, the tower adopts a multi-tiered, curved structure overlooking Discovery Green park. “Vines that will eventually creep along the terracotta-colored tower are meant to help the building blend into the surrounding park,” the Houston Chronicle writes about the tower. “The building's curve allows even tenants on lower levels to view Disc...

BIG unveils design for new Freedom Plaza development along Manhattan's East River

2024-02-12T19:35:00-05:00

Plans for a four-tower scheme designed by BIG for the east side of Manhattan have been announced by developers Soloviev Group and Mohegan in advance of its commencement in Midtown.

Their transformative Freedom Plaza project will be realized on a 6.7-acre plot near the United Nations complex overlooking the FDR Drive and East River between 38th and 41st Street at First Avenue.

Rendering by Negativ

The program calls for two pairs of hotel and condominium towers connected via a skybridge, and addressing the Queens shoreline with a landscaped park and small Museum of Freedom and Democracy forming in the ground-level plaza underneath. A total of 4.77 acres of publicly accessible space will be included therein, flanked by the 1,325-unit residential component to the southern orientation. Nearly half (40%) will be dedicated to affordable housing, according to the project announcement.

Rendering by Negativ

A casino space tied to the developer's bid for one of three available gambling license...

BIG's ‘Mindfulness City’ concept seeks to deliver new forms of prosperity to southern Bhutan

2023-12-20T20:00:00-05:00

Details of a new master plan from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) for Bhutan’s future Gelephu Special Administration Region have been made public this week in the South Asian country.

‘Mindfulness City’ is a multifaceted economic hub designed by the firm’s Landscape and Urban Design Team to coincide with sustainability principles and the pioneering Gross National Happiness Index (GNH) concept that has been championed by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and the Bhutanese government since 2008.

Rendering: Brick Visual

The 1,000-square-kilometer (386-square-mile) plan calls for the construction of a new international airport, hydroelectric dam, railway infrastructure, and university campus near the southern border with India. Ribbons of neighborhood-scale developments will run like tendrils influenced by the confluence of 35 different rivers and streams that pulse through the site, with densities increasing along the gradient from its northern rural highlands to mor...

Foster + Partners, BIG attached to master plan rebuilding effort in Antakya, Turkey

2023-10-31T19:13:00-04:00

The master plan for a new rebuilding project in Turkey’s southeastern Hatay province has been revealed by Foster + Partners in association with the Türkiye Design Council (TDC) in response to the devastating 7.8 magnitude Turkey-Syria Earthquake which displaced thousands and destroyed a majority of structures in the region in early February.

The plan draws in BIG and twelve other local and international practices into a consortium that will together design a revitalization of the city of Antakya with sensitivity to preserving the “cultural heritage and identity” of the 2,300-year-old provincial capital known to antiquity as Antioch.

"Hatay has been destroyed by a major earthquake at least seven times in history — some experts suggest as many as 33. In February, 80% of the city was devastated, putting Hatay in a unique position. Its archaeological and religious mosaic features require special urban planning, which needs to be combined with the creation of self-sufficient, resilient s...

BIG completes award-winning The Spiral tower in Manhattan

2023-10-25T19:57:00-04:00

BIG has shared photos to follow the firm’s completion of the new 2.8 million-square-foot The Spiral office tower in Midtown Manhattan.

Located at the entrance to the High Line Park on 34th Street between 10th Avenue and Hudson Boulevard, the 66-story structure rises to a total height of 1,031.5 feet and offers the neighborhood skyline a distinctive new visual identity taken from its stepped silhouette and a ribbon of outdoor terraces that cascade down the setback facade to a street level podium.

The design team, which also included Adamson Associates, made wind- and drought-resistant biophilic elements a central part of the building’s exterior, working to unprecedented new heights for commercial high-rises. Certain plant species were selected for their ability to flower as early as February, in combination with evergreen ivy varieties. The program also creates flexible workspaces and includes an exclusive clubhouse on the uppermos...

BIG designs stepped concave towers for ‘Europe’s largest regeneration project’ in Greece

2023-10-18T12:15:00-04:00

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has designed a major residential complex in Athens, Greece. Named Park Rise and commissioned for LAMDA Development, BIG’s scheme is part of The Ellinikon, described by LAMDA as “Europe’s largest urban regeneration project and a smart city being built from the ground up in Athens.”

Image credit: Bjarke Ingels Group / LAMDA

Park Rise will form the centerpiece of Little Athens, a new residential neighborhood located within the Ellinikon master plan. BIG’s concept will contain 88 residential units across five building cores: two rising to five floors, two rising to eight floors, and one rising to 12 floors.

Image credit: Bjarke Ingels Group / LAMDA

From the outside, the scheme is defined by a curved concave facade which, the architects say, “creatively reimagines the classic Greek column while adding a soft geometry to the aesthetic.” Off-white glass-reinforced concrete with exposed aggregates is integrated into the facade to “harken to the natural landscape.”

I...

BIG unveils a new sofa piece designed for Natuzzi Italia

2023-10-04T12:45:00-04:00

Furniture brand Natuzzi Italia has unveiled a sofa designed by Bjarke Ingels Group. The Colle Sofa, available online, draws inspiration from Natuzzi Italia’s early iconic designs, “known for their inviting, hospitable style that captures the essence of Mediterranean living,” as the company describes it.

Image credit: Natuzzi Italia

The piece is part of the wider Natuzzi Italia project titled ‘The Circle of Harmony,’ which has included a collaboration with dozens of renowned architects, artists, and designers over the past four years. Described by the company as “a physical and mental place that welcomes the most intimate and social moments by hosting quality time with ourselves and others,” the Colle Sofa features a wide selection of fabric and leather coverings.

Image credit: Natuzzi Italia

“Rooted in Natuzzi Italia's core values — Mediterranean flair, design, harmony, Italian character, innovation, comfort, and sustainability — the 2023 iteration of this philosophy, featuring the Co...

Developer behind BIG-designed 670 Mesquit LA project is seeking financial assistance for scheme's hotel

2023-08-22T12:31:00-04:00

The project, slated for a property at 670 Mesquit Street, would include four buildings on a site stretching between 6th and 7th Streets creating more than 800,000 square feet of offices, 420 homes, ground-floor commercial uses, and a 236-room hotel. That last component of the project is the subject of a new motion introduced on August 16 by 14th District City Councilmember Kevin de Leon.

The motion, which was referred to the Los Angeles City Council’s Trade Travel and Tourism Committee for consideration, states that Vella Group, the developer behind the Bjarke Ingels Group-designed 670 Mesquit Street project, is seeking financial assistance from the city for the completion of the development’s proposed hotel. Vella Group would pay $150,000 to cover the cost of an economic feasibility study for the hotel.

Previously on Archinect: Major changes coming to LA's Arts District as BIG and EYRC projects both move forward

BIG’s scheme, which was first unveiled in 2016, aims to be another major addition to LA’s Arts District. The complex will sit just south of the recently-completed Sixth Street Viaduct and its upcoming park space. Councilmember de Leon’s motion also makes note that the hotel would include an outdoor deck that extends over the adjacent rail lines, which could be spurred by a range of public events.

As noted by Urbanize Los Angeles, these types of incentive p...

BIG-designed National Juneteenth Museum receives $1 million grant

2023-08-09T13:45:00-04:00

Bank of America has awarded a $1 million grant towards the development of the National Juneteenth Museum, designed by BIG. The money will contribute to the project’s estimated $70 million price tag. Located in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside neighborhood, the museum will serve as an epicenter for awareness and preservation of Juneteenth’s history. It also aims to revitalize the surrounding area by acting as an economic catalyst.

The 50,000-square-foot museum takes on a handcrafted design, utilizing materials such as heavy timber. It also draws on the local architecture of gabled rooftops. The structure’s undulating roof results in a series of peaks and valleys that combine to form a star-shaped courtyard in the middle of the museum. In addition, the building will feature 10,000 square feet of exhibit galleries, a 250-seat theater to host lectures, a speaker series, performances, and more, a black box, a business incubator for local entrepreneurs, and a food hall featuring local vend...

ICON, Lennar, and BIG reveal first completed Wolf Ranch model home in Texas

2023-07-21T17:55:00-04:00

The first 3D printed model home concept Wolf Ranch development, built by Lennar and ICON and co-designed by BIG, has been completed in Georgetown, Texas.

The initial of what will eventually turn into a 100-home development outside the rapidly-expanding state capital showcases one of eight different floorplans, which range in scale from 1,574 to 2,112 square feet, offering buyers three-and four-bedroom options within an expected price range of $475,990 to $559,990.

Image screen capture from ICON-3D Tech Wolf Ranch Trailer.

Striated walls made using ICON’s Vulcan 3D printing technology and patented Lavacrete material define the residence’s design, which comes complete with polished concrete floors, a rooftop photovoltaic array, and fixtures and furnishings.

Image screen capture from ICON-3D Tech Wolf Ranch Trailer.

The remainder of the development, which features a playful variety of forms derived from the 24 different elevation styles offered by the company, is nearing completion aft...

NYC completes work on East Side Coastal Resiliency project's first phase, Stuyvesant Cove Park in Manhattan

2023-06-02T17:57:00-04:00

This Wednesday marked the long-awaited opening of BIG’s planned Stuyvesant Cove Park in Manhattan, marking an end to what was for some a contentious process that drew ire from various community groups on the two-year path towards its eventual completion.

Commissioned to be a first-line response to the damage caused to the city during 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, the park becomes the second completed phase of the $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project and will be joined later in the summer by an additional segment between East 18th and East 20th Streets.

The city’s Deputy Mayor of Operations, Meera Joshi, said: “Preserving and enhancing public spaces with waterfront views, must be an objective for all coastal resiliency projects. The opening of this phase of ESCR comes at a time when residents will benefit from its design the most, and not just because it’s the start of hurricane season, but also because the warm weather is here.”

Image courtesy NYC Department of Design...