Archinect - News

Architecture critic Mark Lamster on the inaccessible trope 'plaguing new buildings'

2024-05-22T18:43:00-04:00

Over the past decade or so, bleacher stairs have become a ubiquitous marker of contemporary public architecture. It’s time for the trend to stop. Its subsequent proliferation serves as a good example of how avant-garde design, or at least a consumerist version of it, filters down to the mainstream. The broader point is that architects need to be more inventive as they plan new public spaces, and their patrons need to demand that those spaces are accessible for the entire population.

The ubiquitous “bleacher stair” feature can be seen in designs for the Studio Museum of Harlem, Perez Art Museum Miami, and the new Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History (just by my count) and can be traced to Rem Koolhaas’ design for Prada’s NYC flagship in 2001, says architecture critic Mark Lamster in a look around Dallas. (He later mentions SOM’s new Schwarzman College of Computing for MIT as a positive adaptation of the trend.)

Interestingly, architect and disability advocate David Gissen tells him, “I think a giant mattress would be a more appropriate element with which to gather people together. Many disabled people have called for cities to re-imagine rest as a public good, and I think it is important that we explore the possibilities.”

Other critics have begun taking note elsewhere. How refreshing it is still to see criticism include a discussion like this that doesn’t expressly encourage “bad building.”

...

Foster + Partners completes South Carolina administrators building behind warm-colored metal and glass

2024-01-19T12:02:00-05:00

Foster + Partners has completed a new home for Greenville County administrators in South Carolina. The new Greenville County Administration Building spans four stories and is designed with a glass curtain wall that “symbolically removes the boundary between the public and government officials.”

Photo: Brandon Stengel, courtesy of Foster + Partners

The scheme forms part of the wider Greenville County Square master plan by RocaPoint Partners, which seeks to create a link between Falls Park, Cancer Survivor’s Park, and the Swamp Rabbit Trail. The administration building, described by the team as “the cornerstone of the community,” is located on the corner of Church Street and University Ridge.

Photo: Brandon Stengel, courtesy of Foster + Partners

“The building will make a significant contribution to Greenville County, acting as a place for local people to meet in serene natural surro...

Does America still need classical architecture?

2019-08-18T14:00:00-04:00

Perhaps, as a real-estate developer, President Trump might appreciate the richness of America’s heritage of classical public buildings. It’s not inconceivable that he would support reform of the Guiding Principles. Otherwise, U.S. senators and representatives should do all they can to ensure that classical principles guide future federal architecture projects. In doing so, they will be contributing to a renewal of American civilization.

During the administration of President John F. Kennedy, sociologist, politician, and diplomat Daniel Patrick Moynihan drafted the "Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture," a set of architectural guidelines that inform the design of building projects undertaken by the Public Building Service (PBS) and the General Services Administration's Design Excellence program.

For Moynihan, the principles reinforced an ideology of good design in federal building projects. Moynihan expressed, "The belief that good design is optional, or in some way separate from the question of the provision of office space itself, does not bear scrutiny, and in fact invites the least efficient use of public money."

Writing for City Journal, Catesby Leigh voices support for reinvigorating federal buildings through classical architecture and traditional design, which, Leigh argues, have already produced the U.S.'s most prominent civic structures.

Leigh writes: "The design of federal buildings should be guided...

Battle over Brutalism in Scotland remains unresolved

2019-06-28T12:57:00-04:00

St Peter's Seminary in Cardross is a category A listed building - the highest level of protection for buildings of architectural or historic interest. It was closed as a training college for priests in the 1970s and left to ruin. The Catholic Church described it as an "albatross around our neck".

A battle is brewing in Cardross, Scotland over the uncertain future of St. Peter's Seminary, a 1960s-era Brutalist complex that has been abandoned for nearly 30 years.

Widely considered Scotland's most important 20th Century structure, the seminary was designed by architects Gillespie, Kidd & Coia and opened in 1966 only to be abandoned in the 1980s.

Wrapped in concrete arches and punctuated by a stepped atrium, the pebble-studded complex has been referred to as both Scotland’s best and worst 20th Century building. The seminary was listed as a "Category A" architectural relic in 1992, the country's highest designation for historic buildings. But even with this designation, plans to rehabilitate the structure have fallen short.

Image courtesy of Flickr user Tom Parnell.

Scottish architecture expert Alan Dunlop told the BBC, "I would go as far as saying this building is as important as Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art."

Historic Environment Scotland, the country's ...

KPMB Architects takes Boston University's data science building to new heights

2018-10-22T13:19:00-04:00

We wanted architecture that would signal to everyone that this was a special place, the center of campus...We wanted a building that in 2100 would stand up and mark the dynamic change in the University and talk about the century we're in. - Robert A. Brown Boston University President

Boston University and KPMB Architects have announced their plans to construct a 17-floor tower which will house BU's new Data Sciences Center. A program booming within the field of academia, BU plans to be a leader in this area of education. Alongside the team at KPMB, the architecture firm aims at building a structure that will be an "iconic" fixture on campus.

The monumental teaching center has a "podium" like base that is 4 stories high. On top of this base are 13, slightly off centered, floors that were designed to resemble an image of stacked books. The visual representation was made to play homage to the university's mission in its passion for research, artistic creativity, and scholarship among the staff and students on campus.

Also functioning as a public building, the interiors of the center are designed to foster innovation and collaboration. The space will be filled with whiteboard walls and terraced platforms that will serv...