Archinect - News

Diller Scofidio + Renfro/Sheppard Robson's London Centre for Music replacement inches closer after planners grant local approval

2024-04-30T13:45:00-04:00

The revised Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Sheppard Robson-led scheme at the Barbican in Central London reportedly gained planning approvals from the City of London’s planning body. The news came last week (April 17th) after UK Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove remanded an Article 31 order calling on the local committee to pause its process in light of pushbacks against the planned demolition of the existing Bastion House and the former Museum of London that is an integral part of the scheme.

Previously on Archinect: Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveil designs for London Centre for Music replacement

Yahoo! Finance UK quoted a spokesperson from the group Barbican Quarter Actiorn as saying the demolition would be “injurious to the future of people and the planet,” adding, “We continue to believe that this great City can and should do better and that it should retain and adapt these fine buildings in line with its own policies on sustainable development.”

If approved by Gove’s o...

The Broad taps Diller Scofidio + Renfro again for major expansion

2024-03-27T18:33:00-04:00

Big news for architecture and art fans alike coming out of Los Angeles today, where The Broad just announced plans for a major expansion project to the tune of $100 million.

The reveal of the new proposal, which will reportedly increase the available gallery space by 70%, comes nearly ten years after the existing building opened to much fanfare on Downtown LA's Grand Avenue arts and culture corridor in 2015 to allow free public access to the vast art collection of philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad.

For the design of the expansion, the museum has commissioned the original architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) again, whose initial renderings hint at a continuation of their "veil and vault" concept.

"The exterior of the expansion echoes the surface appearance of the vault — as if this core had been exposed and 'unveiled' — symbolically expressing The Broad’s commitment to access while playfully inverting the visual vocabulary of the current building," the architects describe...

Diller Scofidio + Renfro to design a new hybrid arts and technology center for the University of New Mexico

2023-08-08T16:48:00-04:00

Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) has been announced as the architects of a new $65 million arts and technology facility for the University of New Mexico’s main campus in Albuquerque.

Working alongside local practice ROMA Architecture, the firm expects to break ground next summer on the new Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology (CCAT) in line with the university’s two-year-old UNM College of Fine Arts Framework Plan.

DS+R’s Partner-in-Charge for the project, Benjamin Gilmartin, said it will be a "catalyst for the advancement of the arts in New Mexico." His team's collaborative design will reportedly meet the standards for LEED Silver certification while providing students with exhibition spaces, rehearsal areas, and a large concert hall.

The project will be enacted on a vacant site bordering the city’s Central Avenue, therefore creating a new gateway onto the 769-acre campus similar to several other recent arts-focused higher education projects at UPenn, Williams, and Dartmouth...

Architecture-inspired ship concept could become the world's first 3D printed superyacht

2023-02-28T15:36:00-05:00

Multidisciplinary designer Jozeph Forakis has unveiled the concept for a luxury superyacht, christened Pegasus, that he described as “invisible both in design and in her environmental impact.” When completed in 2030, the futuristic 288-foot ship will become the world’s first 3D-printed sea vessel that produces zero emissions and can cruise with near-infinite range.

Forakis says the inspiration behind the yacht is Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s Blur Building, a pavilion that sat above Lake Neuchâtelin in the Swiss municipality of Yverdon-les-Bains during Swiss Expo 2002. The structure was concealed by a mass of fog that was formed by pumped lake water and dispensed as mist through 35,000 high-pressure nozzles.

Image courtesy Jozeph Forakis

The yacht would be constructed via robotic 3D printing to create a durable and lightweight mesh framework for both the hull and superstructure. According to Forakis, this could allow the structure to be produced using less energy, material, and time compared to conventional construction.

The yacht is distinguished by its reflective façade and its multi-tiered glass wings. The PEGASUS 88m Concept is said to have a “near-infinite range” through solar energy used to convert seawater into hydrogen, which onboard fuel cells would convert into electricity.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro issues update on historic Frank Lloyd Wright theater revitalization in Dallas

2022-12-12T18:50:00-05:00

Diller Scofidio + Renfro has shared new project details and a flythrough animation for their planned revitalization of the 63-year-old Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas.

The project’s scope revolves around a “faithful reinterpretation of Wright’s original design intent” that calls for the removal of several decades worth of accumulated additions; creation of a new “theater arts complex” outside that includes a new performance venue, two pavilions, and a 100-seat black box theater; demolition of the existing Heldt Building; and further development of the William B. Dean Park with an emphasis on “stitching” the site with the popular nearby Katy Trail and Turtle Creek attractions.

Image courtesy Diller Scofidio + Renfro

According to a press release, the final plans will be submitted to the city no later than December 31st of this year. Chicago-based preservation specialists Harboe Architects is also involved with the planning team, helping to restore the so...

See inside DS+R's newly-opened Prior Performing Arts Center at the College of the Holy Cross

2022-09-29T15:15:00-04:00

Diller Scofidio + Renfro has shared new photos of its just-opened Prior Performing Arts Center at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The three-year, $110 million project culminated in an 84,000-square-foot multipurpose arts facility that houses a 400-seat proscenium theater, 200-seat studio space, and the relocated Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, which has garnered a reputation as one of the leading academic art museums in the country since first being founded in 1983.

Photo: Iwan Baan courtesy of DS+R

“The new Prior Performing Arts Center is an uncommon commons,” DS+R partner-in-charge Charles Renfro describes the project. “The building is uniquely perched on a hill overlooking the campus and Worcester, yet straddles the intersection of multiple cross-campus paths. While its world-class facilities provide a singular new home for Holy Cross's performing arts students, its atrium invites the broader student body to participate in casual and unscripted cr...

DS+R’s Columbia Business School building opens in Manhattan

2022-02-26T09:00:00-05:00

The important next step in Columbia University’s aggressive campus expansion project has been inaugurated this week with the opening of its new Columbia Business School, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with FXCollaborative, in northern Manhattan.

The school’s fourth incursion into the blocks north of 125th Street marks the end of the first phase of its controversial Manhattanville development scheme.

Columbia Business School and The Square. Photo: Iwan Baan.

Kravis Hall, 12th Avenue Retail facing Riverside Drive Viaduct. Photo: Iwan Baan.

Earlier pushback against the two-decade-long effort had been unable to derail the CU’s largest-ever expansion, which has been steadily taking form after a series of community reinvestment efforts brokered between the school and its neighbors in the mid-2010s.

Construction on the new school building began in 2016 after the firm won an international competition for the $600 million project in 2011.

Kravis Hall Facade. Photo: I...

Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveil designs for London Centre for Music replacement

2021-12-07T14:18:00-05:00

Scrapped plans for a new concert hall in London are getting a much-needed reset thanks to an updated design by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Sheppard Robson.

The pair originally was set to design the hall as part of a scheme sponsored by the Barbican and London Symphony Orchestra to redevelop the site of the Museum of London after winning an international competition in 2017.

Image courtesy DS+R/Sheppard Robson

The plan was also backed by the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and included a twisting geometrical glass-and-timber structure which featured a layered program of performance venues and music education spaces at a tune of £288 million ($381 million) before being axed quietly at the beginning of the year by the city.

The new design features an ostensibly simplified form beset with biophilic elements which run up the plaza-facing facade of the structure now dubbed “London Wall West” in reference to the existing structures at 140-150 London Wall that are said to be “at the end o...

Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveils designs that will complete an arts trifecta for Rice University

2021-11-22T17:58:00-05:00

An architectural homecoming is in store for Rice University as one of Houston’s native sons has returned to his alma mater with a new arts facility unveiled this past week by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

DS+R Partner and Rice alumnus Charles Renfro will be the lead architect on the new Susan and Fayez Sarofim Hall, an updated version of Rice’s now-demolished Art Barn that was originally commissioned by the illustrious de Menil family in 1969.

The Art Barn’s demolition made way for Michael Maltzan’s award-winning Moody Center, which will now be joined by the new prefabricated DS+R structure, which pays homage to the erstwhile metallic barn and Media Center buildings which were themselves mass-produced by the Butler corporation in the years following World War II. Renfro says it will help consolidate interdisciplinary arts education on campus in order to better meet the demands of students and educators in this highly technical age.

Interior view of Sarofim Hall. Courtesy of Diller Sco...

Elizabeth Diller is drawing personal lessons from her design for the Jewish Museum's Edmund de Waal exhibition

2021-10-18T16:40:00-04:00

The personal has never been a hallmark of Diller’s work in architecture and design. But working with de Waal’s emotionally charged travelogue, she said, had a transformational effect. “Seeing the world of his family through Edmund’s eyes,” she said, “I saw my family history also.” “Edmund dug into his past,” Diller added. “I didn’t. I couldn’t bear it.” Designing an exhibition based on de Waal’s book has changed that.

Six rooms designed by Elizabeth Diller give viewers a glimpse into de Waal’s inner world informed by his relatives, the Ephrussis, who, like the architect’s own Polish family, was forced into exile during the Holocaust. Diller said she wanted the exhibition spaces to reflect the displacement felt by the storied art-collecting family and chronicled by de Waal in his fiction. The author referred to Diller as “the great dramaturge of space.”

Diller had previously designed a 2016 exhibition at the museum which focused on the lifework of French architect Pierre Chareau.

The exhibition "The Hare with Amber Eyes" goes on view starting November 19th. More information can be found here.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Woods Bagot reveal updated plans for the new Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre in Adelaide

2021-08-10T18:16:00-04:00

New renderings of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Woods Bagot's forthcoming Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre (AACC) have been released following a consultation by the Aboriginal Reference Group (ARG) that updated an original plan released by the firm earlier this year.

The improved scheme was submitted to a State Commission Assessment Panel in Australia last week, bringing the project one step closer to realization in the hopes of providing the city of Adelaide with a new platform for First Nations artists that is both forward-looking and “wholly connected to the landscape,” according to the architect.

Image courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Woods Bagot

The design team worked together with the ARG to produce an updated plan that includes a new outdoor primary exhibition space, a more pronounced and environmental envelope, and upgraded water features inside the same 124,000-square-foot Lot Fourteen footprint featured in the original design.

“This project is a path to reconcilia...

Woods Bagot and Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveils Adelaide's new 'space for gathering and storytelling'

2021-02-16T15:50:00-05:00

In 2018 Woods Bagot and Diller Scofidio + Renfro's design proposal was selected as the winning entry for the Adelaide Contemporary International design competition. Both firms describe the center as a "new cultural paradigm that showcases the past, present, and future of Aboriginal cultures while supporting contemporary art practices and events across disciplines."

Located on Kaurna land, the arts and cultural center pulls its design reference from the "wurlie" or "humpy," temporary shelters used by Aboriginal Australians. Its facade resembles an interwoven "basket-like nest" that sits atop a set of columns anchoring the structure with a courtyard at its center. The three-story building will house exhibition spaces as well as areas for gathering and performance spaces.

Artistic render of AACC. Image courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Woods Bagot

Charles Renfro of DS+R and Woods Bagot principal Rosina Di Maria share their experience and excitement towards the project. "Our rol...

Accessibility at the new U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum reviewed

2020-10-26T14:44:00-04:00

The museum’s other notable attribute is its high level of accessibility. The architects borrowed inspiration from the Guggenheim Museum, which invites visitors to take an elevator to the top floor and then descend along ramps as they explore galleries. There are no steps up or down, and the goal is to eliminate any differences in the museum experience among people with varying physical abilities.

For the NYT, Ray Mark Rinaldi reviews the DS+R-designed United States Olympic and Paralympic Museum with a special focus on accessibility. "Accommodations are the norm," Rinaldi writes. "Ramps are low-grade and extra wide to fit two wheelchairs at the same time. Sign language interpreters appear in the corner of videos. Cane guards double as benches in the building’s spacious atrium."

Previously on Archinect: Twisting forms and ramped galleries define DS+R's US Olympics and Paralympics Museum in Colorado

The 60,000-square-foot museum complex in Colorado Springs, Colorado opened to the public in July.

Twisting forms and ramped galleries define DS+R's US Olympics and Paralympics Museum in Colorado

2020-07-28T16:31:00-04:00

A design and construction team led by New York City-based architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro has completed work on the United States Olympic and Paralympic Museum (USOPM) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The 60,000-square-foot museum complex is designed with accessibility at its forefront due to its relationship to the United States Paralympic organization, and is organized as a four-lobed gallery complex that descends from the top floor down via a continuous ramp configuration.

Top: View of the building's entry terrace. Bottom: Overall view of the museum.

Regarding the accessibility elements of the design, the architects write that "from the earliest stages of design, the team consulted a committee of Paralympic athletes and persons with disabilities to ensure that, from entrance to exit, all visitors with or without disabilities could tour the USOPM facility together and share a common path."

The museum is located next to a major park that will be accessible to the site via a fort...

Liz Diller on practicing architecture during a pandemic

2020-05-29T18:58:00-04:00

“Usually we work, we draw, we look in each other’s eyes, we argue, we throw things around the room, we make models and break them apart, and somehow stuff gets made,” said Ms. Diller, who has been working from the couple’s weekend home in upstate New York.

Liz Diller, architect and co-founding partner at New York City-based Diller Scofidio + Renfro, gives an eye-opening look at the nature of her practice, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, in an interview with The New York Times.

Regarding the change in work culture that comes with quarantine, Diller explains, “With this platform, it’s very sanitized, you have to be very organized. We’re sending each other drawings and sketches, we’re responding through digital means and then having virtual meetings. Communication is slower. But we’re working harder. We’re figuring it out.”

Diller Scofidio + Renfro to restore and expand FLW building in Dallas

2020-02-25T18:54:00-05:00

The Dallas Theater Center (DTC) has announced that New York City-based architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro have been selected to renovate the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas, Texas.

According to a press release unveiled by the DTC, the “renovation efforts aim to preserve the theater’s distinct architecture while equipping it to inspire a new generation.” As part of the project, the architects will create a master plan for the nine-acre site that will include new theater spaces as well as a connection to the Katy Trail, a public jogging and cycling path that cuts through part of the city. A goal of the project is to keep up with “Wright’s organic, nature-inspired vision,” by “making the entire site an accessible public space for all,” according to the press release.

The building is the only publicly accessible structure designed by Wright in the state of Texas, it is also the only free-standing theater Wright designed that was built during his lifetime...

See the views from NYC’s highest outdoor residential space at 15 Hudson Yards

2020-02-19T19:18:00-05:00

Adding to Hudson Yards’ height superlatives, the city’s highest outdoor residential amenity space has opened at 15 Hudson Yards. Rising 900 feet in the air, “Skytop” features 6,000 square feet of curvy indoor-outdoor space, which follows the shape of the building’s crown. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with interiors by Rockwell Group, the amenity space offers unobstructed views of the Hudson River and beyond.

Image by Scott Frances for Related-Oxford

Weiss/Manfredi to lead La Brea Tar Pits overhaul in Los Angeles

2019-12-11T18:14:00-05:00

A design team led by interdisciplinary, New York City-based architecture and landscape firm Weiss/Manfredi has been selected to reinterpret the La Brea Tar Pits and George C. Page Museum building in Los Angeles.

The design team includes experiential designers Imaginary Forces, horticulturist and water conservation experts Perry and Associates Collaborative, paleobotanist Carole Gee, artist Mark Dion, and Michael Bierut of Pentagram. Locally, the team will draw on the expertise of Brenda Levin of Levin & Associates for architectural and historic preservation assistance, among others that have yet to be announced.

The Lake Pit at La Brea Tar Pits features a trio of fiberglass mammoths that will be preserved by the selected scheme. Courtesy of La Brea Tar Pits.

Upgrading and Expanding the Museum and Site

The project seeks to repurpose, upgrade, and expand the 1970s-era George C. Page Museum building, a partially submerged paleontological and educational complex designed by Los Angele...

New photos of the Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed MoMA expansion have been released

2019-10-16T11:34:00-04:00

The ongoing rennovation and expansion of the Museum of Modern Art will culminate in its opening on Monday October 21, 2019.

Installation View of the Marie Josée and Henry Kravis Studio, The Museum of Modern Art. Photo by Iwan Baan, Courtesy of MoMA

The expansion was designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DSR), in collaboration with Gensler and adds more than 40,000 square feet of gallery spaces allowing the museum to exhibit a larger collection of works. The project also aims to provide visitors with a more welcoming and comfortable and also seeks to better connect the Museum to the urban fabric of midtown Manhattan.

Flagship Museum Store. Photo by Brett Beyer, Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Blade Stair, Level 3 Landing. Photo by Brett Beyer, Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The Studio in the heart of the Museum will feature live programming and performances that will explore histories of modern art and the current cultural moment. Up on the second-floor, a Creativity Lab fo...

MoMA re-opens Architecture & Design galleries as new Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed expansion prepares for its public debut

2019-10-10T16:15:00-04:00

A new $450 million renovation of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) complex in New York City by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Gensler is getting ready to make its official debut.

As part of the expansion, the museum has also re-opened its dedicated Architecture and Design galleries, which, contrary to previous iterations for the museum's approach to curating architecture and design topics, will now be spread out along every floor of the museum complex. The change reflects a "curatorial vision of a 'both–and' approach, acknowledging architecture and design both as integral to the interdisciplinary conversation with the visual arts and as autonomous disciplines with specific histories and methodologies," according a MoMA press release.

Ahead of the much-anticipated opening, Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for The New York Times, previe...

Could NYC's Governor's Island hold the answers to fighting climate change?

2019-10-07T13:00:00-04:00

Since [...] the federal government turned control [of Governors Island] over to New York City, under the condition that it not be used for residential housing, it has been an island in search of a purpose [...] Now, the city has a new idea: transforming one of its last big chunks of developable land [...] into a “living laboratory” for coping with the effects of climate change.

The early stages of a plan to convert New York's Governor's Island into a self-funded sustainability laboratory have come to light.

The proposal bears some similarities to the Billion Oyster project, a decade-old proposal developed by an eponymous nonprofit and landscape architects SCAPE hat sought to transform the waters off Governor's Island with a 100-acre oyster reef that would filter and revitalize area waterways using living oysters.

West 8, Diller, Scofidio +Renfro, Rogers Marvel Architects, and Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects recently completed an 87-acre master plan of the island.

National Arts Club Awards Medal of Honor to Diller Scofidio + Renfro for Achievement in Architecture

2019-10-03T18:10:00-04:00

The National Arts Club (NAC) presented its Medal of Honor to architecture and design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) on Tuesday, September 24, 2019. DS+R was recognized by the NAC’s President, Board of Governors, and Architecture Committee for its outstanding architectural achievements and contributions to New York City’s landscape.

“We are particularly excited to recognize the work of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, given the studio’s distinct dedication to the arts, with projects including the transformation of Lincoln Center’s campus, the recently-completed Shed, and the ongoing renovations and expansion of The Museum of Modern Art. Few other architects have made such an impact on New York’s arts and culture community,” said Linda Zagaria, Club President.

Founded in 1981, DS+R’s practice spans the fields of architecture, urban design, installation art, multi-media performance, digital media, and print. With a focus on cultural and civic projects, the studio addresses the changin...

Cultural offerings at The Shed dry up as fashion week, artists avoid the venue due to developer's Trump donations

2019-09-05T14:30:00-04:00

Hudson Yards’ nonprofit arts center, The Shed, has been shunned by the fashion elite since developer Stephen Ross’ Trump ties were exposed in early August. Sources say that Michael Kors, Vera Wang and the Academy of Art University were all slated to show their collections at the sleek, $475 million venue but have pulled out. Rag & Bone publicly nixed the space, which opened in April, right after news broke of Ross’ Aug. 9 Trump fundraiser in the Hamptons.

Fern Mallis, the mogul who created New York Fashion Week in the 1990s, told The New York Post that The Shed is “kind of over,” adding, “If you know people showing at The Shed, please tell me because I don’t know who is."

The fallout comes after news broke in August that Stephen Ross, one of the developers behind the Hudson Yards development, was hosting a $250,000-a-seat fundraiser for President Donald Trump. The news was met with boycotts of many Ross-affiliated business enterprises.

Weiss/Manfredi, DS + R, and Dorte Mandrup unveil competing schemes for L.A.'s La Brea Tar Pits

2019-08-27T13:00:00-04:00

Weiss/Manfredi, Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS + R), and Dorte Mandrup have unveiled a trio of competing schemes for Los Angeles's La Brea Tar Pits, George C. Page Museum, and Hancock Park.

The proposals are aimed at rejuvenating and updating the 12-acre park and its iconic tar pits installation, which includes a tar-filled lake populated with life-size fiberglass woolly mammoth figures. The three schemes differ in terms of their approach to retaining the existing Page Museum structure, an iconic and submerged Mayan temple-inspired facility designed in 1977 by architects Willis Fagan and Frank Thornton.

The proposals, expanded below, will be on view at the La Brea Tar Pits museum through September 15th. A jury that includes Milton Curry, Dean of USC School of Architecture; Christopher Hawthorne, Chief Design Officer, City of Los Angeles; Kirk Johnson, Director of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; Kristin Sakoda, Executive Director, Los Angeles County D...

The High Line opens its newest and final section, the Spur

2019-06-12T15:02:00-04:00

The widest open space of the High Line opened [...], marking the completion of the wildly popular elevated park. A 16-foot bronze sculpture by Simone Leigh anchors the new section, called the Spur, which offers vistas in every direction. The Spur is a 420-foot section that extends over the intersection of 10th Avenue at West 30th Street.

"The design of the Spur has gone through many iterations over the years: from theater, to garden, to woodland, to event platform, to an immersive ‘bowl,’ among others," said James Corner, who led the design of the Spur, as well as other sections of the High Line, in collaboration with Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Planting Designer Piet Oudolf.

View this post on Instagram “Brick House”.
A post shared by Timothy Schenck (@timothyschenck) on Apr 7, 2019 at 3:12pm PDT

"But we ended up with the best solution, typical High Line: tough, simple, and authentic. Leaving the large lofted space of the Coach Passage, you enter the Spur through a lush woodland, which opens into a large clearing with large-scale artwork on the Plinth. This dramatic space is flanked by generous seating and overlooks and immerses you in the massive scale of the surrounding city."

"The Spur opens new vistas to and from the city and visually reconnects the High Line back to the 10th Avenue Overlook...

DS+R, Weiss/Manfredi, and Dorte Mandrup to reimagine L.A.'s La Brea Tar Pits

2019-06-07T15:37:00-04:00

Diller Scofidio+Renfro (DS+R), Weiss/Manfredi, and Dorte Mandrup have been tapped to reimagine the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

Under a new initiative, the selected firms will compete to "reimagine and renovate" the 12-acre portion of L.A.'s Hancock Park that is home to the La Brea Tar Pits and the George C. Page Museum. The museums and surrounding grounds are owned and managed by a public-private partnership that includes the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County and Los Angeles County.

The teams will unveil their masterplan proposals for the campus in August 2019 for public review. It is expected that a winning proposal will be selected by the end of 2019.

The George C. Page Museum is home to an extensive paleontological collection. Image courtesy Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County.

The improvements, according to a press release announcing the team selection, will be undertaken to "advance NHMLAC’s scientific research and public engagement for the next half...

First phase of Diller Scofidio + Renfro's London linear park, The Tide, to open in July

2019-05-13T19:43:00-04:00

Diller Scofidio + Renfro is well into the process of building a new linear park, this time in London's Greenwich Peninsula — making it the city's first riverfront linear park. Dubbed as “The Tide”, the 5-kilometer park will link cultural and social attractions across the peninsula. DS+R was commissioned to design the project back in September 2015, and the first phase is scheduled to open to the public on July 5.

Designed with architecture practice Neiheiser Argyros, the park is an elevated and ground-level walkway with programming split across both levels, resulting in a layered network of recreational, cultural, social, and wellness activities.

Aerial view of Phase 1 of The Tide. Rendering: Uniform, courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Rendering: Uniform, courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The first phase of The Tide will be 1 kilometer long and comprise a linear public walkway featuring installations by renowned artists, elevated gardens, pocket cafes, and a promontory overloo...

See inside Hudson Yards arts center The Shed ahead of Friday’s opening

2019-04-03T16:16:00-04:00

A new cultural institution in New York City opens on Friday after more than a decade in the making. The Shed, which straddles the recently opened Hudson Yards neighborhood and the High Line on 30th Street, will commission and present original artwork across a variety of disciplines.

View from the High Line; Photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Shed

Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rockwell Group, the building features a 120-foot movable shell, allowing it to physically change on demand and adapt to different performances. Kicking things off April 5 is a five-night concert series, “Soundtrack of America,” which was directed by Steve McQueen, Quincy Jones, and Maureen Mahon, and explores the impact of African American music on modern culture.

View of The Shed from 30th Street; Photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy of The Shed

The Shed consists of two floors of column-free galleries, 500-seat Griffin Theater (named for billionaire Ken Griffin who donated $25 million for the project), and the...

As Hudson Yards officially opens its doors today, Archinect looks back on the project's development and public reaction

2019-03-15T18:29:00-04:00

The wait is over. New York's Hudson Yards, which took nearly 20 years of planning and development, finally opens today. In 2001, the project's name and role in a potential 2012 Olympic bid were brought to the public eye. Between May 2004 to December 2010, Hudson Yards experienced a series of memorable events: project bids, environmental impact studies, zoning hurdles, Olympic prospects tanked, a recession, funding gains and losses, more zoning hurdles, project transitions, new project deals, and finally new development partners, which lead us to the project's first sign of "preparatory work" on the site. Nearly ten years of planning took place before construction would occur. After covering the project's development since 2011, Archinect has created a timeline of its progress on our site.

An aerial view of the Hudson Yards under development. Image via wi...

Michael Kimmelman on the travesty of Hudson Yards

2019-03-14T18:48:00-04:00

"[Hudson Yards] is, at heart, a supersized suburban-style office park, with a shopping mall and a quasi-gated condo community targeted at the 0.1 percent.

Ahead of the opening of the long anticipated Hudson Yards complex in New York City, New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman spared little time in sharing his disgust with its turn out.

Rendering of the Vessel, by Thomas Heatherwick

Kimmelman picks the complex apart building by building, including those by some of the biggest names in practice today such as Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Thomas Heatherwick and Norman Foster. Of Heatherwick's Vessel, Kimmelman writes that it is "purportedly inspired by ancient Indian stepwells (it’s about as much like them as Skull Mountain at Six Flags Great Adventure is like Chichen Itza)," and that "the object — I hesitate to call this a sculpture — is a 150-foot-high, $200 million, latticed, waste-basket-shaped stairway to nowhere, sheathed in a gaudy, copper-cladded steel."

Rockefeller Center, by Raymond Hood

While he finds DS+R/Rockwell Group's Shed to be "the most novel work of architecture on site," Kimmelman still sees little to celeb...